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She shook her head, looking sick to her stomach. I hated that our night had been marred by this news, but at the same time, she needed to get this out.
“What happened with the recording?”
“I went to his boss. Told him my parents would sue him for sending his producer to fuck me with the sole purpose of filming me and manipulating me.” Her face was filled with disdain.
“Good for you.” That had to have taken a lot of bravery to take on a TV show executive, especially because I suspected she didn’t have that kind of faith in her parents.
She smiled sadly. “I insisted that the video be deleted, but the damage was done. There’s a part of me that worries that he has another copy and will release it.”
“If he does, we’ll go to the police.” Releasing video like that without someone’s permission had to be illegal.
Her dubious expression told me she wasn’t convinced. “I came here wanting to get out of that world and hoping Elle would forgive me.”
I rubbed circles on her hand with my thumb to soothe her. I wanted her to relax. “I’m sorry you went through that. Jace was an asshole who used you.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything further, as if what she’d said had drained her.
“Did you confide in your parents?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t think they’d believe me.”
I held her tighter. “I’m sorry the people who were supposed to be protecting you didn’t.”
She tried to smile, but it was brittle. “I wanted you to know before we went any further.”
“I’m glad you told me. It helps me understand you better.” It answered most, if not all, my questions about her. What Jace had done changed her to some extent. She was more cautious and fearful, less trusting. But I hoped to draw out the old Alice. I hoped to reassure her that not all men were like that. “I’d never hurt you like that.”
She smiled. “I didn’t think that about you, but it’s hard not to be careful.”
“I have no problem waiting for you to trust me.”
“You’re a good man.” She rested her head on my shoulder for a few minutes. When my stomach rumbled, she slipped off my lap. “We should eat.”
We were still alone on this part of the deck, but there were other groups surrounding the other fireplaces. This wasn’t the time or place to give her more comfort, but I intended to when we went home.
She needed to distance herself from the moment we just had, and I let her. It was a lot for anyone to admit. She was young and immature, and someone in a position of power took advantage of her, made her think he liked her, then violated her trust.
Anger burned in my chest. Anger I couldn’t let Alice see. Not when she was vulnerable.
She returned to her seat, and I missed the closeness, the warmth. But I understood she needed space to regroup.
We ate in silence, and I got up to throw out the trash.
When she joined me at the railing, I saw the hill with people flying down on inner tubes, and asked, “You want to go snow tubing?” It looked like a blast.
She grinned. “Let’s do it.”
As much as I wanted to take her home, she needed something else to help her forget the conversation we’d just had. I didn’t think any less of her. She was in extraordinary circumstances, raised on messed-up values, with no support system, other than a sister who’d already moved thousands of miles away to escape the same thing.
I returned our skis to the rental office, paying for snow tubing tickets. We used the hand lift to go to the top of the smaller hill where the tubes were kept.
“One or two?” the man said at the top.
I hadn’t thought of going down together, but they were large enough for two adults. “Together,” we said at the same time and then grinned at each other.
I sat on the large black tube, and she fit between my legs. The attendant asked if we wanted him to spin us, and Alice gave a tight no. That was the only indication that she was nervous. So I wrapped an arm around her waist as the man pushed us.
On the way down, Alice clung to the arm I’d bound around her, her head pushed back against my chest as she screamed. I whispered in her ear, hoping the wind didn’t take away my words. “I’ve got you.”
