| |
I’M NOT GOING TO LIE, before going to business school, I watched as many movies and as much television as the next girl, and it took every bit of restraint I had not to say the words, “I’m here to self-surrender” as I entered the building. I went instead to the booking waiting room where I saw Rose sitting anxiously in the only seat in the house. She stuck out like a sore thumb. Not just because she was the only woman in a room full of towering men, but because of the terrified look on her face. I wasn’t sure which was upsetting her more—the fact that Michael was sitting somewhere behind the bars in the next room or the fact that he wasn’t sitting in her carefully designed living room with his pants off.
Either way, it was clearly going to be a birthday to remember.
“Hey!”
She jumped to her feet and rushed toward me as I made my way into the room. Half a dozen angry, boorish-looking men turned to awkwardly gape as the two of us embraced. As we pulled back, I examined her carefully.
“Are you okay? You weren’t in the car, were you?”
She sighed. “No. I was waiting at the apartment. I was his...one phone call.”
My eyebrows shot up into my hair. “His secret girlfriend?” Could the man be more obvious?
“His publicist,” she stressed, trying to keep calm. “So far I’ve been able to keep it out of the papers, but the longer he’s in here... I mean, it’s bound to get out!”
I rubbed her arms comfortingly. “Well, it would hardly be the first time...” I said gently.
“That’s not the point,” she countered. “The profiles are due out next week to time with the announcement. The whole point of his profile is that he’s a ‘reformed sinner.’ How is this going to look?”
“Consistent?” I tried a joke. “People admire consistency...” I stopped short at the look on her face. “Too soon? Okay. Well then, we’ll just have to make sure no one finds out. Where are they at with releasing him?”
For some reason, her face flushed bright pink. “Well—and let me preface this with I know you’re not going to like it, Jenna—but I had to call in some reinforcements.”
“Where is he?!” I jumped and whirled around as Tom came thundering into the waiting room. “I’m going to ring him by his spoiled, stupid little neck!”
My eyes narrowed as I glanced back at Rose. “Reinforcements?” I hissed.
“What was I supposed to do?” she whispered back. “Mike’s in jail. I can’t call his dad. He’ll be pissed!”
Oh, I don’t know...but to avoid this, I might actually be willing to leave him there...
Tom’s rampage stopped short the moment he saw me, and for a second, he just stared. It was then that I realized, I hadn’t allowed us to be this alone in almost three months. Alone—I thought with a smile. Here we were in the middle of a crowded jail. But still, no one here knew us—no one except Rose, and with this, she didn’t count. We could almost...be ourselves.
“Jenna...”
I caught my breath as his voice softened automatically when he said my name.
“Tom,” I answered politely, unsure what to do next.
“I’m sorry for yelling,” he said quickly, “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
I pulled my jacket tighter around me and looked away. “Well, Rose called me, so...”
“Of course.” He turned his attention to Rose, although his eyes kept flickering back to me. “So he’s in holding right now? Any news as to whether they’re charging him?”
“No,” she said desperately. “No one will tell me anything.” She threw up her hands in frustration, gesturing to her perfect Sports Illustrated body. “It’s like none of these jailors have eyes—I swear, I’ve never had this kind of problem getting what I want!”
Both Tom and I dropped our eyes to the ground with a little grin. Rose’s narcissistic indignation was quite possibly the only levity we were going to have today.
“Well, I’ll see what I can do.” Tom cast me another look, his smile still lingering, before he headed off to the front desk.
Rose and I took a seat and waited for what felt like the longest ten minutes of my life before he finally came back, accompanied by a very sheepish-looking Michael.
“Mike!” Rose jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. “I was so worried!”
“How did you get him out?” I asked Tom, curious to the point where I forgot we were no longer speaking.
“Simple.” Tom glanced casually around. “I just told him the chief of police was my godfather and asked if I should call him to clear up this little mishap.”
“Is that true?” Rose asked in astonishment.
Michael nodded sagely. “I have to admit, that was quite some foresight on Dad’s part, naming him when we were only four months old. Who knew it would come in handy so many times?”
“So many times?” Rose lifted her eyes dangerously, and Michael fell silent. “I was under the impression that was all in your past, darling. Want to tell me what the hell happened today?”
He grimaced like a school-boy. “I was just...getting a head start on my party tonight.”
“Oh,” she folded her arms across her chest, “the party you think is still going to happen?”
“Rose...”
“After I had to bail you out of jail!”
Michael cast Tom a quick look before answering. “Well, you didn’t exactly have to bail me out—”
“Not the point, Michael!”
He dropped his eyes to the floor. “Yes, ma’am.” A little grin crept up the side of his face, and I could see Rose furiously trying to stop herself from grinning as well. “Well...if you let me come back to your place...I’m sure I could find a way to make it up to you.”
Her lips twitched, and she turned to me. “Do you have a place to stay tonight?”
Shoot—with everything that happened, I completely forgot to text Eric.
“Oh...um...” I cast a guilty look at Tom. “I’ll just catch a cab and figure something out.”
Tom’s face tightened, but he made a conscious effort to smooth it out before turning to me graciously. “Why don’t you let me give you a ride? You’ll never catch a cab at this hour.”
I blushed as red as my new hair. “You...don’t have to do that. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Jenna—he’s right. You’ll be stranded. Go with him,” Rose instructed severely, taking Michael by the hand. “In the meantime...you and I have a birthday to attend.”
I rolled my eyes and waved goodbye before jumping up to kiss Michael on the cheek.
“Happy birthday, Mike. I hope the rest of it goes better than this afternoon.”
He winked. “Oh, you can count on it.”
On that note, he and Rose swept out of the jail, leaving me and Tom in awkward silence. When it could go on no longer, he finally turned to me. “Well, shall we?”
I followed him out to the curb and slid into the town car behind him. It was thoroughly depressing. I had so many tantalizing memories in this car; it was hard to ignore. Just smelling the leather seats got my skin tingling in anticipation.
I ignored these feelings as best I could and murmured Eric’s address to the driver, leaning back against the seat when I was finished and purposely ignoring Tom’s eyes.
“Thank you for the ride,” I said politely, cocking my head toward the window. “I think I honestly might have frozen otherwise.”
He cleared his throat gruffly. “Anytime.” Then his voice softened again. “I mean it Jenna, any time at all.”
We rode the rest of the way to Eric’s apartment in silence. When we pulled up against the curb, I flashed Tom a tight, farewell smile before hopping out as quickly as I could. That intoxicating leather was making my head spin with a million flashbacks, and it wasn’t safe for me to stay in there another second.
I hadn’t had a chance yet to text Eric—I could only hope he was home. The town car lingered in the street behind me, making sure I got inside okay as I nervously rang the bell.
There was a sound of shuffling from the other side before Eric finally answered the door.
Topless.
“Jenna!” He looked shocked to see me and kept the door half-shut so as not to let me see inside. “What’s going on—did we have plans I forgot or something?”
“No, um,” I cast a self-conscious glance at the town car idling behind me, “something kind of came up at my apartment tonight, and I was hoping I could crash? Sorry for the short notice,” I added quickly when I saw the look on his face.
“Oh...uh...” He ran his hand through his messy hair. “Hon, normally I would totally love to. It’s just that right now’s not the best time—”
“Shower’s ready!”
A man’s voice echoed from inside, and Eric and I locked eyes, equally guilty.
“I’m kind of in the middle of something,” he confessed.
“Oh!” I took a quick step away, horrified to have interrupted. “Oh—not at all! I’m so sorry, I’ll just—”
“I’m really sorry, Jenna...”
I held up my hands as I started backing down the steps. “Don’t be! I’m sorry. Um...I’ll just see you at work tomorrow!”
“Okay.”
He cast me one more apologetic look, before shutting the door behind him...leaving me standing on his steps with nowhere to go. I heard the car window roll down behind me and closed my eyes as I braced for what was coming next.
“Need a ride?” Tom asked.