Page 43 of Pursued by the Player

Chapter 12

“Jett.” She took the purse and placed it on her shoulder.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced down at her feet. “Yeah, me.” He stopped a few inches away and studied her face. Silence surrounded them, and after a few seconds, Mel started to feel uncomfortable.

“Look, I know what this looks like.”

“It looks like you used me to gain publicity for your new clothing line.”

“I know.” She wrung her hands. “It’s not, though. I swear. When I told Kennedy that we were dating, I had no idea he was going to use that information. When I found out, I tried to stop him, but once the man has an idea in his head, he’s like a steamroller. There’s no stopping him.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

He twisted his lips into a half smile. “Your friend paid me a little visit.”

“Liv?” She furrowed her brow. “She never mentioned it.”

“She gave me quite the verbal beating.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That is until she learned that I had no idea what had happened.”

“Ah, well. I know that what happened was unforgivable. I should have done more to stop it. Refused to work on the line, quit. Something.” She sighed. “But I wanted to let you know that I did make things right. While I have no control over the income generated by the clothing line, I did make sure that the proceeds from this show would go to a worthy cause.”

“I heard. I’m sure that Jessica and Kylie will appreciate it.”

Mel smiled. “It was the least I could do.” She nibbled her lower lip in the silence that followed.

“Well, I guess that this is goodbye.” She turned to go.

“That was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me,” he said.

She stopped and turned to face him. “Really?”

He nodded. “When people talk to me or do something nice, they always expect something in return. Affection, money, notoriety. . .”

“You have to believe that I wasn’t after the money or the fame. That was all Kennedy’s doing.”

“I know.”

“You do?” She sighed with relief. “Good. I hated thinking that you considered me self-centered and greedy.”

“I didn’t. Well, maybe a little at first.” He rubbed the back of his neck again. “But even before Liv visited me, I realized that things didn’t make sense. Everything that happened didn’t fit with the person I knew, and I sensed that something was going on that I wasn’t aware of.”

“Yes, exactly.” She inched closer. “I don’t care about any of that, just like I don’t care about the playboy persona you portray to the press. I care about the real you.” She took his hand. “The real us.”

He threaded his fingers with hers. “This is a new thing for me. This . . . Generosity without expectations. I’m—I’m not quite sure how to react to it.”

“You could say thank you?”

He chuckled and tightened his grip on her hand. “Thank you.”

She nibbled her lower lip and averted her gaze. “Then you could ask me out for dinner.”

“I don’t think I could wait for dinner.”

“Excuse me?”

He tugged her against him and wrapped his arm around her waist. “I can’t wait for dinner. I need to have you right now.”

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