“What’s up, Holloway?”
“I need a favor and?—”
He cuts me off with a snort. “If this is concerning your sister’s internship application, don’t bother.”
A frown crosses my brow as I open my mouth to retort, but he beats me to it. “Her resume speaks for itself. The offer to intern at the company will go out along with the others later this week with a start date at the end of summer. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m flying solo with Ana tonight, and she’s teething like a motherfucker.”
The line goes dead, leaving me shaking my head with a grin before shooting a response to my sister.
ME
Alex despises nepotism. You’re on your own.
I’m laughing softly to myself as I open my laptop to check my inbox for a security contract bid for the upcoming ICON Gala, where Emerson is scheduled to appear later this month, when Faith sends back at least twenty middle finger emojis, making me crack up entirely.
Yeah…having family—and in particular my little Pest—close once again is definitely going to have its upsides.
CHAPTER 4
EMERSON
Damon has beenwith me for two days, and it’s been a blissfully quiet week with no public appearances scheduled, so when I step out onto the street on Friday with Hayley at my side, I’m grateful to see the extent to which he’s gone to keep the paparazzi to an absolute minimum.
A total of five photographers stand on the opposite side of the street, the flashes from their cameras barely registering, considering I typically expect more than fifty shoved in my face everywhere I go.
As I slip into the town car, I stop and shoot him a delighted smile. “I don’t think I’ve walked onto the street with such ease in the longest time.”
His smile mirrors my own, reaching his dark brown eyes. “My boss has implemented an entirely new system for you, Miss Hart. One that workswiththe media, ensuring minimal invasion of your privacy. And tighter security overall as a result.” Then he sends me a cheeky wink. “Stick with Sentinel, and you’ll be good as gold.”
My smile overtakes my face as I move past him and into the back seat. Once I’ve settled beside Hayley, Damon pulls out intotraffic, and we make our way downtown to meet my stepmom, Reese, for our long-standing Friday night get-together at Fern.
“I’ve just received an email from Vesper to advise that the reshoots forBreaking Usare scheduled to begin a week from Monday.” Hayley lifts her head from her cell, regarding me with questioning eyes. “Should I confirm, Em?”
“Please, Hayles. I can’t wait to get them over and fucking done with.” I roll my eyes heavily, making my stepsister slash best friend slash assistant chuckle. “Shooting intimate scenes is never my jam, but reshooting sex scenes with Law should be…fun,to say the very least.”
Hayley emits a high-pitched squeal of laughter, and I can’t help but join her as I recall how every single intimate scene I’ve needed to shoot with Lawson Wilde has consisted of him doing his damnedest to irritate the living shit out of me.
He succeeds more often than not. Asshole.
Like when he’d eaten five cloves of raw garlic before our first kissing scene. Needless to say, I’d almost vomited into his mouth.
Or the time he’d sprayed his armpits with genuinely hideous fart spray before our first intimate scene. When I’d tugged his shirt over his head, I nearly passed out before spending the next twenty minutes gagging into a bag while he and the crew laughed their asses off.
LawsonfuckingWilde.
I shake my head with a resigned smirk. “Let’s see what he comes up with for Thursday.”
Hayles is still chuckling as she responds before the car grinds to a halt outside Fern. When I glance out the darkened windows, I’m again surprised to find minimal paparazzi in attendance, and as I catch Damon’s gaze in the rearview, I smile sincerely, mouthing a silentthank you.
This new security Alex DeMarco had procured for me is literally life-changing, and the way I am grateful for it is no small thing.
My cell vibrates as I move to exit the vehicle, and I quickly glance at the screen before opening the newly received text message.
EASTON
Grampie wants to know if you’re coming to visit this summer.
My chest tightens as my stomach lurches when I think of returning to Broken Hart, a place I’ve not been back to since before my big break. It’s not that I haven’t had the time—although that has played a small part—it’s more so that I can’t face returning to Texas and all the memories it holds. Memories that are now tainted and would be more than a little painful to relive.
