Page 29 of Jaime
“No way. What happened?”
I bit my lip, suddenly remembering her dismissal of Jaime at the reading when I’d first met him. I couldn’t hide things from her though and knew that.
“Remember that guy from the reading?” I asked tentatively.
She frowned.
“You don’t mean leather jacket guy, do you?”
I shrugged.
“He’s really sweet,” I argued.
“Ethan,” she said slowly, “that guy was low-key stalkerish.”
“No. He wasn’t. He’s a good person. He’s just been down on his luck and—”
“And wanted to come meet a kids show host?”
I shrugged self-consciously.
“Yeah, well, he was right to come to me. He needed help.”
Her frown deepened.
“Then he should go to some sort of therapy. Don’t tell me you actually went and helped this stranger—”
“Stop.”
I’d never been angry at Naomi. We’d met about three years ago when I first felt the need for an assistant to help me arrange my schedule and daily life. Between book marketing, appearance schedules, and literally anything else I could need from an assistant, she’d been a godsend. Of course, part of that was because we were always on the same page and had been fast friends from the get-go. It felt immediatelywrongto feel like she was being an asshole, because I knew she always spoke from the heart—which only left one explanation... that I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t like that train of thought. When it came to Jaime, there was more to it than that.
I took a deep breath, processing before continuing.
“He didn’t ask me for anything,” I said. “I just insisted because—”
“Because you think he’s cute?” she challenged.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I’m not going to lie. I’m really attracted to him. That’s not why though.”
I paused, wondering how much to say.
“He has a little baby girl and he had no idea what to do with her. He was really overwhelmed and scared and... he has no one to turn to, at all.”
Naomi watched me closely, her wide eyes unreadable.
“He didn’t ask me for anything,” I repeated.
After a long moment, her gaze softened.
“And you really like him?”
I nodded.
“Doesn’t mean it’s going to go anywhere,” I said.
“But you want it to?”
I didn’t answer because I didn’t know how.
