I stared at the TV, my mouth still hanging open at the story even as the news moved on to the next segment. Sienna spoke first. “Syd, they make up things to get ratings. You know there is nothing going on with Jack and that creature.”
It took me a minute to respond. I knew in my heart that nothing was going on with Jack and Jenna, but seeing them on TV and watching him put his hand on her back with a sense of familiarity still made me feel sick.
“I know, Sienna. But it still makes me ill hearing even a fake story about Jack and another woman. Especially that woman. I didn’t like her the first minute I met her and seeing her gloating face enjoying standing next to Jack makes my stomach turn.”
I jumped at the sound of my phone ringing and vibrating on the glass table in front of me.
“Don’t ignore him again, Syd,” Sienna warned.
I took a deep breath and grabbed for my phone, expecting to see Jack’s handsome face on the screen, but the face that appeared startled me. My mother.
“No way.” I tossed the phone back on the table as if it was fire and I had just burned my hand.
“Syd,” Sienna warned.
“It’s not Jack. It’s my mother.”
“You think the timing of her call is a coincidence, or she just saw what we saw?”
“I don’t really want to find out right now.” I stood and looked over to the cheesecake we had ordered earlier with dinner but had been too stuffed to eat. “Dessert?”
“Always.”
***
A few hours later I was sure my mom had seen the news segment. She called four times in a short span of time, which was very unlike her. I checked her message after the second call to make sure I wasn’t avoiding an emergency and she mentioned she had seen Jack on TV and wanted to check in with me.
My mother and I were close and I knew that she would be concerned, but when she wanted information she had her ways of getting it from me. I wasn’t ready to share that part of Jack’s life with her, although I was sure that whatever sordid image she had already conjured up in her mind was probably far worse than the truth of the situation.
I still hadn’t spoken to Jack about the news segment, and at first I thought that maybe he was giving me some space to let the segment sink in. But Jack wasn’t really that type of man. If he had a problem or a concern, he went right to the core of it. He didn’t believe in space or mulling things over. It just wasn’t who he was.
I thought back to the first time we had seen each other in Hawaii. We met in a bar while he was there with his friends for a bachelor party. I had been vacationing with Sienna on what was supposed to have been my honeymoon. We’d both felt the instant chemistry that sparked between us. But I had been coming off of a broken engagement and wasn’t really looking to meet anyone. Jack had decided we should have an island affair and there was really no stopping him once he made up his mind. He hadn’t pushed me or anything, but he was clear with what he wanted and didn’t give me an opportunity to overanalyze my decision. Instead, he’d stayed right in front of me, standing so close with his incredible green eyes burning into me that my body couldn’t help but react. He was demanding and possessive, but in a confident, sexy kind of way that few men could pull off.
The more I thought about Jack, the more I realized that he must not have heard about the news story yet. I knew he had a board meeting that morning, but I wasn’t sure how long those type of things normally lasted.
I was just drying off after a shower when I heard my phone ring from the bedroom. The flashing picture of Jack made me smile, even though I was a little apprehensive to discuss what I had seen on TV. Down deep, I knew I was acting childish. But when it came to Jack, my emotions were difficult to control.
“Hey.”
“Hey, beautiful.” His sexy voice made me smile, even from thousands of miles away.
“How was your day?”
“As expected.” Jack sighed and quickly changed the subject. “How was your pajama and room service day?”
“It was … interesting.” I struggled for the right word to describe my day.
“Tell me about interesting.”
“I’d rather hear about your day.” I had no idea why I was stalling.
“You’re stalling, babe. Is everything all right?” Since the first day I’d met Jack, it had always thrown me off balance how he seemed to have the ability to read my mind. For the most part, I had chalked it up to my body language, but apparently he could do it even through the phone, thousands of miles away.
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Know what I’m doing when I’m three thousand miles away.”
“I told you, babe, you’re important to me, so I pay attention. But you’re still stalling, so why don’t you tell me what you don’t want to tell me.”
Yep, I was right, the man would never have given me time to think before calling if he knew something had bothered me. “I saw you on TV today.”
“Okay.”
I flirted my response. “You looked really handsome.”
Jack chuckled. “Get to the interesting part, babe.”
“It was a story on one of the pseudo-news shows, the ones that do the news, but all the news revolves around celebrities.”
“I know the type.” I could tell from his tone that he was growing impatient with my story.
“They announced the nominees for the AVN Awards. The footage must have been from last year’s award ceremony, because you and your date were on the red carpet all dressed up.”
Jack blew out a rush of air. “My date? You mean Jenna?”
“Yes, her.” God, just hearing Jack say her name made my claws come out.
“So you’re upset because you saw us on TV together?” Jack’s question was seeking confirmation, not questioning the validity of my reaction.
“No, although I did feel a little queasy when the reporter mentioned a rumor that Jenna might have some extra bling on her finger this year from you.”
“I’m sorry, babe. Jenna’s publicist has kept rumors of our relationship circulating for years. I never cared because it helped sales and I really didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. I’ll make sure Jenna and her publicist stop playing games.”
“Thank you, I’d appreciate that. My mom has been calling all day and I haven’t figured out what I am going to say to her yet.”
“Why do you have to figure out something to say to her?”