When he just grumbled under his breath and otherwise kept silent, I asked, “What are you doing here, Jason? Couldn’t you have knocked and woken me up before you crawled into my bed? I thought one of your crazy fans was in bed with me, thinking I was you!”

“Well, it wasn’t. It’s just me. What the hell is that noise?”

“What? Oh, crackling fire and wind in the trees.”

“Crackling fire and…wind…in the trees,” he repeated.

“Yes.” I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder. He was giving me a ‘you’re out of your goddamned mind’ look. “What? It relaxes me before I fall asleep,” I said, taking offense.

“Can you sleep without it?”

“Of course. I just like listening to it.”

My body was all stiff, but his hand caressing my arm slowly helped me relax and settle back into him.

He put his chin on my shoulder and eyed my phone where it sat next to my pillow. His hot breath was tickling my neck, but for the most part I managed to stay still.

“The wind is kinda creepy, Olive.”

“I can change it to rain.”

Pressing his face deeper into my neck, he chuckled.

“Let’s hear that one.”

Quickly, I stopped the wind and changed it to ‘rain on roof’.

He hummed to himself for a few seconds then approved. “I like this combo much better.”

“There is waterfall or ocean, too.”

“No, keep the rain and your crackling fire. Do you remember how you used to sit by your window and listen to the rain with your eyes closed?”

“Of course I do.” But how did he?

“You always had a smile on your face when you did that, your mind miles away. Your mom used to get so frustrated with you when you walked out in the rain without an umbrella. You got sick every single time, but nothing could stop you.”

“Yeah,” I agreed in a thick voice. “And I remember you trying to stall her whenever you saw me trying to sneak out without her noticing.”

“Well, it’s hard to trick your mom. It’s a two-man job.”

We were silent for a while after that.

“I think the AC in my room is broken. I didn’t see the need to call someone up just to check out what’s wrong when we have another perfectly warm room.”

“So…?”

“So, we have to share the bed for another night. You can go back to sleep now.”

“I can still hear my heartbeat, Jason. I’m pretty sure I won’t be going back to sleep any time soon.”

“Let me see,” he whispered, and suddenly his hand was moving upward from my stomach toward my heart.

Carefully skipping my boobs—darn it!—his hand rested over my heart.

“Hmm, you’re right; I can feel your heartbeat.”

I couldn’t speak. No words whatsoever.

He took a deep breath against my neck, causing my entire body to shiver, and said, “Go to sleep, Olive.” Then, finally, his hand moved away from my heart and went back to my stomach. Maybe a minute after that, his breathing evened out and he fell asleep.

Just like that.

I stayed awake for hours.

Engaged to a bad kisser?

Did you see the new photos of Hollywood’s most talked about couple? While they were photographed all over the city last week and generally looked happy together, things seem to have taken a bad turn for Olive Taylor.

The new author and Hollywood’s heartthrob attended Jason Thorn’s latest movie premiere in London last night. While they both looked amazing together and stole their fans’ hearts by signing everything that was handed to them, it all changed when it was time to pose for the cameras.

For days now, rumors have been swirling that the new couple is considering tying the knot after losing so many years that could’ve been spent together. In the second photo, you can clearly see that Miss Taylor is proudly sporting a diamond ring on her finger. We are thinking the rumors are true! How many of you ladies would die to be in her place?

But then, the unthinkable happens. When the couple is asked to share a kiss for a photo, Jason gives her a peck! A peck, people! The handsome star, who is known for his sexual prowess, who we’ve seen devour numerous women on the big screen, gives Miss Taylor only a peck! And the funny thing is you can see the disappointment on her face so clearly.

We were definitely expecting a much more heated kiss from the couple, and considering the look on Olive’s face after the whole thing was over…dare we say Jason Thorn is a good actor, but actually a bad kisser in real life?

Chapter Twenty-Two Olive

It had been exactly a week and a half since we had returned from the movie premiere in London. A week and a half since all the tabloids made the picture of me—the one nobody could seem to stop talking about—their cover. While Jason never even mentioned the existence of it, Megan had been fuming. She had called me more than a few times just to make sure I was aware of how much I was screwing things up for Jason. After that specific conversation, I’d expected to get a call from the man himself where he would gently let me know that our fake wedding thing was off.

That call never came.

While we barely saw each other the week after getting home, I’d kept myself busy with packing and writing the first few pages of my new novel. As much as I was happy that my muse was back, I was just as unhappy about the fact that I couldn’t tell my mom and dad or even Dylan about what was going on in my life. At first, they hadn’t believed that something was going on between Jason and me and chose not to listen to the press, but after they saw the photos of the premiere, they had called and asked me point blank if everything was true. I hated lying to them, but I had no other option if I wanted a chance to make things real with Jason.

Needless to say, neither one of them were happy with me. While my dad only spoke to me for a few seconds, my mom was…she was sad and worried that I was making a mistake. Because the filming for Soul Ache was about to start, I couldn’t even go to them until Jason had free time to come with me because there was no way I was facing them alone. No way in hell.

So, that morning, in Jason Thorn’s millions of dollars’ worth of Bel Air home, I had officially become Olive Thorn. Other than Lucy, Tom, and Megan, there were no witnesses to our holy matrimony. Even Char couldn’t make it because she had a full day of exams.

Two hours after our ‘wedding’, Jason had left me with Lucy because he had to be on set for rehearsals and some other stuff. A while after that, Lucy had had to leave for a class.

Which left my newly married ass all alone in Jason’s home. As the hours passed, I gave myself a tour of his house and happily discovered that he had a huge media room with incredibly comfortable leather seats. After walking around aimlessly, in and out of his house, I forced myself to sit down next to the pool with my laptop and get some words in.

When the sky started to darken and I was still alone, I decided that it would be a good idea to start celebrating my very own wedding day with a drink. Then one drink led to another, and then another.

I did awesome. Happy fucking honeymoon to me!

The next thing I knew I was dialing Lucy’s number.

“Being Jason Thorn’s wife is not”—I hiccupped—“as glamorous as I thought it would be.”

“Are you drunk?” Lucy asked.

“So what? So what if I am? Were you having sex with Jameson? Because if you were, good for you. Good for everyone who is having sex. Technically it’s my honeymoon, and do you know how much sex I’m having right now? Nada. Zilch. Exactly that much. Think about that. Your mind is blown, right?”

Lucy laughed for a good minute. “Yours sounds blown, all right,” she said, still chuckling. “I think you should slow down on the drinks.”

“You would think that, right? I mean, if Jason Thorn can’t blow your mind, who the heck will? But is he here blowing my mind right now? Nope. My vagina is perfectly untouched by a Jason Thorn penis. Hell, even my lips are untouched.”