Page 48 of Hidden With You

“That’s totally your prerogative. The world won’t fall apart if you’re not at a screening.”

“I know. I just don’t like the idea of them winning.”

“First, we don’t know that the threat is actually real.” He frowns, and I see a shadow cross his face.

“What?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing. That’s probably just wishful thinking. We have to assume that it’s real. And I hate to think of you in danger like that.”

“Me too. Thus the maybe not going.”

“I know.” He squeezes my hand. “We’re going to catch whoever’s doing this, but it may take more than a week. The idea of you changing your entire life around just makes me sad. That gala is supposed to be fun for you.”

“A bullet in my head doesn’t sound very fun.”

He squeezes my hand. “Don’t think like that. I’m not losing you, too.”

I think about Sandra and Bonnie, then lean forward and brush a kiss across his cheek. “I’m pretty hard to get rid of,” I say. “I promise.”

He offers me a smile, and I think he’s going to say something else, but then the door opens, and Leah walks in with someone I haven’t yet met.

“I need to talk to Frank. She shouldn’t be able to—”

“Hold on, Sheriff,” I say as Leah and her companion head our way. “Leah’s authorized into the subdivision, and she has the code for our property gate.”

I give her a hug, then shake hands with the seriously built blond-haired, green-eyed man standing beside her.

“This is Simon. He signed on not long before Jasper. He’s a little weird, but he’s okay.”

“Thanks a lot,” Simon says as Jasper reaches out to shake his hand.

“Glad you made it,” Jasper says, and I realize I’m smiling, enjoying the fact that he’s playing the host with me.

“I appreciate the invite. And great to meet you, Zelda,” Simon adds to me.

“He doesn’t seem weird at all,” I say to Leah.

“Oh, he is. He doesn’t like Hollywood.” She says it in a low voice, as if that’s the most shocking thing in the world.

“Sounds perfectly sane and reasonable to me,” I tell Simon.

“At last, someone in this town with a rational view of the world.”

“Of course, you’re going to suck when we play charades,” I point out.

“Undoubtedly,” he says, and we all laugh, then head over to where Ollie and Trevor are chatting by the makeshift bar. A drink, I think, sounds like a dandy idea.

As it turns out, I don’t need alcohol to turn on Bubbly and Perky Social Zelda. On the contrary, I’m surprised by how much fun I end up having with the six of us simply sitting around talking.

At one point, the gala comes up. Simon’s advice is to not go. “Not because of the danger,” he says. “But because it’s just Hollywood bullshit.”

Leah and Trevor get into a heated discussion about whether it makes more sense to go and try to smoke out the killer or to stay in and hide. Ollie swears that he’s withholding judgment since he’s not officially on the case and doesn’t have a stake in this game.

I groan and fall backwards, leaning against Jasper, who wraps his arms around me. Leah notices and smiles.

“Can we please not discuss my impending demise right now?” I beg. “I’d like fun. More helpings of fun.”

Honestly, though, I’m not sure there could be more helpings of fun. I’m having such a good time that I think we have all the fun right here in this room already. I’m bubbly to the brim, but not because I’m putting on an act for the public. I’m genuinely enjoying myself. And the only downside is that I know this feeling will inevitably end.