“Sophie helped me.”
Sophie? When? She’s so busy organizing her wedding I hardly ever see her myself. “When? She has such a full schedule.”
“I have my ways,” he says, cockily. “Come on, I want to show you something else before we leave.” He takes me down to the track.
“Thanks, Cody,” Jake says to the man who steps off the bike, and pats his shoulder. Jake sits on the motorcycle, gesturing with his finger to join him. I shake my head no. “Just sit behind me. We’re not going anywhere, at least not without the helmets and everything.” I waver, and then shake my head no again. I really don’t want to do this. Disappointment flashes in Jake’s eyes for a second, but is instantly replaced with understanding. He extends his hand to me and I grab it. He’s still sitting on the bike, and I’m standing beside him, wrapped in his arms. His head in the crook of my neck. “I completely understand why you don’t want to sit on it. I won’t force you into doing something you don’t want to do yourself, babe.”
We head back to the car, our fingers intertwined, and smiles on our faces. As we reach the parking lot, a group of his fans run toward us. Jake looks at me, and I nod. I let him say hi to them, step to the side, and let him do his thing. I watch how confidently he handles them, how nicely he smiles at them, and answers their questions. One by one, he signs whatever they shove under his nose—notebooks, hands, and shirts.
“He’s something else, huh?” I hear a man’s voice behind me, and I turn around. I watch the man approaching me with suspicion, and he offers his hand. “I’m sorry if I scared you. My name’s Kevin. I work with Jake.” I return the smile, and shake his hand.
“I’m Ella. Ella Vaughn, nice to meet you. And yes, he’s special,” I respond, but my eyes don’t leave Jake.
“Have you two been together long?” he asks, and I look at him. I scrunch my forehead in confusion. How the hell does he know we’re together? “Jake talks about you nonstop. It seems like I’ve known you forever,” he jumps in before I can say anything. Nodding, I smile. He asks me a few more questions, and we chat casually for a while as I’m waiting for Jake to finish. I suddenly hear his sexy deep voice nearing me, and I turn to him. Smiling, he runs to me. He gives me a peck on the lips.
“I’m so sorry, babe. I hope you weren’t too bored.” I put my hands on his firm chest and shake my head.
“Don’t apologize, that’s part of your job. Besides, I had a nice conversation with someone from your team.” I turn around to point him out, but he’s nowhere to be seen. “Huh, he was here a second ago.” I shrug.
“Don’t worry about him. Let’s go.”
The next morning, the ringing of my phone wakes me up. At first, I try to ignore it so they’ll just leave a message, but it keeps ringing and ringing. I groggily stand up, and go to the kitchen where I left the phone. It finally stops. I check the screen to see who was so persistent. Jake. I wrinkle my forehead. Four missed calls.
“Jake?” my voice is full of concern as he answers. “Is something wrong?” His harsh voice wakes me up completely.
“Who did you talk to yesterday?” I hold the phone away from my ear, and look at it in confusion, then put it back to my ear.
“Jake, what are you talking about?”
“Fuck, Ella, you’re all over the news. On every front page of a magazine, heck, even on the radio. Who did you tell?”
“I haven’t told a living soul, I swear. How can they possibly know about me?” As I say that, I remember Kevin. He’s the only one I talked to, but I’m sure nobody on his team would talk to the press.
“Ella?” Jake asks as I’m quiet for a while.
“I only talked to Kevin. I didn’t think he would sell the story.”
“Who the hell is Kevin?” Shocked by his reaction, I swallow hard.
“I don’t know. Your mechanic, maybe? He told me he worked for you.”
“Shit,” he says, and I bet he runs his hand through his hair. “He lied to you and you bought it. How could you be so naïve?” His words sting. He’s angry with me. Hell, he’s furious. I failed him. He has every right to be furious with me.
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t know,” I say quietly, trying to hold back the tears. “I’m so sorry.” I hear knocking on my front door, and Sophie comes in with a stack of magazines in her lap. She gives me a sympathetic look, and I know she’s here because of the articles about me.
“It is what it is now. I’ll try to repair the damage, if it’s even possible at this point. Next time, do not talk to anybody if I’m not around or if you don’t know them.” He hangs up without saying goodbye and I collapse on the couch. Sophie has already made me a cup of hot tea in the meantime, and she sets it down in front of me on the coffee table.