a little something on yours.”
“Makeup?” Colin sounded half horrified, half delighted. “But I’m not important.”
Risa pursed her lips. “Humor me. Now, I’d best get back. We’re out of here in a half hour. Be ready.”
The rest of the day and evening was a whirlwind of rushing from one obligation to the next. Colin couldn’t fathom how Judd and Kevin did the whole bodyguarding thing all the time. There was so much crazy coming at them, and they always had to be watching and defending. He supposed it wasn’t that much different from being pack enforcer. Colin was really bad at it. He got caught up in the celebrity of it all, and kept getting distracted from actually keeping an eye out for attackers. He got occasionally hypnotized by Judd’s ass in that fantastic outfit, or caught up in his mother’s crazy shenanigans. Or perhaps it was that his wolf side saw Lexi as the biggest threat, a strange Alpha in their midst. Also, he kept catching sight of his own reflection and getting startled by how awesome he looked with a bit of makeup. Not too much, because he wasn’t courageous enough for that. But his eyes did look totally amazing framed by liner, and mascara, and a hint of shimmer. He’d paid very close attention when Jojo was putting it on, in case he wanted to try it at home. Unlikely, but just in case.
The stupid stretch limo took them everywhere. Because it was Lexi, Risa, Jojo, the manager, the outfits, and four bodyguards, every movement from point A to point B was a production in and of itself. Yet Judd and Kevin seemed to be ever looking outward, utterly unimpressed, their attention solely focused on possible threat. Colin realized, for the first time, that his brother and Judd were actually really good at their jobs. The ear-buds became dedicated to a military-like commentary on positions, threat assessments, and safety. Colin, who had monitored their coms before, had never been on the ground with them at the same time, and found it all rather exciting.
He was part of his mother’s entourage, for lack of a better term. Her life was all glamorous photo ops, selfies, meeting fans, and doing interviews. She wore one outfit to the TV station, then changed into a completely different one for the supermarket opening, and finally something else for the club. She had to be photographed, fully posed with the right background, each time. Even though all the outfits were gold.
She was, in public at least, charming, vibrant, and witty. Colin could practically see people fall in love with her. She was also very beautiful, with that full curvy figure and waterfall of red hair – a bombshell. On top of all that, she was an Alpha werewolf – powerfully charismatic.
Colin felt self-conscious in his own ludicrous getup but it hardly mattered, as no one gave him a second glance when she was around. He did catch Judd checking him out once or twice. But only briefly, as the enforcer would instantly continue scoping the crowd. For all his mother drew his attention, Colin never stopped being aware of exactly where Judd stood.
Colin took charge of their com unit base. Risa gave him a leather man-bag to carry it. She pursed her lips when he slung it crossbody-style over his head but there was no way he was risking losing the expensive kit.
Judd, Kevin, and Isaac each wore a poppy-shaped ear-bud draped over one ear. Perhaps the cheerful flower detracted slightly from their bad-ass demeanors, but there was no doubting they were Lexi’s bodyguards. Most people they encountered gave them a wide berth. Colin, on the other hand, stuck with Risa, Jojo, and the manager – Lexi’s pack of human sycophants – and pretended to be one of them, rather than security. He wondered what people thought his role was. Defensive running snacks? Offensive twittering. Wide receiver of the sacred snood softener? What other celebrity entourage positions were there?
Judd and Kevin had a series of hand signals and body language codes when they were close to each other, so they barely needed to talk on the coms anyway. Just a head tilt from Judd, and Kevin jumped to guard his flank. But Isaac had to be told what to do, as he rarely worked for Heavy Lifting, and hadn’t the protective instincts of an enforcer. He was clearly paying close attention to the conversations going on around him too. It was mostly superficial but