Chapter 7 #2
‘I’m his sister. I’m not his caregiver. Us keeping our distance and me travelling has made our relationship stronger. He doesn’t need to be a witness to my sympathy. Besides, how else is he gonna afford the level of care he gets if I’m not earning the big bucks?’
‘That’s a fair point.’
‘Do you regret leaving Wyoming?’ She studied his features for a moment, noting the frown lines that had formed. Jesse never used to be so serious, but now it was hard to get him to have any real fun. To let loose. He just seemed to use sex as an outlet.
‘Every damn day.’ He breathed out a sarcastic laugh.
‘Really? You have it all, Jess. Isn’t this exactly what you wanted?’
‘Do I? How can I have it all when I can’t go anywhere without a security team unless I want the whole world knowing about it? How can I have it all when I can’t show off the woman I love without people tearing her apart?’
‘I’m in the spotlight myself, Jess. If that was a change you wanted to make, I could handle it.’
‘They’ll dig, Sav. They’ll dig and dig, and they won’t stop until your secrets are spread like wildfire.
Weston’s identity will be uncovered, his accident will be a hot topic again, you’ll be scrutinised.
We’ve been through this. We are on totally different levels of fame, in two vastly different industries.
You don’t understand what it’s like for me.
’ He looked ready to cry, and she looped her arms around his neck, making him look at her instead of past her.
‘Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry. If this is too hard…’
‘No. That’s not what I mean. I’m just fucking tired, Savi.’
‘That’s why we’re here, right?’ She offered him a small smile, unsure of what she could possibly do to make this situation any better. The only thing she could do was not have the career she had or the family she had or the life she had. She had to not be her .
‘Yeah. I’m just sorry being with me feels like a secret military operation, sometimes.’
‘You’re worth it, Jesse.’
He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and pulled her further into the water, where they proceeded to lose themselves in each other until hunger hit and they realised they were still an hour from food.
That was something that sucked about being here; they couldn’t just drive to a restaurant and have a proper date. It was a home-cooked meal or nothing.
They were in the process of making quesadillas for lunch when there was a knock on the door. Savi opened it to reveal Jesse’s head of security.
‘Hi, ma’am.’ He was stone-faced as usual but even Savi could tell something was wrong.
‘Hi, Sloan. Need to come in?’ She opened the door wider, and he stepped past her, squeezing his arms in against himself like he was scared to touch her. He always tried so hard to be respectful that it just made her laugh.
‘Sir.’ He nodded at Jesse, and one look at his employee’s face was enough to make him drop the spatula on the counter. ‘We need to talk.’
‘Then talk.’ Jesse’s jaw tensed.
‘We just found a photographer hiding in the shed out back. Not sure how long he’s been there, but we chased him off. Well, we tried to catch him, and he ran. We haven’t seen any vehicles, so we have no idea where he came from.’
‘How the hell did he get past you?’ Jesse spat.
‘Jess…’ Savi tried to calm him down.
‘No, this isn’t good enough. You’re not just meant to be protecting me, Sloan. You’re protecting my girl, too. I need to know that we’re safe.’
‘The guys are out scanning the perimeter now, and we’ve got a second team in.’ There was nothing Sloan could say to defend himself and Jesse was getting more anxious by the minute, pacing back and forth.
‘Did he have a camera, or was he just being a creep?’ Savi questioned him with a far gentler, less snappy approach. Maybe he should come and work for her instead.
‘We didn’t get a chance to see.’
‘Great. I need to go and call my PR team so they can be prepared.’ Jesse all but shooed Sloan back out of the cabin and reached for his phone. ‘Sav, I suggest you speak to your team.’
Offering her apologies to Jesse’s no doubt soon-to-be-fired security guard as his boss stormed off into his office, Savi sat on the sofa and debated whether to make the call.
It seemed silly, telling her bosses that she was dating someone high profile and it might hit the headlines.
It almost felt like she was bragging, making herself sound like she was as big a deal as him.
Would Jasper understand? Would he reassure her or would he scold her for not being upfront when she signed her contract?
Maybe it was better to keep quiet for now, let Jesse’s team take care of damage control.
‘Baby…’ Jesse stood in the doorway, white as a ghost.
‘What’s wrong?’ She shot up.
He held his phone out to her, and she felt sick to her stomach.
There on his screen was an article. Jesse Montalvo and Mystery Woman Snapped During a Wild Night of Passion .
There were multiple shots of the two of them in a compromising position from the night before, lights on, curtains open.
That man must have caught them through the window, and they were so wrapped up in the moment that they hadn’t noticed.
The only saving grace? Her face was buried in the covers.