Page 16 of Lexi Lets Go

"What do you mean?" He asked, lost.

"Don't worry, I’ll sign it. I just needed to clear my head before I could read all the legal jargon and find out exactly what I am agreeing to," she said, sounding defeated and staring down at the flowing water beneath the bluff.

"I’m not following you, Lexi."

She turned to look at him, eyes squinted trying to parse his meaning.

"The NDA that is currently sitting on my desk," she said, irritation starting to creep in.

"What NDA? What are you talking about?"

"Because of last night, you invited me to sit with you and it broke one of the precious rules."

"What? What rules? Lexi, I am at a total loss about what the fuck is going on?" He was starting to get irritated too.

"The list,” she said as she started ticking her fingers. “Thou shalt not serve his highness gluten. Thou shalt not take any pictures at threat of a long painful death. Thou shalt not speak to him without first surviving the quest of the manager."

He couldn't help but laugh. Did she just call ‘him his highness’? No one had been this real with him in months, and he loved it.

"Well excuse me for having celiac disease," he said with a grin.

"I have to go back to work." She stood up from the bench quickly and turned to leave.

Liam reached out and grabbed her hand. There it was again, that zing that he felt every time he touched her. What was that? They both just stopped for a moment and looked at their hands, frozen in time. But he needed to get to the bottom of this list, because he knew zero fucks about what she was talking about.

"I'm serious though, Lexi. What list?"

"You're serious?" she asked seemingly taken aback by that knowledge.

"I am. I'm not sure what list you’re talking about."

"Your manager. She gave me a list of things people needed to know to interact with you."

His eyebrows drew together, and a scowl found his face. "I'm sorry, what now?"

"I mean the first couple were totally fine, the gluten thing, obviously that's fine. No pictures. No posting your whereabouts on social media. I get all of that, but some of the other ones are intense..." She stopped and looked at him and cocked her head. "Do you really not know about this?"

"Not a damn thing." He could feel the anger seeping in. Jacinda. That was the only answer. She was controlling, but he never dreamed she would go this far. "What NDA are you talking about?"

"Last night... on the porch. The list said any unapproved contact with you will involve signing an NDA... You really know nothing about this?" He shook his head but held her gaze. "Well, this morning your manager put an NDA on my desk. It was just kind of the last straw; you know what I mean? My staff is bending over backward trying to help you all in any way we can, and we are happy to do it, but it has just been a lot. Your manager went into the kitchen and looked at all the ingredients and recipes and questioned the staff. I had to talk my chef down because he is not used to that."

"Of course, he's not. I apologize. My stay here has been wonderful. I’ll apologize to your chef myself if that would help. And do not sign that NDA. It is unnecessary. I’ll get to the bottom of this."

He put his hand on hers again and brought her back down onto the bench next to him.

"Can you tell me more about this list and what has been going on? I clearly need to make it known to Jacinda what is within her job parameters."

She was still for a moment just looking at her hand in his. The pull he felt toward her was something he had never experienced before.

"I don't want to get anyone in trouble..." she said quietly, still looking at their hands.

"Hey," he put his hand on her chin and gently lifted her head so she was looking at him. Big mistake. That was a big mistake because all he wanted to do was kiss her, but he wouldn't do that until all of this was taken care of. "You did nothing wrong. Don't sign that NDA and I will have a talk with my manager. If my staying here has caused you this level of stress," he said carefully wiping away the last tear that had escaped from her eye, "then corrections need to be made, and I’ll handle them. Would you like me to leave? I know dropping my... presence... on a small place like this unexpectedly is a lot. I should’ve been more thoughtful. I'm just really enjoying your little town. It reminds me of home."

"It reminds you of home? How can that be?"

He chuckled. "I haven't always been a celebrity. I grew up in a small town not too much bigger than this one in Ohio."

"Did you really?" She asked, eyes a little brighter, their hands still clasped. He slowly started to rub her hand with his thumb.

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