Shocking Sapphires - Ann Omasta Page 0,32

as well. “I know Grant, too. I’m sure he’ll want to see me. Tell him I don’t care about the wheelchair, and I want to have his babies.”

I glared over at her. She didn’t look like a crazy person, but what kind of wacko would offer to have a stranger’s babies? It was obvious that she didn’t really know him.

Not wanting her to glom onto my way in, I pleaded with the man. “Listen to me. I truly know Grant, and he’ll want to see me, if you’ll just let him know I’m here.”

A young woman on the other side of me yelled, “I know him, too. Let me see him. Plee-eease.”

“No,” I said as other voices joined in claiming to have an in with Grant. I could hear my voice growing screechy, but I couldn’t seem to control it. “You have to listen to me. I used to watch Scout.”

“I’m Scout’s babysitter!” A woman several rows behind me shouted.

“I’m Scout’s mother!” A voice that was deep enough to be a man’s weighed in.

I rolled my eyes, disgusted with the entire situation. After mumbling, “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” I decided this was getting me nowhere, so I turned and tried to ease my way out of the crowd to return to my Jeep.

Evidently having had enough waiting without any satisfying results, the crowd became overly rambunctious. As I tried to make my way back, the flow of movement shoved forward. Before I knew what was happening, I was knocked to the ground as feet rushed past me. Turning, I realized the group had broken through the barrier and was stampeding toward the set.

Stunned by the sudden flurry of activity, I stayed low to the ground and checked myself for injuries. Other than a skinned knee, I appeared to have escaped relatively unscathed.

Hearing yelling, I turned toward the production set. The group I was with had joined the ones that were closer to the action, and they were getting really rowdy. I hoped they didn’t burst through the lines and injure anyone. It seemed that standing for too many hours in the blazing sun had allowed a mob mentality to take over.

The guards appeared to be holding the frenzied crowd back for the moment, and I could hear a siren approaching. After the police car screeched to a halt, Claire’s sister, Meg, and her partner, Jimmy, went racing on foot past me.

Now that Meg was on the scene, I knew I didn’t need to worry about Grant, Scout, or anyone else being hurt by the unruly crowd. No one messed with Meg. She was small, but mighty.

When I went to stand, I winced at the stinging pain in my leg. Suddenly, I was swept up into big, strong arms. Half-expecting it to be Grant Chandler, I was surprised when I turned my face to see a handsome stranger.

26

Molly

“Oh!” I squeaked in surprise before stammering, “Umm. You don’t need to carry me. I can walk.”

“Nonsense,” he said in a booming, confident voice. “I saw the entire incident from my limo.”

That statement made me wonder if he was hiding in his vehicle until the danger was over with, but I refrained from saying anything to that effect.

“Let me take you to the set medic,” he offered.

I didn’t particularly want to go anywhere with him, but if there was any chance that he could get me on the set, it might be worth it.

Feeling a bit leery about letting him carry me away, I said, “I don’t even know who you are.”

“You don’t?” He sounded quite surprised and a bit disappointed by that, but he quickly recovered and said, “I’m Cole Daniels, billionaire extraordinaire.”

It took all of my strength not to roll my eyes at his ridiculous introduction. The man was obviously quite full of himself––as I imagined most billionaires would be.

“And you are?” He asked as he turned off the main path.

“Molly Malone,” I answered, craning my neck to see where we were going. I was not going to be kidnapped again.

Seeming to sense my discomfort, Cole answered my unasked question. “We’re heading to the actors’ entrance to the set. The producers asked me to do a cameo to bring some legitimacy to their little movie.”

I was thoroughly honked off by his reference to Grant and Alex’s major film production as a ‘little movie’ and by his insinuation they needed him. My guess was that he had reached out to them to buy his way in, but I kept that to myself once