Page 50 of Taming His Rockstar

Chapter 25

“We can sue them, right?” I demand from Jane. “It was a private island. They had no right to take pictures of us.”

I stare at the magazines scattered on the table in front of us. There are pictures of Jake and me swimming in the ocean, me rubbing sunscreen on Jake, one of us kissing. Seeing my privacy violated like this makes me feel sickened inside.

Jane gives me a sympathetic look. “We could sue, but it would just cost money, throw unnecessary publication on the whole mess, and we may not even win. Katie, you know as well as I do how dumb the laws on this kind of things are.” She comes to sit beside me. “This is not the first time the paparazzi have taken pictures of you. Do you want to talk about what’s really bothering you?”

“No.”

“All right. And how’s Jake taking it so far?”

“Better than I expected him to,” I confess. “He just shrugged and said it was bound to happen eventually, and that he had no problem with it if I didn’t.”

“Then why are you so worried?” Jane seems surprised. “I mean, you should be used to this by now, and the person I would think would have a problem with it doesn’t.”

“Look, Jane.” I pick up my phone and show her an article from one of the gossip sites. “They went digging into his life. Jesus, even I didn’t know that he won some local art award a few years ago, or that he used to date this girl.”

I frown at the blonde girl standing next to Jake. I know they broke up almost a year ago, and even still, I don’t want to know that much about any of his past relationships.

“Don’t you think you’re worrying over nothing?”

“They’re violating his privacy,” I cry out, not understanding why Jane isn’t getting it.

“Yes, it comes with the territory of dating a rock star.”

“And that’s it.” I jump to my feet as I try to make her see my side. “We were not dating. Sure, he might seem like he is all cool with it now. But wait until they start taking pictures of him when he goes out to throw his garbage out or when the lies start coming out. I don’t think having sex with me is worth that kind of garbage.”

“Oh, come on. Sex with you is worth more than that.” She winks at me. “I’d stomach a couple of lies if I got to hit that.”

“Jane, I’m serious.” I’m surprisingly close to tears. “I’m not ready to lose him just yet.”

She becomes serious. “How about you just tell him the truth then? That you’re in love with him.”

“No,” I say immediately. “Did you hear the part where I said I’m not ready to lose him just yet? What do you think is going to happen if I walk up to him and tell him that?”

“I don’t think you give him enough credit. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. Any guy would give an arm and a leg to be with you. And I think Jake likes you more than you think he does.”

“I can’t chance it,” I say. I return to the magazine. “So, what are we going to do about this?”

“Depends on you.”

“We could just ignore it and hope it goes away,” I suggest.

“I don’t think that’s going to work. It would just add fire to the mystery and leave those idiots to keep on imagining things.” Jane picks up one of the magazines and crosses her legs as she stares at the pictures. “Can’t blame them though. Look at the way you’re looking at him here. Even a blind man would tell you you’re clearly besotted with him.”

“No, I’m not.” I stare at the picture she’s pointing at, and even I’m surprised by the love-struck look on my face. In the picture, Jake is making drinks in the bar by the pool, and I’m floating in the water a few feet away. “How about you focus on what we are going to do about this instead of staring at pictures of me?”

Jane looks up at me. “Simple. We just say Jake is a friend and nothing more. Give them the story we want them to run with. We’ll even throw some feminist mantra around, like why can’t a woman be friends with a guy without it turning to some sordid love affair. You know, put them on the defensive a beat.”

I hate to hear our affair being described as sordid, but I have no choice. I just hope this whole thing blows over before Jake decides he can’t take it anymore. He went home straight from the airport, suggesting that we take different cars to reduce the risk of being seen together. But I know he’s just trying to remove himself from this whole mess, and if I don’t clean it up soon, he’ll leave me. I can’t have that. I’m not ready to lose him just yet. I won’t ever be ready to lose him. But especially not now.

---