Page 109 of Loathe at First Sight

“I don’t know, Lizzie,” he says.

I get up off the ground and start pacing, prompting him to ask, “Have you talked to Jack yet?”

I quickly wipe away my tears. “No. But he’s going to be so mad. He’s done so much to make a different life, but none of it even mattered.”

“Do you think he’s going to be mad at you?” He asks.

“Honestly, I have no idea.”

“Because it’s not your fault. They probably recognized him and then started looking into you.”

“I still feel like it’s my fault,” I admit.

“It’s not. And Jack isn’t going to think it is either. That man is the most level-headed guy I know.”

God, I hope so.

thirty-eight

It'll be Alright

Jack

Liz comes flying into my office in a wave of wild curls and nervous energy.

“Hey, gorgeous,” I greet. “What’s going—”

“I’m sorry,” she blurts.

“For?”

“You haven’t seen it yet?”

I walk in front of my desk, leaning against it and holding her hands in mine. “Haven’t seen what? You’re freaking me out. What’s going on?”

She pulls out her phone and hands it to me. I spend the next couple of minutes reading over the article, which clearly is a giant crock of shit.

But in all honesty, it’s nothing that I haven’t read before.

Well, the Liz part is new.

When I’m finished, I hand the phone back to her and run my hand over my beard. “Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag, huh?”

“What?” She looks confused. “You aren’t mad?”

“Am I mad that someone wrote a bullshit article about me? I guess. But honestly, if I got mad every time someone wrote something bad about me, I’d spend all my time being angry.”

“But…but,” she stammers. “You came here to get away from that life, and now, you start dating me, and they write this.”

Suddenly, I realize that she’s upset because she thinks I’m going to be mad at her or at the relationship that we have.

“Liz, did you think I was going to be upset with you?”

“It just seems like your life was going great, and then, I came along, and here you are. Back in the tabloids.”

“Baby, come here.” I take her hand and lead her around behind the desk. I sit in the oversized chair and type my name into the search bar.

Within a fraction of a second, a slew of results come up.

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