Page 24 of A Deception of Massive Proportion

“Jalen? It’s Riley. Can I talk to you for a second?”

Dizziness overtook him. What was she going to say? Did she want to complain about Shadow’s behavior? He’d thought she’d been feeling the same thing, but maybe he read her signals wrong. All kinds of curse words ran through his head as he grabbed the duvet off his bed and wrapped it around himself. Cocooned in with only his eyes exposed, he cracked open the door. “Yes?”

Her eyes widened. “Did I wake you? I’m so sorry. I would have texted, but you gave your phone to Shadow.”

“It’s okay,” he said, then coughed. “I just haven’t been feeling well. I don’t want you to catch anything.”

“Can I come in for a quick second? It won’t take long, I swear.”

He had no choice. He had to let her in. “Okay.”

Riley stepped inside. Sweat beaded up on Jalen’s forehead as he waited for the terrible words to come out of her mouth.I’ve been sexually harassed by your pop star.

“I’m sorry to bother you. I just wanted you to know the story from me first, in case you spoke to Shadow.”

He coughed again, covering up more of his face so she didn’t see the embarrassment creeping over him. This was horrible. How could he have let himself get into this situation? How could he make things right with her?

“Go ahead. What is it?”

She twisted her hands together like she didn’t know exactly how to say it.

Guilt made him want to throw up. Is this how he’d made her feel? Too embarrassed to even talk about it? He wanted to sink into the floor. “It’s okay. You can tell me.”

“I stepped on some glass on the beach and got a cut on my foot. It really isn’t that bad, I swear. It already feels better. Just a little tender. I don’t need to take any time off.”

Jalen waited for the part about how Shadow almost kissed her, but Riley had finished and was now looking at him expectantly. “Uh…are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Honest. I just wanted you to know it happened. I don’t hold you or your company responsible. I was the one walking on the beach in the dark.”

He gaped at her. She wasn’t there to complain about Shadow at all. She just wanted to make sure he didn’t have to give her time off for her injury. “Oh. Well, if you’re sure you’re okay…”

“I’m fine. Really. I’ll let you get back to sleep. I’m sorry I disturbed you.” Riley backed up toward the door.

Jalen was still so stunned that he just stood there wrapped up in the blanket like a worm. A mute worm…with sandy feet. Oh, no. Please don’t let her look down and notice all the sand still on his toes.

Thankfully, Riley simply left, and he leaned against his door, sighing with relief. That was close. Now, he just had to remember to keep things professional between them. And maybe make up an excuse as to why his manager suddenly has to leave town.

Chapter 11

Riley closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, straining to hear the faint music coming from next door. Shadow had been strumming his guitar all morning, and she could almost make out the new song he was working on. Of course, the lyrics were totally muffled, but she could hear the sound of his deep voice as he sang, and it had been distracting her from her real job—searching the internet for more clues about Shadow. She’d been at it all morning but hadn’t had much luck.

The sound of her phone made her jump, and she leaned over to grab it off the desk. She saw the call was from Mrs. Lewis and swiped her screen to answer. “Hello?”

“Riley, I don’t want to alarm you, but I can’t get your father to answer the door.”

She froze, her mouth going dry. “How long has it been since you’ve seen him?”

“I brought dinner to him yesterday, and he was doing okay. But ten minutes ago I tried calling, and he didn’t pick up, so I went over, but he didn’t come to the door.”

Riley’s heart thumped as she tried not to panic. This wasn’t the first time her father had decided to avoid Mrs. Lewis. “Maybe he’s in the shower.”

“No, I listened for the water, and it’s not on.”

Of course, Mrs. Lewis would think of that. She was a bit persistent. Probably because she had a crush on her father, but that was beside the point right now. “He could just be busy. I’ll give him a call.”

Mrs. Lewis sighed. “All right, sweetie. I just wanted you to know.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Lewis.”

---