“Okay then …” Mark said strangely as he and Tony stepped out of their home.
Jesse could only watch as Mark’s expression changed abruptly when he saw Hal standing in the hallway. His jaw dropped, and his eyebrows raised as he took in the sight of the celebrity figure occupying the hallway of the small apartment complex. Jesse was silent for a while as her friends’ eyes traveled between her and Hal.
“Mark, Tony,” Jesse finally spoke after clearing her throat. “Allow me to introduce you to my … to Hal Roberts.”
Chapter 15
Hal
Hal stood, horribly amused by the whole situation, as Jesse’s neighbors came out to see him standing in the hallway behind her. He couldn’t help smiling and chuckling to himself as they looked between him and Jesse. Finally, he decided to bring the awkward moment to a close.
“Hal,” he said, introducing himself and extending his hand to the two gentlemen. “Jesse spoke about you briefly.”
“Oh?” Mark answered as he shook his hand.
“She is very fond of the two of you.” Hal smiled as he turned to Tony and shook his hand as well.
“Well, we’re fond of her as well,” Mark said, and Hal raised his brow at the hint of protectiveness he heard in the other man’s voice.
“I am getting there myself,” Hal said, flashing both of the men a smile, making sure to make it just so slightly unsettling. As he had hoped, he saw both of the men bristle a little.
“We were just heading out to the store,” Mark said to Jesse but still keeping his eyes on Hal. “Did you need anything?”
“No, I’m fine,” Jesse said, and Hal nearly laughed at the strained awkwardness he could clearly detect in her tone.
“Okay,” the man said. “We should be back in a couple of hours. Just give me a call if you change your mind.”
Hal could clearly see that the man was reluctant to trust him and could hardly blame him. He was sure that having a random famous person appear in one’s hallway was a bit of a shock.
“I will,” Jesse said from beside him. “I was just going to show Hal around for a second.”
Hal could feel both of the men sizing him up for another moment. He knew that he could take both of these men down within the span of a second, and it seemed that they, too were coming to the same realization. Hal knew, though, that they were just concerned for the well-being of their friend, and he forced himself to relax.
“Okay,” Mark said, his voice still harboring a lot of reluctance. “We’ll see you later, then.”
“See you,” Jesse said softly, and Hal could tell that she was feeling incredibly awkward about the whole situation.
“It was nice meeting you both,” Hal said as they passed him.
“Good to meet you, too,” the other man, Tony said while Mark appeared to simply ignore him.
Hal could feel their eyes on him until the elevator slid closed. He watched as Jesse opened the door to her apartment and moved inside.
“Well,” here we are, he heard her say. “It isn’t much, but it’s mine. Well, as long as I keep paying the rent, anyway.”
Hal chuckled at her even as his eyes traveled over the small apartment. It was indeed small, but it was very homey and incredibly clean and well organized.
“This is a nice little place,” Hal said, looking around, and hearing Jesse laugh from behind him.
“If you say so,” she remarked. “Can I get you anything? Tea? More coffee?”
“No, I’m fine.” Hal refused her offers. “I really appreciate you showing me around a little.”
“Oh, it’s no problem,” she said dismissively.
“I’m sorry my friends were so rude,” Jesse said, and he could hear the embarrassment in her tone.
“I’m sure they just care about you,” Hal answered as he lowered himself onto her soft couch.
“Yeah, they do,” Jesse said. There was a long moment of silence. Hal took a moment to imagine the sight of Jesse moving about in her small home, getting ready for work or just curled up watching a movie. The very thought brought a smile to his face.
“What are you thinking about?” Jesse asked as she went to sit down on the other end of the couch.
“Just you,” he said smiling, feeling a rush of satisfaction at the blush that spread across her cheeks.
“You know,” Jesse sighed and shook her head. “I’m already going to have to deal with the Spanish Inquisition when those two get back.”
“Oh,” Hal nodded. “Well, we may as well give you something interesting to tell them, then.”
Again, Jesse blushed, and Hal chuckled.
“You know, if you keep telling me things like that,” Jesse started, “you may actually have to back them up.”
Hal felt his mirth disappear, and he gave a stern expression.
“Likewise,” he said, putting a bit of a growl into his voice. He felt a hint of amusement as she looked down into her lap.
“You know I would never do anything to you that you didn’t want,” Hal said sincerely, hoping that she understood that he was just teasing with her. “I’m sorry if I’m coming off as rude. I haven’t interacted with women in a very long time.”
Jesse laughed out loud.
“Somehow I find that very hard to believe.” Jesse shook her head.
“Easier than you think.” Hal shrugged. “Usually, I just tell them to meet me in a dark corner. And they do. And we fuck. And then we part ways. And they get to tell the whole world about how they fucked Hal Roberts in a dark corner. It’s a win-win situation.”
“Oh,” Jesse said meekly. “I had no idea you had such … degrading interactions with women.”
“Some women are all too happy to be … degraded, as you say,” Hal said defensively, his eyes narrowing. “Some women are just as eager to get laid at a social event as men are.”
“Probably more so,” Jesse murmured. Hal raised an eyebrow, intrigued and slightly amused by the comment.
“Is that so?” he asked. He was rewarded with yet another violent blush from her.
Hal suddenly got the idea that it was going to be very fun to interact with this woman.
Chapter 16
Jesse
Jesse coached herself to remain calm and reasonable even as her emotions were in turmoil. Hal Roberts was in her house, and Mark and Tony had seen him come in. She had no doubt that she would be faced with all manner of questions on the matter later.
For now, though, she had to deal with an extremely attractive man sharing the same small area with her and had no idea how to deal with that situation. So far, she felt that she was merely lending herself to a lot of amusement on his part. As far as she was concerned, that was probably for the best. At least, she wasn’t saying anything offensive.
“Would you …” Jesse offered. “Would you like to watch a movie?”
“Sure, sounds like a perfectly mundane pastime,” Hal said with a flick of his eyebrow. Jesse couldn’t help blushing.
“Well, what would you like to watch?” Jesse asked as she moved toward her collection.
“Anything is fine,” Hal answered easily. “As long as I’m not in it, of course.”
“Oh, nothing to worry about there,” Jesse said, flipping through her boxes. “I don’t have any of your movies.”
Hal was silent for a long moment.
“Seriously?” he asked, his tone a mix between hurt and disbelief.
“Seriously,” Jesse confirmed, a small smile slipping onto her face.
“Wow,” he said, mostly to himself. “I guess not everyone is as fascinated by me as I thought.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Jesse said in mock comfort. “I’m sure there are a lot of people who have nothing better to do than fawn over some hot celebrity.”
“So you think I’m hot?” Hal said from the couch, his tone full of mischief, and Jesse couldn’t help laughing.
“You would think you would know that without my opinion,” Jesse remarked, finally settl
ing on some cheesy romantic comedy.
“Well, a little affirmation never hurt anyone,” he said.
“But a lot can make them famous,” Jesse said, and she heard Hal laugh.
“True enough,” he said.
Jesse put in the movie and turned on the television to start it. She moved over to the couch, sat down, and then picked up the remote from the coffee table to select ‘Play’ from the menu. She heard Hal groan from the couch beside her.
“What?” Jesse asked, raising her eyebrow. “Don’t like this movie?”
“Never seen it.” Hal sighed. “But I read the reviews and decided it wasn’t worth my time.”
“Well, now you’ll just have to live through it somehow.” Jesse shrugged, leaning back into her portion of the couch.
Hal groaned again, and the movie started playing. Jesse had seen the movie before, but even if she hadn’t, she would have had a hard time paying attention. She couldn’t get over the fact that Hal Roberts was sitting beside her in her own home, watching some B-movie that she had randomly picked from her collection.
Every now and then, Hal would give some comment or other about the main actor.
“He must have just graduated from the porn industry,” Hal grumbled, and Jesse couldn’t help agreeing.
“Well, the writers didn’t really give him much to work with,” Jesse commented.
“It’s not always about the words.” Hal sighed, shifting his positions on the couch.
“Well,” Jesse turned toward him. “I mean, I’m sure they at least play a small part.”
“Oh, sorry.” Hal laughed. “Forgot you’re a writer. What I meant to say was, the words are only as good as the way they’re delivered. A bad actor can make the best script in the world sound like it was written by a six-year-old.”
Jesse couldn’t really argue with that, so she could only lean back and continue to watch the movie.
“In this case,” Hal continued to remark, his eyes fixed on the screen, “I think we have a strong mixture of both problems.”
Jesse rolled her eyes and shook her head. Fortunately, the movie was shortly over.
“Well, that was an adventure, wasn’t it?” Hal said as he stretched.
“Definitely.” Jesse sighed and moved back over to the television to put the movie back in its box.
“What exactly does your movie collection consist of?” Hal asked, his voice teasingly hostile. “I mean, you don’t have any of my movies, and you decide to show this nonsense when the most famous actor of our generation comes over to your house.”
“Well ...” Jesse sighed. “Had I realized you would be visiting, I would have definitely stocked up on all your films so I could stroke your ego.”
“Perfect, just the way I like my afternoons,” Hal said, and Jesse looked back to see a soft smile on his face but dark circles under his eyes.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Hal nodded with a slow blink. “I think I’m finally sober. I should probably get out of your hair.”
“Oh,” Jesse blinked, feeling a little bit blindsided by his decision. “Well, at least let me walk you back to your car.”
Hal looked her up and down, and Jesse felt vaguely violated.
“What are you looking at?” Jesse asked, her tone defensive.
“Oh, nothing.” Hal held up his hands. “You’re just dressed the same. I thought you might want to change. We’ll have to walk through the park again. And I know you were uncomfortable the last time … so …”
Jesse was somewhat surprised that he had remembered and a little embarrassed that she had openly complained about her discomfort to him.
“Um, don’t worry,” Jesse laughed lightly. “I’ll be fine.”
“Nonsense,” Hal said with a wave of his hand. “I’ll wait here, and you go change. And I’m not going anywhere until you do.”
Jesse scoffed at his ultimatum.
“Well, this is my apartment,” Jesse said. “I could always kick you out and then just conveniently follow you.”
“Well, I am a celebrity.” Hal crossed his arms and seemed to contemplate the scenario. “I could always just refuse. And then you would have to call the cops to help enforce your demand. And you would have to, seeing as I hardly think you have the strength to throw me out yourself.”
Jesse let out a long sigh.
“If I change, can we go?” Jesse asked, and Hal smiled, showing off his brilliant white teeth.
“Yes,” he answered. “Don’t worry—I’ll wait.”
Jesse rolled her eyes but moved back into her room. She hastily took off her dress and put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then a pair of converse sneakers. She looked herself over in the mirror, satisfied that Hal would be content with her level of comfort. She let out a sigh, bewildered by her own actions. Finally, shaking her head, she moved back into her living room.
“Well,” Jesse said, gesturing to her outfit. “Is this acceptable to you?”
Hal’s eyes traveled over her body, and they held a look of intensity that she couldn’t help but noticing. Her stomach fluttered in response, and she cleared her throat.
“Well?” she asked again, raising her eyebrows.
“Stunning,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.
Jesse felt a blush rise in her cheeks yet again.
“Um … great,” Jesse managed to mutter. “Let’s get you to your car.”
A slow smile stretched across Hal’s face, and he rose from his seat on the couch with a long stretch.
“Um …” Jesse frowned.
“What?” Hal asked, raising his brow at her.
“Are you still drunk?” Jesse asked, concern in her voice.
“Not at all,” Hal shook his head. “Why?”
“You said I look stunning,” Jesse said. “In jeans and a T-shirt.”
“So I’m not allowed to have my own opinions?” Hal said, raising both brows at her.
“I mean, I guess everyone has their own tastes ...” Jesse shrugged as she moved toward the door.
“Well, what do you expect?” Hal said, slowly following her. “Did you think I would only be attracted to supermodels in short skirts?”
“Something along those lines.” Jesse nodded with a curt smile.
Hal chuckled.
“Maybe for quick fucks in dark corners.” Hal chuckled. “But not for anything long-term. I find models don’t have the appreciation for food that I find very attractive in a potential mate. Plus, I generally like my women on the shorter side as well. It helps to inflate my ego further.”
Jesse couldn’t help laughing.
“Come on; you need to go home.” Jesse shook her head as she opened the door and moved outside of the apartment.
“Aw, and here I thought we were just starting to have a good time.” Hal smirked as he followed her out into the hallway.
Jesse laughed and shook her head, then closed and locked the door to her apartment. She led Hal out of the apartment, back down the sidewalk and made to head into the park, but Hal seemed to hesitate.
“What’s wrong?” Jesse asked, turning around to face him.
“It’s getting a little dark,” he said slowly. “Are you sure it’s safe to go this way?”
Jesse looked around in confusion. The sun was at least an hour away from setting, and there was hardly anyone to be seen on the streets or around them.
“I think we’ll be fine,” Jesse said, looking back at him with raised brows.
“Alright, I trust you,” Hal said warily. “But you should probably stay closer to me. You know, just in case.”
Jesse narrowed her eyes suspiciously. With a sigh, she relented and stepped back to stand beside him. He offered her his arm, and she rolled her eyes and set her hand on his forearm.
“There,” he said with a smile. “Much safer.”
“You know, if I didn’t know better ...” Jesse looked up at him. “I’d say you were flirting with me.”
Hal laughed alo
ud.
“Now that is an absurd notion,” he remarked. “You see, you of all people should know that celebrities don’t flirt. We just offer exorbitant amounts of money to people so that they will agree to be seen with us in public. That way, there are no real attractions formed, and nobody gets their feelings hurt. It’s all much simpler that way, see?”
Jesse sighed and shook her head.
“You know,” Jesse said. “I have no way to tell if you’re telling the truth. So I guess I’ll just have to believe you.”
Hal laughed at her.
“I like you, you’re funny,” he said, smiling down at her. “The next time I need to be seen in public with someone, I’ll have to call you up and offer you an exorbitant amount of money.”
“Well, my rates are pretty high.” Jesse shrugged. “But I wouldn’t charge you for the phone call.”
“Oh, how gracious of you.” Hal laughed.
The two spent the rest of their walk in agreeable silence until they finally made it through the park and back to Hal’s Range Rover in the parking lot.
“Well, thank you for escorting me back,” Hal said.
“You’re most welcome,” Jesse said with a smile.
“And thank you for taking care of me in my drunken state,” he said with a soft smile.
“No trouble,” Jesse offered him a half smile. “I’ve dealt with drunks much more rowdy than you.”
Hal’s joking smile was replaced by a look of concern.
“Not recently, I hope,” he said, his tone dark.
“Oh no.” Jesse shook her head. “Just an ex of mine. He had some real issues.”
“Hmm,” Hal grunted and frowned. “Nothing too severe, I hope.”
Jesse frowned at the sudden change in topic.
“Honestly, this isn’t something I’m comfortable discussing,” Jesse said, making her feelings on the subject very plain.
“I understand.” Hal nodded. “We should probably wait until we’re better acquainted for such serious questions about your past.”
Jesse did not miss his innuendo to their interview earlier in the day, and she let out a long sigh.
“Look, about that …” Jesse started.
Bedroom Rodeo: A Billionaire Romance Page 43
