Page 183 of My Five Daddies

The waiter comes over with our food. Holly got a salad, which she barely picks at. I got a big ass steak, which I dig into withouthesitation.

Holly makes a face at me. “You know everyone’s watching us,right?”

“Yep,” I say through a mouthful of steak. “Might as well enjoy it, since the studio’spaying.”

She makes a face. “You’re so gross, Jackson. You don’t care that all these people are watching you tear through that steak like it’s your last meal on thisplanet?”

“Nope,” I say, and pop a big, juicy slice between mylips.

She sighs and shakes her head like I just said somethingfunny.

I grin at her and chewobnoxiously.

“You don’t have to be an ass,” she says to me. “We’re in this together, you know. You think I want to be doingthis?”

“You didn’t seem to mind at that dinner,” I say to her. “And you didn’t seem to mind the otherafternoon.”

A flash of anger crosses her face, but she covers it up quickly. “That was a mistake,” she says to me. “And I do what’s best for mycareer.”

“Yeah, I bet you do, sweetheart,” I say to her. “Don’t you hate allthis?”

“What, glamour and excitement? No, I don’t hate it atall.”

I laugh a little. “This is glamour? I don’t seeit.”

“Of course not. But to me, this is the dream. People actually want to see me, Jackson. They’re paying attention to me. I’m some nobody girl from a nowhere town and now photographers want to sell pictures of me eating a salad with some muscle-headedjackass.”

“Sounds amazing,” I say, laying on thesarcasm.

“Don’t patronize me,” she says, still smiling. She’s actually a good actress, I decide. “You think this is all stupid, I get that. But it’s important tome.”

“It’s fake,” I say. “I saw real shit out there. You wouldn’t know the half ofit.”

“I don’t care about your stupid military career,” she says. “God, all you military guys are the same. Like anyone gives ashit.”

That pisses me off, and I’m quiet for a second. Holly is a vapid, idiot girl, and I can’t let her get under my skin. She nibbles on a lettuce leaf while I take another big bite of steak. I wash it down with the rest of the whisky and motion for another one. It arrives right away, like they were fucking waiting for me to finish my firstone.

I can’t complain. It’s good food and good drinks, at least, and it’s free. Still, there’s something off about Holly, and I can’t put my finger onit.

“Why did you pussy out the other day with me?” she askssuddenly.

“Pussy out?” I grunt at her. “Notexactly.”

“You threw me out when all I wanted was to fuck a little bit. You not into girls orsomething?”

What a fucking shrew. “You ever stop to think that maybe I’m interested in somebodyelse?”

That seems to genuinely surprise her. “You got agirlfriend?”

“No,” I say. “But there’s someone… important to me. And I don’t want to hurther.”

“Oh, shit,” she says, smiling larger at me. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re in love with somebody else. That’s why you wouldn’t fuck me. That’s why you don’t want to do this fakerelationship.”

I stare at her for a second, not sure what to say. I buy time by taking a big sip of whisky. She’s right of course, and maybe it would be easier if I just came clean. Holly seems a little nuts and intense, and I don’t like her view of the military, but maybe she’s not a horrible person. Maybe I can even trust her, at least just a littlebit.

“You’re right,” I say to her, not wanting toelaborate.

She laughs and shakes her head, clearly amazed. “A fucking movie star, in love with someone? I think I’ve seen everythingnow.”

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