Every time she looked into my eyes with her heart wide open, she was pulling me in deeper. As much as this whole thing had started as a charade, I didn’t know if I would be able to let her go when the time came.
I curled myself around her small frame and tucked her closer against my burning body. It wasn’t enough. Slipping my arm under her head, I pulled one of her legs over my thigh and made sure she would stay just like that.
With a soft smile on my face, I whispered, “Sweet dreams, wife.”
It took a moment for that single word to hit me in the gut.
It took another to feel how right it sounded.
It was a shame she wouldn’t remember anything past the point of me carrying her into her new home when she woke up the next morning.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Olive
“How could you not tell me this before today?”
“Megan sprung it on me at the very last minute, Olive. Don’t worry, it’ll be fun. You’ll like it.”
“Are you sure? Are you very sure that I will like it, Jason?” I narrowed my eyes at him and watched his lips twitch as he focused on something on his phone. I heard a chuckle come from beside me so I turned my gaze to Alvin and lifted a brow.
I had met Jason’s assistant just a few days before when we’d literally run into each other at the house. I didn’t know much about him, but he seemed to be an okay guy. He was definitely on top of everything. From what I had seen for the past few days, he was practically running Jason’s life. Kudos to him.
“Did you know?” I asked him.
“Of course he knew, Olive. He arranges my schedule.”
“What the boss says,” Alvin agreed with him.
“Great. Awesome. Neither one of you thought it would be helpful to mention ahead of time that I’d be in a magazine shoot. As in, maybe, I don’t know, a few days before?” I kept fidgeting with my hands.
“Stop fidgeting. Other than making you freak out like you are doing right now, how would it have been helpful?” asked Jason.
I gave him a disbelieving look. “If I could’ve started freaking out a few days before, right now I would be much calmer, Jason. Also, doesn’t Megan need to instruct me or rehabilitate me or some crap like that? How am I supposed to know what I can say and what I can’t?”
He finally lifted his eyes to meet my gaze. “You don’t need instructions for a photo shoot, Olive. Just be yourself, and I’ll handle the rest of it.”
Photo shoot. Every time I heard the word, I started shaking all over again.
Apparently, Megan’s idea of announcing our happy marriage to the world was to announce it through the most fucking popular women’s magazine on the planet. I learned that there had been a talk of doing a live interview, but thankfully that idea hadn’t taken hold. A photo shoot was the lesser evil in my book, but it didn’t mean I was over the moon with that outcome either, especially when I learned about it the morning of.
“We’re here,” Alvin announced as our car stopped in front of a relatively small industrial building.
I released a big breath and exited the car after them.
“Holy crap!” I whispered when we stepped inside the building. It was a fully furnished loft, and it looked spectacular—apart from all the people running around, that is. As I took in everything around me, I forgot all about my nervousness. Putting his hand on the small of my back, Jason guided me farther in.
Seconds later, before I could take in my fill, Alvin was walking toward us with quick steps and a woman by his side.
When had he even left our side?
I forgot all about the loft and focused on the woman next to him. By the time they were standing in front of us, she had practically eye-fucked Jason and had a salacious grin on her face.
“Hello, Mr. Thorn.” Jason reached for the woman’s outstretched hand and shook it.
“Please, call me Jason. It’s Julie, right?”
Her grin turned brighter when she realized Jason remembered her name.
She nodded. “Yes. We are so excited to work with you today.”
Finally, they let go of their hands and she continued. “Our makeup and hair stations are ready for the both of you. As soon as you’re ready we can begin the shoot and then the interview will take place on the first floor, after we have the shots.”
I cleared my throat and caught her attention.
At last.
Her cheeks flushed, but only slightly. “Nice to meet you, Olive. I’m Julie.”
I shook her hand and tried to give her a genuine smile. “Nice to meet you, too, Julie.”
She clapped her hands once. “Okay. Let me take you to hair and makeup, then I’ll introduce you to our photographer.” She was still talking directly to Jason. Apparently, I was just an afterthought.
Jason grabbed my hand and my heart gave a small jump. I was getting used to the annoying thing catching me off guard; I kept telling myself that he was just a guy, but the heart wants what it wants, right? Well, mine was dead set on throwing itself at Jason’s feet until he picked it up for himself.
Loser heart of mine.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and trailed after them.
Almost two freaking hours later, we were finally ready. Thankfully, they kept my makeup on the lighter side, murmuring that they were after a natural look since I was already a ‘nobody’. Okay, maybe they didn’t use exactly those words, but, trust me, the meaning was there.
Whatever. I rocked the natural look.
Then started the wardrobe decisions. There were racks of clothing. Racks. They spent more than an hour deciding on the right wardrobe for us. At one point, they asked me if I’d be okay with being covered up in a white sheet while Jason was half naked, but Jason vetoed that idea before I could. Considering they ended up choosing only three outfits, the whole process seemed a bit excessive to me. Then again, what did I know?
The first outfit we all agreed on was a dress similar to the one I’d worn at the London premiere. Nothing too risqué, not too much cleavage, not too much legs, but definitely a little playful. The second one was for a casual look they were going for with black jeans and a white t-shirt that would be tied at the back, showcasing a bit of my stomach.
The third outfit…that one was my favorite of them all. It was white, backless, had cutouts in the front, and was very formfitting.
It was perfection.
How it would look on me? I had no idea.
They wanted me in the third one first. A girl from the team came to my side and hurriedly showed me into a makeshift fitting room where I could change into the dress.
I got into the dress, all right, but I decided not to go back out there. While the dress looked amazing on the hanger, on me…it was too much. The back was almost showing my butt crack, and the front…well, the front was showing too much breast without showing too much skin. When I had asked for the bra, the girl had just shaken her head. I could almost make out my nipples.
“Olive?” Jason’s voice came from right outside. “You ready?”
“Jason,” I whispered, crossing my arms against my chest as if he could see through the thick curtain. If he got a look at them, I knew my nipples would give him a show. “I can’t go out there like this.”
“What do you mean like this?”