MOONLIT GUARDIAN
by Crystal-Rain
Love
Blurb:
Kimiko Lee has it all: Fame, money ... and a stalker. The multiracial actress-singer
doesn't know who to trust as she receives threats and dodges bullets, especially when
those closest to her become suspects.
Her newest bodyguard, Draven Gregory, vows to keep her out of harm's way. Being a
weregargoyle, he has a few tricks up his sleeve to keep her safe.
As they quickly fall for each other, they realize their hearts may also be in danger.
Can the woman the world sees as Hollywood royalty love a creature like him?
Can he be with her without endangering his people?
doesn't know who to trust as she receives threats and dodges bullets, especially when
those closest to her become suspects.
Her newest bodyguard, Draven Gregory, vows to keep her out of harm's way. Being a
weregargoyle, he has a few tricks up his sleeve to keep her safe.
As they quickly fall for each other, they realize their hearts may also be in danger.
Can the woman the world sees as Hollywood royalty love a creature like him?
Can he be with her without endangering his people?
Excerpt:
“OK. We have the script
reading rescheduled for tomorrow. We’ll have to squeeze it in but the important
thing is that they aren’t holding this against you.”
“Yes, that’s
clearly the important thing,” Draven murmured from his post at the door, making
no effort to hide his disdain.
“Yes, it is,” Kim
said, turning toward him. “Kimiko isn’t just a person, Mr. Gregory, she’s a
business. If she isn’t making money, her employees aren’t getting paid. That
would include you.”
“And you.” He
looked at her pointedly.
“It’s fine,”
Kimiko said quickly, noticing the outrage in Kim’s eyes as her mouth opened to
respond, and sensing things would get very ugly very quickly if she didn’t put
a stop to this conversation. “I’m happy to do the script reading tomorrow.
Right now, I just want to sleep so unless there’s anything absolutely important
that needs to be gone over right now, can we call it a night?”
“Make sure you go
over the script,” Kimiko ordered, dropping the script on the coffee table in
front of her before vacating the chair across from her. “And try not to stress.
You don’t want to be all tired looking during your photo shoot tomorrow. This
one’s for the upcoming album.”
“I thought the
last shoot was for the album.”
“That was the
regular album. This one is the deluxe version with the bonus tracks.”
Kimiko rubbed her
temples. She didn’t understand why they were doing the photo shoots before the
tracks were even recorded or an album title was created, but whatever. She’d
learned life gave her fewer headaches if she just went with the flow.
Kim left, but not
before spearing Draven with a hard glare. For his part, he did a great job of
ignoring her obvious displeasure with him, remaining silent as she left the
room.
“You know, she’s
the one who hired you.”
He raised an
eyebrow.
“So you should be
nice to her if you want to keep the job.”
“So you’re telling
me I work for her, not you?”
“Something like
that.” Kimiko leaned forward and picked the script up from the coffee table.
She flipped through it, skimming only the highlighted lines she was supposed to
memorize. She gave the script two minutes of her attention before tossing it
back on the table.
“Memorize the
lines already?”
“I don’t need to.
The part is mine, even if I suck.” She noted the ever so slight judgment in his
eyes. “I’m not being conceited. I just know that my performance doesn’t matter.
Every movie I’ve been offered has been on behalf of the studio, not the
directors. They never give me anything that takes great acting skill and even
if I blow the weak lines they give me, they wouldn’t care because they will
have earned back every dime they’ve spent making the movie and then some during
the opening weekend. My fans will see any movie I’m in and I have a lot of
fans.”
“So, even if you
put out bad work, your fans will still buy it?”
“Movies? Yes. They
love me for my music, for my persona. Even when I do badly in a movie they
think the world of me. As long as I keep putting out music I’m in good shape.”
“So why do movies
at all?”
“Why is anything
done in this world?” She laughed. “Money. Fame. Being somebody.”
Draven shook his
head as he walked over to the balcony and closed the doors.
“What’s with the
head shake?”
“Nothing.”
“You obviously
have an opinion.”
“I wasn’t under
the impression I was being paid for my opinion.” He turned away from the balcony and stood
straight, hands clasped behind his back, eyes forward.
Again, she found
his lack of focus on her annoying. “Share it anyway.”
He shrugged, as
much as his fierce protector stance would allow. “I just think it’s a sad life
to have if all your needs are so material and being adored by strangers matters
so much.”
Kimiko sucked in a
breath as if she’d been punched in the stomach. Immediately, her hackles
raised, ready to strike back with any of the countless comebacks she had for
so-called serious journalists who attacked her during interviews, ridiculing
the quality of her music and acting, but the words didn’t come out. Draven
wasn’t a journalist. He had no reason to bait her. He was simply a man speaking
a truth she knew but did not want to admit to.
“I did not mean to
offend you. You asked my opinion.”
Realizing she’d
allowed her bruised feelings to show, Kimiko shook the hurt off and stood from
the loveseat, wrapping the robe she’d changed into after her shower tighter
around her. “I’m ready for bed.”
“Good night.” He
didn’t move from his post.
Kimiko stared at
him for several minutes until he raised an eyebrow in question, seeming
otherwise oblivious as to why she hadn’t moved.
“This is the point
where you leave the room.”
He frowned. “My
job is to ensure your safety.”
“Right. You can do
that outside the door.”
“I could.” He
nodded as if considering the option. “I could leave you exposed to whoever may
enter the room through the balcony and kidnap you from your bed.”
“Seriously?”
Kimiko laughed. “We’re on the twelfth floor. Who’s going to kidnap me? Batman?
Leave the room, now. I’m not sleeping with you watching me like some weirdo.”
“It is my job.”
“A job I could
have ended with one phone call.”
“You said Kim
hired me.”
She folded her
arms over her chest. “That doesn’t mean I can’t fire you. I’m a superstar. I
get what I want.”
“Do you want to
get hurt? Killed? You tried to stop me from performing my job correctly earlier
today and you were nearly shot.” He stepped closer until he loomed over her.
“Settle down, princess, and allow me to keep you alive to make your bad
movies.”
Kimiko’s jaw
dropped. Not even Kim would dare speak to her in such a way and she was family.
“Nothing to say?
Good. Sleep well.”
“Who the hell do
you think you are?” Kimiko asked, gathering her wits.
“Draven Gregory,
bodyguard to a beautiful, spoiled superstar who hates all the things she’s
supposed to love about her life, and man who has no intention of leaving her
unguarded. Any more questions?”
Find out more about her here:
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