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I nodded, feeling guilty they had to take those measures. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize my personal choices would cause such a mess. I never intended for this relationship to spill over into all aspects of my life.”
Lewis chuckles, patting the top of his dark head like somehow what little hair he had might be out of place. “That’s the thing with relationships. They permeate all corners of our lives, and if they don’t, then it’s probably not love—though I have to say this one is a little different.”
“But anyway—” Melissa let out a sigh. “We were just letting you know that after today, you’ll no longer have to deal with them here. We want this to be a safe place for you. You need to be able to come to work for the rest of the summer and feel like you are secure here.”
“Thank you.” The gratitude welling up in my chest nearly brought tears to my eyes. Lately, I’d been an emotional wreck—and I had no idea why—but it was probably all the stupid stress I’d been dealing with.
“Well, I’ll let you get to your work. I don’t want to keep you from getting things done before class starts in a half hour.” Lewis stood to his feet, giving me a nod and patting my shoulder as he exited the classroom.
However, Melissa didn’t budge from where she was sitting. “Lena, how long have you been seeing Jackson?”
My stomach dropped. “Um, I don’t know. Since I met him at the concert this summer.”
“But when he came to the classroom, it didn’t seem like the two of you were together.” She folded her arms across her chest. She didn’t believe me, and I didn’t blame her for it.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted the world to know I was seeing him,” I blurted out, my mouth running faster than my filter. “I thought it would be unprofessional.”
“But the two of you were very tense. I didn’t think you liked him at all.”
“Well, I guess I achieved the goal of keeping our relationship under the table.” My words came out awkward and lopsided, but at least I was trying.
“Listen…” She leaned forward. “I need you to be honest with me. Is he making you do this?” The concern in her voice was palpable. “I had a friend in college who fell into a similar situation. Some big rich actor got his eye on her and he made her be his fake girlfriend for nearly two years while he repaired his reputation. For two years, she was stuck playing the part—and missing out on finding real love.”
“Um…no,” I answered, but then hesitated. “Things just…they just happened between us, and”—my eyes dropped to my ring—“I think it’s meant to be.” The lie made my stomach nauseous.
“Well, I know there’s NDAs and all that in place that keep you from telling me the truth, but I’m going to give you a big warning, Lena. And it’s not because I’m being mean. It’s because I care about you. In truth, it wasn’t a friend who went through that. It was me. And I fell in love with him.”
I looked up from the ring, meeting her gaze. “Really?”
“Yeah, Collin Wentsworth. He’s not all that big now, but fifteen years ago, he was. I bet you had no idea that I was ever followed by paparazzi.”
I shook my head. “No, I had no idea.”
“Yeah, because we don’t mean anything to those big industry people. We’re just pawns in their game, and if you let them, they’ll eat you alive. Don’t let them ruin your life or take your security. You demand the bodyguard. You tell them what you need out of this, because at the end of the day, they’re going to spit you right back out—and in months, you’ll be a nobody again.”
I swallowed hard. “Well, good thing I’m not in that situation.”
“Yeah.” She stood to her feet. “I hope that’s not the case for you. I hope that proposal I watched on TMZ was the real thing. I hope he meant the words he said to you, and that you two are just madly in love—and stay that way forever. But—” She stopped beside me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “If it’s what I think it is, just be careful.”
I didn’t even know what to say, scared that I might confirm her suspicions by saying anything at all.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone what I think about it,” she added as she reached for the handle. “But seriously, you need to call your fiancé and ask for a bodyguard. It’ll make dealing with the press a lot easier.”
I nodded, checking the time. I still had twenty minutes before class started. I pulled out my phone and scrolled to Jackson’s number. Would it be weird if I called him? I wasn’t sure. I had a key to his house, but even that seemed different. Before I could change my mind, I hit the call button and put it up to my ear.
He answered on the first ring. “Are you okay?”
“Um, yeah, kind of.”
“You’ve never called me before.” His voice sounded strained, but not like he had just gotten up. “I just wasn’t sure if you were in trouble or something.”
“No, but…um…” I struggled as silence filled the line. “The paparazzi were at the school again today, and my bosses were waiting for me when I got to the classroom—”
“Oh shit, you did get in trouble.”
“No, not at all. They’re going take care of the paparazzi problem here at the school, but…do you think…”
“Do I think? Well, I’d like to think that I do.” He burst into laughter on the other end of the phone, and I giggled.
