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“Callie…” Eleanor extended a hand to try and stop her, but Callie evaded her grasp and grabbed her purse.
She hurried outside, welcoming the cool night air on her hot face. A thousand emotions swirled through her—anger, hurt, embarrassment, and maybe worst of all, the sickening realization that her mother and Jake had concocted this scheme because she’d been sorigidno one could get through to her.
Except Jake. The man she’d fallen in love with, who’d not only gotten through to her, but had found his way into the deepest recesses of her heart and soul.
The man who’d taken so many chances in his life and career. He sought out risks and challenges. As much as she wantednothingto change between them, now she’d have to live with it because the paparazzi incident had just underscored how different their lives were and probably accelerated Jake’s departure.
She dug her car keys from her purse and hurried toward her parked car.
“Callie.” Jake closed his big hand around her arm, pulling her to a stop.
“Go away.”
“Please talk to me.”
“About what?” She whirled to glare at him. The desperation etched on his strong features seared right through her heart, but she couldn’t drum up the wherewithal to ease his pain as well as her own. “The fact that I was a job? That you were forced to take me out or risk blowing your cover?”
“I know that’s what it looks like—”
“That’s what it was!”
“No. Before I said one word to your mother that day, I looked you up on the Skyline website because I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about you. It was like high school again…there was no way I’d ever approach you because you were Callie Prescott and I was just this guy who watched you walk across the quad and wondered how anyone could ever be in your league. As much as I wanted to go to campus to find you, I kept talking myself out of it because no one was supposed to know I was here. So when your mother gave me an opening, I took it.”
“You were acting.” Though not even her anger could make her believe that, Callie knew the accusation would hurt him. “That whole thing at my office…you were just playing another role.”
“I thought…goddammit.” He dragged a hand over his face. “At first, I tried to tell myself it was a role, but that lasted all of two seconds because acting is about trying to convince people that what I’m feeling is real, when what I feel for youisreal. Every moment I’ve spent with you…it’s like nothing else exists.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Backing away from him, she spread her arms wide. “Why didn’t you justsaymy mother had asked you to entertain me so she could have a life again?”
“Would you have gone out with me if I had?”
“Of course not!”
“That’s why.” He stepped forward, his gaze locked to hers. “Believe me, Callie, I wanted to tell you the truth. But after we went out, I couldn’t wait to see you again and then again…and when we weren’t together, I was thinking about you, and I was scared shitless that telling you would ruin what was becoming the best thing I’ve ever had.”
Callie’s breath hitched. “It did ruin it, Jake.”
“No.” A crack threaded his voice. He reached for her. “Callie, please. I love you.”
Her heart somersaulted once before pitching down to settle in the pit of her stomach. The words she thought she’d never hear from him ricocheted inside her.
Despite all her practicality, in a secret part of her soul, she believed in love. She’d even imagined having it for herself one day, and the truth of her love for Jake still flourished powerfully throughout her entire being. It always would.
But love was amorphous and imprecise. It couldn’t right wrongs, solve unsolvable problems, or close the distance between two people whose lives were so far apart that there wasn’t even a middle where they could meet.
With every bit of strength she possessed, Callie hardened herself against the desperate love in his dark blue eyes.
“Go back to Hollywood, Jake.” She tossed her purse into the passenger seat and got into the car. “That’s where people will appreciate your acting.”
A shutter slammed down over his face. She shut the door and started the engine.
After shoving the car into gear, she backed out of the driveway and started home. Halfway there, she pulled to the side of the road and cried until she couldn’t breathe.
