Damn it, I can’t stay in my room anymore. I’ll go to the hotel’s gym, make all the calls while running on the treadmill. I need to move. Dressing in running gear, I head to the gym and am surprised to see a young woman behind the welcome desk. When I read the gym was open twenty-four hours a day, I assumed it was entirely self-service. First-class service, I suppose.
“Good evening.” She smiles, hands me two towels. “Jet lag?”
“Yeah.”
“We get that a lot. There are refreshments in the bar area inside the gym.”
“Thanks.”
There are three other hotel guests inside the gym, but I find a treadmill far enough away that I can make my calls without disturbing them.
I’m in the middle of my third call when Blake’s name appears on the screen. I politely tell my conversation partner I’ll call him back, then answer my brother.
“Did you find out which publication he was from?” I ask without further ado.
“Yes. A-Lister Laundry.”
“Okay, just got off the phone with Stanhill. He’s drafting up all the cease and desist papers.”
“I also talked to an insider from Hollywood Gossip,” he says, referring to the tabloid that first published the picture. “You were right. They did get the picture from Justin Hamel.”
“The idiot just signed his sentence. I’m going to sue the crap out of him.”
“Did you talk to Caroline? Tell her this won’t happen again? That it’ll be easier to deal with the press once she knows what to tell them?”
“Yeah, I did. The conversation didn’t go the way I hoped.”
“So talk to her again.”
“I will. She said she’ll call me back. I’m still waiting.”
“For fuck’s sake, don’t wait too long. Our sisters insist women need time to mull over things, but all my evidence points to the contrary.”
“Thanks for the advice, Blake. I need to call Stanhill back. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Sure. But I’m serious. Don’t wait too long.”
After clicking off, I rewind the conversation with Caroline in my mind for the millionth time. I felt her slip away from me during our conversation, and I didn’t know what to say to win her back. For that matter, I still have no clue what to say, or I’d call her back right this instant. The fear and worry in her voice paralyzed me.
I need a damn good plan before I talk to her, but my mind seems to be filled with fog thanks to the jet lag.
No matter how I spin it, this is all my fault, and the worst of it is I can’t guarantee it won’t happen in the future. What if something worse happens next time? What if Caroline herself gets in an accident? Just the thought of something bad happening to her gives me heartburn.
In the past few weeks, I looked up a few adoption agencies, familiarized myself with the process. I want to spend the rest of my life with Caroline. I can see us together, in our home, complete with a white picket fence and a brood of kids. I want to hear her laughter every day, hear her soft breathing at night sleeping next to me, warming my bed and my life. I need her.
I love this woman. I want her safe and happy, always.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Caroline
“You don’t need to babysit me.”
The conversation isn’t going the way I hoped, though it’s nothing less than I expected. Dad hasn’t been upset by the news that he can’t spend the night in his own house right until I made the mistake of saying the new arrangement means I can keep an eye on him.
“Dad, you had a serious fall. If you don’t want me keeping an eye on you, I’ll talk to the doctor, ask him to keep you overnight.”
“You got your stubborn streak from your mother.”