Pure Wicked (Wicked Lovers #9.5)(31)
Author: Shayla Black

“What’s your last name?”

The out-of-nowhere question made Jesse freeze. Was she onto him? “Does it matter?”

“You know it does.”

So she’d figured him out. And she was pissed. Most of the women he’d known in his adult life would be thrilled to learn his identity. They’d be ecstatic to realize they’d been screwing a star. Not Bristol.

On soft footfalls, he headed in her direction. “Let’s sit down and talk about this.”

“I don’t want to sit down.” She gritted her teeth. “I want an answer. Did you or did you not lie to me about who you are?”

He rubbed at his forehead. He would have liked to brush his teeth and have some coffee before this confrontation. That would buy him some time so he could figure out what to say. The usual charm with his rock star smile and a flash of dimples wasn’t going to cut it. He wanted her to understand that he’d never meant to hurt her. He couldn’t let her think for an instant that he’d used her or didn’t give a shit.

Because as far as he could tell, Bristol was the first woman he’d cared about in a long fucking time.

He took her shoulders in a light grip, his head racing. “I’m sorry.”

She shook him off. “Maybe after we’d shared the sheets a time or two, you might have bothered to mention that I’m not sleeping with Jamie No-last-name, but Jesse freaking McCall. Were you ever going to tell me?”

Her eyes filled with tears, and the guilt gouged his heart.

“You kept hinting that we were merely hooking up.” He shrugged. “At first, that was fine. I thought you were interesting and I needed a place to lay low. You’ve heard about my bandmate and the awful tragedy last week?” When she nodded, he reached for her again. “I wasn’t there. I had nothing to do with it. My publicist told me to go underground while she worked on communicating that to the public. It made sense.” He tried to smile. “Besides, she’s scary. I tend to do what she says.”

The quip fell flat. Hurt crossed her face. “So I was a way to pass the time while you hid from everyone? Great.”

“No.” He got serious again. “It would have been better for me if I didn’t care about you so damn much, but from the beginning something about you grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let go. It’s why I jumped in to help you back at that barbeque dive. I couldn’t look at your sad eyes and not want to make you happy. I still can’t.”

“So you feel sorry for me? Gave me a few pity fucks?”

“God, no! I like you. Remember?” Jesse more than suspected his feelings for Bristol went deeper, but he wasn’t sure she would hear him now—or believe him. “But being famous, I have to be careful. People have sold me out before. Folks I’ve hired or I thought were my friends have taken pictures of me or prowled through my personal information and sold it. You’ve seen the pictures of me in the shower?”

She nodded sheepishly. “Everyone has. Didn’t some girlfriend of yours take them?”

“Supposedly. Five weeks into the relationship, she chose half a million dollars over me. So you’re not the only one who’s felt used.”

“That’s terrible. I would never…” She shook her head.

No, she wouldn’t violate his privacy like that. He might not have known her as long as he had Sierra before she’d betrayed him. Bristol wasn’t a fame monger. She knew what being used felt like.

“I get that now,” he assured. “At first, I wasn’t sure, and what I did know of you… I really wasn’t sure whether you wanted revenge sex so you’d have something to shove in Hayden’s face or if you actually liked me.”

Her expression softened for a moment, and Jesse hoped that meant he was reaching her. “I do like you.” Then she toughened up again. “ Or I did. If you thought I was only using you, why did you come home with me?”

“Honestly? I wanted you too much to pass you up. I meet a lot of women…”

That full mouth of hers pinched and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Of course you do. You’d said that. Now I understand.”

And Bristol’s expression said that she felt stupid. When she closed her eyes as if castigating herself, Jesse couldn’t stand there and not touch her.

He closed the distance between them and crushed her against his body. When she struggled to break free, he held her tighter and set his lips against her ear. “Please let me hold you. What I’m trying to say is that I knew you were different immediately, and I liked you so much that I couldn’t walk way. I’ve spent a decade with people who didn’t mean anything to me. You’re different. But I had to know you before I could risk telling you who I am.”