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Thirty
BECAUSE JACK’S THREATlevel had been downshifted to white, there was no security team at his place—thank God. The last thing I needed in those strappy heels was to make my way through some kind of EP agent obstacle course of judgment and mockery.
The security cameras on the property were still running, of course.
I rang Jack’s doorbell, trying not to imagine Glenn surveilling me and saying, “Is that Brooks? In a dress? What the hell’s she got on her feet?”
I just had to hope nobody was monitoring them.
But Jack didn’t come to the door right away.
I watched an ant making its way across the concrete.
Then I rang again.
Maybe he was in the shower? I crossed my fingers that he hadn’t decided to cook, God forbid.
Then, a few minutes after my second ring, Jack opened the door—but only partway.
He’d gotten a haircut—and now it was spiking up in an intimidatingly movie-starish way, like he’d just finished a shoot for GQ. He was also freshly shaved. He had a Norwegian sweater on. And another change: He was wearing his contacts instead of his glasses. It was the first time I’d seen him without his glasses in real life.
All together? It made him look a little like a different person.
Less like Jack Stapleton the piggyback-ride giver—and more like Jack Stapleton the movie star.
Holy shit. Jack Stapleton was a movie star.
I felt a cramp of anxiety. The impossibility of it all hit me again.
Was this happening? I guess it was.
But that’s when Jack said, “Yes?” in a voice that sounded… blank.
Just a very slightly clipped tone—anonymous and disinterested, like he didn’t know me, and he was pretty sure he didn’t want to. Like I was maybe a cable repair guy. Or a political canvasser. Or a census-taker.
It was just that one syllable. But it was enough to register.
“Hey,” I said, holding up a wine bottle with a slight air of caution. “I brought wine.”
I took a step closer, expecting him to swing the door open.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he frowned. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you here?”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s not even joke.”
But that’s when Jack nodded back toward the interior of the house and said, “I’ve actually got some guests here right now, so…”
“You do?” I said.
“Yeah. So.”
“Wait—wasn’t it tonight?”
