Page 50 of Dreaming About Forever

His mom smiled and grabbed a piece of bacon. “Good food makes you do that.”

Alicia bounced her shoulders and kept grinning like a kid who stole cookies. “Well, I need to get ready for the interview today. I’m not used to doing my own hair and makeup, so my stylist said she’d video chat with me and walk me through it.”

His mom chuckled. “I’d offer to help, but I don’t fix my hair or wear makeup very often.”

“Thanks. I’m sure I can figure it out. If I can make breakfast and do my own laundry, I think I can handle my hair and makeup.”

Alicia glanced back at him with a playful smirk on her way out of the kitchen. “I’ll be ready in about an hour.”

Jordan leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. “Take your time.”

As soon as they heard Alicia’s footsteps on the stairs, his mom rounded on him.

“So–”

“Don’t say it,” Jordan interrupted. “I know what you’re going to say, and there isn’t anything going on. Our relationship is strictly professional.”

Maybe if he said it enough, it would be true.

His mom pinched her lips between her teeth and gave him a single nod. “Okay. Just be careful.”

That was the problem. Being careful around Alicia was almost impossible.

17

JORDAN

Alicia was on the phone the entire drive to Denver. From what Jordan could tell, she’d talked to Lillian a few times, her stage coordinator, her costume designer, and conducted a phone interview with someone.

Being a celebrity was exhausting. Jordan had secondhand fatigue after those long calls, and he’d only heard one side of them.

When they pulled up at the studio, Alicia bounced in her seat. “Is it weird that I’m actually excited?”

“Excited about another interview?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’ve been doing interviews since I was five, and after what happened with my parents and Ashton, the thought of talking to a stranger about it and telling them what was going on was inconceivable. I was dreading this one, but being at the ranch with you and your family kinda gave me back my confidence.”

Man, he hated what her parents and that jerk had done to her, but knowing she’d been happy in Redemption Ridge did something crazy to his chest. “You’ve got this.”

She reached over and placed a hand on his arm, stilling him in the seat. “Thank you. I know you’re here because it’s your job, but I don’t know if I could walk in there without you.”

Oh no. Alicia was inching her way closer, and he didn’t have the willpower to stop her. “You’ve done lots of things on your own. It’s inspiring.”

He hadn’t thought much about the lives celebrities lived other than to roll his eyes at some of the ridiculousness, but Alicia had been putting herself in the spotlight for decades. She’d walked into interviews and events as a child and won over half of the world. That took a lot of guts. Especially to Jordan who wanted to fade into the walls every time he walked into a room.

Alicia giggled. “I don’t know if I’d call it inspiring. I’m no hero like you.”

Jordan’s jaw tensed. “I’m not a hero.”

She shook her head. “You can say that all you want, but you’re so selfless. You put yourself between me and danger, and you signed up for the Marine Corps where you’re expected to willingly stand on the frontlines.That’sinspiring.”

He’d always embraced that role. He’d been willing to die.

He just hadn’t been willing to live–not when it meant going through the rest of his life as half a man.

Jordan tilted his head toward the building. “Let’s get you in there.”

He rounded the truck and surveyed the parking lot. The studio was used to having big-name musicians stop by, so their security team was on top of things, which Jordan appreciated. He’d vetted their protocols and credentials as soon as he found out about the interview.

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