Dustin walked to my desk to hand it to me. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be gone by now?”
“She’s going to be late,” Rosa explained.
“Everyone sucks,” I muttered, slipping my planner into my bag.
“I’m just saying,” Dustin said. “If it was me, I wouldn’t have been at work at all today.”
“I had two client meetings—you know what a hard time Mariana is having with her gestational diabetes. I wasn’t going to skip out on her. And I taught a class this morning,” I explained. “I needed to come in for a half day.”
“Because no one could cover your class,” Dustin said.
“Actually, I see your point.” Rosa nodded thoughtfully. “If I was going to be in front of cameras tonight, I would definitely want to get a Zumba session in first.”
“Or, you know, I might just enjoy my job.”
To be honest, that was a bit of an understatement. I didn’t just enjoy my job—I freaking loved it. Sam liked to tease that it made me a giant nerd, but I didn’t care. For me, and most of the people I knew, work had always been something that you just had to do to make ends meet. You were lucky if you found something that allowed you to provide for yourself or your family. You were beyond lucky if the place didn’t make you crazy. But to have a job that I actually looked forward to, a job where I often stayed late, just because I had work that I wanted to finish, a job that made me feel important and worthwhile—that was an experience I had never imagined.
I’d gotten into it entirely by accident. I’d been living in New York for three weeks, spending most of that time looking for work. Jackson offered to connect me with any number of entertainment industry professionals, where I could put my experience as his PA to good use. It was stubbornness, according to him, that led me to refuse. He’d done so much for me already, more than anyone ever had. I wanted to contribute something, however small, and I wanted to do it on my own. I didn’t, however, have any idea of what I wanted to do. I was planning to start school, but the semester didn’t begin for months, and I was getting desperate. In the end, despite Jackson’s strong discouragement, I applied for a job at an insurance agency in the Bronx.
From the moment I walked in the door for my interview until the moment I left, I felt sick. It was like reliving a bad dream, like being transported back to a time when I was unhappy, scared, and directionless. I may not have known what I wanted to do, but I sure as hell knew that I didn’t want to spend my new life working in the same job I’d had, and hated, in my old one.
On the street outside, I tried to convince myself that it would be okay, that I could do it for a few months. That I could do it for Beth. That relying completely on Jackson wouldn’t make me happy, as easy as it might be. And then I saw the sign in the window of the brick building next door: Bronx Hispanic Community and Family Center. And under that, five words. Volunteers Needed. Make a difference!
I’d marched right in and turned in my résumé. A volunteer position wouldn’t bring in any money, but let’s be real—I was currently shacked up with a multimillionaire. At the very least, volunteering would keep me busy and feeling productive until a paying job turned up.
Four weeks later, they hired me full time. My boss, Camilla, told me that HCFC could use someone with my passion. And I was passionate about it, more than I realized I could be about a job. The HCFC’s mission was to improve the quality of life for the neighborhood’s residents, primarily of Hispanic origin, many of them immigrants. A big part of that was a weight loss and wellness program. I spent my days meeting families and young people and helping them create action plans to improve their own health and the health of their children. My favorite part was working with young moms and moms-to-be. We taught baby care classes, and I got to bring Beth in all the time. The clients loved her. When Camilla suggested we start a formal exercise program, I got certified in Zumba. Now, they actually paid me to dance and exercise with clients, many of whom had become friends. Who wouldn’t love a job like that?
Of course, the pay was miniscule. My office was shoebox sized. We were constantly frustrated by a lack of funding. But I knew, for the first time since I was a kid, what I wanted to do with my life. I’d enrolled in social work courses as soon as the semester started.
My phone buzzed again, this time with a text from Kade, Jackson’s PA. The car is out front.
“Ride’s here.” I slung my bag over my shoulder. “I’ll see you guys in a week.”
“Have a blast,” Rosa said, pulling me into a quick hug.
“Yeah,” Dustin added. “We’ll just be sitting here, not at all jealous, while you enjoy sunny L.A. and hang out with celebrities.”
I winked. “I’ll bring you back a T-shirt.”
As I made my way through the office, several other people shouted out goodbyes and wishes of good luck. “I don’t have to do anything,” I replied. “I just stand there and try not to look too stupid.”
Right before I reached the door, Camilla stepped into the hallway in front of me. “Heading out?” she asked in the thick Dominican accent that I loved.
“I am.”
She nodded, pushing her mane of curls away from her face. I had thought I would never see hair volume to match that of my Medina cousins, but Camilla could actually give them a run for their money. She wore it down every day, and it was long enough to touch her waist. With her consistent uniform of flowy, brightly colored flowered dresses, she definitely had a bohemian vibe going. It matched her personality, and the mission of the HCFC, pretty accurately.
“Well, I won’t slow you down,” she said, smiling at me. “I just wanted to let you know that the permits cleared for the walk. We’re good to go.”
“Excellent!” It was a testament to how much I really did love my job that I felt a rush of excitement at her words. We wanted to host a massive neighborhood walk to promote the success of the wellness program, and I’d put hours into the planning. The permits coming in meant more work for me, but I didn’t care. Back when I worked at Independence, I don’t think there was a single thing that could have happened that would have gotten anything close to a thrill out of me, particularly not on a day when I would be rubbing shoulders with movie stars.
“We’ll get the rest of the details ironed out when you get back,” Camilla said, patting my arm. “Enjoy your trip, Sof.”
“I will, Camilla. Thanks.”
The air outside of the center had a bite to it. We’d enjoyed a mild autumn up until that point, but November was taking the weather in a different direction. Definitely a good time to get out to L.A., I thought, my feelings of excitement beginning to transition from Camilla’s news to the trip Jackson and I had planned.
Just as promised, the sleek, black Escalade was waiting for me at the curb. It wasn’t a Ford, but I had a feeling Jackson would be requesting domestic vehicles for the foreseeable future.
“Afternoon, Miss Flores,” Bill said, jumping out of the driver’s seat to open my door. “Good day at work?”
“Very good. Thanks, Bill. How’s it going at the house?”
“Controlled chaos. Same as usual.” He shut the door and climbed back into his seat, peering at me in the rearview mirror. “Ready to get back into the thick of it?”
I grinned. “Absolutely.”
***
Controlled chaos was the perfect way to describe the scene at the townhouse. Bill joined Hector, who was going over the itinerary with Jackson’s new manager, Dani—he had fired Erin immediately when I confessed that she’d asked me to spy on him. Dani had been hired in no small part due to her excitement about the television project. She had good instincts—the show, Code Blue, was a critical and commercial success. Jackson had been nominated for an Emmy, and there was talk he’d be a shoe-in for a Golden Globe, as well. So much for the career suicide Erin had predicted.
Dani and Hector paused their conversation when I came through the front door, smiling and welcoming me home. Kade, on the other hand, barely gave me a se
cond glance, engrossed as he was ordering two assistants to scurry around with luggage.
“Morning, Kade,” I said, grabbing his arm so I could drop a quick kiss on his cheek as he passed. “You do realize we’ll be gone for a week, right?”
“There’s a lot happening this week,” he said, his face flushed with stress. “Jackson hasn’t been to the West Coast in months and—”
“And this is still a vacation,” Jackson said, appearing at the bottom of the stairs.
“A working vacation,” Dani shouted from the living room, and Jackson rolled his eyes at me before sweeping me up into an embrace.
“I missed you.”
“I was gone for four hours.”
“I missed you for four hours.”
I started to tease him, but he was kissing me, and I decided four hours had been a bit too long. It was a little over the top, the sweeping embrace and long kiss the moment I walked in the door, but we’d come to an agreement about over the top—it was starting to grow on me.
“How was work?” he asked when he finally pulled back, his blue eyes studying mine. “You change a bunch of lives?”
“Absolutely,” I told him. “You know me.”
“Yes,” he said, serious, his gaze intense. “I do.”
“Look, Bethy,” a lilting voice called from the doorway to the kitchen. “Mama’s home.”
I turned to see the nanny, Leslie, approaching with Beth in her arms. At the sight of me, Beth’s face broke into a smile, her chubby little arms reaching for me. “Mama!”
“Hey there, lady!” I pulled her into my arms, snuggling her while she squirmed. She was in an independent phase, squirming as soon as you picked her up, always wanting to be crawling or waddling around the townhouse. And she was fast. We’d had to put baby gates up all over the place.
“Are you ready for our trip?” I asked her, kissing her cheeks. “You’re going to swim in the ocean!”
“Down,” she demanded. “Down.”
I sighed and set her on the floor, where she immediately set off in a crawl toward the living room. “I’ve got her, Sof,” Leslie said. “I’m sure you need to get ready.”
“We’re leaving in five,” Kade announced as he passed, carrying a printout of some list. “No exceptions.”
“Was I that bossy when I was your PA?” I asked Jackson in an undertone.
“You were much worse.”
“Well, if Kade says there are no exceptions, I guess I better get the rest of my stuff.”
Jackson accompanied me upstairs, holding my hand. Our townhouse was three stories, with the master bedroom and nursery on the second floor and three additional bedrooms on the third. Even with all that space, I was pretty sure it was the smallest place Jackson had ever lived—with the exception of the condo in Michigan.
Of the many changes in my life since moving to New York, this house was high on my list of favorites. Back in Michigan, when Jackson had first broached the idea of us moving in together once we got to the city, I resisted. Hadn’t I always wanted a place of my own? But a place of my own, in New York City, was probably going to be beyond any budget I could come up with.
And then Jackson started in on his campaign to get me to change my mind—which mostly consisted of him driving me around to potential properties in the city and tempting me with things like crown molding and proximity to Central Park. In the end, I decided we’d spent more than enough time apart in the few short weeks that he’d been in the city without me. Besides, I had already gotten knocked up out of wedlock—the more judgmental members of my family were calling me a hussy long before I moved in with my boyfriend.
My gorgeous, sexy, incredibly amazing boyfriend. I stole a glance at his profile as we made our way up the stairs. Living in one place suited him. He no longer seemed quite as tired as he used to. He had abandoned paleo in favor of exploring all the best restaurants our neighborhood had to offer, but spent enough time chasing Beth around the house to make up for the difference in calories. His new role required his hair to be much darker, and quite a bit shorter. I missed the tousled hair I had fallen in love with on a movie screen years ago, but the new look was pretty great, too. He looked a little older now, more mature. And every bit as gorgeous as he had looked to me when I saw his face on my TV all those months ago.
More gorgeous, really. Back then, he had just been a pretty, famous face I’d had the pleasure of making out with once. Now he was so much more than that. Now he was everything.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked when we reached our room. “You’re never this quiet.”
“Just wishing we were going to be alone on the plane,” I said, bumping his hip with mine. “We’ve never tested out that bed in the back, you know.”
I loved the way his eyes immediately darkened. “That can be arranged.”
I laughed. “We’re bringing like, a dozen people with us.”
He made a sound very much like a growl as he pulled me into his arms. “Sod them all. They can find their own way to Los Angeles.”
I giggled, Jackson pulling me down onto the bed. “That wouldn’t be very nice of you.”
His lips were at my neck, his breath warm on my skin. “I really don’t care too much about nice right now, Sofie.”
A baby’s loud squeal from downstairs had me sitting up, pushing Jackson away. It was my natural response to any warning that something might be wrong with Beth. Jackson jumped up, too, already heading to the door. He had developed quite a few natural reactions where my daughter was concerned.
“She’s fine,” Leslie called up the stairs. “Just mad because she dropped her toy.”
I saw Jackson sigh in relief, my heart swelling with love for him. A hot guy was one thing; a hot guy who loved your kid was another level entirely.
“She’s such a drama queen,” I said.
“Takes after her mum.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I was going to say it’s been your influence.”
His eyes crinkled up in laughter. “Good point.”
“Come on,” I told him, hopping off the bed. “We really should get going.”
It only took me a few minutes to gather up my carry-on bag and double-check Beth’s diaper bag. There were plenty of things I enjoyed about Jackson’s lifestyle, but having someone to pack my things was pretty great as far as perks went.
Between us, Beth, our security, Kade, Leslie, and Dani—not to mention all the luggage Kade had deemed it necessary to take—it took two vehicles to get us all to the airport. And there were several more people waiting for us at the hangar. Reagan, Cassidy, and Fi greeted us with squeals and hugs. “Sofie, what did you do to your hair?” Reagan asked in dismay, pulling on a strand.
“I had to teach a class this morning,” I told her. “I didn’t really have time to dry it after.”
“It’s fine,” she murmured, in the kind of long-suffering tone that assured me that it wasn’t, in fact, fine at all. For the first time, I felt a thrill of nerves. What if I looked out of place tonight? What if I somehow made Jackson look stupid? I had never done anything like this before.
Luckily, there was someone else coming along who had done it all before.
“Sofie!” Lizzie shrieked, throwing her arms around me. “I missed you!”
“I missed you, too,” I laughed, squeezing her tightly. “I’m so happy you’re here!”
She pulled back, rolling her eyes. “Mr. Overprotective didn’t want me to come, but I put my foot down. There was no way I was going to miss your first-ever Darkness premiere.”
“Excuse me for caring about my wife and unborn child,” Thomas said, his voice solemn as he wrapped an arm around my cousin’s shoulder.
Lizzie rolled her eyes again, but from the way she leaned into Thomas’s side, I had a feeling she liked the overprotective streak he’d been developing over the last three months.
“How do you feel?” I asked, reaching out to place my palm on her slightly rounded tummy. “How was the flig
ht?”
“It was fine. Only had to puke twice.”
I winced. “The first few months were the worst.”
Lizzie laughed. “I remember. You were a mess until what, week sixteen?”
“Pretty much,” I said cheerfully. “I felt better just in time to get giant and uncomfortable.”
I leaned up to kiss Thomas on the cheek. “And how are you feeling, Papa?”
“Annoyed I couldn’t convince my wife to stay at home where she would be comfortable.”
Jackson appeared at my side. “I promise she’ll be as comfortable as humanly possible, mate. I have an extra flight attendant on board dedicated just to Lizzie.”
“Jackson, you didn’t have to do that!” Lizzie cried as he bent down to hug her.
“It’s nothing.” Jackson slapped Thomas on the back. “Congratulations, Tommy.”
“I’ll be expecting you to give me some tips,” Thomas said, “on diapers and bottles and all of that.”
Jackson’s face lit up like a little boy on Christmas morning, clearly proud to be considered a source of child-care advice. It made my heart clench—God, I loved him. I caught Lizzie’s eye and could tell from her face that she’d noticed his expression, as well. She grinned at me. My cousin had made quite a turn around in her feelings on my relationship with Jackson after the Jim fiasco.
She wasn’t the only one. There was kind of a hero worship thing going on in our family where Jackson was concerned. I couldn’t blame any of them. It had been beyond amazing, the way he had swooped in and taken care of everything. The investigator and the lawyers didn’t have any difficulty getting dirt on Jim. To my horror, there was more than one college girlfriend willing to testify about his abusive streak. One girl had actually taken out a restraining order against him. To this day, I felt cold every time I thought of it. To think of him spending time alone with Beth…
But a visit from the lawyers had been enough to squelch his threat. Apparently, he didn’t want his employers and friends knowing the dirty details of his past. It had always been about ego with Jim—and he decided that letting me walk away would be a smaller hit to his reputation than what the lawyers threatened him with. I was willing to work out a deal for him to get updates on Beth, maybe even occasional supervised visits. But Jim never called. A relationship with Beth had never been his goal.
Starstruck (Lovestruck Book 4) Page 27
