Letting out my own sigh, I went back to my room and grabbed my cell phone off my bed. Opening my email, I looked up Catherine’s number and dialed.
“CJJ Public Relations, Catherine Cole’s office. How may I help you?” A no-nonsense female voice answered.
“Catherine Cole, please.”
“May I ask who’s calling?”
“This is Abbi . . . Jenner.” It felt wrong to call myself a Jenner instead of Klein. I wondered how Reeves felt about me having his last name. While he had been holed up in his room the other day, I filled out all the paperwork but had yet to turn it in. Levi was supposed to take it, but I guess it was up to me now.
“Hold one second.”
Soft music hummed in my ear before Catherine came on the line. “Abbi, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Hi, Catherine. I wanted to call you to inform you what just occurred here at the house.”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “What did he do?”
“It wasn’t Reeves. It was Levi.”
She was quiet for a moment before I heard some clicking noises. “Tell me what happened. Start at the beginning.” I told her everything from start to finish. After another long moment of silence, Catherine finally spoke. “I’m speechless. I’m surprised Levi hasn’t tried to call me yet, but since he quit, I guess he has no reason to.”
“It was so unexpected. One minute they were having a great time, and when he saw me, something happened. He snapped.”
“I guess it’s better it happened now rather than later. Is Jenner okay?”
Lying back on my bed, I covered my eyes with one arm. “I hope so. He said he was going to go for a run after I told him I was already going to call you. I haven’t got much work done today with all this going on.”
“It’s fine, Abbi. I understand. I’m sure you’ll be able to get more done tomorrow when he’s at work. How are you after going to the grocery store yesterday?”
It was strange that she knew we’d been to the grocery store, but how could she not since pictures of us from our excursion were all over the internet. Plus, she was his publicist, so she was supposed to keep on top of those things.
“Honestly?” I asked shakily.
“Of course, you can tell me. I’m sure you weren’t prepared,” she said softly as if she understood by just the sound of my one word.
“I’m not sure I ever want to leave the house again.” I laughed nervously. “I think our next grocery order will be delivered.”
“That’s probably smart, at least until things die down.”
I hoped she was right. “My cooking seems to have won him over, making things a little more friendly between us.” His hot and cold mood swings were giving me whiplash.
“Knowing Phil, poor Jenner probably has never had a home-cooked meal in his life, and heaven knows Poppy never cooked for him. The only thing she taught him was how to use his phone to order food. This is all new to him. Show him what it’s like to have someone care for him.”
Sometimes when Catherine talked about Reeves, I wondered if she was over exaggerating his circumstances so I would feel pity for him. It was hard to pity a man who, since he was a child, had more money than he knew what to do with, while my brother did everything to put food on the table and give me the best life he could while mourning the death of our parents.
“I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises,” I replied.
“That’s all I can ask. Now, I’ve got to get back to work.”
“A crisis in Hollywood?” I joked.
“There’s always a crisis. Keeps me busy and the bills paid.” She laughed lightly into the phone. “Thanks for calling and letting me know about Levi. I can’t believe he was an asshole to you. He won’t be getting a recommendation letter from me. Anyway, we’ll talk soon.”
“Soon. Goodbye,” I replied before I hung up.
After getting off the phone, I tried to get back to work, but I couldn’t stop myself from worrying about Reeves. What if he started drinking again? I couldn’t be around him every minute of the day. Although I didn’t think he’d drink in public when everyone on the planet knew he went to rehab for drinking.
Taking my phone and laptop outside to get some air and so I could see when my new husband got home, I lounged on one of the couches out by the pool and went through each client. After almost two hours, I started to get worried. Two hours was too long to go running. Had he collapsed or had something happened to him while he was out on the trail? Maybe a coyote got him. Picking up my phone, I went into my contacts to dial Reeves’ number only to realize I didn’t have his number, and he didn’t have mine.
Knowing Catherine would have his number, my finger hovered over the number I dialed earlier when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Reeves was in his bedroom, his hands on his knees, panting. I swore I could hear his heavy breaths all the way out here. I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he straightened and walked into the bathroom, presumably to start his shower.
When I first got here, I was disappointed my room didn’t have a wall of windows, but now I was happy. What if Reeves was outside when I was changing, and he saw everything? The thought was thrilling and scary at the same time.
Transfixed, I watched as he kicked off his tennis shoes and his hands went to the waistband of his shorts. Not once had he looked up to see if anyone was watching. Probably because he was used to his privacy, and there I was sitting in his backyard being a peeping Tom. I wanted to see those shorts slip down his golden, muscular thighs, but turned my head at the last minute.
Groaning, I flung myself back into the cushion and stared up at the cloudless sky. What I wanted to do was run inside and rub myself all over the wet, naked man like a cat in heat. If the throbbing between my legs was any indication of how I would spend the foreseeable future, it was going to be a long year.
Chapter Twelve
Jenner
I wasn’t sure if she knew I saw her out in the backyard or not, but when she turned her head and laid back, I was sorely disappointed Abbi hadn’t continued to watch me. Was she really that much of a good girl? With those sexy as sin curves, it was too bad. She was still outside after my shower but had turned to face the other way. Quietly, I observed her for a few minutes before I moved slowly into her field of vision. Abbi’s cheeks pinkened up, and by the time she made eye contact with me, her face was as bright as a tomato.
I sat on the couch catty corner to hers. Leaning back, I crossed my left ankle over my right knee. Her eyes followed my every movement.
“Why’d you stop watching?” My fingers tapped my leg as I waited for her answer.
She cocked her head to the side with furrowed brows. “What are you talking about?”
She was a good actor. Maybe she wasn’t really a publicist but an actor Catherine had hired to keep me on the straight and narrow.
“Don’t act dumb or pretend you weren’t out here when I came back from my run.”
She gasped. “You knew?”
Tapping the side of my eye, I smirked at her. “Twenty, twenty vision.”
“Fuck,” she said under her breath. “I’m sorry I invaded your privacy like that. I—”