‘The way he just … are they all like that?’ Jessy looked up at me in horror. ‘I – how do you stand it?’
I hoped my face was nonchalant. ‘It’s just what it is.’
‘What it is?’ I felt Jessy’s shudder as well as saw it, her eyes almost blinking back tears. ‘I’m sorry, I just –’
‘Don’t worry, you’re fine. It’s the shock. The intrusion, itaffects all of us weirdly. I’m … I’m sorry you had to deal with that,’ I muttered quietly.
More sorry than she could know. God, if I could protect her from all this – but hadn’t I tried avoiding the press even before this whole fake dating thing started? Dating a ‘normal’ – Wes’s term, not mine – was never going to stop the headlines.
‘He … he just reminded me of Ross,’ she whispered, so quietly I almost missed her words. I hadn’t, though.
‘Ross?’
She didn’t even need to speak. I could tell by the look on her face.
‘Oh. An ex. Right.’
Obviously she had dated before. Jessy was an absolute stunner; there was no way she hadn’t. Still, the thought of another man’s hand on hers, another man kissing –
OK, time to chill the fuck out, Patrick.
‘He was just like that,’ Jessy said, still quiet, nodding at the back of the man who was now attempting to get a photo with a pair of models. ‘Intrusive. Demanding. Pushy.’ She stepped even closer to me, and my breath hitched in my throat as she whispered, ‘Thank you. For handling that.’
I was not going to take pride in it. That I’d protected this woman who had somehow stopped being a stranger, and was now … I don’t know. Not a friend.
Friends didn’t kiss like I wanted to kiss her.
‘I get it,’ I said, as lightly as I could. ‘Part of the job is to keep the fans happy, you know. Selfies, and signing stuff – I never want These Exiles to get a reputation for not stopping for their fans. But paps are different.’
‘I just … I wish they’d give it up. They swarm my houseevery morning and I swear they’re doing it in shifts, there’s always someone there,’ Jessy was saying, with that bracing look I was starting to recognize. ‘I wish I had somewhere else to go, but I don’t want them turning up at my sister’s house. Or my best friend’s.’
I hadn’t realized the paps were still hounding her. The thought of her going back home alone tonight left me … unsettled.
‘Book a hotel.’ An easy solution.
She laughed, her hand splayed against my chest. When had that happened? ‘Book a room in a hotel for weeks on end. Sure.’
‘Just get Derek to sort it,’ I said with another shrug. ‘The record label will cover it. This is all their fault, after all.’ That wasn’t technically true, but what did it matter? They could afford it.
And if Derek kicked up a fuss, I’d just pay it. I could afford it too.
Jessy’s lips parted in astonishment. ‘Wh-What?’
‘Consider it one of the perks of dating me.’ I grinned, trying to lighten the mood.
Well, I wouldn’t say being hounded by the world’s media was a perk … but hell, if this was just a taste of what she’d be facing, I wanted her in a hotel. Safe.
‘So, what do I do?’ Jessy asked awkwardly. ‘Just … ring Derek and ask for a hotel room?’ Disbelief coloured her voice.
I tried to reassure her with a smile. ‘Yeah, that’s what I do if things get too much. I mean, I’m hounded by these people – day in, day out, I’m bombarded with it. Journos, paps, fans –’
The dark red flush that tinged Jessy’s cheeks was impossible to ignore.
Oh, yeah. She was a fan.
I swallowed. ‘Not fans like you, though. Obviously.’
A shy smile broke out on her face. ‘Why not fans like me?’
