To Hate Adam Connor
“You can let her go, Adam. Go and tell them what’s going on. I’ll make sure she stays put.”
He met my eyes again, but spoke to his bodyguard. “No, I got her.” I hated him for making me shiver. Thinking I was trying to shake him off, he pulled me flush to his chest. “You go.”
Nipple alert!
I looked away from Adam’s accusing eyes and watched the giant leave.
The whole thing was turning into a nightmare.
“Look.” I sighed and looked up to meet his ridiculously green eyes. “I’m not your stalker.” He opened his mouth, but I talked over him. “I know. I know what it looks like, but I’m telling you the truth. My name is Lucy. Lucy Meyer. I’m staying next door. Right there.” I pointed toward Olive’s house with my shaky index finger. His expression didn’t change a bit, the handsome bastard, but at least he was listening, so I continued with my explanation. “Jason Thorn? Heard of him? He is an actor just like yourself, only he is a lot more good-looking than you are and actually has a kind heart, ring any bells?”
No answers, no acknowledgements. Apparently he had no humor.
“He got married this year. To Olive. She is my best friend. I’m their friend. I’m staying with them. You can ask them yourself.”
“And where are these best friends, Lucy Meyer?”
“Jason had a promo thing, so they’ve been in London for the last couple of days.”
“How convenient for you, isn’t it?”
I tried to take my arm back, but it was still firmly in his hold. I gave him an annoyed look.
“Let me go.”
“No.”
“They’re flying in today. You can ask them yourself.”
“You’re facing charges. You’re not getting out of this that easily.”
“For God’s sake, are you even listening to me?”
“I already saw what I needed to see.”
My breathing quickened, so I hung my head and tried to keep myself calm by closing my eyes and counting to ten.
His fingers around my wrists tightened to the point of causing pain, so I gasped and looked up sharply.
“Don’t even think about crying. It won’t work.”
I wasn’t about to cry; it hadn’t even crossed my mind, but somehow when I saw the officers coming toward us, my eyes started to well up.
“Great timing,” Adam murmured when he saw my blurry eyes, and something snapped in me.
“You jerk,” I said quietly. “Go ahead, press charges. I’m pressing charges too. You shouldn’t be a parent. If you didn’t know, child endangerment is a felony. If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me! That kid deserves a better dad, a dad who cares about his safety, you…you smug son of a bitch!”
He almost crushed my wrist, but stopped and dropped my hand when I winced.
Maybe you’re thinking I sounded a little dramatic, but I can assure you, I wasn’t being a drama queen. He had practically left his kid to die out there. I should’ve been the one who called 911, not them.
“Mr. Connor,” said one of the officers as they came to stand next to us. After Adam explained what was going on and that he was pressing charges, they didn’t even listen to me as they cuffed me.
Cuffed me!
Five minutes later, I was sitting in the back of a police car, heading to their precinct. I was ready to kill the bastard. If I ever got out of the jail they were about to put me in, I was going to kill the guy for sure.
***
It was five hours later—five!—when Jason and Olive came to bail me out. It was all quiet in the car, and I was still seething.
“Lucy,” Olive said as she twisted her body to look back and talk to me.
“I hate him,” I repeated for the tenth time since I’d gotten into their car. “I want to kill him. I’m gonna press charges to save that kid from him and then kill him.”
“Is this contagious, Olive? Should I be worried?” Jason said from the driver seat. Our eyes met in the rearview mirror, and I frowned at him. His lips twitched.
“What’s he talking about?” When I glanced at Olive, she was trying to hide her own smile. “What are you two smiling about?” I shouted. “Sure, maybe I was in jail for five freaking hours, but I seriously doubt I have an infectious disease.”
Olive’s smile widened. “Of course not. He is talking about something else. Don’t mind him.”
“What? Don’t keep secrets from me, Olive. I’m very vulnerable right now.”
“I’m not keeping anything from you, Lucy. I was promising to kill you when he was driving me back from the studio executives’ office. You know, the day I had the meeting? The day you left me all alone? He thinks we enjoy going for killing sprees.”
I glanced at Jason. “Don’t do inside jokes right now. Be cute to your wife on your own time. She is all mine at the moment. I was in jail. I need my friend.”
“I’m assuming we’re gonna keep hearing about the fact that you were in a holding cell, alone, for a very long time.”
“How about you keep your eyes on the road so we don’t die before I can kill that smug son of a bitch?”
Placing his hand on Olive’s leg, he said, “She is all yours, little one.”
“Thank you,” I said sarcastically and then repeated, again, “I hate him.”
Olive put her own hand over Jason’s and a loaded moment passed between them. They were cute, so I let that one slide. “I think we already got that,” she said. “And don’t chop my head off because I hate to say I told you so, but…”
“I’ll give him that much,” I admitted reluctantly. “It was wrong of me to spy on him. But I wasn’t stalking. There is a distinct difference. I just climbed a freaking ladder, and if he happened to be out in his backyard I watched him for a few minutes. That’s it.”
“Privacy is really important to us, Lucy. You should know that by now,” Jason joined in on the conversation.
“I’m not saying it wasn’t wrong, but if I hadn’t been watching, that kid would be dead right now. Doesn’t that count for something?”
He remained silent.
Realizing something else, I slid forward on my seat. “You do believe me, right? Please tell me you believe me when I say the only reason I jumped over that wall was to save the kid from drowning.”
“Of course we do,” Olive promised.
“Jason? You do believe me, right?”
He met my eyes again and sighed. “I do, Lucy, but that’s not important.”
“How can it not be important! The douche should’ve dropped to his knees and kissed my feet for being there.”
Kissing other parts would’ve been acceptable, too, but not anymore. I wouldn’t let him come near any of my lady parts, let alone accept kisses.
“I meant, what I think doesn’t matter. The fact is that Adam thinks you’re a stalker.”
I hate him. I really, really hate him. I slid back and crossed my arms against my chest.
“What will happen now?” I asked when the silence became too much.
“I’ll talk to him and make him drop the charges,” Olive replied.
“And how do you think you’ll make that happen?” Jason piped up, giving Olive a sideways look.
“I’ll explain that Lucy was just trying to help. I don’t know, be her character witness in a way.”