Page 64 of All Yours

I stopped walking but didn’t turn around. Sloane never said her relationship with Sinclair was anything but real.

“Is that why you got into a fight with Sebastian at Lou’s Lakeside last night?” she asked.

“No comment,” Camden said, stepping in front of the camera. “But we can talk about is the Hart-Carter Commons that is being built behind us here.” He motioned at the site. “It’s a multi-use complex opening in the summer and will have exciting retail space on the lower level and gorgeous, lake view condos on the top level.”

“Jonah,” the reporter yelled. “Can you tell me if you were aware that your girlfriend’s real name was Julia?”

“There will be no comment on that,” Camden said. “We’re glad to talk about our building project and how it benefits the town, but that’s it.”

“So how do you feel about having a celebrity who had a mental breakdown hiding out here?” the reporter asked.

I whirled around to face the reporter, but Camden’s hand was up, telling me not to react.

“You should leave now,” Camden said. “You’re on private property.”

“We’re on the street. It’s public property, and we’re allowed to be here.”

“You can tell that to the cops. We have nothing to say.” Camden turned and pushed my shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“Jonah, we’d like to talk to you about your relationship with Julia,” she called again. “What caused the fight with Sebastian?”

“Just keep walking, no matter what she says. Don’t pay any mind. She’s trying to get a reaction.”

“I want to give her a piece of my mind.”

“Remember those videos of Sloane losing her shit on the street?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re trying to get your version of that.”

His words hit me. And he was right. I wouldn’t give them that. “What did she mean by Sloane and Sebastian’s relationship being fake?” I whispered.

“I don’t know… Something he wrote in his book? Did Sloane say anything about it?”

“She never finished the book,” I said, stopping in my tracks. “I bet he said something like that, and she doesn’t even know.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Camden said. “The whole thing is a cash grab for his last fifteen minutes.”

“But why was she asking me about it?”

“That reporter was going to say whatever it took to get a rise out of you. She was counting on your protective instincts over Sloane.”

“Are they still there?”

Camden glanced back over his shoulder. “Yep. Do you want me to call the cops?”

“No,” I replied, picking up my tablet off the worktable. “That’ll just give her what she wants—something to report on. I’m going to do my job, and I’m guessing she’ll find that boring.”

“Other than last night, how are things going with Sloane?” he asked.

“They were really good.” I’d woken up in her bed every morning for five weeks, and we’d settled into a routine. I was ready for this Sebastian Sinclair incident to fade from the public eye and leave Sloane and me in peace to get on with our lives together.

“It looks like the electrical crew is here,” Camden said, as a convoy of various vehicles pulled into the lot. “I’ll catch ya later.”

Camden left, and it was time to walk the electrical crew through the site and the details of the job. After they started on the job at hand, I stepped back to the command center alongside the heater to thaw. The news reporter and her camera man were gone.

I called Sloane.

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