He crossed his arms. “Maybe you would.”
She got serious. “Don’t turn this around on me. I’m the one at risk here. Did you talk to anyone? Did you tell the press?”
He raised a brow. “Tell them what?”
He wasn’t as sharp as she’d thought. This could be to her advantage. “Well, maybe we could arrange…” She trailed off as his gaze turned warm and tender.
He stood, walking around the table to her, and she fought to remain calm, but the closer he got, the more her pulse spiked, sending a surge of raw desire coursing through her.
He stopped next to her chair, reached out and cradled her face in one hand. Her breath caught. He slowly leaned down, close, so close, his lips a breath away. She couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move.
He shifted near her ear. “Am I not supposed to share how much I liked Jenny?”
Her heart leapt to her throat. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He dropped his hand and leaned against the table next to her, considering her for a long moment. She didn’t know what to say. Guilt swamped her.
He slowly shook his head. “Why pretend? You could have anyone.”
She met his eyes and gave him the truth. She owed him that much. “I guess I just missed feeling normal.”
“I missed the sweet girl-next-door type.”
“Like you thought I was,” she said softly.
“Is any part of you like Jenny? Or was the whole thing an act?”
“Josh, before I say anything else, I need to know if you’re going to tell the press about this. About Jenny.”
He stared at her for a long moment like he was thinking hard.
“I’ll pay you to keep it secret,” she rushed on. “I can get you five thousand cash within the hour. Think what that could do for you. That’s a lot of money.” And she’d paid a lot more than that on similar occasions.
He straightened. “You’re something, Claire Jordan.” She hated the way he kept saying her full name. Like he was reminding her she’d wronged him. “You think I couldn’t get more than that from some celebrity rag?”
She’d underestimated him. “Name your price. But I want it in writing that you won’t share any information on me, Jenny, or any of our time together. I have a nondisclosure in my purse.” She reached for it.
“Don’t bother,” he said with a look of disgust. “I have no interest in telling anyone about you, and I sure as hell don’t want your money.”
She instantly regretted bringing up the money. He’d told her how much he liked Jenny. He must be so upset to know Jenny wasn’t real. “Josh, I—”
He turned and strode toward the door, his long legs eating up the distance. She didn’t remember him ever moving so fast before.
She stood. “Wait!”
He stopped, and then his shoulders dropped like he’d let out a big sigh. Or maybe he was dreading whatever she was about to say. What was she going to say? Another apology? Sorry for messing with your head and stabbing you in the heart?
He slowly turned, gazing at her silently across the room, waiting.
Some unknown force had her moving toward him before she realized what she was doing. She stopped directly in front of him. Up close, his dark eyes were conflicted, angry and also sad. It was the sadness, the hurt she’d caused, that made her blurt the truth. “I wish I could be her for you. I never thought one fun date, well, two actually, would get so complicated.”
He looked over her shoulder. “Yeah, complicated.”
“It’s too hard to date a civilian. The hours, the constant travel. It’s hard to keep relationships going like that. You need a small-town girl. Like you thought I was.”
His lips formed a grim line. Finally he held out his hand. “I guess this is goodbye.”
She shook his hand, the warmth of it bringing a tingling rush. Her eyes met his in an electric connection, the urge to throw herself in his arms overwhelming.
But then he stepped back. “Goodbye, Jenny.”
He was saying goodbye to the fake woman, not her. It didn’t make her feel any better because she’d brought a lot of herself to Jenny, but there was too much Claire Jordan in the way for that to matter.
She crossed her arms, hugging herself. She hated goodbyes. Her whole life seemed like one long goodbye to people and places. First because of her dad’s military career, then moving from movie set to set all over the world.
He stood in front of her, waiting for her to say goodbye, but she couldn’t do it.
“We had fun that night, didn’t we?” she asked. “And on the boat.”
His expression was solemn. “Yeah, we did.”