Page 74 of Stone Promises

Mallory

I got recognized in JFK.Me. Just walking from the gate to the luggage carousel. I’m glad Julian was there to meet me. He said Chad called him and asked him to come get me just in case anything happened. Nothing did, other than my being spotted by a girl as I walked through the terminal, and then some guy took a few pictures when Julian and I got into the cab.

Even though Chad’s people still claim we’re just friends, pictures of us kissing on the beach and holding hands in a restaurant went viral. One photo was a close-up and you could see the expression on Chad’s face as he looked at me. Anyone could see it wasn’t the way one friend looks at another. I took a picture of the photo and made it my phone background.

On the way home, I tell Julian all about Ana. “I’m happy to meet her, Mallory, but I’m not sure I want to date a celebrity.”

“She’s gorgeous,” I tell him. “And nice. Nothing like his other leading ladies.”

“I’m sure she is, I just don’t want to have to deal with everything,” he says.

We turn onto my street. “Deal with what?” I ask. As far as I know Ana doesn’t come with the baggage Chad does.

We approach my house only to see several strange cars parked out front. When the cab pulls into my driveway, he can’t even get close to the house because one of them is parked right in front of my garage. “Isn’t it illegal for them to park in the driveway?” I ask Julian.

Julian tells the cabbie to wait while he walks me to the door. I eye the sleek white Lexus SUV in the driveway. “Geez,” I say. “These guys must make a lot for their pictures.”

“Mallory! Are you Thad’s girlfriend?” a stout little man asks me from the other side of the white picket fence.

Another one asks, “Did you stay at his house in L.A.? Did you sleep in his bed?”

When we’re almost at the door, the first guy shouts, “What about Courtney Benson? How do you feel about being the other woman? Do you really expect him to leave her foryou?”

I can’t help but turn around and spit fire at him with my eyes.Bad idea. I hear a hundred clicks of their cameras.

“Ignore them, Mal. You know they only say shit like that to get a good picture, right?”

I nod, putting my key in the front door. “I know. But he just said what everyone is thinking.”

“Since when does Mallory Schaffer give a flying fuck what people think of her?”

“Maybe since I have twenty-one nine-year-olds looking up to me,” I say, walking through the door. Julian puts my suitcase inside and gives me a hug as I thank him for bringing me home.

“You know I’m always here for you,” he says.

“It goes both ways, you know,” I tell him. “I’m here for you, too, Julian.”

“See you Wednesday,” he says. “Melissa is bringing Steve, so we need reservations for four.”

“Sounds good. See you then.” I close the door behind him and throw my purse on the coffee table, sinking into the couch where I can finally breathe. I can breathe again, but not easily. It’s hard when I left a big piece of me back in L.A. I haven’t seen him in seven hours and already it’s too long. I miss having him come home to me. I miss eating breakfast and dinner together every day. I miss waking up next to him. Nine days with him wasn’t nearly enough. How are we going to do this? I know I’ll see him again on Friday, but right now, Friday seems like an eternity away.

There’s a big box on the coffee table. I sit up and read the card on top.

Mallory,

I miss you already and I’m writing this before you’re even gone. Please use everything in this box to keep the woman I love safe until I can be by her side—a place I will strive to be forever.

All my love,

Chad

My eyes mist up as I open the box. I laugh as I pull out an assortment of hats, sunglasses and even wigs. There is a hoodie inside that mimics the thought I had a few minutes ago. It reads‘I left my heart in L.A.’I bring it up to my nose and smell it. God, it smells like him. Just like the pillow and blanket did for my movie night. I take off my coat and pull the hoodie over my head. There’s another small box at the bottom of the big one. When I open it, I almost pee my pants. It’s a key fob. And it reads:Lexus.

I run to the front window and peek out to admire it.He bought me a whole car?There is still a paparazzi outside, so I can’t go out to see it. My emotions are at war with each other. I can’t decide if I should feel like a giddy little girl on Christmas morning, or if I should feel like a kept woman.

I go back to the coffee table to find my phone when I see something else inside the key box. A sticker with numbers on it, but I don’t know what it is.

I tap Chad’s gorgeous face on my favorites screen. It doesn’t even ring before he answers. “Did you make it home?”

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