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He didn’t take his eyes off the road. “What’s going on?”
“Chase just messaged me. Derek’s here. In town. At the studio. And there are paparazzi there. Reporters. And a lot of them. I have no idea what he’s saying. I don’t want him to make this worse.”
Oh crap.
She flipped down the visor mirror and saw the mess that was her puffy face. Paparazzi were there and she looked like she’d just been sobbing her eyes out. Which she had, but not for the reasons they would think.
She started rummaging in her bag and wanted to cry in relief when she felt her emergency bag that had foundation, mascara, lipstick, and Visine.
“Can’t you call him? Derek. And tell him not to say anything.”
“I don’t have his number.” She realized when she said that how ridiculous it sounded. But it was true. Shane had always been the go between. She’d never needed his phone number. They weren’t a real couple. They’d communicated through email several times, but she really didn’t think he’d be checking that right now.
She dropped her head back and squeezed the small bottle twice in each eye, then blinked rapidly. She rushed to apply the makeup as she tried to come up with the possible scenarios that she might be dealing with when she got there. Chances were Derek was holding court, like he liked to do, and not commenting on their relationship. At least that’s what she hoped he was doing.
If that wasn’t the case, then she really had no way to tell what he was doing. What he could be saying. Grandpa J’s words played in her head, whatever will be will be and she would be okay. They made her feel marginally better, but the closer they got to what Chase had described as a media circus she realized that Dax beside her, driving and just being there, was the component that made her calm enough to face whatever was awaiting her.
The truth was, if she hadn’t been with Dax this morning and felt his concerned stare on her and known that he would do anything to make her world right again, she wouldn’t have been able to handle everything the way she had. He showed her that the headlines were not the important things in life.
She looked over at him as he navigated them down back streets to avoid coming in at the front of the building and she realized that the real reason she’d freaked out when she’d seen Grandpa J’s phone number was that, she’d been on his lap, feeling safer and more protected than she ever had in her life, and that wasn’t real. They weren’t really together. He didn’t have relationships. Had never even had a girlfriend. Sure, things had been great for the time that they’d had together, but this was short-term and a zebra didn’t change his stripes just because he fell in love with a horse.
He’d never made her any promises. He’d never said that he wanted anything past the time she was here. In fact, it had been her that had snuck down to the basement and initiated things. He’d tried to keep his distance.
As much as she loved what Grandpa J had said, and as right on the money as he’d been, there was one thing he was wrong about. She didn’t have the job and Dax wasn’t on probation. He was hired, full-time with benefits, she was a temp.
They pulled into the back parking lot, which thankfully was empty and Dax turned to her. “What is the plan?”
“I don’t know.”
She could tell he was on edge as he calmly stated. “I need to know what you plan to do.”
“I don’t know, I don’t even know what’s going on yet.”
“Let me call Seth and get some backup. Or at least let me walk the perimeter while you are inside. I don’t want to walk into this blind.”
“I don’t have time for that.”
His nostrils flared and as much as she wished she could put his mind at ease, she knew that this was like a Band-Aid. She just needed to rip it off.
She turned to get out of the car, and before she even shut the door he was at her side. When they walked in the back entrance Chase was there to meet them. “There’s at least forty people out there and one news van. Apparently he tweeted when he arrived at O’Hare and everyone assumed he was coming here.”
Ginny had known that he was back in the states, but she thought he was in California. That’s what his Instagram had said yesterday. Which meant he probably flew here as soon as the story broke.
“How long has he been out there?”
“Not long. I messaged you right when he got here. Do you want me to go see if I can get his attention to come in?”
“No. That will just cause more speculation. They need to see me.”
She took a deep, fortifying breath and looked up at Dax, “How do I look?”
His brow wrinkled, but he immediately answered. “Beautiful.”
“No, I mean. Does it look like I’ve been crying?”
“Oh, no. No it doesn’t.”
“Okay.” She nodded decisively. “Let’s go.”
