MaleAndroidCompanion (2 page)

Everyone would be at the family home in
Forest Grove, Oregon, to celebrate, including Aunt Clare, who nagged her
incessantly about marriage and babies. Gia was the only one of her siblings who
wasn’t married and settled down.

“Does this mean your relationship with Mr.
Temin is over?” one reporter asked.

Gia calmly turned to Doug with a look of
indifference while she ground her teeth behind her lips. “It’s true we have agreed
to sever our business relationship.”

Doug adamantly shook his head and the
cameras caught the movement. As a barrage of paparazzi descended upon him, he
and Mary disappeared back into
her
dressing room, which meant once more
the media whirled like a pack of wild animals toward Gia.

“What about your personal relationship?
Does this change anything?” the blond reporter dogged her.

Oh hell no. The more the merrier. NOT.
Gia barely held back her sarcasm. What the hell did the man think?

A woman close to Gia’s twenty-five years of
age asked, “How are you feeling? Are you hurt? Mad?” She crammed her microphone
in Gia’s face.

A step backward put the much-needed space
she had to have between them. Yes. Gia felt all those things and more, but
those were emotions she didn’t care to share with a bunch of strangers or see
strung across the tabloids. Instead, compelled laughter squeezed from her tight
lips.

“This is Hollywood, people. Nothing is what
you believe it is. Please don’t forget that. Now if you’ll excuse me. It’s been
a long day.”

Another camera snapped, bright light
causing her to stumble backward. Damn these people. All she wanted was a couple
of minutes to sort through her tattered feelings. When a hand grasped her
wrist, she tensed, jerking back before she realized her bodyguard held her.

Antares looked down at her with jet-black
eyes. “Miss Easton, do you have need of my services?” The android positioned
his imposing six-foot-four frame between her and the hungry journalists who
screeched to a halt. Their flashing cameras even paused when the bald-headed
robot turned and narrowed his foreboding gaze on them.

A sigh of relief filled Gia’s lungs. “Thank
you, Antares. I have to get out of here,” she murmured while making a
last-ditch effort to hold on to her composure.

“As you wish.” Strength radiated from his
powerful hand, which was now placed at the small of her back. Maneuvering her
in front of him so he stood between her and the crowd, he guided her toward the
limousine parked by one of twelve large studios that towered around them. Trans
airliners moving swiftly on rails crisscrossing high above them continued to
shuttle people from one mammoth building to another, while smaller versions of
the crafts darted past on the ground.

As they neared the car, a young woman
appeared out of nowhere, her steps fast and determined, heading in their
direction. As she approached, Antares snarled, the sound more animallike than
human.

The brunette abruptly stopped. Something
close to fear widened her eyes. “I-I just wanted an autograph.”

When Gia saw the telecom device in the
woman’s hand, she placed a palm on Antares’ arm and looked into his cold, hard
eyes.
Sheesh.
The man was solid muscle and good-looking in a dangerous
sort of way.

“It’s okay.” She stepped beyond his shelter
and closed the distance between her and the eager fan. A movie clip played on
the device she held. It was Gia’s first movie, the one that had set her career
into motion.

A heavy sigh pushed from her lips.
Sometimes she wished she had stayed in Forest Grove, but other than her family
there was little for her there. The fact was that locating a job in town hadn’t
been easy. Every position she had ever held, the boss had either hit on her or,
once his wife met her, she was immediately fired. Jealousy sucked.

But through the ups and downs of growing
up, she did manage a college degree in social sciences. An elective course in
theater and a professor’s suggestion she consider a career in acting set her
rethinking her course. In a last-ditch effort to find a place where she
belonged, she packed her bags and headed to Hollywood. There she discovered her
passion for acting.

Gia reached for the device the woman
extended and pressed the still button before she removed the attached pen. The
picture froze on the bedroom scene with her and James Scott embracing.

For a moment, she was taken back in time.
She had been young and hungry for success when her break came. And, like the
inexperienced girl she had been, she made the first cardinal error and fell
deeply in love with her co-star. Of course
his
love had been merely
lust.

Gia pushed the ugly memory aside. “Your
name?”

“Beth.” The fan beamed. “I want to be just
like you.” The dreamy stars twinkling in the young woman’s brown eyes weren’t
hard to miss.

Should Gia burst Beth’s bubble? Tell her
that fame wasn’t all it was cracked up to be? Nah. She probably wouldn’t listen
anyway. Instead Gia smiled and continued to scribble a message across the video
screen.

Someone yelled her name. She turned and
another picture was snapped. A jet cruiser was heading straight for them. Two
people straddled the hovercraft that floated above the ground, a driver and the
blond man with the camera.

Damn Doug and Mary. Their little escapade
would cost Gia any moment of peace, and her pride, once their story hit the
airwaves, which it was probably doing right now.

Oh God. What would her mother and father
say? To date they had understood about the embellished rumors or out-and-out
lies that were the price of fame, but this one hit a little too close to the
truth and it hurt.

The limousine door rose like a bird’s wing
in flight. She scrambled inside, smelling the heady scent of leather as she
scooted across the butter-soft seats. When the door lowered, she heard the lock
click. In seconds, her bodyguard was behind the wheel. Immediately the windows
surrounding her blackened. Gia could see out, but no one could see in.

A series of small explosions shook the car.
She startled, catching her breath.

“Sorry, Miss Easton. The auto-scan
discovered several tracking devices. They have been disposed of.”

Gia glanced up to see Antares’ handsome
face reflected in the rearview mirror, but his black eyes were lifeless—cold. A
flare of light caught her attention as another cruiser joined the first one
pulling alongside the car.

“Where to, Miss Easton?”

“I don’t care.” She collapsed against the
backseat. “Just lose them.” Tired and shaken, all she wanted to do was
disappear. So much for the wrap party. She had no desire to put on a brave face
or celebrate with cast and crew tonight.

The engine roared to life and the climate
sensor hummed as it sought out the ideal temperature for her. When Antares
shifted the vehicle into gear and put his foot on the gas pedal, tires
screeched. The force pressed her tight against the seat, increasing her
anxiety. On the first turn, she slid across the seat, almost out of reach of
the telephone. The tip of her fingers activated the speaker and a dial tone
screeched. On another bend that flung her in the opposite direction, she managed
to punch in her attorney’s number.

The monitor lit up with the middle-aged
man’s rounded face. The ruddiness of his nose and cheeks revealed he drank a
little too much. The minute their eyes met, the toothy smile he’d greeted her
with dissolved. His bushy brows tugged inward.

“Gia, is something wrong?”

She pressed the button that disconnected
their visual feed, not wanting him to see the tears swelling. Clearing her
throat, she held on to her anger, the only thing that would get her through
this day. “I fired both Mary and Doug.”

“What?”

After she explained the sordid situation,
she added, “I want all their belongings out of my house before I get home. Oh.
And I need you to contact my publicist. Start damage control immediately. Have
Karen leave me a voicemail on the path she decides to take. I don’t want to be
bothered unless it is necessary.”

“Of course. Do you think Doug or Mary will
cause problems?” Larry asked.

“Hell. Yes. But isn’t that what I pay you
to handle? I want them silenced and out of my life. Make it happen, Larry.”
With the press of a finger, the telephone went dead. On second thought, she
deactivated the communication device. She didn’t want to speak to anyone,
especially her mother or sister.

Tension crawled across Gia’s shoulders—tiny
knots that made her ache and clench her teeth so that her jaw pulsated. She
rolled her head from side to side, listening to muscles pop before she jerked
open the cabinet beneath the wet bar. She always kept a change of clothes in
case of an emergency.

While she changed into a pair of jeans and
T-shirt, Antares took another left and then a right, trying to shake their
pursuers. Sunlight blinked out, turning the day to night as she slipped on a
pair of sandals.

It took a second or two for her eyes to
adjust and when they did she realized they had entered an underground tunnel.
The cruisers were nowhere in sight, but that didn’t mean anything. Even without
a tracking device, with satellite ground positioning it wouldn’t be long before
they were once again in pursuit. The car’s descrambler would hold off their
pursuers only until they found the right frequency.

Gotta love technology. With each techno
advancement there was someone out there with the means to get around it.

As they pulled into a parking garage containing
only a few cars, she looked around. “Where are we?”

The area was dimly illuminated. Two guards
stood sentry by a steel door outside a large gray building. There were no
signs, nothing descriptive that gave her any hint as to where Antares had taken
her.

He glanced in the rearview mirror. “The
Institute of Robotics. This is the back entrance of the M.A.C. Division.”

“M.A.C. Division?” she repeated. Why did
this sound familiar?

“Male Android Companions.”

When the car came to a complete stop, she
slid across the seat. “Let me out of here.” She didn’t wait for Antares to open
the door. Instead, she grabbed her keyless remote and activated a sensor. The
door swung upward as she stuffed the remote into her pants. “You can lead the
paparazzi away. I’ll catch a taxi.” Before she crawled out of the limousine,
she snagged a pair of sunglasses. When she placed them on her nose, the garage
darkened even more. Grabbing her favorite ball cap, she stuffed her long red
hair beneath it.

“Miss Easton, this isn’t wise. You need
protection.”

Antares had warned her just yesterday that
she required additional security when she went out but she had brushed him off
as he rambled off the mathematical probabilities of danger. No one wanted to
hurt her. They just became overzealous at times. Shaking what security she did
have probably wasn’t the brightest idea, but she really needed to escape, even
if it was for a brief reprieve. She scanned the rustic concrete building once
more. No one would look for her here; besides it appeared almost vacant with
only two cars in the parking lot.

“I’ll hide out in the Institute for thirty
minutes or so and either call for a taxi or if you feel it’s safe enough you
can return and pick me up. Now go before the vultures discover this location.”

For a second she lost her bravado as she
watched her limousine pull away. Maybe she should have thought this plan
through. Gia didn’t even want to think about the gossip that would surface if
they found her here.

Dumped starlet turns to hot male robot
for affection.

The two guards at the door leveled their
ominous gazes on her and she gave them the same scrutiny back. Yes. Gia had
heard of this place. In fact, last night she had been intrigued by one of their
commercials advertising a fulfilling sexual experience without the
complications of a relationship.

No emotional ties—just great sex, anytime
she wanted it. Her own boy toy!

“Maybe this is what I need,” she said
half-jokingly. But the thought did nothing to ease the ache in her chest or the
moisture blurring her vision. She wiped angrily at her tears. “You’re so not
worth crying over.”

Doug was history.

Determined footsteps carried her toward the
building. When she was about six feet away from the guards, the large metal
door they stood next to opened and a man dressed in a three-piece business suit
exited. “Welcome, Miss Easton.”

Her jaw dropped. “How did you know—?”

A Cheshire grin fell across his handsome
face. “Our recognition cameras are the best around. When I saw your name—” He
shrugged, extending a hand too soft to have done any real work. “I’m a fan.” As
his warm palm met hers, she noted the surveillance equipment lining the roof
and the identification pad embedded into the doorknob.

So much for being incognito.

“I’m Toil Roberts.” His grip grew snug.
“I’m so glad that you are in the market for a M.A.C.”