Bodyguard Book Boyfriend (Book Boyfriend Dating Agency)

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

TARAE

I ’m surprised as hell when I see a picture on social media of Grant and Mark standing toe to toe like two boxers about to battle it out. It took less than a week for my black ass to be back in the gossip news cycle. I don’t even know who the hell took the picture. Nobody was even in the hall.

The comments online have been wild as hell, but at least not all of them are negative now. Honey’s fans are down with the swirl, and they love them some Grant.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Alexa’s fans have picked up on the name calling and the body shaming. I say fuck them, I like my fat ass. And they’re welcome to kiss it.

I don’t understand why they’re mad anyway; they should be happy I’m not interfering with their fav and the love of her life. But you can’t expect logic from a bunch of teenagers with horrible taste in music.

I sigh as I think about all of the bullshit my agent has had to deal with. I’m just glad Shelby is as cutthroat as they come, and she won’t let things get too much out of hand. Even though I begged her to get me out of hosting the ELFIEs, she insisted that I needed the positive exposure. I guess she’s right, but I’d still rather hide my head in the sand than host an awards show with Mark.

Speaking of that asshole, he’s been calling and texting me nonstop since that night…

Tarae call me back…

T I love you baby… I just need you to wait for me to get my name out there.

Who the fuck do you think you are!

Ur nothin without me!

I should leak his bipolar ass texts to the media, but I won’t. I’m trying to move on with my life, but his ass is determined to pull me into his bullshit. If I engage with him, he’ll just try harder.

So, I do my best to ignore him, but he’s really starting to irk the bad side of my Gemini. And what’s even worse I haven’t been able to spend as much time with Grant because he’s had to work. Honey has to make several appearances, and of course, Grant, as head of her security, has to be there. We’ve only been dating for a few weeks now, but I miss him.

We talk every day, and when he’s in town we spend every second of downtime that he has. But it’s still not enough. The more time I spend with him, the more I want to continue to spend with him.

I told myself I wouldn’t fall so hard for another man, but I’ve already slipped. Grant treats me like a queen, and even with the limited amount of time we spend together he gives me the affection and love that I didn’t know I was craving.

I’ve been hiding out in my apartment, only leaving when Grant is in town, but today, I have to venture out for a fitting for my award show dress. It’s not like I’m Beyoncé, and the paparazzi are hanging around my apartment, but I’m still getting threatening messages, and it makes me feel like I’m being watched whenever I’m out. I’ve blocked more unknown accounts than I care to count. But the same stupid messages keep popping up …

You will never be Alexa!!!

I’ll make sure to beat your ass when I see you.

Ur a bitch! Alexa is better than you.

Alexa. Alexa. Alexa.

I never thought people could actually be so obsessed with one person while still threatening another. Like CeCe says, they gotta be weirdos.

I take a deep breath and do my best to not think about the trolls. Besides, strangers on the internet can’t keep me from shining if I don’t let them. So, I get my shit together and do what I have to do.

It doesn’t take me long to get ready to go to the boutique down on Wilshire. I don’t know why I feel so jumpy when I park across the street from the shop, but when I look around, nobody is paying any attention to me.

When I enter the shop, CeCe is waiting for me. I love the fact that my bestie is a stylist. It saves me a lot of time because she knows me so well. And the fact that my network gave me a clothing budget for the awards show is a win-win. We both can get to the bag.

“I pulled several pieces for you. The stage director said you’ll need three costume changes. I want to make sure we have more than that for backups.” CeCe’s in work mode and I love to see it.

My girl knows what she’s doing, and I would only trust her to have me looking right. I go into the dressing room and try on a few outfits. The first ones are cute, but I feel they’re a little too sexy for the occasion.

“This one is too short, Ce. Everyone on the front row will be able to see my who-ha.”

“I’ll make sure nobody will see Miss Cookie. She’s too sweet to let just anybody see.”

I look up and find Grant smiling at me, and it’s like the sun is shining after a storm. I run to him, and he plucks me right out of the air and into his arms. I wrap my arms around him and kiss his bearded face. Grant’s deep belly laugh warms me so much my cheeks hurt from smiling so hard.

“What are you doing here? I thought I wouldn’t see you for another week,” I say when he puts me down.

“Honey had a break in her schedule, so I thought I’d come to see my baby. How’s my girl?” Grant whispers in my ear.

He kisses my neck softly, and a chill runs through me. This man does things to my body that I didn’t know were possible. Grant has the magic touch when it comes to turning me on.

“How’d you know where I was? Not that I’m mad you showed up. I’m so happy you’re here!”

“You have your location on, and you posted on social media. You gotta stop doing that, darlin’. Especially when I’m not with you.” Grant raises a brow at me, and I feel thoroughly chastised.

“You’re right. I forgot to turn it off.”

I’ve gotten in the habit of only posting on my professional account because I’m obligated. I completely forgot to turn off the location when I posted a behind-the-scenes look at my shopping for the ELFIEs.

“You can’t forget something like that, darlin’. It’s crazies out here. I saw some weirdos hanging around outside when I came in.”

“I promise not to forget again, okay. Stop worrying. You’re here right now. You can protect me from all of the weirdos in the world.”

“Speaking of weirdos,” Grant says as he looks toward the shop doors.

I turn to see who he’s talking about and shake my head when Chrissy comes bounding into the building. I swear, ever since the day she low-key insulted me, I’ve kept my distance. But one day, Grant and I ran into her in the hall, and she treated him like an enemy of the state.

You would’ve thought Grant pissed in her cereal, stole her purse, and cussed out her granny the way she acted. The whole interaction was odd, but Chrissy is a strange chick sometimes. I couldn’t believe she acted so hateful towards Grant, but she used to fall all over herself when Mark came around, even though he didn’t give her a second look. He barely even spoke to her and she still acted like he hung the moon.

I guess a little fame can make anyone a fan. I didn’t think Chrissy was like that, but I also thought Mark was the love of my life. Boy, was I wrong about that.

“Be nice,” I whisper to Grant.

“I’m only nice to you, darlin’.”