Page 71 of You Had Me at Hola
“I’ll leave after Sunday mass.”
“Fair warning, Yadiel wants to go to a baseball game in New York.”
Ashton gave a brief smile. “I’ll break out the hat and sunglasses.”
“You sure you don’t want a trench coat and a newspaper with two holes cut out, Señor James Bond?”
Ashton smothered a laugh so he didn’t wake the others. “From your lips to God’s ears.”
Ignacio collected the bottles to dispose of them. “Buenas noches, mijo.”
Chapter 27
Jasmine arrived at the studio the next morning in high spirits. The summit had been great press, the show was going smoothly, and Ashton... Well, she was trying to avoid examining her feelings too much, but it was safe to say she was happier than she’d ever been with a man. Real happiness, too, where she felt valued and like it was safe to open up to him, not performative happiness that relied on stuff like gifts or PDA. She was scared to hope for more, scared to identify where she was on the Jasmine Scale, and her conversation with the Primas of Power hadn’t offered much in the way of clarity. But in all other regards, her Leading Lady Plan was on track. She’d even received some congratulatory texts from her family after Michelle sent them the video of Jasmine’s Latinx in the Arts interview.
Abuelo Willie: good job nena
Abuela Esperanza: You looked so beautiful! Love you!
Followed by a link to a cream for neck wrinkles.
Most surprising of all, her parents had chimed in on their group text chain.
Mom & Dad: Proud of you, honey!
Even Sammy had apologized for his behavior at the barbecue, and asked if he could get Lily’s autograph for his daughter.
Jasmine was riding high when she strolled into her dressing room. She’d just set her purse down when the door flew open and Lily burst in.
“Jasmine, I’m sorry.” Lily’s face was flushed and she looked to be on the verge of tears. “It was taken out of context, I didn’t mean to—”
“What happened?” Jasmine started to go to Lily, but then a jingle played from her bag. She stuck her hand in and pulled out her phone. Ava was calling.
Lily seemed to be in emergency mode, so Jasmine silenced the call without picking up and returned her attention to her on-screen hermana. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
A text flashed from Michelle. Out of habit, Jasmine swiped to read it.
Michelle: Turn off your phone.
With a dawning sense of dread, Jasmine turned to Lily, who held out her own phone. It was open toBuzz Weekly’s website.And there, above a photo of Jasmine and Ashton taken at the Latinx in the Arts Summit, was the word,REBOUND.
Jasmine’s heart sank as the world narrowed to the few square inches on Lily’s phone. She took it and peered closer. Following the headline were two speculative questions:BEHIND-THE-SCENES ROMANCE?OR LOVE TRIANGLE?
Underneath those, a byline: Kitty Sanchez.
Of course.
“I was chatting with some bloggers at the summit,” Lily said in a rush, tripping over her words. “One lady asked what it was like working with everybody onCarmen. I didn’t think anything of it, you know? She asked other questions too. But she must have asked me about you guys, and all I said was—”
Jasmine didn’t need her to continue. It was right there, a little ways down from the photo.
A source close to the couple tells us they get along really well and spend a lot of time together.
When Jasmine imagined Lily saying the words, they were innocuous. But taken out of context, as an anonymous quote? They were heavy with implied romantic meaning.
Fuuuuuck.
Jasmine continued to scroll, skimming past text and more photos from the event, both posed and candid. Farther down, another photo loaded under the word,EXCLUSIVE!!!
