To Love Jason Thorn (39 page)

“And you know this how, again?”

“I’m trying to tell you, you idiot. You
told me you were texting with a girl, then when you were downstairs I went into
Olive’s room to check on her and found a phone in her bed. Since it wasn’t her
own phone, I poked around, and imagine my surprise when I found your texts.”

“What did you do, Dylan?”

“What do you think I did? I took your phone
and texted her.”

When I first realized that I’d fallen
asleep, there was still daylight outside and I could hear Dylan’s raised voice
coming from downstairs. Ignoring him, I pulled the covers over my head and
resumed my sleeping. I didn’t want to do anything else anyway.

The second time, I woke up because I was
suffocating under the covers and it was still daylight. Switching to a lighter
cover, I lost some of my clothes, too.

The third and fourth times were because I
was uncomfortable in my own skin.

Then I started tossing and turning too
much. I simply hated everything. At least it was finally dark outside.

 The fifth time… The fifth time I woke up
because someone was getting in bed with me.

I didn’t open my eyes, but I knew it was
Jason; I’d know his scent anywhere. My body tensed, but I tried not to make it
too obvious and tried even harder to keep my breathing under control.

Dylan was pissed off enough for the entire
family; he wouldn’t have let him in the house, let alone climb up in bed with
me, so what was he doing here? I didn’t have to wait too long for an answer.

“Your mom fixed me the couch, but I sneaked
up to your room,” Jason whispered. “We have to be quiet so your idiot brother
doesn’t bust in here trying to protect my wife from me.” He paused. “You have
no idea how weird it is to be back here, Olive, but to be sneaking into your
room like this…for some reason that doesn’t feel weird.”

I didn’t move, but he continued.

“Olive…” There was a long sigh. “When did I
start missing you this much, sweetheart? When did I…” Another sigh. “I was so
worried when Alvin said they didn’t know where you were.”

More silence.

Slowly, he pulled the covers down, and his
fingertips touched my bare shoulder.

Damn it!
Why
had I thought it was smart to sleep in a tank top and my underwear? I should’ve
let myself suffocate in peace. When his fingertips reached my hip and he
realized that I wasn’t wearing much underneath the covers, he sucked in a
breath and let the cover rest on my thighs.

My heart beating in my throat, I waited to
see what his next move would be. Maybe he had come to say we had to get a
divorce? If these were our last moments, I wanted to savor every second of it.

I know what you’re thinking, but did you
hear the part where I already acknowledged the fact that I was pathetic?

“Is your heart still beating just for me,
Olive?” he asked softly, his voice low and sweet.

I closed my eyes tighter.

“I wonder if you can feel my touch in your
dreams…if that’s why your heart is beating so fast.”

His soft words a whisper on my skin, I let
his fingertips trail every inch of my body, seducing my heart before my mind
could put a stop to it.

“I missed you, baby. If I kiss you, Olive…”
I felt the touch of his warm lips on my shoulder just before he moved closer. A
shiver went down my spine and I was too late to hold in my small gasp. Jason
continued as if he hadn’t heard me. “If I kiss you will you wake up and play
with me? I want to feel your lips on mine so badly, Olive. Will you please stop
pretending to be asleep, baby?”

He knew I was awake. Too tired for games, I
opened my eyes to a dark room. “What are you doing here, Jason?” I whispered
after some time.

“Will you look at me, sweetheart? Please.”

I turned to face him, but we were a little
too close for my comfort, my childhood bed being too small to keep a
respectable distance between us. Still, I backed away until I was lying on the
very edge of the bed. I kept my eyes down on the sheets.

“Can I tell you what I remember from last
night? Will you listen to me?”

“Do I have any other choice? You are in my
bed and I have no other place to run to.”

I could barely see with the only light
coming from outside, but he still lifted my chin so I could look at his eyes. I
focused on the stubble on his cheeks.

Because I’m a rebel like that.

“I never want you to run away from me
again, little one. If you do, I will always come after you. I want you to
remember that. That being said, I will never give you a reason to run away from
me either.”

Again, I stayed silent.

“The last thing I remember from last night
is going up to the private rooms with you and trying to figure out what I could
say to convince you to let me have you up there.”

His fingertips touched my lips and I
flinched. He ignored it and gently stroked my lips.

“Then I kissed you, Olive, didn’t I? I
always remember kissing you.”

I would never forget how it felt to have
his lips on mine either. It would always stay with me.

Damn those tears rushing to my eyes!

“I also remember talking to Lucy and Lily,
but after that I remember nothing, Olive.” He paused for a minute. “Do you know
where I woke up this morning?”

I flinched again and braced myself, but
instead of continuing with his story, he brushed my hair back.

“You’re shivering sweetheart. I wish you
would come closer so I could warm you.”

I didn’t move. When he was satisfied with
my hair placement, he sighed and picked up from where he had left off. “I woke
up in Devlin’s hotel suite. Alvin was there, too. They think someone spiked my
drink because I was acting weird, and when I woke up I couldn’t even remember
where you were.”

I tensed.

“Will you come closer so I can hold you in
my arms? You’re about to fall off, and I’m afraid Dylan will barge in to
protect you from me.”

“He knows you’re in my room?”

“Not yet, and I’d like to keep it that
way.”

He linked his hand with mine and gave it a
gentle tug. Reluctantly, I scooted forward. When I was close enough, his hand
sneaked around my waist and he pulled me flush against his chest, resting his
head on top of mine as I discreetly breathed in his scent.

His long sigh sounded like he was relieved.

“I don’t know how I’m going to make you
believe me, Olive, but I hope you will. While I was sleeping it off, Devlin
questioned his entire staff, but other than that one drink, I didn’t have
anything. No one could’ve slipped anything into my drink because the bartender
prepared it in the room, you saw it yourself.”

Somewhere in the house, someone opened a
door and we fell silent, our bodies tense with the interruption. A few seconds
later, the bathroom door opened and closed.

When the coast was clear again, he
continued, talking in hushed tones. “I took Alvin with me and went to your
apartment to look for Lucy, but she wasn’t there. When I found Lily instead, I
kinda lost it. I might have scared her a little, but it was worth it because
she admitted to messing with my drink with Charlotte. According to Lily, it was
Charlotte’s idea to take pictures of me to leak to the press. I don’t know how
much of it is a lie, but that was what she was going with.”

I hadn’t even realized I was crying until
Jason lifted his hand to softly wipe away my tears.

“As if they hadn’t done enough damage, one
of them also called the tabloids as an anonymous source to say that our
marriage was fake.”

Bewildered, I shook my head. “It couldn’t
be Lily. I don’t even know her all that well. But I swear to you, I didn’t tell
Charlotte either. Only Lucy knows.”

“It’s okay sweetheart, it doesn’t matter.
Megan pulled some strings and they won’t take the tip seriously.” His lips
touched my forehead and instead of pulling back, he stayed just like that.

“I brought your phone with me. Why don’t we
call Lucy and you can hear it from her, too,” he whispered.

Reaching behind, he took something out of
his back pocket and handed it to me. My phone. I barely had any battery left.

I dialed Lucy’s number.

“Lucy? Hi.”

“Hey, babe. How are you holding up?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?
How is Jameson?” I tried to talk as quietly as possible.

“He is awake now. He is already making my
life miserable. Frankly, I’m more worried about you right now. You promised you
would call me when you made it home.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. When I saw my dad, I
just…”

“It’s okay, Olive, I understand. I’m
assuming lover boy made it there and that’s why you are calling.”

My lips twitched, but that was all I could
manage.

“I don’t know exactly what he told you, but
he is telling the truth, my little green Olive. I talked to Charlotte a few
hours ago, or more like fought with her. The night I brought you to the
apartment and Marcus carried you away to his room, well, that’s apparently when
she realized Marcus would drop her like a hot potato the moment you wanted to
get back with him. I think that’s why she told you that she’d been with Marcus
while you guys were still together. If you ask me, I have my doubts about that
after everything that’s happened since yesterday.”

The more Lucy talked, the more confused I
was getting. Messing with someone’s drink was a whole different ball game then
just cheating, or made up cheating, or whatever. Heck, where had she even found
a pill that would mess Jason up like that?

“My take is that she told you about the
cheating so you wouldn’t go back to Marcus, and she messed with Jason so you
couldn’t have him either. The worst of it is she made it sound like she did you
a favor because it was ‘bound to happen anyway’. The bitch has no idea Jason is
in love with you.”

“You are the only one who thinks that.”

“Oh please, it’s only you who doesn’t think
that.”

“My battery is dying, I have to go, Lucy.
Can I call you tomorrow?”

She made a sound that clearly meant she was
annoyed with me. “Fine. I’ll call you later. Don’t be stupid about this, Olive.
You better have good news for me tomorrow. And try to ask him what he thinks
about adopting me. He is even hotter when he is fuming. Be a good friend for
once and ask him.”

She hung up while I was still shaking my
head.

I pushed my phone under the pillow.

“So?” Jason asked into the silence. “Do you
believe me?”

“I didn’t have to call Lucy to confirm what
you said, Jason. I believe you. This type of stupid drama is supposed to happen
with the costar you are working with. I’m supposed to hate Lindsay, not my best
friend. She is supposed to fall in love with you and then mess with our
marriage.”

“Is that what is supposed to happen?” he
murmured, a small smile curling around his lips.

“Yes,” I said miserably. “That’s what
happens in books. There is always an evil costar or ex. It wasn’t supposed to
happen like this. I’m really sorry for what my—”

His lips crashed into mine and the angels
started singing above us.

With his unexpected movement, I gasped into
his mouth; he made sure to take advantage of that opening and slipped his
tongue inside. I clutched his shirt and pulled him closer to me, his fingers
biting into my flesh, but right when I was getting more into the kiss, he
pulled away.

“That’s all I wanted to hear,” he said
roughly, his hot breath mixing with mine.

I slowly pried my fingers open, let go of
his shirt, and took a deep breath to clear my mind.

“This is not a game any more, is it?” I
asked.

“I thought about that on my way over here.
I’m not sure if it ever was, baby.”

“So what happens now?”

“Tomorrow, I’m taking you home with me.”

“And then what? We act like nothing
happened?” I twisted away from him and plopped onto my back. “I’m not sure if—”

“Don’t finish that sentence. Yes, we act
like nothing happened because nothing happened. You are my wife, Olive. You
already made the mistake of saying yes, and I’m not letting that go. You can’t
take it back.”

See if I’m letting you go, buddy.

In my next breath, Jason was on top of me
and was making himself a place in between my legs.

When I felt his erection, I gasped. “What
are you doing?” I asked in panic, glancing at the door over his shoulder.

“Falling in love with you.”

“Right now? You’re falling in love with me
right this minute? Sure.”

Dipping his head down, he gently nipped at
my lips.

“No, you little smartass. I already fell—a
little too hard if you ask me. Now it’s your turn.”

“My turn for what?”

“To say you love me so I can close my eyes
and fall all the way.”

“I didn’t exactly hear you say you love me
so why am I saying it? I think you should say it first.”

He tilted his head and this time lowered it
slowly, giving me the option of stopping him. When our lips were barely
touching, he murmured, “Kiss me, Olive.”