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  “You think the paparazzi is going to leave you alone? You’re still my blood, and they’ll do anything they can to embarrass me.”

  “You do enough to embarrass yourself,” Jo tells her mother, causing my eyebrows to rise. “Between Dad’s affairs and your shitty behavior toward every person in your life, you have no problem making it into the news rags on a daily basis. If I stay here, away from you and out of LA, they’ll leave too.”

  “Delusional,” Madeline mutters. “I should have you committed.”

  With those words, I gently grab Madeline by the arm, careful not to hurt her, and hustle her toward the door. “It’s time to go, ma’am. You’ve said enough. Don’t step foot on my property again, or I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”

  She tears her arm from my grasp. “Get your hands off me, you filthy beast. I should have you arrested for assault.”

  I laugh. “Try it, lady. I know every cop within a hundred miles. Ain’t no one going to do shit to me. But by all means, try it. Knock yourself out. I’m sure the papers will have a field day when they get their hands on the story.”

  With one final huff and a grunt, she stomps out the door. “This is your last—”

  Jo reaches around me, slamming the door shut in her mother’s face. “I’m so sorry,” she says immediately, falling against my chest and into my arms as soon as I turn around.

  “Baby,” I murmur, running my fingers down along her hair and kissing the top of her head. “Don’t be sorry. You didn’t do anything.”

  Her body shakes, but she’s otherwise silent. No doubt she’s crying over the vile and inexcusable things her mother said while standing in my living room.

  “Your mother doesn’t deserve you,” I tell her, holding her tight, letting her get her feelings out.

  “She’s an awful person, Nick. So awful.”

  “She is,” I say softly, giving her time to deal with whatever shit is going through her head. “But you need to know, you’re nothing like her and you’re special, babe. So damn special, the sun shines a little brighter with you around.”

  “Nick,” Jo whispers, tipping her head back to look at me.

  I lift a hand, wiping away her tears. “You deserve the world, Josephine, and as long as you’ll let me, I’m going to do everything in my power to give it to you.”

  18

  Jo

  Nick and I spent the night on the couch, staring at the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. After the scene my mother caused earlier, Nick’s embrace and the decorations calmed my frayed nerves.

  “Morning, babe,” he says, his voice like gravel coming from deep inside him as I lie there with my head on his chest.

  “Morning.” I trace the lines and ridges of his abdomen. “You sleep okay?”

  He slides his hand up and down my arm, warming the skin cooled by the air conditioning. “Better than ever.”

  “Lies,” I tell him, smiling as I stare at the delicate ornaments he let me pick out in every shade of pink.

  On the next swipe of his hands, he stops near my hair, toying with the ends of a few strands. “You know what today is, right?”

  “Um…” I pause, thinking about it, knowing it’s Monday, so maybe work for him and boredom for me. “Not really,” I admit.

  “Christmas present shopping.”

  I gasp, sitting up in the crook of his arm, digging my elbow into the couch and turning my face toward him. “We’re shopping?”

  His laughter is deep and delicious. “Babe, never saw you so excited. Guess I know what makes you tick.”

  I smile, my face flushing. “I don’t live to shop, but I do love a good store.”

  “Gotta remember this isn’t Cali. There’s no Rodeo Drive around here, but we’ll make do with the few shopping malls nearby.”

  “I don’t need the fancy stores,” I lie because although I don’t need them, they’re like a fantasyland of wonderful and pretty things. “Wherever you want to go.”

  “Rural King?”

  I scrunch my nose. “Rural what?”

  “Rural King. It’s an amazing store, and they literally have everything you could ever want.”

  “Shoes?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yep. Crocs and boots.”

  I stare at him funny, pursing my lips. “That’s a negative, big guy.”

  He pulls me down with his hand on the back of my neck, planting a kiss on my cheek. “The mall, it is. But first, we eat.”

  His morning stubble tickles my skin as I smile. “I hope you don’t think I’m going to make breakfast unless you’re in the mood for cereal.”

  Nick laughs softly and releases me. “We’re going out to this little diner in town, and then we’ll shop till you drop.”

  “Nicky, I could shop for hours,” I tease, winking.

  “There are a lot of women in my family. I have no delusions about your ability.”

  I chuckle, pushing myself up, untangling my legs from his. “I can be ready in an hour,” I tell him, climbing over his body.

  He swats my ass before I make it all the way off the couch. “Make it thirty. I’m starving.”

  As soon as my feet touch the floor, I turn, placing my hands on my hips. “This takes more than thirty minutes.”

  “Hey.” He reaches for my hand and pulls me closer. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  He squeezes my fingers, giving me a sorrowful smile. “About what happened last night. Your mom…”

  I hold up my hand, having spent enough of my life worrying about her and her feelings. “She was being exactly who she is. I’m surprised she took time out of her busy life to fly across the country and demand my return, but other than that, it’s just the same old, same old, Nicky.”

  His lips flatten. “No one should have to deal with a mom like that. I’m so sorry.”

  I shake my head, giving his hand a squeeze back. “Don’t be. There’s nothing I can do to change what’s happened in my life, but I can make my future whatever I want it to be, and she won’t be a part of it.”

  “And your dad?” he asks.

  “He’s not as judgmental, but he couldn’t care less about me. I hear from him at the holidays and whenever he’s in town to negotiate a new movie, only because his agent requires him to attend in person. Other than that, he’s not in my life.”

  Nick sits up, his fingers still intertwined with mine. “Do you like it here?” he asks me, his face serious, eyes focused on mine, and pulls me between his legs. “Being here with me?”

  I peer down at his handsome face and the soft, kind look he often has when he’s being sweet instead of a hard-ass. “I like being here,” I admit honestly. “It’s nice to be myself without worrying about anything or anybody.”

  He opens his mouth, but I place my finger over his lips. “Plus, you’re not hard on the eyes, and I feel safe with you.”

  He smirks. “I make you feel safe?”

  “Of course.” I run my fingers through his messy bed head. “No one has ever stood up to my mother like you did last night. No one has ever had my back, Nick. You grew up with a family who loves you and would do anything if you asked. I never had that. Never until I met you, but I know we’re only—”

  This time, he shakes his head, interrupting me. “Don’t say we’re only friends, babe. It’s more than that. I know it. You know it. Can’t lie to ourselves about whatever this is.” He takes my hand and places it against his chest over his heart. “You feel it, don’t you?”

  “I do,” I admit. “And it scares me.”

  “Scared enough to run away?”

  I shake my head and swallow, finding the words stuck for a moment. “No. I’m not going anywhere. Not until I know.”

  He scoots forward, wrapping his arms around my legs, and I leave my hand on his chest. “Know what?” he asks, and I can feel his heart picking up speed with every word.

  “If this is what I think it is.” I drop my hand, tangling my fingers back in his dark h
air.

  “And you think it is?” He lifts my shirt, placing his lips near my belly button, making my insides flip.

  “I can’t say, or I’ll jinx it.”

  He lifts his gaze to me, lips still against my skin. “You don’t believe in jinxes, do you?”

  “I don’t know what I believe anymore.”

  My statement is completely honest. Within a few days, my life has been turned upside down. What I always thought was real isn’t anymore. The neatly crafted façade of Hollywood has vanished, and it no longer looks as shiny as it has my entire life.

  Spending time with Nick and then his family, I crave something more. Something real. Something more like them, his family.

  Am I in love with Nick?

  I don’t know, but I know we are heading that way.

  I’ve had more feelings for him in a few short days than I’ve ever had with any man I’ve dated before. He’s treated me better, cared for me, cooked for me, and done everything in his power to please me without expecting anything in return.

  Is Nick in love with me? I don’t know that either. I’m sure he feels the same as I do, wanting to see where this is going to go.

  “I turned your world upside down,” he says with a smug grin, sweeping his fingers across the skin at the back of my legs.

  It takes everything in me not to react to his soft touch and throw myself at him. “Something like that.”

  “You want me,” he taunts, peering up at me with his blue eyes. “Admit it.”

  I can’t contain my laughter. Not because he’s lying, but he’s so damn honest all the time, even when it comes to calling me on my bullshit. “Can’t lie, baby,” I say sweetly, tamping down my giggles. “I do have a thing for you and your pretty face.”

  “My girl has a thing for me,” he repeats, his smile growing wider.

  The way he says my girl has my belly fluttering and my heart racing like I’ve sprinted down the driveway, chasing after something uncatchable.

  “I think every woman has a thing for you.”

  He leans forward, pressing those soft lips to my skin again. “They don’t matter. Only you.”

  The warmth of his breath scatters across my flesh, and I squeeze my legs together out of instinct and need. The memory of how his lips feel and the pleasure they can deliver is not forgotten, especially by my body.

  I push away, needing an escape and a shower before we let this go any further and accomplish exactly nothing today except pleasure and orgasms.

  Before he has a chance to reach for me and haul me back between his legs, my phone rings at his side. He glances down, staring at the screen. “Kimberly’s calling.”

  I sigh and roll my eyes. “She’s never a good call this early in the morning. It’s not even six in LA.”

  He lifts the phone, hovering his finger over the screen. “Want me to take it?”

  I snatch it from his hand before he has a chance to answer the call. “No. No. I’ll take it,” I say to him, moving toward the bathroom.

  “Still thirty minutes,” he yells out. “This man needs food for what we’re about to do today.”

  I’m hoping he has more than shopping on the agenda. While I could shop for hours, I don’t want to do that today. I’m planning on more time with Nick nuzzled between my legs and exploring his body too.

  “Mornin’, sunshine,” Kimberly says as soon as I answer the call.

  “Morning, darling. What has you awake at this hour?” I ask in a chipper voice, putting up a good front because I know she’s about to drop a doozy or at least chew me a new one.

  “Your wretched mother,” she mutters, followed by a yawn. “She called me late last night and told me I needed to reel you in. She’s going on a daytime talk show today, and she knows they’re going to ask about you and your escapades in Florida.”

  “I don’t care what she says, Kimberly. She showed up here last night.”

  Kimberly gasps. “In Florida?”

  “Yep,” I say, pulling open my makeup bag, opting to do my makeup before showering. Not the best order to do things, but the only way I can possibly be ready in time. “She showed up at Nick’s door, demanding I leave with her, spouting all kinds of Madeline Carmichael attitude.”

  “Damn,” she quips.

  “It wasn’t pretty.”

  “But you didn’t go?”

  I grab my concealer, starting on my eyes because they look like I haven’t slept in days. The dark circles underneath always become more pronounced during times of stress, and holy shitballs, my life has been a hot mess. Except Nick. He has been my only saving grace. “No. Nick pushed her out the door, and I slammed it right in her face.”

  “No way.”

  “Way.”

  “You’re shitting me.”

  “I am not shitting you. Madeline was in the middle of a sentence, but whatever she had to say was said to the door and not to my face.” I force the smile from my face to blend the concealer into the light foundation I’ve applied, careful not to mess it up and go over my thirty-minute time frame.

  Kimberly laughs. “I’d have paid big money to see her face when that happened.”

  “I’m sure it wasn’t pretty, but she deserved it.”

  “She’s never been kind to you.”

  I sigh, knowing Kimberly’s words are true. I’ve lied to myself a long time about my mother’s behavior, forgiving her and assuming it was the typical mother-daughter bullshit. But at some point, I realized she treated me more like another prop in her collection than her child. “She sure as hell wasn’t last night. After insulting Nick, she turned on me. He wasn’t having any of it.”

  “Sounds like a keeper, babe,” she teases. “And from what I can see in the photos the paparazzi have sold, he’s fucking beautiful too. It’s a win-win.”

  “You aren’t mad?” I ask because I know she’s going to give me a long answer, which will make applying my eye makeup easier.

  “That you found yourself a hot and decent man who kisses you, holding your ass while he does it? Um, hell no. My job is your publicity, and right now, public opinion of you has never been better. Keep doing whatever you’re doing, including that man. I’ll handle any fallout from your mother, but I wanted you to be aware she is going to be on television today, promoting her next heart-wrenching blockbuster.”

  “Sadly, I’ll have to miss her performance about being a fabulous mother, juggling it all, including a daughter who refuses to follow in her mother’s footsteps.”

  “Eh, fuck her. You know I hate her and always have.”

  “I do. Anyway, I have to go. Nick’s taking me to breakfast and then shopping.”

  “Wait.”

  “What?”

  “He’s taking you shopping?” she asks, sounding every bit a Valley girl.

  “We’re Christmas shopping.”

  “Are you doing drugs?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Christmas? It’s summer, Jo.”

  “He’s determined to give me the Christmas I never had growing up.”

  “You’re making him sound better and better. I’m kind of jealous of the way he’s taken to you. All the guys here are so…”

  “Fake and needy?” I ask, rolling my eyes. “I can’t say I miss that part of Hollywood.”

  “When will you be back?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sick of living my life on a schedule. Do I have anything pressing?”

  “Nothing for a few months, but I can change that.”

  “I’ll consider it, but I think I’m looking to take a longer break and focus on me for a little while.”

  “You do you, babe. Doesn’t matter to me, and I think this time will do you some good.”

  Kimberly doesn’t care. She’s not my agent. She runs my publicity, which means she gets paid whether I’m working or not.

  “I have to run. I’m late, and I badly need a shower.”

  “I have so many things I could say right now,” Kimberly teases.

  �
��Byeeeee.”

  “Wait, one more—”

  “Talk later,” I say, disconnecting the call because I don’t want to know what the other thing is, nor do I feel like fielding any more questions about my mother, Nick, or myself.

  “Babe.” There’s a knock at the door, and I freeze, already halfway out of my panties. “You fuckin’ around or getting ready? I hear a whole lotta chatting and not much showering.”

  “Stop being a creeper,” I yell back. “I’m getting in now.”

  “You want help scrubbing your back?”

  I think about the proposition for a minute, pausing with my underwear in one hand, hanging near my ankle. But I know a quick scrub will turn into way more, and then we’ll be late, he’ll be starving, and we’ll have literally fucked away an entire day. Not that that would be a bad thing, but I had my heart set on Christmas and then cock.

  “I’m good.” My voice doesn’t convince me, and I’m sure it doesn’t convince him either.

  “If you change your mind, you can join me in the guest shower. There’s always room for you.”

  “Thank you,” I tell him, finishing undressing.

  “Fifteen minutes,” he calls out before the sound of his footsteps grows faint.

  I turn on the water, dancing in place with the cold air conditioning blowing on my bare skin. When the water finally warms up, I step inside, careful not to get my hair wet.

  I wash away the bad memories of last night. The vile things my mother said. The pinched expression on her face. The way she looked down at me with such hatred and anger.

  None of that matters anymore.

  Today, I’m having Nick’s and my very first Christmas.

  19

  Nick

  “Where are you two going?” Gigi asks, walking into the diner as we are about to walk out.

  “Christmas shopping,” Jo answers without a second thought, and I instantly close my eyes.

  Telling Gigi you’re going shopping is an open invitation because, just like every other woman in my family, she can spend cash without even blinking.

  “Christmas?” Gigi’s eyes move left and then right, like we’re the most insane people she’s ever been around.