“I don’t know. He assumed I knew who he was,” Sasha said, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Ms. Keaton?” Jared looked to Annika for answers.

Annika shrugged. “How would I know? I forgot it as soon as he told me.” She glanced at her watch, obviously worried about making her ferry.

Uneasy, Sasha looked to Jared. “Can we get her to the car service we arranged?”

Jared nodded. “I’ll get someone to take her out–”

“Sasha.” Xander called to her as he approached from across the room.

“Hey,” she said, relieved he was here.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Jared is going to take Mom to her car. I’ll explain while we head to my trailer.” Now that Xander was with her, she could let Jared take her mom.

She turned to Annika. “Have fun with your friends. I love you,” she said, hugging her mother.

“Me, too.” Her mom squeezed her back, speaking softly in her ear. “I know I’m hard on you but I just want great things for you.” She smoothed her hand over Sasha’s hair. “And Rebecca has big things to talk to you about. All our dreams are coming true.”

Sasha winced at that, but she wasn’t going to fight with her mother right before she said goodbye. “I know, Mom. Have a safe trip and enjoy your time with friends.”

Sasha’s mother slid her arm into Jared’s, who appeared uncomfortable. He glanced at Sasha. “I’ll meet you two at your trailer.” He pinned his gaze on Xander. “Don’t leave her side,” he said, then walked her mother to the exit.

“What was that all about? Did something happen while I was out?” Xander asked.

Knowing he’d lose his mind, she prepared herself, then went into detail about the crew member who had latched on to her mom and claimed he and Sasha went way back.

“And you don’t remember him at all?” he asked, then clenched his jaw tight.

“No. Jared will do a sweep looking for him after he gets my mother off safely.” And since she was with Xander and had a guard at her door, she felt protected. “I told Cassidy we could get dinner together and catch up.”

“No.”

“I—” She cut herself off before she could snap back that he couldn’t tell her what to do and drew a deep breath instead. His worry was genuine.

Xander placed a hand on her back. “Cassidy can come to my apartment for dinner. The last thing we need is another incident with you two out in public. Cassidy got lucky on Saturday night. I don’t want to tempt fate. Or the stalker,” he muttered. “I’ll even make myself scarce so you two can be alone to talk.”

She smiled. “You can hide out in your office and work. No need to go anywhere.”