Chasin' Eight (Rough Riders #11)(126)

“No shit?” Chase craned his neck and squinted at the man. “He’s pretty well hidden. How’d you see him?”

Again she blushed. “My boyfriend is a journalism major at NYU, so I tend to notice stuff like that because he does.”

“I wonder what he’s doin’?”

“Probably following up on the picture of you and Ava Cooper in this morning’s edition of Talk of the Town.”

Chase froze. “Excuse me?”

“You haven’t seen it?”

How come Ava hadn’t mentioned it? “No, ma’am.”

“They don’t name you, just mention the mysterious man in the cowboy hat. And without sounding all freakish fan girl, when I saw the picture, I thought that might be you.”

“Do you have a copy of the paper?”

She shook her head. “My boyfriend uses them for class so it’s at our apartment.”

Pissed him off that someone had tipped the press Ava was in town. They couldn’t even have a dinner out alone like a normal couple without it being news?
The snoopy bastard had probably been lying in wait today. Had he followed him to the gym? Obviously the * had followed him from the hotel. Wait. Chase had taken a cab. Had this guy jumped in a cab too? Why? How had he tracked him down in a city this size?
Face it, you haven’t seen another man wearing a cowboy hat so you ain’t that hard to find.
Didn’t matter. By now probably all the media outlets had figured out who he was. They’d already linked him to Ava, so he’d just add another link and hope like hell this would play well with the PBR. “Angelina, is your apartment close by?”

“Within a few blocks.”

“And your boyfriend? Is he home now?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“He’s got a lot of media contacts?”

“As far as I know.”

Chase grinned at her. “Good. How would he like an exclusive with Ava Cooper’s New York City companion, Chase McKay? With pictures?”

“Are you serious?”

“Completely.”

“But…why?”

“I hate that these bastards have invaded my privacy. Someone is gonna get the story. For once I’d like to control who that someone is and what information they get.”

Immediately Angelina had her phone to her ear. “Ryan? Get your camera and come to the store. Now. I’ve got your first story. The man with Ava Cooper last night.” She didn’t notice Chase’s frozen smile.
Ryan.
Goddamn just the mention of the name made his gut clench with sorrow. He closed his eyes, reminding himself it was a common name. Reminding himself he was here to have fun.
He had his clothes delivered to the hotel. To be ornery, Chase killed a few hours buying gifts and checking out a museum. While his paparazzi shadow thought he was getting a scoop, Ryan had already sold his story to Talk of the Town’s competitor. He wandered into an Irish pub for a beer and a plate of corned beef before he returned to the room.
Ava texted she was running late. After being with her practically twenty-four/seven the last month, he missed her. Hopefully she hadn’t filled all her upcoming days in New York with shopping trips and salon appointments. Hopefully she wanted to spend time with him before they returned to the real world.
Or maybe Ava is sick of your crap attitude as she’s showing you her world.
Christ, he had been acting like a jerk. And it wasn’t entirely from the lingering sadness of Ryan’s death. He was out of his element and taking it out on Ava. He had to buck up, cowboy up and make sure he didn’t embarrass her tonight.