His jaw ticked, but he handed me his shirt, and I quickly pulled it over my head.

“Thank you.”

He took yet another step and I plastered my back against the SUV behind me. He lifted the shirt up, just a little. This time I didn’t slap his hand away. He’d already seen more of me than I’d been ready to show him.

He gently touched my stomach, then started running the back of his knuckles over my slightly irritated skin.

That thing that resides in your chest? Took wings and flew away.

The other thing that was in my skull? Turned to complete mush.

I sucked in a breath, my heartbeat suddenly slowing down to the point where I wasn’t sure if I was still alive or had stepped into heaven. When I lifted my head up, he was staring down at me—right into my eyes.

By then I was the perfect example of one of those ‘My body is ready’ gifs.

“It doesn’t look as bad as your…chest area,” he said, softly dropping the shirt over his hand.

He didn’t back away.

I didn’t look away.

His hand was still in there.

On my stomach.

Under my shirt.

Then he sighed and pulled it away. Suddenly I could breathe again.

Instead of begging him to take me right against the car like I desperately wanted to, I said, “I’ll be okay. I’ll put something on when I get home. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

He wasn’t happy, but he opened his car door and helped me get in.

Jason Thorn, my childhood crush and now movie star, had touched my stomach, gently, and I wasn’t hyperventilating.

Huh…

Maybe I was getting the hang of this obsession/love thing.

Chapter Thirteen Jason

It had been one hour since I’d dropped Olive off and I was once again sitting in Megan’s office, working on damage control. So far, I’d looked through twelve headshots, recognizing some of the girls while having no idea who the others were. The one thing I knew for certain: I didn’t want any of them.

“I’m starting to doubt your PR skills, Megan,” I said after dropping the photographs back on her desk.

She stared at me blankly as she took a sip of her green tea and slowly put it down on her desk.

“It’s been what? A month? Two months? You still haven’t decided on a girl, Jason. I’m not asking you to make a lifelong commitment here. Pick one so we can draw up a contract and move on from this.”

“I’m not marrying some bloodthirsty new actress who will be in this just to get more exposure. I’m not signing on to carting her around to events and all this publicity crap. Marrying her will be enough torture on its own.”

She tilted her head. “Why exactly do you think we’re doing this, Jason? It will be a win-win for both sides. Why else would they marry you?”

Ouch.

“In your case, you need the positive exposure. You need to remind the public and frankly everyone in the movie industry that you’re not just some exhibitionist and in fact a damn good actor. In her case, whomever you decide to marry, she’ll use you for her own gain, whatever that is. That’s how the game is played.”

I rubbed my forehead and leaned back in my seat. “I don’t like this, Megan. I don’t like it at all.”

“Look, Jason,” she started, leaning over her desk. “You’re an amazing actor. You have the potential to become one of the bests in this industry, but that’s not what the media is circulating any more. Have you read the tabloids lately?”

“You know I don’t touch those.”

“Yeah, you don’t, but people do. They love the gossip, they love to learn the dirty secrets of celebrities, and they definitely love to tear them apart at their first mistake, and every time after that. Those facts will never change. Whether you like it or not doesn’t matter. You’ve been in this game long enough to know the rules.” She stopped and took another sip of her tea. I wanted to take that damn cup and throw it against the wall. “Do you know what they’ll read tomorrow?”

“What?” I snarled.

“A special interview with a college girl from Canada. Apparently, you two fucked all over the place in Toronto, and she is giving the inside scoop on your relationship.” She raised an eyebrow, waiting for my answer.

Dumbfounded, I shook my head. “What college girl? What the hell are you talking about? I haven’t touched anyone since the alley incident.”

“That’s not what she is saying.”

“And now you’re going to believe the tabloids over me?”

“It doesn’t matter what I believe. I know you didn’t touch anyone because I’ve been in contact with Alvin.” My eyes narrowed and she shrugged. “In order to protect you, I need to know what’s happening in your life before others can learn about it. So, yeah, of course I’m keeping tabs on you. The point is, tomorrow everyone will eat up the story. It doesn’t even matter whether it’s true or not, or that there are no exclusive pictures attached to the interview this time around. Everyone will believe it simply because, well, it’s what you do.” Another shrug. “It’s the first thing that pops into their minds when they hear the name Jason Thorn.”

“There are no exclusive pictures, blurry or not, because nothing happened in Toronto.” I sighed. No matter what I said, I knew I couldn’t win. “You’re giving me a damn headache, Megan.”

“I wish a headache was your only concern. Any publicity isn’t good publicity in your case, Jason. Denial can only work up to a certain point and they are not having what we’re serving them anymore. You want to be known for your work, not your personal life. That’s what you told me when you hired me, and you were right, because that’s the only way you’ll keep getting the big roles. Otherwise you’ll just get lost in this circus because no one will be interested in having you on their team.”

“And marrying some girl will solve all of my problems.” I gave her a bitter laugh and rose from my seat. The sky was tinged with pink and soft orange hues while in there, in that office, my own world was filling with dark clouds.

“I didn’t say it will solve all your problems at once. It all depends on how you act after you’re married. You’re gonna have to play the good husband role for quite some time. No stepping out on your wife either. I don’t care if you add a clause into the contract, agreeing to have sex just with each other, but you’re not going out there to take out your dick and keep doing what you’ve been doing.”

“I’m not having sex with anyone,” I growled.

She waved her hand, dismissing me. “Of course, before all that happens we’ll have to make it look like you’ve been dating for a month or two before you get married. Leak some cozy photos of you two together. Then we’ll come up with a good story and you’ll elope or something.”

“A good story,” I repeated, running my hand down my face. “My entire fucking life is turning into a horror story.”

“Well, next time you’ll remember to keep it in your pants and we won’t be in this situation again.”

“Thanks for the advice,” I mocked.

“Go home, Jason,” she said wearily. “I have to make a few phone calls and see who else I can add to your ‘future wife’ pile.”

“Great,” I muttered, heading toward the door.

“I’ll be waiting for you at 4 o’clock, tomorrow. Don’t make me chase you. You have to choose someone so we can start shaping the story. This isn’t something that can happen overnight.”

I headed out without saying another word.

***

Me: What are you up to?

Olive: I’m about to scream for Mercy for the second time tonight.

Me: What?!

Olive: LOL! Not that kind of screaming. Unfortunately, it’s only karaoke night and Lucy wants me to celebrate the movie deal by singing my heart out. We’re doing Charlie Puth’s ‘Marvin Gaye’ in ten minutes, for the second time… I believe it’ll happen a few more times before the night ends.