Page 66 of To Love Jason Thorn

That night when Jason picked me up, I was abig ball of energy. I could’ve used a pep talk from Lucy, but she was studyingwith other girls from her class, and Char was…well other than being sick, shewasn’t the best person to go to when you needed a pep talk.

When Jason called me to let me know he wasjust a few minutes away from the apartment, I chose to wait for him outside toavoid Marcus’ intense glares.

His Spyder pulled in, and I practically ranto the passenger side before he could get out.

“Why are you waiting outside? What’swrong?” he asked as soon as I was inside.

I took a deep breath and his scent hit me.My eyes rolled into the back of my head.

“Huh?” I asked distractedly. “Yeah. Nothing.I didn’t want to make you wait.”

“You look beautiful, Olive,” he said, hiseyes moving over me slowly.

Since I had no idea where he was taking me,Char had thought it would be the safest bet to keep it simple with a blackdress. I ran my hands over my thighs, smoothing and pulling the dress down alittle in the process, which wasn’t all that helpful, so I linked my hands inmy lap and let it go. While it felt like it was too short at that moment, Iknew it looked good on me when I was standing. I especially liked how it lookedfrom the side; the dress curved around my ass perfectly.

“Where are we going?” I asked after I wasbuckled in and he pulled away from the curb.

“I thought Soho House would be best forprivacy. At least we won’t get photographed.”

“Oh, the private club thingy? You have a membership?”

“Yeah. I’m not a huge fan; I prefer theprivacy of my own home, but sometimes I have to meet industry people there forlunch or other business meetings.”

“I understand.” Did that mean we were aboutto have a business meeting?

The rest of the ride was awkwardly quiet.Apparently neither one of us had anything more to say, which I didn’t thinkboded well for me.

After he pulled into the garage andcompleted the check-in, he casually put his hand just above my bum—practicallyjumpstarting my heart—and guided me to the elevators.

When the silence became too much, I asked,“Is everything all right?” I didn’t mind comfortable silences, but I had afeeling that something else was going on with him. He looked distracted.

He was frowning when he looked down at me.“Yeah. Why?”

I gave him a sad smile. “I don’t know. Youaren’t talking. You seem tense and not so happy to be here.”

His eyes softened and he gently tugged atmy hair. “It’s not you, little one. Just had a stressful day.”

Nodding, I swallowed and looked away fromhis warm eyes.

Exiting the elevator at the top floor, wewalked up the stairs and through the somewhat crowded bar, and then into thecoolest dining area I’d ever seen in my life.

The entire rooftop was filled with lusholive trees and other plants. The lanterns and twinkle lights hanging throughthe branches lit up the whole space and created the perfect setup for aromantic evening. But, from the look on Jason’s face, I could see that this wasfar from a romantic evening for him. Trying to ignore the beautiful view of LA,we followed the front desk girl to a table that was mostly out of the sight ofthe other patrons.

“Jason!” some guy yelled just as we wereabout to sit down. I couldn’t see the owner of the voice, but Jason waved at someoneand sat down across from me.

“One of the producers of my last movie,” heexplained with a smile on his face. I smiled back at him.

Without any further conversation, weordered our drinks and food, and then I simply waited for Jason to spill thebeans.

“I thought you would enjoy the atmospherehere,” he said right as a waiter brought our drinks. Jason had downed hiswhiskey before the poor guy could even place my Lemon Drop in front of me. Heordered a new one for himself and suddenly pushed back his seat and rose up.

“I need to say hi to a few people, I’ll beright back,” he said and walked away from me.

Staring at his back in shock, I reached formy cocktail, took a sip, and then another big one.

The waiter came back with Jason’s seconddrink, but Jason hadn’t returned yet. I had to force myself to smile when hegave me a snobbish look.

“Awesome,” I muttered, taking out my phoneto text Lucy.

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