Page 27 of Beneath the Hood

Is he standing me up?

Not that this is a date anyway. He made that perfectly clear. But that doesn’t stop the tension in my stomach, or the anticipation that thrums through my insides when I think about where he might be taking me.

“What do you mean you won’t be home?” Sierra hisses over the phone.

Putting her on speaker, I set my cell down beside me. “I mean, I have plans, Sierra. You know, an actuallifefor once.”

“Plans with who?”

“With the man thatyoutold me to do things with!”

She breathes out slowly. “Okay. Okay. That works. Text me when you end up wherever you’re going, so they know where to be.”

Groaning, I pinch my nose, trying to stop the headache from pulsing between my eyes.

She’s talking about the paparazzi, of course. It’s normal to leak our location so we can control the narrative. Ensure the headlines that spread across the internet both have my name in them and are the right kind of headline. And since it’s the norm, I really can’t be annoyed with her. She’s just doing her job, and up until recently, I’ve been more than happy to go along with it. In fact, it’s usually me at the helm, steering us into the murky waters of internet celebrity.

But I just wanted thisonething.

One day where I could sneak away and pretend to be normal. Silly me, thinkingnormalis something I could ever be.

And really, Sierra is right. Today is the perfect setup to get some candid shots of me with Jackson. Make sure that mymystery manis still at the forefront of everyone’s minds. There’s nothing people love more than trying to solve a mystery.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll let you know.” I run a hand through my hair.

“Okay, great. And don’t forget we’re redoing the shoot we never finished from the other night. Make sure you’re back by five so we can get it done.”

“You got it.” Guilt slams its way through me with every word she says.God. What’s wrong with me? Have I really let myself become so distracted I’ve lost sight of what’s important? Of all the goals I’ve been working toward?

“I’ll be there. And I’m sorry, okay? I have no clue what’s been up with me the past few days.”

She exhales heavily. “It’s fine.”

There’s a knock on my bedroom door and Lennox peeks in. “Your ride’s here.”

Nodding, I give him a thumbs up. “I gotta go, Sierra. I’ll text you the details.”

Hanging up, I run to grab my black Docs, double-checking my appearance in the mirror. I wasn’t sure what to wear, so cozy and casual is what I went with. Now that I know we’re staging paps on the scene, I wish I would have put more thought into my attire. Maybe had my glam team put together a look.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty, I guess.

Grabbing my ChapStick and shoving it in my back pocket along with my credit card, I skip down the stairs, smiling big at Lennox who’s holding open the front door.

I stop at the entrance, my hair swishing against my back as I turn toward him. “Don’t linger too close today, okay?”

His jaw clenches but he nods, pushing me out the door. Stumbling slightly, I shield my eyes from the glare of the sun and peer around the circle drive for Jackson. I find him leaning against the passenger side of a royal blue beauty, the Mustang emblem glinting in the light.

The loose gravel from the driveway crunches under my shoes as I approach and he looks up. “Blake.”

“Hiya.” I grin. “Nice whip.”

His lips twitch. “Whip?Who’d you hear that from, your grandpa?”

My eyes widen. “Yeah, just trying to be ‘on your level.’”

He grins, tapping the end of my nose and opening my door. “Your chariot awaits, princess.”

It’s the first time he’s called me princess without it sounding like an insult, and the way it rolls off his tongue sends a shot of adrenaline straight to the center of my gut, waking up the butterflies that were lying dormant.

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