I felt like I was in a dream, or maybe it was a nightmare; I couldn’t decide.
When we were standing right in front of the cameras, Jason’s hand landed on my back and he pulled me closer to his front. Per Megan’s instructions, I lifted my hand to show off the ring and put it on Jason’s stomach—a hard stomach that contracted at my touch, a stomach I had eyed for a good amount of time, and maybe even touched once or twice while he was sleeping the night before.
Just when all the flashes were about to blind me for eternity, one of them yelled, “Jason! A kiss! One with a kiss!
I tried so, so hard to not react, to not grin like the Cheshire cat, but when Jason gazed down at me and I tilted my head up to meet his eyes, I had the biggest smile on my face.
While everyone around us was still yelling, Jason’s hand touched my cheek and every single person around us disappeared for me. It was dead quiet in my mind. It was happening. I was seconds away from kissing my dream guy.
I watched his lips descend as my heart tried to force its way out of my chest. My little butterflies were getting ready for the takeoff of their life.
But…
But it didn’t happen like it had happened in the dreams I’d had about Jason ever since I could remember. Not even close.
While I was waiting for the very best first kiss in the history of first kisses, Jason only gave me a peck. A freaking peck! His lips pressed against mine for only two seconds, three tops.
I felt cheated.
And, well, since I’d dreamed about kissing him for such a long time—such a long, long time—I had a hard time not showing the disappointment I felt on my face. For a second there—a very quick second—I might have scrunched up my nose in distaste right after he pulled away from me. Just as quickly, I put a smile on my lips and let him pull me away to another station where he would be giving short interviews to numerous media outlets.
Following Megan’s instructions, I stood back a little and did my best to keep a genuine smile on my face.
I couldn’t even fool myself into thinking he just didn’t like PDA; the guy had been pictured in way worse situations. I couldn’t even count how many photos I’d seen throughout the years where his tongue was down the throat of some actress or model.
Evidently, he really did see me as nothing more than a friend. Hell, even I could’ve done a much better job at kissing my friend.
“You’re not smiling. Smile,” Megan warned me from her spot next to me.
I showed her my teeth and she sighed, shaking her head.
When Jason was done with all the interviews, the time came for him to join his costars for the group shots.
Close to the finish line, right? After the most disappointing kiss in history, what else could happen that would ruin a beautiful night even more than it already had been?
Jennifer Widner could happen, folks. And she actually did happen. She appeared out of nowhere and took her place next to Jason and their other costars. She could’ve stood next to any of the others, but, nope, she chose Jason, and she put her hand on his chest just like I had done minutes before.
Imagine my surprise when she caught my eye and winked at me.
I was standing way off to the side so I couldn’t see Jason’s face to tell if he had seen her wink. They posed for a ton of pictures and when Jason came back to my side, he still had his dimpled smile on his face.
Me? Not so much.
***
At the end of the night, after all the craziness had ended, we made it to our hotel room in one piece. I bid Megan a good night and thanked her for all her help. Without her firm instructions, I would’ve looked like a fish out of water, at least more than I already had.
After Jason and I entered our suite and he made sure to lock the door, I put a few paces between us and looked at him with a tired smile on my face. “It was a beautiful night, Jason. Thank you for everything.” Not exactly sure what I should do, I put my hand on his arm, hesitated for a moment, and then leaned up to give him a soft kiss on his cheek.
When I backed away, his dimple was out to play, but I was done for the night. I didn’t even have enough strength to appreciate the way he was looking at me, his eyes traveling my body from head to toe, or how good he looked with his shirtsleeves all rolled up, or how…the list went on. Reaching down, I pulled my heels off my feet and winced in pain.
My feet were gone. Dead.
“You never said what you thought about the movie.”
“Oh, I didn’t? Sorry. It was amazing. You were great. Thank you for bringing me here.”
His smile brightened his face.
Lifting the shoes up in a wave as I backed up, I said, “I’m heading to bed, so goodnight. And again, thank you Jason.” He’d had the security check every inch of the suite so I knew we were fan-free that night, which meant I had no reason not to sleep in my very own room.
His brows drew together. “You’re going to bed, now?”
“Megan said our flight changed and we’re leaving early tomorrow.” I shrugged. “Also my feet are killing me, so yes, I’m ending the night.” I gave him another small wave and turned around, but his voice stopped me before I could escape.
“You’re sleeping in there?” His voice wasn’t exactly harsh, but it wasn’t as soft as it had been seconds before either.
I looked over my shoulder. “Yeah. Goodnight Jason.”
Striding directly to the bathroom, I filled the magnificent clawfoot tub with hot water, took off my equally magnificent dress, and sighed with relief as soon as my toes sunk into the water.
***
In the middle of the night, I woke up when I felt something moving in my bed. For a second, I was confused, but then I realized it wasn’t a dream. I screamed and tossed the covers at whoever was in my bed—as if that would be enough to scare away the intruder—and rolled away to jump down and somehow get to Jason.
When a strong hand landed on my stomach and dragged me back against a hard chest, I lost my breath.
“Stop yelling,” Jason grumbled behind me.
“Jason?” I whispered. “Jason!”
My heart still beating against my throat, I slapped at his hand where it still laid on my stomach and yelled a bit more just for good measure.
“Are you crazy? I almost had a heart attack.”
“How would I know you would wake up?”
“What do you mean how would I know you would wake up?” I tried to roll over to face him, but his arm tightened around my waist and drew me closer against him.
This time I lost my breath for an entirely different reason.
“Don’t move. I’m trying to sleep.”
“Oh, and what did it look like I was doing? Cartwheels?”
When he just grumbled under his breath and otherwise kept silent, I asked, “What are you doing here, Jason? Couldn’t you have knocked and woken me up before you crawled into my bed? I thought one of your crazy fans was in bed with me, thinking I was you!”
“Well, it wasn’t. It’s just me. What the hell is that noise?”
“What? Oh, crackling fire and wind in the trees.”
“Crackling fire and…wind…in the trees,” he repeated.
“Yes.” I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder. He was giving me a ‘you’re out of your goddamned mind’ look. “What? It relaxes me before I fall asleep,” I said, taking offense.