To Love Jason Thorn (23 page)

“In their eyes, we will be whoever they
want us to be, little one.”

Do you know what happens after you start acting
like you’re in love with a girl? Or, hell, forget about being in love, do you
know what happens when you act like you’re dating each other? Falling for each
other? No?

Let me tell you what happens: you start to
get lost in your own fucking game. You begin to think you’re
actually
dating each other. What the fuck are you supposed to think when you’re holding
hands, looking into each other’s eyes, laughing, and just fucking enjoying your
life?

Only, it is a special kind of hell where
you can’t reap the benefits of dating as you would if you were actually
fucking
dating.

The days after our meeting with Megan passed
in a flurry of activity. As much as I hated seeing myself on every media outlet
out there, I couldn’t deny the fact that I didn’t mind it that much when Olive
was in the same shot with me. After looking at so many damn photos of the two
of us together, laughing, smiling, and holding hands—always holding hands—I could
see what Tom and Megan had initially seen.

We looked good together.

Happy.

I was afraid I was starting to believe in
the lie we had so meticulously created. I was starting to believe that Olive
belonged with me and only me.

Late night movie date?

Check
.

Shopping at the farmers’ market?

Check
.

Coffee date?

Check
.

Lunch date?

Check
.

Dinner date?

Check
.

We were following Megan’s instructions to a
T, and as we went through her list one by one, we had a whole crew of paparazzi
following us everywhere—and when I say everywhere, I mean
everywhere
. They
all seemed to have forgotten about my sexcapades and chose to focus on our new
love instead. Judging by all the articles and videos everyone kept posting,
people were loving it. Everyone who read Olive’s book—which was a large number
of people—were rooting for Olive to win my heart. They all liked the idea of their
troubled movie star falling for an ordinary, girl-next-door type.

What they didn’t know was that Olive was nothing
short of extraordinary.

***

After a long flight to London, we finally
made it to our hotel room. “Is this our room? Or should I say palace?” Olive
asked after turning in a circle and taking everything in.

“High ceilings, big windows, two freaking
balconies.”

I chuckled. “I take it you approve.”

“I definitely approve. I’m very happy that
you’re picking up the bill, though.”

Keeping my eyes up and away from her ass, I
trailed after her and listened to her comments about every room in the suite.

“Jason!” she gasped once she reached the main
bathroom. She looked over her shoulder to make sure I was following her. Not so
fortunately for me, she had it all, especially when she bent forward to check
out the…the… I couldn’t even see what she was trying to look at. Her shirt rode
up and all I could see was that damn ass of hers.

“Jason, did you see this?”

She had righted herself and was looking at
me, her green eyes sparkling. I knew she was excited about every little thing
because even the plane food had made her happy.

“Everything is all compartmentalized,
it’s so cute. Isn’t it cute? And they keep giving us free champagne, and
snacks, and Danish pastries. I’m literally in heaven right now.”

I didn’t see any of it; all I could feel
was her getting under my damn skin.

After she had eaten two of my pastries on
top of her own, she had fallen asleep all snuggled up against me.

I hadn’t moved an inch the rest of the
flight.

“Yes?” I asked, focusing on her face again.

“There is a vintage clawfoot tub in here.”
Her voice echoed in the tiled bathroom.

“Great,” I muttered, quickly turning away
from her before I lost my damn mind.
The things I could do to her in that
tub…
I didn’t need a visual of her standing next to it.

A few minutes later she found me in my
room. “There are only two bedrooms here,” she commented from the doorway.

I lifted my brow and stared at her. “Two
isn’t enough? How many did you expect to find?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s so big, I just
assumed it would be more than two. There is a dining room so if we want to
invite our non-existent friends over for dinner, that will be useful I guess.
Anyway, you’re taking this room?” she asked as she entered the room and sat on
the bed. “The other bedroom is bigger; why don’t you take that one? I’d be more
comfortable if you took that one.”

When we’d landed at the airport the sky had
already been darkening, but I still parted the blinds so the city lights would
illuminate the room without me having to switch the bright lights on.

I turned around to move out of the room,
but Olive was sprawled on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

“Okay, give it to me.”
Oh, how I wish I
could.
“What is our itinerary for tonight? Is it something like this? At 8,
exit the hotel, make sure to get photographed hand in hand with Jason Thorn. At
8:30, enter the restaurant, hand in hand with Jason Thorn. At 9:30, exit the
restaurant, laughing and clinging to Jason Thorn.”

Grinning, I sat down next to her and looked
at her upturned face. “I didn’t know my hand was causing you such grief.”

“Your hand… Holding your hand is no grief
at all. It’s just weird how detailed she is on her lists, as if she has to
mention that I need to smile when I’m looking at you. What does she think I’m
going to do? Slug you in public or something? And, hell, maybe I’m having a
moment and I just want to look at you for a second.”

My fingers stopped playing with the ends of
her soft hair. My voice came out husky when I spoke. “Tell me more about this
moment and I’ll try to answer as best as I can.”

She turned to her side and squinted her
eyes at me. Before she could answer, my damn phone vibrated with a new text.

“It’s Megan. We have a car waiting to take
us to dinner. Apparently she is joining us.”

Olive groaned and covered her eyes with her
arm. “She is going to go over her game plan for tomorrow. We’re screwed.”

***

The dinner was exactly what Olive had
predicted it would be: Megan giving each of us detailed instructions on what to
say, what not to say, etc. Toward the end, she focused completely on Olive and
explained what would happen at the premiere the next day. When neither Olive
nor I could keep our eyes open any more, she agreed to end the night and we all
returned to our rooms.

I eyed the alarm clock on my left side and
noticed it had been only eleven minutes since I had left Olive alone on the
balcony after giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. It was the closest we
had gotten to a real kiss so far, always a forehead kiss, or sometimes an even
more innocent cheek kiss. I’d already discovered that I preferred forehead
kisses over the cheek kisses. The way she looked at me after I gave her one
always undid something inside me, so I took what I could get.

Another minute passed. Was she still
talking to her friends? It was the first night we’d be sleeping under the same
roof, and I was having trouble guiding my thoughts away from that fact.

Finally, I heard a door being clicked shut,
then soft footsteps took her farther away from my room to her own bedroom.
Maybe
I should’ve found a suite with only one bedroom.

I took a deep breath and let it all out.

When I heard Olive’s ear-piercing scream, I
was out of my bed and running for her in seconds. As soon as I hit the living
room, she collided with my bare chest, knocking the air out of me.

“What is it?” I asked urgently, my heart
racing in my chest. When she kept shaking in my arms, trying to catch her
breath, I gripped her elbows and pushed her away from my body. “What’s wrong?”

Her chest rising and falling rapidly, she
met my eyes. “Someone is in my room.” Her breath hitched. “The closet.”

Just as she finished her words, I heard a
soft clatter coming from her room. I gripped her arm tighter. “Go to my room.
Now. Call the hotel security.” She nodded sharply, but didn’t move. “Go,
sweetheart. It’s gonna be okay,” I said, softening my tone. She ran without
questioning me further.

When I entered her room, I caught the faint
smell of Olive, the scent of her perfume: fresh apples and flowers. As I walked
father in, a heavier smell clouded the one I was starting to recognize whenever
Olive was near.

“Hotel security is on their way. If you
don’t want to get in more trouble, you should come out of there.”

A slender blonde strolled out of the
walk-in closet at my words. She was wearing a black lingerie set that left
nothing to the imagination. I made sure to keep my eyes on her face and not an
inch below that.

I balled my fists and took a deep breath.

“How did you get in?” I asked, trying so
very hard to keep the anger that was burning inside me out of my voice.

What if Olive hadn’t noticed this
person’s presence in her room and this lunatic had managed to hurt her?

She shrugged and offered me a small smile.
It wasn’t the first time some fan or stalker had paid a hotel employee to get
into my room, but having Olive here with me…

It changed things.

Her eyes roamed my naked chest and she
found the courage to take a step toward me as she licked her lips. I crossed my
arms over my chest.

“I guessed you would bring her here with
you, but I wanted to give you options tonight. I’m game for a threesome, too,”
she said.

I clenched my jaw and had to force myself to
not throw her out on her ass on the spot.

“Jason? Is everything okay?” Olive’s softly
spoken words came from right outside the room.

“It’s okay, Olive.” I raised my voice.
“Open the door so security can get in here as fast as possible.”

Turning to the lunatic, I saw the shocked
expression on her face. “Perhaps you want to put on your clothes before more
people see you like this.”

“But…but I love you,” she said, taking
another step forward. “Please, give me a chance. I really love you, Jason! I’ve
watched every one of your movies a hundred times!”

I gritted my teeth and turned away from her
to wait for security.

“I’ll do whatever you want, Jason. Just give
me one night, please,” she begged instead of putting clothes on. “I only want one
chance. I’ll let you do anything you want to me. I don’t even care if you fuck
me in front of a bunch of people. Whatever gets you off, I’m down with it.”

Hearing raised voices coming from outside
the room, I walked out without glancing back at her. I was doing my damnedest
to ignore her words. She was still begging me, her pleas becoming desperate.
The head of the hotel security, Daniel…something, who I had met as we checked
in, reached me before I could get to them.

“What’s the problem, sir?”

“Someone managed to get into the room and
hide in the closet. I suggest you take her out of here immediately or I’ll be
pressing charges.”

“That’s impossible. Our security—”

I held up a hand. “I don’t have time to go
over this with you. She obviously found her way in. Get her out of here, right
now.” His eyes hardened and before he could move toward the room with the two
other men that were standing right behind him, the girl came running outside, still
in the same getup.

“You took him from me,” she cried as she
ran toward the door. While I was thinking she was finally getting out, one way
or another, my eyes caught something in her clenched fists: a taser.

She was running toward Olive.

I growled Olive’s name, trying to warn her
as my heart leaped to my throat. Before I could reach Olive where she was
standing next to the open door or take out the fucking lunatic, one of the
security guys tackled the girl down on the hardwood floor and restrained her
hands behind her back, forcefully prying the weapon out of her hands.

Once I reached Olive’s side, I was shaking
just as much as she was, if not more. Holding her face in my hands, I forced
her to meet my gaze. “You okay?”

Her mouth opened, but no words came out.
She gave a small nod.

I buried her face in my chest and willed my
heart to slow down.

She is okay. She is fine.

“Get her the
fuck
out of here,” I
growled when the security guys seemed to be taking their sweet time with the
wailing girl.

I pulled Olive as far away from the door as
possible. Her skin was cold under my touch.