Page 79 of Hot Mess

“It’s my turn to handle it now, okay. I hired an investigator, a very good one.”

33

KAYLA

Icouldn’t believe Nick was here. He was sitting in my house with me. And the photos were just pictures from the set. He was here.

“I’m sorry,” I said again.

“Babe, you have nothing to be sorry for. I’m with you now, and together we will beat this.”

“You aren’t mad that I ran away?”

He let out a frustrated breath with a groan.

“I’m mad that you felt that you couldn’t come to me. Kayla, I’m mad at me. I’m really angry at the people behind all of this. I’m mad that I wasn’t there for you. But I am not mad at you at all. You were scared and you did what you thought you had to.”

“You should be mad at me though. I’m a mess.”

“You’re a hot mess, but that’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Nick wiped away my tears. He didn’t look mad at me. He was smiling. Tears sparkled on his lashes. He cried prettier than I did. Maybe it was a professional hazard, he had to look good doing most things.

“I only took that job from you because I needed to pay the blackmailer. I couldn’t imagine why you would want to be seen with me again after that party. And then, you actually wanted me to be the person who kept the studio off your back. And that seemed almost unreal. And you bought me that house.” I swiped at my tears. It was hard trying to tell him what I was feeling. I wasn’t doing a very good job of it. “When I saw those pictures of you and May. I couldn’t live with all the lies I had been telling everyone, including myself. I tried to pay the blackmailer off. I’m sorry. I gave them everything I had. I wanted to protect you.”

“Why should you protect him?”

I turned to look at Mom.

“Because those horrible pictures were of him trying to protect me. Obviously, nothing went quite right. But he wasn’t touching me to be perverted or inappropriate. He was trying to cover me up. It’s what he had to work with in the heat of the moment. He tried to protect me, so I wanted to protect his reputation.” I gulped. “I was trying to protect you, Mom. So that you didn’t have to see your daughter in a compromising situation.”

“I don’t understand. You didn’t even know me. We had just met,” Nick said.

“Hey, I do know how to use the internet. I may have been too embarrassed to talk to you, but I looked you up.” I turned my attention back to Mom. “Nick is the new Captain Wonder.”

“Really? I love Captain Wonder. He’s always been a favorite character of mine.” Mom lit up and looked at Nick with sudden respect. I knew she loved the Captain Wonder show from when she was a kid. She took me to the movies every time they remade a Captain Wonder movie. She would sit and have conversations with little boys at church over the virtues of the character. Telling them to grow into men like the character Captain Tony Peale.

“You’re the new Captain Wonder? You should have said something.” Suddenly she wasn’t so angry with Nick.

“When the first letter with the photos arrived at the house, I didn’t really know you, but I knew I couldn’t let them get out. They could have destroyed your career.”

“They didn’t. The studio hasn’t made an official statement, but my agent said everything looks promising. The studio is probably going to side with me. They are aware that you were being blackmailed. The entire situation is not our doing. It’s going to come down to whether or not they feel that I acted as Captain Wonder would have.”

Nick reached up and brushed hair away from my face.

“You were too scared to face me after everything that happened at the party, but you were still willing to try to protect me? You didn’t even know me,” he said.

“I knew enough. Maybe I didn’t know anything. Mostly panic was involved.”

I looked at him and took him in. There was so much more I had to tell him, but I didn’t know if I could do that now with Mom right there.

“Nick, I love you so much. I’m—”

“Don’t say you’re sorry again. I love you.” He leaned into me and I kissed him.

Mom cleared her throat, but I didn’t care. She was just going to have to accept that I was kissing Nick. She was going to have to accept a whole lot more.

“What were you saying about hiring an investigator?” Mom interrupted.

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