To Love Jason Thorn (Page 44)

I didn’t see any of it; all I could feel was her getting under my damn skin.

After she had eaten two of my pastries on top of her own, she had fallen asleep all snuggled up against me.

I hadn’t moved an inch the rest of the flight.

“Yes?” I asked, focusing on her face again.

“There is a vintage clawfoot tub in here.” Her voice echoed in the tiled bathroom.

“Great,” I muttered, quickly turning away from her before I lost my damn mind. The things I could do to her in that tub… I didn’t need a visual of her standing next to it.

A few minutes later she found me in my room. “There are only two bedrooms here,” she commented from the doorway.

I lifted my brow and stared at her. “Two isn’t enough? How many did you expect to find?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s so big, I just assumed it would be more than two. There is a dining room so if we want to invite our non-existent friends over for dinner, that will be useful I guess. Anyway, you’re taking this room?” she asked as she entered the room and sat on the bed. “The other bedroom is bigger; why don’t you take that one? I’d be more comfortable if you took that one.”

When we’d landed at the airport the sky had already been darkening, but I still parted the blinds so the city lights would illuminate the room without me having to switch the bright lights on.

I turned around to move out of the room, but Olive was sprawled on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

“Okay, give it to me.” Oh, how I wish I could. “What is our itinerary for tonight? Is it something like this? At 8, exit the hotel, make sure to get photographed hand in hand with Jason Thorn. At 8:30, enter the restaurant, hand in hand with Jason Thorn. At 9:30, exit the restaurant, laughing and clinging to Jason Thorn.”

Grinning, I sat down next to her and looked at her upturned face. “I didn’t know my hand was causing you such grief.”

“Your hand… Holding your hand is no grief at all. It’s just weird how detailed she is on her lists, as if she has to mention that I need to smile when I’m looking at you. What does she think I’m going to do? Slug you in public or something? And, hell, maybe I’m having a moment and I just want to look at you for a second.”

My fingers stopped playing with the ends of her soft hair. My voice came out husky when I spoke. “Tell me more about this moment and I’ll try to answer as best as I can.”

She turned to her side and squinted her eyes at me. Before she could answer, my damn phone vibrated with a new text.

“It’s Megan. We have a car waiting to take us to dinner. Apparently she is joining us.”

Olive groaned and covered her eyes with her arm. “She is going to go over her game plan for tomorrow. We’re screwed.”

***

The dinner was exactly what Olive had predicted it would be: Megan giving each of us detailed instructions on what to say, what not to say, etc. Toward the end, she focused completely on Olive and explained what would happen at the premiere the next day. When neither Olive nor I could keep our eyes open any more, she agreed to end the night and we all returned to our rooms.

I eyed the alarm clock on my left side and noticed it had been only eleven minutes since I had left Olive alone on the balcony after giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. It was the closest we had gotten to a real kiss so far, always a forehead kiss, or sometimes an even more innocent cheek kiss. I’d already discovered that I preferred forehead kisses over the cheek kisses. The way she looked at me after I gave her one always undid something inside me, so I took what I could get.

Another minute passed. Was she still talking to her friends? It was the first night we’d be sleeping under the same roof, and I was having trouble guiding my thoughts away from that fact.

Finally, I heard a door being clicked shut, then soft footsteps took her farther away from my room to her own bedroom. Maybe I should’ve found a suite with only one bedroom.

I took a deep breath and let it all out.

When I heard Olive’s ear-piercing scream, I was out of my bed and running for her in seconds. As soon as I hit the living room, she collided with my bare chest, knocking the air out of me.

“What is it?” I asked urgently, my heart racing in my chest. When she kept shaking in my arms, trying to catch her breath, I gripped her elbows and pushed her away from my body. “What’s wrong?”

Her chest rising and falling rapidly, she met my eyes. “Someone is in my room.” Her breath hitched. “The closet.”

Just as she finished her words, I heard a soft clatter coming from her room. I gripped her arm tighter. “Go to my room. Now. Call the hotel security.” She nodded sharply, but didn’t move. “Go, sweetheart. It’s gonna be okay,” I said, softening my tone. She ran without questioning me further.

When I entered her room, I caught the faint smell of Olive, the scent of her perfume: fresh apples and flowers. As I walked father in, a heavier smell clouded the one I was starting to recognize whenever Olive was near.

“Hotel security is on their way. If you don’t want to get in more trouble, you should come out of there.”

A slender blonde strolled out of the walk-in closet at my words. She was wearing a black lingerie set that left nothing to the imagination. I made sure to keep my eyes on her face and not an inch below that.

I balled my fists and took a deep breath.

“How did you get in?” I asked, trying so very hard to keep the anger that was burning inside me out of my voice.

What if Olive hadn’t noticed this person’s presence in her room and this lunatic had managed to hurt her?

She shrugged and offered me a small smile. It wasn’t the first time some fan or stalker had paid a hotel employee to get into my room, but having Olive here with me…

It changed things.

Her eyes roamed my naked chest and she found the courage to take a step toward me as she licked her lips. I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I guessed you would bring her here with you, but I wanted to give you options tonight. I’m game for a threesome, too,” she said.

I clenched my jaw and had to force myself to not throw her out on her ass on the spot.

“Jason? Is everything okay?” Olive’s softly spoken words came from right outside the room.

“It’s okay, Olive.” I raised my voice. “Open the door so security can get in here as fast as possible.”

Turning to the lunatic, I saw the shocked expression on her face. “Perhaps you want to put on your clothes before more people see you like this.”

“But…but I love you,” she said, taking another step forward. “Please, give me a chance. I really love you, Jason! I’ve watched every one of your movies a hundred times!”

I gritted my teeth and turned away from her to wait for security.

“I’ll do whatever you want, Jason. Just give me one night, please,” she begged instead of putting clothes on. “I only want one chance. I’ll let you do anything you want to me. I don’t even care if you fuck me in front of a bunch of people. Whatever gets you off, I’m down with it.”

Hearing raised voices coming from outside the room, I walked out without glancing back at her. I was doing my damnedest to ignore her words. She was still begging me, her pleas becoming desperate. The head of the hotel security, Daniel…something, who I had met as we checked in, reached me before I could get to them.