Chapter 19

Abigail had finished her shower and had just changed into a T-shirt and shorts when Rick returned.

“The shower’s all yours.” She told him when he started pulling off his jersey.

“Thanks.” He said with a smile as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Abigail was sitting on the sofa, flipping through channels on TV when he walked out wearing only boxers, which he obviously didn’t seem to mind since he walked over to her and sat next to her on the sofa.

Abigail tried not to notice how incredible he looked with his golden hair still damp from the shower and the lean body that was so relaxed next to her tense one.

Rick reached over, took the remote from her hand and switched off the television.

“Didn’t we need to talk?” he asked when she faced.

“Yes.” She said turning to him and crossing her legs on the sofa.

He noticed that she was wearing socks and frowned slightly.

“Is it that cold in here?” he asked, pointing to her socks. “Do you want me to raise the temperature on the air conditioning?”

She shook her head.

“Nah, I’m fine.” She said, “I just like sleeping in socks.”

He shrugged.

“Now,” Abigail said in her getting-down-to-business voice, “First things first. Sara.”

“What about her?” Rick asked puzzled.

“Haven’t you noticed that she never leaves my side?” Abigail inquired.

“She doesn’t want you to be alone.” Rick told her, “She knows how busy we are before a show.”

“And I really appreciate that and even though I can ask her any questions I have about the show and stuff and she’d tell me, I just don’t want her getting suspicious. I mean, I ask a lot of questions.” Abigail told him.

“I’m sure she just thinks you’re just naturally curious to find out how things work.” Rick assured her, “She has absolutely no reason to get suspicious of you , so don’t worry about her.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Besides, I was the one who said that we could tell them about you so it would make things easier for you.” Rick recalled.

“And how would that make things easier for me?” Abigail asked folding her arms.

“Well they’d all be willing to help you out, for one.” Rick suggested.

“Go on.”

“And we won’t have to put on an act for them.” He added.

Abigail seemed to contemplate it for a minute.

“It’s still too risky.” She concluded, “Even if the rest of the guys aren’t involved in this, we don’t want them to slip up and say anything that would give me away. It’s still better if we keep this to ourselves until it becomes absolutely necessary to tell them about it.”

“You’re the COP so I guess you’re right.” Rick conceded.

“Now, about this interview tomorrow.” Abigail began.

“Yeah, um, we’ve got this Teen People interview and photo shoot tomorrow at 10 AM.” He stated. “Look I made a copy of our itinerary for you just in case I forgot something.” He got up and walked over to one of his bags where he pulled out a manila folder and handed it to her before resuming his seat on the sofa.

“Thanks. That was a good idea.” She commented. “Now, to get a list of suspects. Do you know of anyone who would want to get back at you? Ex-girlfriend? Friend?”

Rick thought about it for a while before shaking his head slowly.

“Come on Rick, you must have pissed someone off for them to be doing this to you.” Abigail told him.

Rick looked surprised.

“What makes you think I know the person that’s doing this to me?” he asked her.

“Well, from what I’ve seen so far, you guys have got great security so only people you know can access backstage and in your room.” She informed him.

“So that’s why you don’t want to tell the other guys.”

“Exactly. Because at this point, you can’t trust anyone.” She stated.

Rick sighed.

“I really can’t think of anyone who would hate me this much to be doing something like this to me.” He said frankly.

“That’s okay.” She told him, “It’s late and I know you must be tired. You can think about it and if anyone comes to mind, you can tell me.”

Rick nodded. “Will do.” He said, and then smiled.

“What?” she asked when she noticed.

“Wasn’t there something else we had to talk about?” he asked her.

She frowned. “Like what?”

“Me.”

“Rick, we are talking about you.” She said with a smile.

“Not exactly.” He said shaking his head, “And you did say that you wanted to know everything about me.”

“Yes but we don’t have to do this tonight. You’re tired.” She said noticing the way he was looking at her. Teasing her.

“I’m not.” He countered, his voice lowering, his eyes holding hers captive.

“I am.” Her voice was whisper soft. She saw him move towards her and froze.

“Then you should go to bed then.” He told her, tucking a curl behind her ear.

“Yes I should.” She agreed, her eyes locked on his.

He smiled.

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked so softly that Abigail wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.

She couldn’t seem to find her voice. His head bent towards her and her lips parted instinctively. They were only inches away when the shrill of the phone made them jump apart.