Charlie’s maniacal laugh died when she saw the look on Elijah’s face. “You can’t be serious. He’s like fifty.”
“He googled how to give a blowjob. He said he doesn’t have emotions like other people. I imagine that makes dating hard.”
Charlie frowned. “What… exactly did he say?”
“He said he experiences emotions like somebody with gloves on. He knows what he’s supposed to feel, but just… doesn’t. Except sometimes he does, and he feels things for me. It’s all super confusing.”
Charlie’s expression sent a shiver down his spine. “What do you know about him? Like what has he told you on your late-night phone calls?”
Elijah stopped to consider their conversations, stomach dropping. “I don’t know. Not a lot. We mostly just talk about me.”
“You know nothing about him? What did he used to do? Where did he go to school? Nothing? Nothing about his family? Nothing?”
“No. Like, why are you acting like that’s a huge deal? You once fucked our Uber driver. Did you ask about his family history?”
“This guy is in charge of keeping you safe and he’s telling you he has no emotions. That’s not raising any red flags for you?”
“This is Hollywood. Everybody here is a fucking narcissist, Charlie. None of us are good at processing our feelings.”
“No, but almost all of us have feelings. Do you know who doesn’t have feelings?”
His brows knitted together. “Casting directors?”
She snorted a surprised laugh. “Well, yes… butI’mtalking about psychopaths.”
He rolled his eyes hard. “Okay, I wouldn’t call Shep a psychopath.” When Charlie just blinked at him, his heart skipped. “Wait, are you being serious? You think he’s like some psycho killer or something?”
She flopped back down on her back with an exaggerated sigh. “No. Not really, I guess. But I still think you should do some more research. Or at least ask him to explain what he meant.”
“You want me to ask him if he’s a psychopath?” Elijah asked, deadpan.
“You are exhausting me,” she muttered. “No. I want you to maybe look into his background. Ask about his family. See if he’s willing to talk to you. Ask Linc. I think you have a right to know who’s guarding your body.”
“I should interrogate him about his life after one blowjob? That won’t make me seem needy at all.”
“The man said he’d give you anything you want to make you happy. Tell him knowing about his life will make you happy.” Elijah groaned, wanting to kick his feet like a toddler. “Or don’t and end up chopped up in little pieces in his freezer. It’s up to you,” she quipped. “I have to get going. My mom’s coming into town. I’m going to meet her at LAX and then we’re going for drinks.”
“Tell her hello for me.”
Charlie rolled to her feet and gave a jaunty wave. “I will.”
Elijah didn’t walk her out. He did nothing but lay there thinking about what Charlie said. He knew the adult thing to do would be to ask Shep or even send a message to Linc. Instead, Elijah snagged his phone, firing off a text to Wyatt.
Elijah:What’s Shep’s deal?
When the three dots jumped, implying Wyatt was texting back, Elijah sank his teeth into his bottom lip, his heart pounding.
Wyatt: Be more specific.
Elijah: Like who is he? What’s his backstory? What did he do before he became a celebrity babysitter?
Once more three dots danced, and Elijah’s pulse seemed to sync with their rhythm.
Wyatt: I don’t know if I can tell you stuff like that. It might be, like, classified. I don’t know how that stuff works. Let me ask Linc.
Elijah: No! Don’t ask Linc.
Elijah fired back. But there was no response.
