Rogue Beast (The Rourkes #12) - Kylie Gilmore Page 0,9

said.”

She squeezes my arm. “Are you mad?”

“I’m not sure,” I admit.

“Because he’s into her,” Sean says. “I told him we’d go on a double date.”

Josie claps, her eyes lighting up. “That would be awesome. And if you got married, she could be my sister! Oh, you guys, you know I’ve always wanted a sister.”

I stare at her. Is she nuts? “Josie, we literally just met.”

“And you have sisters-in-law now,” Sean points out, taking a roll of parchment paper from a drawer.

Josie beams at him. “I know, but I’m greedy.”

He sets the roll of parchment paper on the island, cups her jaw, and kisses her. “Love you,” he says gruffly.

She practically dances in her seat. “Love you too!”

I take a long draw on my beer, ignoring the stab of jealousy. I’m happy for them, for all of my brothers with their forever loves. It’s stupid to feel like I’m the one left behind. Youngest is always last. So what? It’s not a race.

Josie takes in my no doubt somber expression and gets serious. “I don’t think she meant to hurt you by bringing you into it. You have to understand the kind of spotlight she’s under. People know her from Capital Asset, and she was in two teen shows before that. She started working when she was fifteen, so the public feels like they know her. They want to know who she’s with and what she’s doing with her life. It can be a lot of pressure. And this thing with Colton…” She shakes her head. “I think people feel sorry for her being cheated on, so she spun it away from that. She’s probably trying to make it look like it was a mutual decision to make things more equal. Your name popped up because she’d just been talking to you.” She lifts a finger. “But subconsciously she wants to be with you.”

Hope spears through me, and I ruthlessly tamp it down. Harper only talked about me to save face. I hadn’t realized she was known to the public for so long. I only knew her from that one show. I don’t keep up with celebrity gossip, and I missed those teen TV shows. They were probably for girls.

I feel Josie staring at me. “Okay, I get why she’d want to even the playing field after Colton sprang his new girlfriend on her. Ya know, this acting thing is really a double-edged sword. You get to do the work you love, but there’s a price, giving up your privacy.”

“Exactly. And she’s had some weird stalker incidents since playing Amanda Boxer. The last thing she wants is to appear weak in any way.”

My gut tightens. “What kind of weird stalker incidents?”

“The most recent one was a guy breaking into her apartment, asking her to whip him.”

“Jesus.”

Sean shakes his head. “Sicko.”

“What happened?” I ask. “What did she do?”

Josie straightens in her seat. “I give her a lot of credit for quick thinking after being woken from a sound sleep. She told him he had to be tied up in the closet before she’d do it, and he had to wait for her command. So she tied him up with her jump rope in her bedroom closet, and then she left the apartment and called the police. They found him still eagerly waiting for her.”

My gut twists. “She must’ve been terrified.” Sweet Harper facing an intruder alone. No wonder she hired a bodyguard. Shit. That’s why she looked horrified when she realized I wasn’t her guard. She didn’t seem scared, though, and she still invited me into her trailer to explain myself. Maybe she could tell I wasn’t a danger. I would never hurt a woman.

Josie continues. “Yeah, and there’s been others. Guys are attracted to tough Amanda like she’s some kind of dominatrix, or they feel threatened and want to put her in her place. Usually it’s just verbal harassment, but there’ve been a few incidents where a guy grabbed her by the hair or ass.”

A cold fury settles over me. I hate that she felt threatened by these men just because she’s on TV doing her job. I almost wish I were her guard because I’d kick every guy’s ass that tried to get near her.

“I can’t believe this is all over a character she played on TV,” I say. “Don’t they know the difference between fiction and reality?”

She lifts a shoulder. “I know. Not that it excuses that kind of behavior anyway. No woman should be harassed for being who