Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
I wondered now if maybe Julian’s Halloween party was too…the word legitimate came to mind. But it also cast every party Jasmine had ever invited us to in a darker light. Why exactly had these billionaires bothered flying us out?
I kept my voice tightly controlled as I asked, “Is there something I should be worried about, Garrett?”
He paused. “No. That’s what you’re paying me for.”
I huffed out a laugh that fell flat. “To worry for me?”
“To fix shit for you.”
I don’t know why the words made tears spring to my eyes. It had to be the stress. The shooting schedule had been grueling. Geoffrey’s upcoming trial was still weighing on me. And while I was lucky to have my mom and Noemi always looking out for my best interests in Hollywood, I could count on one hand how many other people I trusted. Having Garrett in my corner made me feel safe. It made me realize I hadn’t felt safe in a long time.
“I don’t get paid unless you do,” Garrett reminded me, shredding my sentimental fantasies of him being some sort of protector. “So don’t let this get you off track. The big one is around the corner.”
My eyes dried instantly. Of course. Garrett wasn’t worried about me. He was worried about his investment. “I won’t,” I said icily. Then, for some reason, I added, “I’m bringing Andrew to the Halloween party.”
There was the briefest hesitation before Garrett said, “Good move.”
“I thought so.”
I held my breath, wondering if he would say anything else. The last two times I’d seen him, he made it clear he didn’t want Andrew and me turning this fake relationship into something real. Now, though, he just said brusquely, “I’ll be in touch,” and hung up.
I stared at the phone in my hand. I’ll be in touch? Spoken without a hint of jealousy or heat. Had I imagined the sexual tension between us? It was unlikely, and there was no way I had imagined that kiss.
15
GARRETT
There was a rumor going around that one of the yacht girls was in on Geoffrey’s scheme. She was the madame, of sorts. Geoffrey could reel young women in because he was Geoffrey Dorsch, but she got them another way. She befriended them.
Jasmine Portillo, a glamorous, beautiful twenty-seven-year-old that no one knew anything about, was the rumored co-conspirator. And I was looking at about fifteen different photos that paparazzi had snapped over the past few years of her walking with her arm hooked through Destiny’s. Heads ducked against the barrage of camera snaps, wide smiles on their faces. Obviously, there was nothing incriminating in them, but the association was damning enough.
I was just glad that, so far, no pictures of Jasmine, Destiny, and Geoffrey Dorsch had surfaced. That might have been the lighter fluid this story needed to blow up into the mainstream consciousness. I could handle whispers. Headlines were another story. Not even Andrew Quinn could save Destiny then. Not even Noemi. Not even every trick in my book.
She would be tabloid bait.
I closed my eyes tightly and leaned back in my chair, tilting my head back against the headrest. It would be vicious. Unrelenting. Andrew’s team would force him to give up the charade of their relationship. It was what I would do, in their place. And if Andrew did stick by her, Destiny’s association with an A-list star would blow the case even bigger.
It was all lose-lose-lose.
My only hope was that it was complete bullshit.
When I opened my eyes, they landed on a picture of Destiny. Her head was ducked, her arm stretched out in front of her. Jasmine’s hand was wrapped around her fingers, pulling her through the explosion of flashbulbs. Jasmine was grinning wildly, her eyes greedily gathering all the flashes, but Destiny wasn’t smiling. She looked…lost. Like she wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there, and she was just blindly hoping that the hand towing her through belonged to a friend.
I hoped so too, but I doubted it.
My eyes narrowed on Jasmine. I’d never liked the looks of her, even before her name was linked to Geoffrey’s. There was a cunning twist to her lips, even when they were smiling. Her eyes always seemed to be looking for something more. I was relieved that Destiny didn’t seem very attached to her.
Party friends, she had said.
I knew what those were like. Noemi and I had had our share before she hit it big. Within months, their true faces had shown through. They sold birthday and Christmas cards she had signed. Later, they sold pictures. Now, Noemi and I kept our respective circles tight. Julian, Landon, Con, and Dominic were mine. Hers included a few other actresses, and a couple friends from high school.
Destiny would learn.
I just hoped that the lesson sank in before one of these party friend associations sunk her career.