Chapter 14

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

The next morning, Colton sat at the Frontier Diner across from Tony and Rick. He'd gotten over the urge to strangle them both after they'd walked in on him and Ella at the most inopportune moment the night before.

"You shouldn't have left without telling us where you'd be." Tony took a bite of his pancakes. "You know we'll work with you and help with whatever you need, but we lost two days thinking you were just hiding out in your townhouse."

"Which would definitely be better than here," Rick interjected. "I looked up one-horse town, and lo and behold, it was a picture of Oak Creek. What can there possibly be to do around here besides watch the grass grow?"

"Shut up, Rick." Tony shot a look at the other man. "This is his hometown."

Rick rolled his eyes. "What? I'm just saying it's small and in the middle of nowhere."

Tony gritted his teeth, obviously about to lay into Rick, but Colton held out a hand to stop him and then took a sip of his coffee. He was well aware that to people outside of Oak Creek, the charm and appeal could be lost .

"You guys know me," he said. "Sometimes I need space. We didn't have anything on the schedule, so I just took off."

Tony cut into another bite of pancake. "I get it, but now's not a great time to disappear. We want to capitalize on your uptick in popularity since the avalanche. Continue to use it for growth and get you to the next level."

"I had plenty of followers before the avalanche, and to be honest, I'm not interested in those who just started to follow me because they are tragedy-chasers. That's not what we're all about."

Tony nodded. "I know that, but if we are able to convert some of those people into true fans, then we can double your base and have even more options available to us. Hell, man…films, TV series. Next-level stuff."

And none of that interested Colton even the slightest bit. For him, doing stunts had always been about the love of the outdoors and pitting himself against nature. He'd been very blessed that he could make a living doing that, but making himself into some sort of social media superstar had never been his goal.

"I haven't taken a break since the accident. I'm taking one now."

Rick scrunched up his face so much he looked like a cartoon character. "Here? You're going to take a break here ? Why don't you take a break in Rio or on an island in Fiji or, hell, somewhere that has an actual chain restaurant rather than this diner."

Now, Colton was starting to get a little bit offended.

But before he could say anything, Tony slid Rick's plate away from him and stood so the other man could get out of the booth. "Why don't you go inventory the equipment we brought with us, Rick?"

Rick made a face. "Dude, we only brought like three cameras and some basic editing stuff."

Tony gestured toward the door. "Then you should be able to count it multiple times and think about how not to be an asshole while doing it."

Rick muttered under his breath as he slid out of the seat and walked toward the door. Tony sat back down, shaking his head .

"Sorry. Rick is a hell of a cameraman but obviously not much when it comes to tact."

"Thanks for getting him out of here before I had to do it myself."

"He's just young and stupid."

"As I once was myself." Colton held up his coffee cup in salute to Tony.

"Same, my friend." The other man picked up his water glass and clinked Colton's cup. "Also, Rick is a little stressed about the stalker situation. Another reason you probably shouldn't have just run off. You got another letter, and then no one knew exactly where you were."

Shit. He hadn't thought about how this whole stalker thing might affect his absence for everyone else. Generally speaking, he'd always been able to just get up and go for a couple of days whenever he wanted to, and as long as there hadn't been a stunt scheduled, nobody cared.

"I'm sorry if I worried you or anybody else. That wasn't my intent. Was there anything different or special about the letter that came?"

Tony took out his tablet and spun it around so Colton could see a picture of it.

"Not much, except for the fact that it was twice in one week. And, unless I'm mistaken, her phrasing is starting to get a little stronger."

Colton nodded while he read. "A little more desperate."

"Exactly."

My dearest Colton,

I dream of you nearly every night now. And thank God every day that you are alive. I know that's true because we are supposed to meet and because we will be together forever.

It won't be long now. I can feel it, can't you? I wonder if you dream of me also. You do, don't you? That's the way it's meant to be .

I can't wait until we can hold each other forever. One lifetime isn't enough with you. But it's a start.

"There's still no threat." Colton handed Tony back his tablet. "Creepy as fuck, but still no threat."

"Drenched in the same perfume and placed outside the office doors this time."

Colton grimaced. "She's doing her research. Finding out more about me."

"I'm not sure whether to be truly worried, but I think you should watch your back. And definitely don't take anyone you don't know back to your hotel room."

"I don't plan on it, but not necessarily just because of the stalker." There was only one person he wanted to consider taking back to his room, and she definitely wasn't a stranger.

"Because of Ella O'Conner."

"You know about her?"

Tony shrugged. "I saw the way you two were talking at the wedding reception. Plus, I heard rumors. And then last night…"

"I'm not sure exactly how things stand between her and me."

"But she's part of the reason you're here."

Very definitely, but he wasn't going to get into that with the other man. Time to change the subject.

"I know we want to capitalize on…everything." Tony would probably want to post about Colton's panic attacks on social media if he knew about them. "But I've got a friend who's starting a camp for kids, and I'd like to be here to help him get this first one off the ground."

Colton explained some of the details behind the camp.

Tony's eyes lit up. "Actually, that sounds amazing and would be something your fans would love to see. Why don't we film it?"

"No." Colton didn't even have to think about it. He'd already offered to use any of his media clout to help with fundraising or awareness, but that hadn't been what Bear wanted. This was about a group of kids getting attention that they never did in day-to-day life. Bringing in a crew, and to record Colton with the kids, would be no different from the normal lives they led with their siblings getting so much time and attention.

"I get your hesitancy, but it could be tasteful." Tony gripped the table. "We could show how you were getting to know the kids and how important they are too."

"Not this time, Tony. I know you mean well, but no."

Tony sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Okay, you're the boss. And, you're right, you deserve a break. Maybe a week here will refill the well for you. I'll make sure this whole week is clear."

"Actually, let's go ahead and clear the whole month."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "A month? That's a long time to go without any sort of new stunt. It's going to affect popularity ratings."

Colton didn't care. "Then we'll just have to replay some stuff from past stunts. And honestly, I'm not sure when I'm coming back."

Despite Tony's grimace, it felt good to say those words out loud. A month would be much longer than the camp, but it might be just the right amount of time to see if what was happening with Ella was something real.

He'd been on his way outside to sleep in his truck again when he'd seen the lights on in that building. He hadn't had anything better to do than to go turn them off—no need to waste electricity.

He hadn't expected to find Ella inside that test kitchen. And he definitely hadn't expected not to be able to keep his hands off her.

He shouldn't want her after what had happened between them that night she'd snuck out, but that hadn't seemed to matter to his libido one bit.

Even now, he had to be thankful he was sitting down so no one could see what sort of physical reaction he was having to the thought of touching her last night. Of catching those soft curves as she fell. Of breathing in the scent of her skin right before a kiss that was interrupted.

"Does all this have to do with Ella?"

Colton reached back and rubbed his neck, wishing his fingers were touching Ella's skin instead.

"It has to do with a lot of things. But mostly, it has to do with helping kids who deserve it. That's why I'm here, and that's what I want to concentrate on."

It was definitely true that those kids deserved it, and it was even true that he wanted to give them the attention they deserved.

He wanted to help them.

And if he happened to get to spend as much time as he wanted with Ella O'Conner in the process, even better.