But then he dragged his eyes to the other tray where theybelonged, and he reached out and touched hisprecious.
“Oh my God,” he said in delight.
“Oh my God,” Amanda said in despair.
River ran his index finger over the dial on the front of the ring. It wentwhizz. “What isthis?” he crowed.
“Fidget spinner ring. Fourteen karat white and yellow gold, and little sapphires in the interior circle.”
River put the ring on his third finger. It fit perfectly, its cool weight quickly warming with his skin. He spun the little wheel again. The mechanism reverberated against his flesh.
“Gary,” he said seriously, “I may cry. I love you so much. I will take them both.”
Amanda sighed, put-upon. “Well. At least we’ll get to the photo shoot on time.”
The high of the successful shopping trip put River in a good mood to be bossed around on a photo set, only in part because the wardrobe assistant cooed over his jewelry.
All of this must have been part of Amanda’s master plan, because she waited until they were in the car for the drive back to Silver Lake to say, “I’m worried about you.”
Just like that, River’s mood soured as the events of last night—well, mostly this morning—intruded. “You’re always worried about me. It’s your job.”
He knew it was the wrong thing to say when her smile softened. He could handle Amanda when she was being sharp with him. If she thought he needed kid gloves….
“That’s right. It’s my job. And I’m very good at my job, right? You’re happy?”
This was justmean. “Best manager I ever had,” he promised. God, what did she want? A raise? A pony? He’d give it to her. Amanda was the first manager he’d ever had whogothim. She gave him space to do his thing, worked around his fits of bad temper, and altogether made being a professional famous person less tedious.
“Well, this is me—your hardworking, devoted manager, telling you….” She put her hand on his wrist. “I don’t like walking in on scenes like this morning. It’s happening too often. Something has to change.”
It didn’t take much for River to translate that toyou have to change.
Before he could protest, Amanda said, “I want you to think about hiring a bodyguard.”
“What thefuck!”
She pursed her lips. “Not a traditional one. Not some muscle-bound shaved-head man in a suit with a ridiculous earpiece. I mean someone who would be there in the house if, say, your companion for the evening decided to slip out with the family silver.” She waited a beat, then smirked. “Or the family jewels.”
“Not sure a bodyguard’s going to help much at that point,” River pointed out.
“The point is the idea of being caught will act as a deterrent. You won’t be such an easy target.”
Ouch. River bristled, his pride wounded. “I’m not an easy target.”
“You’ve been robbed by sex partners three times in the past year. Marco left you for that B-list actor the second the shine of the Flat Tires’s Grammy nomination wore off—”
Not that having Marco at the awards with him would’ve made the loss any less disappointing, but it was especially bitter to sit there alone and know Marco was across the room on someone else’s arm.
“—and don’t even get me started on Julian.”
Ah, Julian, who’d thrown a cocaine orgy in River’s house while River was in Vegas with the Flat Tires shooting a music video.
“A bodyguard’s not going to help with the Marcos or the Julians.”
Amanda heaved out a breath and changed tack. “Then let me set you up with someone. There are plenty of male-attracted men in LA who wouldn’t mind raising their profile—”
“No.” He was shaking his head before she could finish the sentence. “I’ve played that game before too. That’s a guaranteed L. No. Think of something else.”
Amanda pursed her lips again, considering him as she tapped her nails on the armrest. “Okay. I have one more idea. But I want you to let me give you the whole spiel before you say no.”
