Page 32 of All Yours

Maybe I was worried about nothing. He had a storied career after me. Surely, there were more exciting things to write about in his life than that brief time we were together at the end of IMG. I poured my coffee and settled in with that new hardcover book smell wafting from the pages in my lap, with Sebastian’s face staring up at me. Too bad they wasted it on him.

The day blew by, and I’d ignored pretty much everyone. I read the beginning chapters about his childhood until I found a chapter titled Julia. I flipped to the appendix and took in the page numbers beside my name, and it was worse than I’d imagined. For a man who was still at the top of the tennis world with a career that most would envy, the book had huge sections dedicated to me. I counted the pages in the chapter and the next. But I couldn’t bring myself to read it and tossed the book to the other end of the couch.

My phone sounded and Jonah’s picture popped on the screen. “Hey,” I answered, switching off the fireplace.

“Did I wake you?” he asked, voice low.

“No. I was just closing up and getting ready for bed. How was your day?”

“Exhausting, but we got the ground floor framed today.”

“Congrats, that’s progress.”

“Yep. But now the bricks are running late.”

“How late?” I asked, turning off the lights and heading to my bedroom.

“Not sure, yet. They claim one day. But this is nuts. It’s one step forward, two back with this project.”

“Worse than usual?”

“Every project has its unique challenges,” he sighed.

“Are you just now getting home?” I asked.

“Yeah, I had to take care of some business back at the office and time got away from me.”

I climbed into bed, leaning back against the pillows. “No wonder you’re exhausted.”

“I don’t sleep well anyway,” he said. “Listen, before I forget, my mom wants you to come for Thanksgiving dinner with me.”

“What? Why?”

“She wants to meet my girlfriend,” he said. I heard the smile.

“Does she know?”

“That this is a fake relationship? Yeah.”

“You told her?”

“You were right that she’d freak out if she read it. So, I told her what was going on with the book and everything.”

“So that means she knows I was…”

“Yeah, but she won’t say anything.”

I trusted Jonah, but the knowledge that someone was aware of who I was made me queasy.

“Too many outside people can’t know. It defeats the purpose.”

“Lauren and Eden?” he asked.

“They’re my best friends. They don’t count.” I said with a yawn.

“Are you in bed now?” he asked, voice low and husky.

“Yeah…” I closed my eyes.

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