“Most likely he’ll put you in the article he’s writing.”
“Did you mention I can play the tambourine? Since it’s a music mag he may want to know my musical abilities.” When he didn’t crack a smile, she knew it was serious.
“Nathan Harvey has never been photographed with a woman so intimately before. Never been involved in any kind of sordid scandal. This could blow up.”
“How big?” Her legs shook, and she sat on the edge of the bed.
“We’ll try to stop it. He only got a quick glimpse of you, so no one will know who you are.”
Blowing out a sigh of relief, she smiled. “That doesn’t sound so bad. I’m sure everything will be fine.”
* * * *
Everything was not fine.
At six o’clock in the morning she was woken up by the constant buzzing of messages hitting her mobile. But before she could look at any of them, Nate was calling.
When she answered, his voice boomed from the phone. “Jade, I’m so sorry it got out.”
She pushed her tangled hair out of her face and sat up. “The article? That was quick.”
“No, the photo. Clay, the fucking scum, sold it to the trashy tabloid SRC Magazine, and they’ve splashed it all over the internet.”
Her brain still foggy with sleep, his words didn’t make much sense. Last night they’d been talking about an article, not a photo. “What photo?”
He sighed. “When you were standing behind me, Clay took a screenshot, then he cropped out his and Mike’s faces so it left only you and me.”
Jade bolted upright, all fogginess evaporating. “I was only wearing your shirt!” Oh God.
“I’m sorry,” Nate said again. “I’m hoping they won’t figure out who you are. At the moment you’re known as the mystery redhead.”
She had a sinking feeling, judging by the constant buzzing of messages from her phone, that her identity had gotten out. “I’ve got to go,” she said and hung up.
Noise from the street had her bounding out of bed. She padded barefoot to the front window and peered outside. Camped on her lawn was a media circus. Men and women with microphones and cameras paced eagerly in front of her house, and two white vans were parked on the street. What the hell?
She swiped through her phone. Message after message from friends and family were almost identical. You’re involved with Nathan Harvey? OMG, I love him! Ava and Lauren had messaged that they were on their way with coffee and chocolate muffins. Liz had sent a bunch of angry-faced emojis with how could you keep this from me? I’m his number one fan!
Nate must not have gotten the update on the solved mystery of the redhead.
Waiting for her friends to arrive, she sat at the kitchen table, not sure what to do next, when another text buzzed her phone. This one from Nate. Fuck, they know. I’m on my way over.
No. He couldn’t be seen here. What if someone recognized him? It might expose the anonymity he’d worked hard to keep. It wasn’t worth the risk. She called to stop him.
He answered on the first ring. “I’m nearly at your place. I don’t know how they found out who you are.”
“That doesn’t matter right now. You can’t come over here.”
“Why the hell not? I put you in this mess, I need to fix it.” She could hear the anger in his voice vibrating through the phone.
“You’ll have to do that at your place because mine is crawling with cameras. Someone might recognize you.”
“Shit,” he spat then was silent for a beat. “It doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t have to deal with this alone.”
“I’m not going to be alone. Lauren and Ava are coming over. And I have to tell them who you really are. I can’t keep something like this a secret from them any longer. I promise they won’t say anything.”
“If you trust them, I do too. God, Jade, I never meant for this to happen.”
“It’s not your fault. Besides, I’m sure it will blow over soon enough. Surely Justin Bieber will do something stupid, and we’ll be forgotten.”
