“You suck.” I stuck out my tongue. He eased his nose slowly near my ear, making the juices inside me overflow.
“You suck better,” he whispered in my ear.
“That will be $16.20.” The girl interrupted Jason’s little tease moment right on time. I swear if he wasn’t careful I was going to jump him right here. I reached for my purse, but Jason pulled out a twenty.
“You better get used to me taking care of you,” he said as he handed the girl the money.
“We’ll see. Those might be the rules of others, but not mine.” I fired back, smiling.
We sat at a table, which was free, and began to eat. God, it tasted so good. Darios would have my ass if he knew I was off the diet he had created for me, but it was only for one day and it’s not like they offered salads here. I watched as Jason enjoyed his shake, not even offering me a taste. I shook my head and he relented and was about to give me the rest of it when a fan came up to me.
“Oh, my God!” she yelled out.
“You’re Kassia Preston.” She pointed at me.
Jason put his shake down and readied himself to pull me away. I put my hand on his arm, easing him off his combat ready stance and turned to the girl.
“Yes, I am.”
She danced around. “My friends over there,” she pointed to a group of young high school girls who were sitting on a bench looking at us, “Didn’t believe me, but I knew it was you. I love Drake. I mean, I'm in love with him. He’s so beautiful and broken and I just wish I could take him in, but I hate Lila and the way she keeps pushing him away.” She began fishing through her bag and Jason got up.
The young girl didn’t notice. Before she could pull out what she was looking for, Jason stepped in front of me. She held out my book, but took a step back intimidated by Jason’s stance.
“Easy, Jason,” I said quietly. I reached for her book, inviting her behind Jason.
“Your name?” I asked with a smile.
“Veronica,” she stammered. I signed her book and handed it back.
“Are you going to write more about him?” she asked with enthusiasm.
“Of course, Drake and Lila are my soul,” I stated.
“Really? When?” She waited.
“Soon, maybe by the end of the year or the beginning of the next.” The girl thanked me and ran over to her friends.
Jason sat back down, his eyes still darting back and forth.
“It’s normal for them to come up to me. I'm sorry. If you want, next time we’ll just order in or stay home,” I said earnestly. I didn’t think it might make him uncomfortable being bothered or gawked at.
“Why are you apologizing? I already know this stuff happens to you. I was just worried it was…” he stopped.
“Was who? The stalker?” I air quoted the word. “Jason, he or she is long gone. So, don’t worry.”
I didn’t become famous overnight, but once my books got a certain amount of attention everyone and their agents came running. Thank God for Tiff and her ability to help me find the best deals for my books. I wanted the stories to stay as true as they could. I knew that translating a book to a movie or TV show was somewhat impossible, but I still wanted my characters to belong to my faithful fans and me. No bastardizing of my characters was allowed. With the love of my characters came the fame and some really strange individuals who thought they knew me. Granted this one was stranger than all the others, but I figured he was gone and it was over.
“Let me worry if I want.” Jason took back his shake and finished it all. He even made those slurping sounds to make sure I knew he was done.
“Just one sip was all I asked.” I pouted and took my tray to the garbage. He followed close behind.
“Too bad,” he mouthed and smirked.
I stuck out my tongue at him and began to leave him behind.
“Don’t be like that, babe. I saved you from unnecessary calories.”
I stopped in my tracks and jerked my head as I stared him down.
“Calories? Are you implying something?” I knew he wasn’t, but I was going to play him as best as I could.
He laughed. “Yeah, sure.” He ran up to me, lifted me over his shoulder and jogged with me to a cab. He put me down and kissed my forehead, opening the car door for me.
“Come on, get in. We’ll need to burn off the rest of the calories we just ate.” He smirked.
Damn him and my libido. I eased into the cab and we headed to my place.
Upon opening the front door, I could feel him close behind. His heat radiated off his body, nearly burning my skin as I stood there in my doorway. I stepped inside as Jason quietly closed the door. The moment I heard the click of my lock, I knew I was his.