‘And how did he react when he saw his agent taking photos?’
‘He told me to go the bedroom and he told her to… stop.’
I paused and replayed everything that happened when Wilma turned up in slow motion.This time I put my emotions to one side.
Yes, he’d shielded me from her.
He’d said the reality show thing was ‘irrelevant’ now.
And he’d insisted that was the plan ‘in the beginning’ but that he had real feelings for me.
Jake wasn’t trying to trap me.He wanted to protect me.
‘I shouldn’t have run,’ I sighed.‘I should’ve listened to his explanation.’
‘Is that what your gut tells you?’
‘Yeah.My gut tells me he’s a good man.He wouldn’t hurt me.Not on purpose.’
‘Everything I’ve seen of him backs that up.For example, what he did to encourage you to start doing nails again was so sweet.’
‘Huh?’ My brows creased.‘What did he do?’
‘Full disclosure: it wasn’t a coincidence that I asked you to do my nails.Obvs you know I loved your creations – it’s one of the first things I noticed when we met, so that was totally genuine.But it wasJakethat messaged me to ask if I ever needed to get my nails done and if I did, if I’d consider asking you.’
I blinked several times, trying to digest this revelation.
‘He said that you were super talented and he knew you’d go far, but you just needed a break and he’d be grateful if I could give you a chance.’
My heart swelled.That was so thoughtful.
‘I didn’t realise.’
For a few seconds I felt awkward because I hated the thought of Sammie feeling obligated to say yes.But like she’d said, shehadcomplimented my nails before and when I’d done hers, she was genuinely happy with them.
‘And he’s been working so hard on your date tonight.What he has planned is some next-level stuff.So if you ask me, your gut is spot on.A man doesn’t go to those kind of lengths if he’s not into you.’
I reflected on Sammie’s words for a few beats.
Of course it was possible that he was doing this to butter me up to take part in whatever he’d planned with his agent.But if I took into account everything I’d learnt about him, that didn’t ring true.
When I’d first met him, I thought he was an arrogant, self-absorbed wanker who was obsessed with posting on social media.But I sensed that he hated posting as much as I did.
So would someone that didn’t like showing his life online really want to allow a bunch of cameras to follow him around?
No.
Now that I was thinking more clearly, I knew I had two options:
I could either let my fear and past experiences continue to affect my future, not hear Jake out, waste the time I had left at the hotel moping, then go back to New York never really understanding what really happened.
Or I could be brave, put my heart on the line one more time, hear Jake out and try and make the most of the time I had left at this gorgeous resort with him, then go home with no regrets and my head held high, knowing that I’d done everything I could to make this work.
It was a no-brainer.
‘I need to speak to him.’
‘That’s the spirit!’ Sammie cheered.‘But… you can’t right now.’
