Page 55 of Don't Forget Me
He didn’t wait to be told again as he closed the remaining distance between them in an all-consuming kiss. One that stole the doubt from her mind. I think I’m falling in love with you.
Maybe it didn’t matter if true love existed, if she believed in it. This world, the one where two coma patients lived alone in a house on a lonely lake, it was just as make-believe.
But the feelings… the way her heart squeezed and her skin tingled, that had to be real. Right?
Pulling Nick onto the bed, she leaned back, not breaking their kiss, not wanting their connection to end.
Because when it did, she had to tell him.
Everything.
19
THE REPORTER
“Hello, my name is Jasmine Trinity. I’m an officer with the state troopers.” Jasmine flashed the badge so quickly she hoped the man behind the desk wouldn’t ask to see it again. If he did, she wouldn’t get the information she sought because the badge had someone else’s name on it.
The man rubbed a hand over his nearly bald head, ruffling the few feathers of hair as he lumbered to his feet. “What can I do for you, Officer?” His rotund stomach bumped the desk as he leaned forward, his tongue sliding across his lips.
Jasmine fought the urge to recoil. “I’m investigating an accident that occurred near here with one of your vehicles.”
His eyes widened. “We’ve only suffered one crash this month.”
Pretending to look down at a tiny notepad in her hand, she nodded. “Nicholas Jacobs.”
“I’ve already answered questions about that.”
“Yes, well, I’m only here to verify a few facts.” Her eyes found him once more, hardening the way she’d been trained when covering hard news—not like Hollywood Magazine covered hard news, but this was as close as she’d get. “The car was rented in Mr. Jacobs name, correct?”
He sighed. “Like I told that other officer, we didn’t rent a car to that man.” He bent over the computer and typed something on the keyboard. “Justin Cormack. That was the name we were given.”
“Justin Cormack?” She scribbled down the name, determined to find out who that man was. A fake name Nick Jacobs used?
“I don’t have any more information. A man came in and rented the car, we gave it to him. Then, Nick Jacobs crashed it, and I’m still waiting for payment while I’m down a car in my fleet.”
It was okay. He’d given her what she came for. “Thank you for your time.”
Out in the parking lot, she found a police cruiser waiting for her. Pulling the badge out of her back pocket, she tossed it through the open window, hitting Andy in the chest, before opening the door and sliding in.
“You’re welcome.” Her brother eyed her curiously, waiting for her to tell him what she’d found. He didn’t believe there was anything more to this story than a famous actor getting drunk and wrecking a rental car. “Did I win the bet?”
Buckling her seat belt, she shook her head. “Something isn’t right here. I can feel it.”
“Like you could feel that scandal with the bank?”
He knew how to get to her. Jasmine left Florida three years ago after flaming out with the Tampa Bay Times on a story that ended up being nothing but an embarrassment to the paper. It got her blackballed from papers and online publications with integrity—as her brother said—leaving Hollywood as a natural destination.
“Fine, don’t believe me.”
He sighed and started the car. “I may not believe you about this, but I still believe in you. I wouldn’t have let you use my badge—again—if I didn’t.”
He was right. Andy had always been good to her, raising her as their mom worked long hours. But at ten years her senior, he thought he knew more than her about everything.
“Are you coming home for dinner?” he asked.
“Not tonight. Sorry. I need to keep working so I can get back to Cali. Can you drop me at the hospital?” She wanted to see if Nick’s agent was there again.
“You don’t give up, do you?”
