Page 72 of You Had Me at Hola
Her breath backed up in her throat. The picture was blurry, like it had been zoomed in too much and taken with an unsteady hand, but it was unmistakably the two of them. They stood close, with Ashton’s arm around her while she smiled up at him, caught in a totally candid—and private—moment.
Somehow, Kitty Sanchez had gotten her claws on the photo taken by the grocery store employee.
“She twisted my words,” Lily went on, sounding anguished. “I really didn’t mean—”
At that moment, Ashton rushed in through the open door, eyes wild and hair disheveled.
“Look at this,” he said, and held out a crumpled issue ofBuzz Weekly.
They’d made the cover. The posed photo was largest, probably because it was higher quality, but off to the side were two boxes. One showed a paparazzi photo of Jasmine holding hands with McIntyre as they were leaving one of his concerts. The other was the grocery store photo.REBOUNDwas printed at the top in bright yellow, the word glaring at her just as accusingly asDUMPEDhad.
In a detached sort of way, Jasmine wondered why and how gossip rags still existed. Wasn’t the print magazine industry dead?
Lily’s face turned even redder and she slipped past Ashton. “I’ll let you two talk,” she muttered, and beat a hasty retreat, shutting the door behind her.
In Jasmine’s hand, her phone rang again. It was Riley this time. She almost picked up, but Ashton was looking apoplectic, so she sent it to voice mail instead.
“All right,” she said, trying to sound calm. “Don’t freak out.”
“Don’t freak out? How can I not freak out?”
His accent had thickened, and she realized her own Bronx accent—kept under control, for the most part, except on the word “coffee”—was showing. Shit. They werebothfreaking out.
“It’s not that bad,” she told him. “It will be good promo for the show, and it will blow over quickly.”
These were all things her agent and cousins had told her after her split with McIntyre had blown up, and they hadn’t helped. But she didn’t know what else to say. She remembered the first time she had made it onto the cover ofSoaps Monthlymagazine. She’d been thrilled. But this kind of exposure? It hurt, and there was no getting around that. For someone like Ashton, who was fiercely protective of his privacy, this had to feel nerve-racking and intrusive.
Ashton opened the magazine and flipped to the article about them. Before Jasmine could tell him not to read it, that it wouldn’t help matters, he said, “I can’t believe they would print this. People are going to think that we—”
“Ashton.” She waited until he looked at her. “Weare.”
“I know, but I don’t need anyone else knowing that.” He went back to the magazine, a look of disgust on his face.
Excuse me?Before Jasmine could find her voice to respond tothatinsulting statement, a sharp knock on the door interrupted them. “It’s Tanya,” said a muffled voice.
Ashton’s gaze flew around the room, as if looking for somewhere to hide. His eyes locked on the bathroom door.
“Who cares if someone sees you herenow?” Jasmine hissed at him, giving the magazine he held an irritated flick as she moved past him to open the door. Tanya stood on the other side. In her hands was another copy ofBuzz Weekly. Shit, were the paps stationed near the studio’s gates handing them out as people arrived for work?
Jasmine stepped aside to let Tanya in. “So you’ve seen it.”
“Of course I have.” Tanya handed it to Jasmine, who threw it directly into the trash. “I’m amazed they thought this was cover material.”
Or Kitty Sanchez had been waiting to pounce on a new story about Jasmine, and the summit photos plus Lily’s innocent quote had given her what she needed. Out loud, Jasmine said, “They’re using me.”
“That they are,” Tanya agreed. “Ready to spin this?”
“What’s the plan?” Jasmine asked.
“We have some interviews lined up,” Tanya replied. “I won’t lie, if you wanted to play this coy, it would be great for ratings. But I’m not about abusing my actors or making up stories that aren’t there, so the simplest thing to do is say you’re just friends and leave it at that. Good?”
Ashton looked like he was going to throw up, but he nodded. “We need to shut this down immediately.”
Jasmine’s heart ached for him, even as she wished he’d pull his head out of his ass. She understood where he was coming from, but she needed his support on this, damn it. She’d already gone through it once on her own.
Tanya headed for the door. “Ashton, you’re going to need more prep. Come with me.”
Ashton shot Jasmine an anguished glance, but he followed Tanya out the door.
