“I know,” he says. “I’ll figure it out, and I’m apologizing for the mess that is my public life. We should eat. I need to talk to you.”
“The eggs are ready; all I have to do is whip up the omelets.”
“That easy, huh?” he asks as he pulls away, and I jump off the table.
“It is pretty easy, actually.”
He makes himself a cup of coffee as I get the omelets underway, and when we’re sitting at the table, digging into our food, he looks up at me in surprise.
“This is really good.”
“I wasn’t going to serve you something that isn’t good.”
He laughs and takes another bite of his eggs. “Now that I know you’re this good of a cook, I’ll coerce you into cooking for me more often.”
“I’ve cooked for you several times.”
He grins that cocky, confident smile that makes me want to lean in and kiss it right off him.
So, I do.
And when I pull away, I’m satisfied to find that his eyes have dilated, and he’s breathing just a bit harder.
“Okay, what do you want to talk about?” I take a bite of my toast, then reach for the strawberry jam my mom made last summer when she and Dad were here from Arizona.
“My job.” He takes a sip of coffee out of my Sorry I’m late, I didn’t want to come mug.
It makes me giggle.
“My job is funny?”
“No, that mug is funny. Sorry. Talk to me.”
“The press is vicious,” he begins, as calmly as if he’s chatting about the eggs on his plate. “They spin stories, and they make everything look like a scandal. I wore Adidas rather than Nike? Well, shit, my Nike contract must be over.”
“Do you have a Nike contract?” I ask.
“No, that’s just an example.”
“Gotcha. But if you do get a Nike contract, hook a girl up.”
He shakes his head, watching me with a crooked smile. “You’re not taking this seriously.”
“I am.” I push my empty plate away and reach for my Please do not pet the peeves mug of coffee. “Christian, I spoke with Natalie the other day, and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Your career is important to you, just like mine is to me. I respect it, and even if I don’t always agree with it, I will always respect it.
“That means that I also have to take a lot of it in stride, and I need to trust you. Nat told me some horror stories about the press and Luke, and she also spoke some truth to me. I’m not a jealous woman, and I’m not irrational.”
“So, you’re an enigma,” he says, his eyes narrowed.
“No, I’m not a drama queen.” I wink at him and take another sip of coffee. “That doesn’t mean you get to kiss all the girls, though.”
“Damn.” He sighs and tosses his fork down in a clatter, making me jump and then laugh. “My plan has been foiled again.”
“Yep.”
“I do have to kiss girls and sometimes more than that in the movies I do,” he reminds me, and I frown.
“Huh. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“You should think of it. You should think about all of it before this goes any further because it’s not easy. It’s not simple. And while I do make a lot of money and I can do fun things, and I’m devastatingly handsome—”
I snort, and he narrows his eyes at me again.
“—there may come a time when you just don’t want to deal with it anymore.”
“I’ve been warned,” I reply, then lean over to kiss him. “Thanks for warning me.”
“Take it seriously,” he says and tucks my hair behind my ear, sending sparks tingling down my arm. Then he takes my hand and gives it a squeeze.
I want to ask him if he’s telling me all of this because he plans to be with me past when he leaves in two weeks. I want to tell him that none of it matters.
But I know that’s a lie.
It matters.
“I do take it seriously, and I’ll consider everything you’ve said.”
He nods and kisses my hand. “Thank you.”
“What should we do today? Do you want to watch some movies here at the house?”
“Yes, I absolutely want to watch movies,” he says with a nod. “I’ll pick, and then you pick.”
“What if what you pick sucks?”
He glares at me as his phone rings.
“You’re sassy today.”
I shrug one shoulder, and he accepts the call, then puts it on speaker.
“Hey, Nina. What’s up?”
“What the fuck did you do, Christian?”
Chapter Eleven
~Christian~
I SCOWL, STARING AT Jenna, who is frowning back at me.
“What are you talking about?”
“Get your computer out,” Nina replies.
“I’m not near my computer.”
“I’ll get mine,” Jenna says and jumps up to fetch her laptop.
“Is that her?” Nina asks.
“To which her are you referring, exactly?”
Nina sighs loudly, and she’s on my very last nerve.
“Here.” Jenna sets the computer on the table in front of me and leans over me to type in her password and bring up her browser.
“Go to TMZ, that’ll be fastest,” Nina says, and my stomach drops, dread filling me. I type in the site, and right there, front and center is not just a photo.
No, that would be too easy to dismiss.
They have video.
“Press play,” Nina says simply.
“Oh, my God,” Jenna says from next to me.
“Is that her, Christian?” Nina asks.
“Shut up, Nina.” I press play on the video, and sure enough. There we are, Jenna and I at the stroll last night. It’s when I kiss her under the mistletoe. The video keeps going as I end the kiss and we walk down the street away from the camera. “Okay, I’ve seen it.”
“I can’t even believe you did this,” Nina begins, and I sit back, rub my fingers over my eyes, and then reach for Jenna’s hand. She’s cold. Her face is pale, and her eyes are full of regret.
And that’s the last fucking thing I ever want to see from her.
“I mean, seriously. You are never this careless. You’re seriously letting a snow bunny fuck everything up for you?”
“Whoa,” I reply, leaning in so she can hear me crystal-clear. “One, I’m not stupid, and I’m not careless, certainly not enough to screw anything up over someone I don’t give a shit about. Two, Jenna isn’t a snow bunny.
“And three, you may be my sister, but you best remember that you’re my employee. You work for me. So watch your fucking tone with me, Nina.”
“I’m going to go get some laundry done,” Jenna says quietly, then kisses my cheek and walks out of the room.
I’ve never been angrier with Nina in my life, and I want nothing more than to follow Jenna, pull her to me, hold her, and reassure us both.
But this little hiccup needs to be dealt with first.
“I’m getting bombarded with messages and calls,” Nina says. “So is the whole social media team. Grant will be calling in a few, I’m sure.”
Grant Hollis is my agent, and I have no doubts that he’ll be buzzing through any second.
“I need to know if we’re going to release a formal statement.”
“And say what?” I stand to pace the kitchen and living room. “That I can’t stand Serena, have never dated her even once, and I’m falling for a landlord in Montana?”
“You’re falling for her?” Nina’s voice is full of shock and dismay. “Jesus, Chris, you were supposed to go learn how to ski, bang a few girls, and come home refreshed. Not get attached. This can’t work.”
“This is none of your damn business,” I reply.
“Wrong. It is my business because I’m the one in L.A. cleaning up your mess. What were you thinking? You’re never careless. Unless you count the DUI, but I’m choosing not to.”
“I was thinking that there was mis
tletoe, and the girl I’m crazy about was conveniently under it.” I shove my hand through my hair. “I’m allowed to be a man, Nina.”
“Not in this business.” She sounds distracted as if she’s reading something. “People magazine just reached out for a comment. And this will be all over Entertainment Tonight this afternoon.”
“I don’t care.”
“You’d better care, big brother. Because you’re about to start promoting a movie, and part of that is promoting it with Serena.”
“Awesome.” I walk back to the bathroom and reach for my T-shirt, tugging it over my head as I march back to the computer and start to Google it. “I hate that they call her the other woman.”
“As far as anyone knows, she is,” Nina reminds me. “I know it sucks. I don’t like Serena either. She’s a bitch.”
“What if we ignore it?”
She’s quiet for a moment, and I expect her to explode. But I’m surprised.
“It’s not like you can deny that it’s you,” she says quietly. “Give me a minute, I’m thinking.”
“Let’s be real here. We could spin it as it being a secret project that I’m filming. There are a million things to say.”
But none of those protect and show respect to Jenna, who has quickly come to be the most important part of my damn life.
Everything about this makes me feel like a creepy asshole.
“True,” Nina says. “I kind of like that.”
“Actually, scratch that. I’m done lying, and Jenna is worth way more than lies.”
“Christ, you’ve really got it bad for this girl.”
“She’s amazing, Nina, and I won’t disrespect her by making it out to either be nothing at all or something dirty. So, for now, we don’t say anything at all.”
“The speculation, Christian—”
“Guess how many fucks I give about speculation?”
She sighs and hangs up without saying goodbye, which doesn’t surprise me in the least. Just as I’m about to go in search of Jenna to try and smooth things over, Grant calls through.
“Hey.”
“From the tone of your voice,” he begins, “I assume you’ve already seen the media shitstorm.”
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. I feel a headache coming on. Jenna walks into the room and passes me two Advil with a bottle of water, offers me a small smile, and walks back out again.
God, I love her.
“I’ve seen it,” I confirm.
Grant’s been with me since day one, through the lean years and the times we could hardly keep up with. He is one of a handful of people that I trust implicitly.
“I need to know what you want me to tell the studio,” he says with a sigh. “And before you do, I have something to say.”
“I will not apologize.”
“I don’t want a fucking apology,” he says, and I can just picture the frown on his wrinkled face, those bushy eyebrows pulled together. “I say it’s about time you started living your life for you. It’s not in your contract that you have to date your costar. They can’t require it anymore.”
“It’s fucking crazy that they ever did.”
“They did a lot of crazy things,” he says. “You don’t know the half of it. My point is, I’ll tell them whatever you want me to. I’m just happy to see you living your life, Christian. You’ve spent the better part of twenty-five years as a damn robot, and it’s time to stop that.”
“Are you telling me to stop working?”
“Fuck, no. I need to send one more kid to college.”
I grin, knowing that he’s not kidding in the least.
“I told Nina not to say anything at all, to not release an official statement. I want you to tell the studio that I’ll do the press junket with Serena, and I’ll play nice, but I don’t like her, and I won’t pretend to be dating her. The film is finished, and that’s all that matters.”
“I like it,” he says. “They won’t, but I do.”
“Honestly, I don’t care whether they like it or not. Not anymore. It’s too much, Grant.”
“I completely agree, and we’ll be completely transparent moving forward regarding this. Date whomever you want, kiddo. Just don’t get her pregnant and leave her and let her go on a shitty reality show.”
I laugh in spite of myself and cover my mouth with my hand. “Jesus, that’s quite the visual.”
“Hey, that’s sound advice. Okay, I’ll make some calls. Enjoy your girl. Let me know when you’re back in town.”
“Thanks, Grant.”
I hang up, leave my phone in the kitchen and on silent because I don’t want to deal with this anymore today, and go in search of my girl.
I lean my shoulder against the doorjamb of her bedroom and cross my arms over my chest, watching her.
She’s sitting in the middle of her bed, her legs folded up under her, intently watching her phone. She taps the screen, and I can hear the video from the stroll playing. When it’s over, she plays it again.
After the third time, I push away from the doorway and walk toward her.
“Jenna.”
She looks up at me with shining blue eyes, tears threatening, and my heart sinks.
“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”
“I kind of love this video.”
I stop short, completely stunned by this admission.
“You do?”
She nods and brushes a tear off of her cheek. “I know that it’s causing problems for you and I’m sorry for that. But, Christian, this was one of the most romantic moments in my life, and someone caught it on film.”
She offers me a small smile, then plays it again. I sit next to her, watching over her shoulder as I lean in and kiss her on the screen.
You can’t hear what I say to her, thank God, because I want that to always stay between us. But I have to admit, it’s good quality, and it’s sweet.
“You’re not angry?” I ask her.
“Isn’t it ironic that we literally just finished having a conversation about this very thing happening?” she asks rather than answering my question. “I’m not angry. I’m saving this to my phone so I can watch it whenever I want to.”
It occurs to me that she and I have never taken a photo together. After that first encounter in the coffee shop, when she took a photo of her coffee, and I shied away, she’s never tried to take another one of anything.
That’s about to change.
Whether we only have a couple of weeks or fifty years together, I want us both to have the memories.
***
“So, all of this is CGI,” Jenna says as we’re snuggled up on the couch of my tree house later that night watching Iron Man.
“Most of it.”
“That must be hard for an actor to not actually work with other actors.”
I kiss her temple. I love that she’s starting to pick apart some of the art of it to try and see it from my eyes, but at the same time, I don’t want her to lose the wonderment of movies.
“You get used to it,” I reply simply.
“That Robert Downey, Jr. gets better with age,” she says and eats some popcorn.
“He’s nice, too.”
Her gaze whips up to mine. “You know him?”
“I’ve met him a few times, yes.”
“Wow.”
I laugh now and kiss her again. “And here I am, reminding you yet again, that some people think it’s impressive that Robert knows me.”
“Oh, stop. You don’t need an ego boost.” She pats my knee and opens her phone, looking all over Instagram and the gossip sites to see what’s being said this evening.
“You shouldn’t look at that shit.”
“It’s fascinating,” she says, reaching for some Twizzlers. “There are polls up now to ask people if they think that you or Serena cheated first.”
“Hmm.”
I’m annoyed. Not at her. Jenna didn’t do anything wrong. I just hate public speculation. It’s why I’ve always played by the rules
.
“Oh!” She sits up and points at her screen. “Serena released a statement!”
“Oh, goodie.”
She snorts and then clears her throat, reading aloud. “It’s with the utmost regret that I confirm that Christian and I have decided to go separate ways. I have the utmost respect for him as an artist, and as a person, and we will continue to stay friends.”
Jenna frowns. “Did no one proofread this for her? She used utmost twice.”
I laugh and shrug. “Who knows? Maybe she threw it out there herself at the last minute.”
“Maybe.” She settles against me again and continues to page through her phone. “Wow, there are a lot of photos of her out there with other men. Some of them posted in the last couple of weeks while she was supposedly still with you.”
She glances up at me and frowns.
“Serena likes men.”
She likes women, too, but we won’t go there.
“But no one said anything about it. There wasn’t a media shitstorm until it was you.”
I shrug again, mostly because I’m not exactly sure what to say.
“Why?” she asks.
“Serena has only been in the public eye for a couple of years. She’s relatively new to the business.”
“So?”
“Look, I’m not trying to sound full of myself here, but she’s not exactly as…famous as I am. That was one of the reasons that we were always paired up, and it was made to look like we were together.”
“To make her more famous?” Her jaw drops, and she stares at me for a moment. “No way.”
“Way.”
“Well, that’s stupid. She should be successful off of her own merit, not because she’s on your arm.”
She sits forward, and I have a feeling this has pushed one of Jenna’s buttons.
“You know,” she continues, “this is bullshit, and it pisses me right off.”
“I can see that.”
“Women complain about not getting the same opportunities as men, not getting the same pay, all of those things. And I agree with those things, don’t get me wrong. But then something like this happens, where a woman is using her looks, her connections, to get ahead, and it’s like setting the women’s lib movement back fifty years.”
“Interesting.”
“I’m serious, Christian. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, and she should be ashamed of herself. That’s not a work ethic.”
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