Текст книги "To Love Jason Thorn"

Автор книги: Ella Maise

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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

I smiled. “Okay, let’s get you home then, you little drunk.” My eyes fixed on her lips, I reached up and wiped the moisture away, dragging her mouth open slightly.

She bit down on her lip where I had just touched her.

Holding back a groan, I looked at her friend. “Thank you, Lucy. I’m sorry if I intruded upon your night. I was just worried about her.”

“It’s okay. We can do this any time, and she’s already on her way over to a major hangover, better we cut her off now. She is a lightweight.”

I could see that, and for some reason, I preferred a lightweight Olive to a heavy drinker. Nodding, I gripped Olive’s hand to steer her away from her friends, but her other friend, Charlotte stopped us.

“Here,” she said, handing me a key over Lucy’s shoulder. “Olive doesn’t have one on her.”

“Char, I love you,” Olive exclaimed, and pushing Lucy out of the way, gave her friend a big hug.

“Hey,” Lucy yelled.

“I love you, too, Olive.” Charlotte laughed a little stiffly. “I’ll see you back at the house.”

She nodded and came back to my side, holding her hand out just like she had done when she was only ten years old.

The memory hit me in the back of the head out of nowhere. When Dylan and I had found her sitting on the school steps, she was silently crying because some kid had made fun of the burn scars on her mom’s arms. While Dylan had flown up the steps to find the little shit who had upset his sister, Olive had simply held out her hand, silently asking me to stay with her.

My eyes on her upturned hand, my mind stuck in a memory I hadn’t even been aware I remembered, I reached for it, just like I’d done years before, and held on tight.

I felt more eyes on me, so I looked to Lucy’s left and saw the guy, Marcus, sizing me up with a not-so-happy look on his face.

Ignoring him and saying goodbye to her friends again, I pulled Olive out of the bar and onto the street.

Clean air.

When we reached the black SUV, Olive suddenly stopped. I looked back at her.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”

“No.” She squinted her eyes. “I don’t think so. Where is your car?” She looked to her right and left, trying to spot my Spyder.

“I didn’t take the Spyder out tonight, that would be too telling. Come on, this is mine, too.”

“Oh, man,” she groaned, her face crestfallen as she started petting the car. “This monster is yours, too? How many cars do you have?”

“Five,” I answered, amused at her tone.

She groaned louder and her shoulders slumped, but she didn’t object when I unlocked the door and helped her in.

“You’re getting farther and farther away from me, Jason Thorn,” she mumbled as I was trying to buckle her in.

Misunderstanding her meaning, I laughed and said, “That’s because you are drunk. I’m right here. Let’s get you to your bed so you can sleep it off.”

“Let’s,” she murmured, right before I gently closed the door.

***

Our drive to her apartment was quiet as she dozed off in the passenger seat. I parked the car in front of the building and jumped out to help her down before she fell on her face. When I slowly opened the passenger side door, she was still sleeping. I was considering whether I should carry her upstairs or if that would be pushing it when some jackass drove by us and someone leaned out the window and shouted something at us.

Fucking idiot.

Olive’s eyes opened with a small frown.

“Jason?” she asked, her voice all drowsy and sexy.

Shit!

“Yeah, it’s me, sweetheart. Can you walk if I help you?”

Her face still confused, she almost toppled down the seat when she tried to take a step out into thin air.

“Whoa, easy there,” I said, gripping her waist. Her dress had ridden up and it seemed insistent on flashing me her white lacy underwear. “O-kay. I think it’s way past your bed time, Olive. How about you give me a little help so I can get you up while you are still intact.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her eyes half closed.

I locked the car, sneaked my arm around her waist, and half carried her up to their apartment as she hung on to me.

When we were finally inside, I had trouble locating the light switch and eventually gave up on it altogether. Fuck eyesight, especially when my friend’s sister was almost half-naked in my arms.

“Olive? Are you awake enough to tell me which room is yours?”

“Huh?”

“Sweetheart,” I mumbled, taking her weight as she rested her head against my chest. I gripped her chin and tilted her head up. Her eyes opened.

“Jason.” She looked at me as if she was seeing me for the first time. There was that smile again.

“Hi there,” I said, brushing away her bangs from her face.

She put both of her hands on my chest and hiccupped. “Hi.”

I chuckled and held her up as her knees buckled. Regaining her balance, she looked around for a moment then turned her huge eyes at me. “What are you doing in here?”

“Came to drop you off. Can you show me your room?”

She lifted her hand and pointed to her left.

“Where are Lucy and Charlotte?”

“They’re still back at the bar, remember? People were starting to notice me so I had to leave with you. I’m sure they’ll be here soon enough.”

She half shrugged and yawned through the motion.

We entered her room and I stopped short. This was her room? Just a bed against the wall? Not that she had any space for anything else, but still. Glancing to my right, I saw a small dresser in the corner, but that sad piece of furniture didn’t even count.

“Sorry,” she said in a small voice. I had no idea how she’d guessed where my thoughts were, but she hit it right on the nose. “Considering where you live, this apartment”—she gestured to her room with her hand—“this room must look very small to you.”

“Come on,” I said, ignoring her words. As soon as I lowered her on the bed, she grunted and fell to her side.

“Can you put my legs on the bed? Please? I don’t think I have it in me to lift my arms and get undressed.”

“Believe me, that’s good news for me,” I muttered quietly and kneeled next to her bed. I didn’t think it would be wise of me to deal with a half-naked Olive. Pulling the high heels off of her feet, I gently gripped her ankles and lifted them up.

Either way, she didn’t need to get undressed; her legs were right there for all to see. As if that wasn’t enough torture, she stretched her arms, groaned, and started to turn her hips this way and that way, causing her dress to shimmy up. Leaning over her, I pulled the edge of her dress down a little and my knuckles caressed the soft skin of her thighs.

A soft moan escaped her lips and I froze. I was fascinated by the goose bumps that had appeared on her legs after the small contact. While I was distracted by that soft moan and her legs, she chose exactly that moment to flip onto her stomach and hug her pillow.

“Goddamn it!” I cursed as I tried to pull out my hand from underneath her. When I finally managed to do so after palming places I shouldn’t even get close to, I let out a long breath and straightened up.

Then I saw her round ass. “Oh, for god’s sake…”

“Jason,” she mumbled when I was still staring at her sleeping form.

A small, helpless growl escaped from my lips. “Yes?”

She smiled, but her eyes were still closed when she asked, “Will you stay in Dylan’s room again? I know you were his friend and not mine, but I used to get so excited when you stayed over. Even after you broke my heart, I couldn’t hate you. Not really.”

Thinking she was talking about me leaving after my mother’s suicide, I sat down on the bed and brushed away the few pieces of hair that were covering her face.

Looking around the room, I saw a neatly folded blue throw on the edge of her bed. Since I knew it would be damn near impossible to lift her from the bed and get her under the covers, I opted to use the throw to at least cover her legs.

Instead of leaving like I should’ve done, I took a minute to watch over her. Then I leaned down and brushed a small kiss on her temple. “I’m sorry for breaking your heart, sweetheart. I never meant to hurt any of you.”

Trying to be quiet so I wouldn’t wake her up, I hesitated to leave once I was at the door. Her breathing had deepened and she looked like my Olive.

Not mine mine…but still…maybe… Oh, I was fucked…

I wasn’t ready to admit it aloud, but I might have liked touching her bare skin a lot more than I should have, both at the parking lot and just then.

Either way, I wasn’t in trouble. I shouldn’t be.

At least not yet.

Hollywood heartthrob Jason Thorn spotted getting cozy with a mystery beauty

Just weeks ago, the movie star shocked everyone when the back-alley footage of him and Jennifer Widner, 25, having a quickie was revealed all over the media outlets. While it was taken down rather quickly, it’s not something we’ll forget any time soon.

However, in these photos, Jason Thorn, 26, seems to have forgotten all about his costar Jennifer, and his alleged Canada quickie, who was all over the tabloids just last week. While we have yet to identify the young woman in these intimate pictures, Jason seems completely enraptured with her.

An eyewitness claimed: ‘Her shirt looked completely ruined and Jason was helping her out of it in the parking lot. We thought they were about to get busy right there in the open—the heat between them was that palpable. While she looked a little flustered, they couldn’t take their eyes off of each other. After she had the shirt on, Jason caressed her stomach. We were shocked when Jason Thorn just backed off after the short but intimate touch. They looked completely in love with each other.’

After seeing these snaps of the pair, our team agrees, especially the one where Jason is greeting the mystery woman with a kiss on her temple. Anyone else swooning?

The rumors are still circulating that Jason has lost two major roles because of his sexcapades making the rounds. However, he doesn’t seem too worried about it. Wouldn’t you agree?

The pair was photographed leaving together, but our sources say they didn’t head to Jason Thorn’s pad in Bel Air.

So far we haven’t heard anything back from Jason’s reps. Do you think this is just another fling where the mystery woman will end up in another alley with Jason Thorn? Or does it look like the movie star is changing his ways for the lady in question? It would definitely be a first, don’t you think? Either way, we’ll keep you in the loop.

 

Chapter Fourteen Jason

“What are you doing here at eight in the morning, Megan?” I half-growled as she entered my house. “I thought our meeting was at twelve o’clock.” Rubbing my eyes, I tried to focus on her as her heels snapped with efficiency down the hallway and into the living area. She looked way too ready to start her day, where I was still hoping to get rid of her quickly so I could get back to bed.

“You haven’t been online,” she guessed correctly and dropped her purse on the ottoman.

“I was sleeping, Megan. In fact, I’m still sleeping. Can’t this wait until our meeting?”

“I’m afraid not.” Bending, she fished her phone out of her bag. “You might want to put something on. Not all of us want to see you half-naked in the early morning.” She waved her hand at my body dismissively.

I yawned and looked down at my naked chest.

“What is this about? I’m still keeping it in my pants if that’s what you came here to check.”

She texted someone on her phone, put it down, and picked up another one of her phones. It was too early to handle her.

“Tom will be here in a few minutes,” she said, not looking up from her phone.

“Great,” I yawned again. “Just what I needed at this hour, both of your faces up in my—”

“Stop whining and go change while I make a call. I’ll let Tom in.”

“The bastard already has his own security code; he can let himself in. He better be bringing me some coffee and breakfast.”

“Tom said he’d call Alvin over, he’ll bring whatever it is that you like to have.”

“Now you are handling my own assistant, too, Megan? You don’t have enough people around you to control?”

She gave me a hard look, dismissing me without another word.

“Just great,” I muttered under my breath as I left her to do whatever the hell she was there to do.

When I emerged out of my room, freshly showered and properly clothed as per Megan’s wishes, Tom and Alvin had joined Megan in the living room and were having a quiet conversation.

“What is this emergency that couldn’t wait a few more hours?” I asked no one in particular as I sat down right across from them.

“We have to make a statement,” Megan started as she crumbled a muffin and took a small bite. Alvin handed everyone their coffee. After thanking him and picking up my own blueberry muffin, I tried to give all my focus to Megan. “I didn’t want to say anything without talking to you first.”

“Then why are Tom and Alvin here? And a statement about what?”

“I thought Tom would want to be in on this convo.” She gave a small shrug, keeping her eyes away from Tom. “And you trust his opinions.”

“You haven’t been online yet?” Alvin asked, hiding a smirk behind his coffee cup.

I raised an eyebrow.

“And I was the one who called Alvin since if you give the go ahead, he’ll be one of the few people who is in on this,” Tom said as he gave Alvin a hard stare.

I glanced back at Alvin, but he gave me a shrug that clearly said, ‘I have no idea what’s going on either.’

“Are you about to tell me I’m going to die or something?”

Megan and Tom shared a look I couldn’t even begin to decipher. Taking a sip of my black coffee, I waited for them to spill whatever it was they couldn’t wait to tell me.

“I think we found your girl,” Megan finally announced. Tom was still avoiding my eyes.

“This is about that?” I scratched my stubble and leaned back in my seat. “I thought someone else had come out claiming I had sex with them in the elevator or something like that. What’s online then?” I asked, relaxing into my seat even more.

Megan tilted her head as Tom sighed. “Is there another girl about to come out and claim that, Jason?”

I gave her a grin. “I don’t think so.”

She raised an eyebrow and waited for something that wasn’t coming.

Tom broke our eye contact by repeating her earlier words.

“She is right, Jason. I think we found the right girl for you. This is the perfect opportunity for us to use. We can’t miss this.”

“I believe that’s something I’ll decide, not you, and certainly not Megan. And what opportunity are you talking about?”

Megan powered on her tablet and looked me square in the eye. “You need to think about this before you make a decision. We couldn’t have spun a better story than this and we didn’t even do anything. This is pure, organic PR. If you think about it, you’ll see that yourself. This is the perfect solution, Jason. All I’m asking is for you to think about this. Do you understand me?”

I looked at her unblinkingly and said, “I can see that whoever this girl is, the idea of her being my doting wife is exciting you for some reason, but I told you before, Megan, I won’t marry some girl and haul her around to events to get her noticed. If I’m about to share a house with her, I should at least get along with her as a person.”

Tom smiled. “I don’t think that will be an issue with this girl.”

After rubbing my temple, I sighed and extended my hand to Megan. I had dug my own grave, and now it was time to lie in it. “All right, give it to me.”

Wisely, she handed me the tablet without saying another word.

When I saw the first photo of me kissing Olive’s temple, I looked up with a frown on my face.

“What is this? Someone took Olive’s picture yesterday?”

“Keep scrolling down,” Megan said.

I scrolled down as she’d instructed, and all I could see were pictures of Olive and me from the day before. Before we headed into the building as I was jogging to her side, me kissing her temple, a zoomed in photo of her closed eyes—in a damn red circle—as I was kissing her temple. It didn’t end there. There were the pictures of her after she had changed into my shirt. As my anger started to rise, I was thankful that they hadn’t managed to get any shots of her while she was half-naked in her bra, but they did have shots of me caressing her stomach as we clearly stood a little too close to each other. I hadn’t noticed that I was standing inches away from her lips.

They weren’t the best quality, some were even blurry, but every shot looked intimate.

And blurry or not, we were beaming at each other.

“What the hell is this? Who took these?” I asked, only then noticing that Alvin was looking at the photos over my shoulder.

“They were either taken by someone who works in the building or just someone who was visiting. No one knew you were going to be there, and the shots are not high enough quality to be from a pap,” said Megan. “There is an article attached to it. Read it.”

Agreeing with her assessment about the images having been captured a bystander, I scrolled farther down and got to the article.

My anger reached a whole other level. I rose up from my seat and tossed the tablet on the couch between Tom and Megan.

Everyone was silent.

“I have to call Dylan and their parents. If someone tells them about this, they’ll misunderstand.”

“Dylan?” Alvin asked from where he stood, his arms crossed against his chest.

“Olive’s brother. My friend,” I clarified, glancing at Tom. That bastard knew I was friends with Olive’s brother.

“We can use her,” Megan interrupted before I could even think of where I’d left my phone the night before.

“What did you just say?” I asked softly. Surely I hadn’t heard her right.

Tom silenced Megan with a sharp look. “Come on, let’s just sit down for a minute, Jason. Like you said, it’s pretty early. I’m sure neither her nor her family has seen anything yet. You’ll call them as soon as we are gone.”

Even though I didn’t want to admit it, he was right. I wouldn’t want to alarm Olive’s mom and dad by calling at an ungodly hour, especially when there was a definite chance that they knew nothing about the photos.

I sat my ass back down and reached for my coffee. After I swallowed almost all of it down, I got up and tossed the cup into the garbage can in the kitchen.

“Ok, who has this?” I asked when I was back and my temper was slightly more under control.

“It dropped online after midnight. I tried calling you, but you weren’t answering, which is why I thought I should come here in the morning instead of waiting for our meeting. We need to get ahead of this and make a decision.”

“You were right, thank you for not waiting until our meeting. I don’t want them to learn about it from someone else. I doubt Olive has seen it either. At least not yet, not after her night out.”

Alvin coughed behind me and walked toward the kitchen. “Since you are having this meeting early, I’ll go and rearrange your schedule.”

“What night?” Megan asked, looking at Alvin’s retreating back.

I waved my hand. “Just in case I missed someone taking pictures of me, I was in a college bar with Olive. She was celebrating her movie deal with her friends and I was in and out of there with her in ten minutes tops. Other than her friends, nobody recognized me, so there is nothing to worry about.”

“Jason, was that a smart thing to do?” Tom asked. “Especially when you are trying to lay low? They could’ve written you up with a college girl if they had gotten a whiff of your scent in there.”

“If they had pictures, trust me, they would’ve released them with the rest of this. I was okay.”

Megan’s sharp eyes were still on me. “So, what is your decision?”

“Decision? About what?”

“We have an opportunity here, Jason. It’s up to you if we use it or not, at this point. If you accept, all I’m going to do is release who she is to the media and give a short back story of how she is your childhood friend—”

“She is my childhood friend’s sister,” I growled.

Megan just kept going. “And how she is the author of the adaptation... Well, everything will fall into place even easier than we expected. No one will assume your marriage is fake. All they’ll see is two friends falling in love after seeing each other again after so many years. The public will love the story. It’s the perfect cover, Jason, and you know it.”

“No, Megan. No matter how perfect this all sounds to you, I won’t use Olive. No.”

“Who said you’ll be using her? Your PR team will be using your story. Not you. She is your friend isn’t she? Wouldn’t she want to help you? You’re already friends, so what if you live in the same house for a few years?”

“She is right, Jason,” Tom jumped in. “I don’t think Olive would mind helping you, and I’m sure you remember what I told you about the book… I think she might be more than okay with this.”

I dropped my head into my hands. Olive, my wife? Dylan would skin me alive. Him aside, I didn’t even want to think of what her parents would think of me.

“Here.” Tom handed me the tablet again. “Look at these photos and tell me I’m not right.”

“The chemistry between you two speaks for itself, Jason. You already look half in love with her in these. It wouldn’t take much to make people believe that you married for the right reasons,” said Megan.

I grabbed the tablet from Tom—maybe a little too forcefully—and glanced at the website where our photos were plastered.

Funnily enough, we did look in love.

Yeah, I was definitely in trouble.