Chapter 22
JAKE
As I watched Halle licking her ice cream enthusiastically, a wide grin spread across my face. She looked so happy. Such a contrast to half an hour ago when she was explaining why she didn’t like having her photo taken.
My heart went out to her. My skin was a lot thicker now, but I’d been in this business for over fifteen years so I’d had time to get used to it. But when you were thrust into the limelight like she must’ve been, it would’ve been a real shock.
And I bet her ex wasn’t much help.
Brett fucking Burch.
What I’d said was true. The guy was an asshole.
I’d seen him backstage at some festivals we were both playing at and the women he had in his dressing room were not in there playing Monopoly. And this was before he married that supermodel. I didn’t know when Halle dated him, but I’m guessing from the sadness in her eyes that he cheated.
Dick.
If I had a good woman like Halle, there was no way I’d fool around.
I could tell she had a good heart and was genuine.
Something that was rare these days. Her confidence seemed low and I could definitely relate to that.
But something told me that once Halle started to believe in herself, there’d be no stopping her.
‘That was so good!’ she beamed as she finished the last bite of the cone.
When I looked at her, I grinned. She had ice cream around her mouth and on the tip of her nose.
‘I can tell you enjoyed that,’ I chuckled. ‘You’ve got it all over your face.’
‘What?’ Her eyes popped. ‘Nooo!’ She reached in her bag for a Kleenex, then started frantically dabbing her mouth and chin. ‘Has it all gone?’
‘Nope!’
She tried to clean herself up again, but although she’d caught the bits on her nose and chin, she missed a spot on her cheek and just below her lips.
‘Let me.’ I reached towards her face, then paused. ‘Is it okay if I…?’
‘Y-yeah. Course. Thanks.’
I gently swiped my thumb over her cheek before moving it down slowly. As it brushed across her lip, Halle’s breath hitched and her eyes locked on mine.
Damn. Those eyes.
And her lips.
They were so tempting. I wondered how they felt. How they tasted.
I wanted to trace the whole of her mouth with my thumb, but I was only supposed to wipe away the ice cream. I couldn’t betray her trust.
Reluctantly, I removed my thumb.
‘D-do you want a tissue?’ she asked.
‘No. Don’t need it,’ I said before, licking my thumb clean. ‘You’re right.’ I held her gaze again. ‘That does taste good.’
Halle’s eyes widened then she bit her lip. I loved when she did that and the sight sent a shot of lightning straight to my dick.
Shit.
I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about her in that way.
This was just business. I couldn’t get involved.
My pulse spiked again, just like it had when I held Halle’s hand, just before Sammie found us.
As crazy as it sounded, I didn’t even realise that I was doing it until I felt my body temperature rise a few seconds later. It just felt so natural. I was gutted when she’d dropped my hand, but it was the right thing to do. I couldn’t start getting addicted to her touch.
But yet here I was, licking the thumb that had brushed her lips and now willing my dick not to get hard.
Fuck.
‘Desert,’ I said quickly, trying to bring my thoughts back to safer ground.
‘Let me take you to see the gardens. They’ve got all kinds of different cacti, they’re all green and spiky and…
let’s go.’ I groaned inside. Green and spiky?
Seriously, dude, get it together. I guessed that was better than calling them tall and erect.
By the time we got to the desert gardens the sun was strong and there wasn’t much shade.
Halle wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and fanned her face. I wasn’t surprised she was hot. The only thing keeping me cool right now was my baseball cap. But I couldn’t let her overheat.
‘Take this.’ I whipped off my cap. ‘It’ll help you cool down.’
‘But don’t you need it so people won’t recognise you?’ Her brows furrowed.
‘Doesn’t matter. I don’t want you to get burnt.’
‘But if you give it to me then you’ll get burnt.’
‘Don’t worry about me, sweetheart. According to your playlist, you need a hero, so I’m just making your dreams come true,’ I laughed. I’d done a lot of that today. Although I hadn’t listened to the songs on the list, I’d seen the titles.
‘But you already demonstrated your hero status by rescuing me from falling off a horse yesterday.’
‘Can’t rest on my laurels,’ I shrugged. ‘A hero’s only as good as his last heroic gesture.’
‘Very true,’ she nodded, then flashed me a warm smile. ‘Play your cards right and I might accidentally fall into a pond or something just so you can pull me out and save me again.’
‘Wow,’ I mock gasped. ‘You’d do that for me? Gee, thanks.’ I exaggerated my accent earning me another smile.
Damn. Right now I felt like a dog, desperate for its owner to throw it a bone. Every time Halle smiled at me, I felt like I’d just won the lottery.
It was such a shame she didn’t like taking photos because if you asked me, she looked pretty in every single one of them.
Obviously I’d seen the ones Aidan had taken because I’d looked through them before emailing them to the hotel. But Sammie’s shots of me catching Halle took my breath away.
Wilma had asked before if I was reluctant to upload photos of Halle because I didn’t think she was attractive. But the opposite was true. If Wilma knew how fucking gorgeous Halle was, she’d piss her panties.
Anyhow, it was irrelevant. No matter how good Halle looked, I wasn’t going to put her on my Instagram.
There was the shot where our backs faced the camera that I considered for a millisecond. Posting that would stop Wilma hassling me, but it was still a hard no. I was reluctant about doing it before, but now I was even more certain.
From what I could tell, Halle had been through enough trauma. And I wasn’t gonna be the one to cause her more pain.
There had to be another way to save my career without hurting her.
Now I just had to work out how to find it…