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Hours later we’ve been to hair and makeup to prepare for pictures when my mind drifts to the man sitting outside waiting for me.
Me: What are you doing?
He answers almost instantly.
Damian: Going through emails, you okay?
Me: Yes. We are about to start taking promo pics and I was thinking about you. Why didn’t you come in?
Damian: I thought maybe you’d want some space
Me: From you? No. And aren’t you supposed to have your eyes on me at all times?
Damian: I wish. Besides, you don’t normally need me in there while you’re shooting. What’s changed?
Me: What’s changed? Really!?
Damian: I mean what’s changed in regards to me being your bodyguard?
Me: Maybe I WANT your eyes on me at all times.
Damian: Ah now I get it. I think being near you for no real reason might be against the ground rules.
Me: Fine :(
Damian: I’ll see you after.
I make my way out of my dressing room towards the set, leaving my phone in my room since there is nowhere for me to keep it when Jeremy comes out of his room and gives me a smile.
“Hey hey.” He’s wearing a perfectly tailored gray Brunello Cucinelli suit; a typical look for the sexy billionaire Ashley’s in love with.
I gently tug on the green tie that brings out the color of his eyes and give him a smile. “Hey.”
He wraps a hand around my shoulder as we walk down the hall towards the set. “You good, Shay?” He stops walking, reaching for my hand and stopping me in my tracks.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve known you for a long time and I don’t know…” He runs a hand through his hair and shrugs. “Seems like something is off.”
“Liiike?” I ask as I begin walking backwards because I’m definitely not about to disclose this new revelation with Damian to Jeremy. We’re close but I’m not ready for that.
He looks around and moves closer to me like he believes I’ve got a secret to tell him. “I don’t know. Everything good with you and Pax? Things seemed weird the other night at Rush.”
I scoff and roll my eyes hearing his name. “Vault?”
He nods, hearing our code word. “Vault. You know you can trust me, Shay.”
“We aren’t together…anymore,” I tell him. “He cheated on me with a thousand different women and I found out.” I wave my hand as if to say et cetera. I begin dancing as I hear the music they’ve turned on for set pictures to get us in the mood trying not to let this conversation bring me down.
His eyebrows shoot to his hairline. “A thousand? And you’re okay?” I can hear the unspoken part of his question in his voice.How are you okay after three years?
“I don’t know the exact number but evidently he doesn’t either, so yeah, I’m going to assume it’s a large number.” I scrunch my nose as a vision of them together flashes through my brain. “I caught him in the moment and it kind of just turned me off to it. Like balls deep, J.” I scrunch my nose, thinking about the visual I’ll probably have for the rest of my life.
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Shay.” He reaches for my hand and laces it with his dragging his thumb over my knuckles. I know he’s probably recalling his own experiences with an unfaithful partner. “I’m here if you need to talk.”
I nod. “Thank you. Just don’t tell anyone. Our PR teams want to keep us together through our award seasons,” I tell him.
“Vault.” He nods, crossing an X over his heart just as Veronica emerges from her room and skips towards us.
