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I’m done letting him mess with my life. Last night might have been a set-up, but the joke’s on him. The recording I made came through crystal clear. Ben Townsend is going down.
My phone buzzes in my hand and Jackson’s name pops up. My heart speeds up as I answer, “Hey.”
“Where are you?” He barks through the phone. The harshness of it has me flinching.
“In the room. I was—”
“Stay there. And start packing. I’ve already talked to the hotel and Gage. We have a plan to get you out of there.”
“Jackson—”
“I’ll be there in thirty. Be ready.” Then he hangs up.
I bring the phone away from my ear and stare at the screen. That’s it? No, are you okay? Tell me what happened? Just some barked orders? The pain in my stomach intensifies.
Being your bodyguard takes top priority over everything. Over being the fake boyfriend. Over a friendship. Over…anything.
Surely, he doesn’t feel this way now that he’s truly my boyfriend. No. He’s only worried. When he gets here, we’ll talk and figure this out together. It’ll be okay. I press my hand over my abdomen as it churns even more. I really wish my body would listen to my mind.
I push my worry aside and pack up all our things like he asked and wait. When Jackson enters the room, I stand. We lock gazes and all my worries come flying back. His expression is clenched and stoic. Closed. There’s a brief look of pain, but he masks it so quickly I’m not sure if it was real or if I imagined it.
He tears his gaze away from me as he looks around. Then he grabs his duffle and the handle of my suitcase and pulls it up, turning toward the door. “We need to go. Someone’s waiting at the service elevator to help us get out of here.”
Seriously? This is all the greeting I get? Not even a hug?
“Jackson, can you slow down? We need to talk.”
He stops and looks at me again. “No, we need to leave. It’s not safe. Paparazzi are already outside. Gage booked us a place where we can lay low for a while.”
“Jackson, please, I need you—”
“Enough, Autumn!” His voice snaps through the air causing my heart to jump. His gaze is hard and angry. “I’m your bodyguard and you need to listen to me and do what I say. That’s it. Got it?”
There’s my answer. The bodyguard has taken over. The question is, does my boyfriend still exist?
Fine. He wants a biddable client. I’ll give him one.
I let the actress take over and grab my purse, slowly slipping the strap on my shoulder as I face him head on. “Got it.”
His eyes crinkle enough to tell me he’s suspicious of my cooperation. But he doesn’t question it long. He leads me into the hallway and to the service elevator where hotel security is waiting. We make our way to a back entrance where Jackson’s rental is waiting.
“Get in the back seat,” he orders as he stuffs our luggage in the trunk.
“At least it’s not the trunk this time,” I mutter and shoot him a glare.
He glares right back. “And stay on the floor so no one can see you.”
It takes all my willpower not to raise my middle finger at him. Instead, I smile sweetly and do what he says. His backpack is thrown on the floor, I pick it up and put it on the seat. Underneath that is some bound paper that looks like a script.
No. Ben can’t be right.
I pick it up and get as comfortable I can on the floor of the car as Jackson takes off. The beginning is a monologue, but it’s the last line that steals my breath:All I know is I wouldn’t be here today, at least not as the man I am, if it weren’t for Noah.
Noah. Oh God.
I flip through and it reads exactly like some of the experiences Jackson told me about on the plane. I toss it aside, stomach churning hard again, not wanting to read anymore. Did he write this? Did he really talk to Ed about it? Is he trying to get it picked up? He said his story didn’t deserve a Hollywood shine.
Okay, I need to slow down. Even if he did talk to Ed, that doesn’t mean he’s using me for my connections. But why didn’t he mention it on the plane? Has he been lying to me?
