Page 36 of Holiday Star
I rush out the door, past a sharp-faced man smoking a cigarette and into the cramped parking lot.
Jax follows me out. I’m five steps from Jenny’s car when I hear him behind me, calling out my name. “Gwen. Gwen. Stop.” It’s the first time he has said my name in years. For some reason, it doesn’t sound right on his tongue anymore. I find myself wishing it was someone else saying it. Someone who rounds the G and flattens the N.
I halt and turn to him, spitting out, “Leave me alone.” I spin on my heel, but his hand is on my arm, twisting me back.
“No, I want to talk to you.” He’s frowning, his brows heavy. I have no idea what he has to be upset about. I’m the one who was wronged.
“Well, I don’t want to talk to you, so go away.” I attempt to wrench myself out of his grasp, pulling against him so hard that it hurts. I can feel bruises forming, which infuriates me even more. “Jax. Stop it. Let me go.” I scowl and yank my arm harder, but still he holds on.
A deep, husky voice says coolly behind me, “I suggest you listen to her.” Jax and I both freeze at the sound. Jax’s eyes shift above my head, and his face goes slack in awe. His fingers loosen enough for me to shake free.
I turn to see Caleb standing there. Freshly showered, his hair is styled and his jaw is clean shaven. He’s darkly handsome in black jeans and a gray T-shirt. A leather jacket hangs from one finger, casually thrown over his shoulder like he’s about to walk the runway in Milan.
There’s nothing casual in his expression, though. Those aqua eyes glitter with cold menace. He’s coiled tight, jaw clenched, a lion about to pounce.
Caleb doesn’t look at me. All his icy fury is focused on Jax. “I once won an Oscar for playing an Olympic boxer. To prepare for that role, I trained every day with the world’s best fighters. I don’t think you want to see what my right hook can do.” The only thing that moves is his mouth, which transforms into a cruel smile.
Jax takes a step back and then another. He turns and rushes back into the bar.
My heart is pounding. I’m walking, almost falling into Caleb. He catches me in his arms, crushing me against his firm chest. I start to cry, which is silly. The danger has passed. I don’t know what Jax intended, but he never put his hands on me like that when we were together.
“Shh.” Caleb’s hand smooths down my hair and trails down to my cheek, as I soak his shirt with my tears. “Shh. It’s okay. You’re safe, Gwen.” He says my name for the sixth time, this time with gentle tenderness.
Eventually, I quiet. “Sorry.” I wipe my nose and look up at him, my knight in shining armor. “Can we go home, please?” I just want to crawl into my bed and forget this day ever happened. All of the confidence I’ve built up over the years, all of my accomplishments, have vanished with Jax’s touch. I feel small and defeated. A little mouse, ready to run into her hole in the wall.
Caleb looks from me to the bar and then to me again. His mouth tightens. “No.”
“No?” I reel out of his arms.
He’s firm. “No. You’re going to go back in there.”
“What?” Panic is setting in. “Why?”
Caleb sets his lips in a thin line. “Because that’s not who you are. You’re not someone who gives up when things get hard. I know since you haven’t given up on me yet.”
He takes my hand and marches me back into Shooter’s.
21
Caleb leads me past the smoking man and back into the building. We don’t go to my friends. Instead, he chooses the darkest corner of the bar. Every seat is taken, so we squeeze in between a couple of patrons. He puts his back to the rest of the crowd, angling his body so it only faces the bartender and me. We’re pressed together, shoulder to shoulder.
I take in a shuddering breath, still upset from Jax and unnerved to be so close to Caleb. His spicy scent invades my nose, warm and inviting.
“Are you worried about being recognized?” It hits me then, the risk he’s taking, being out in public like this. He’s worked so hard to keep his location a secret. He tries to reassure me with a confident smile, but I don’t miss the tightness of his jaw. A surge of guilt twists inside of me for putting him in this position.
Sometimes I forget he’s famous, that he can’t interact with the world the same way I can. It’s hard to reconcile that Caleb with the one I know, the one who cooks and does laundry and sometimes forgets to put the cap back on his toothpaste.
Caleb moves closer, hunching his body around me. It’s loud in here, but when he drops his mouth close to my ear, I can hear him well enough. His breath stirs the hair at my temple, and a shiver runs through me.
“So…that was Jax?” He eyes me intently.
“Yeah, my ex-fiancé.” I can’t quite meet his eyes, not wanting to see what’s in them.
He sucks in a breath. “Fiancé? Jenny didn’t mention that part.”
“It didn’t work out. We broke up, and he went back to his ex-girlfriend, the redhead, over there.” Caleb’s gaze darts over my shoulder to where Sophie sits.
When he looks back at me, I lift a shoulder in a half-shrug and deliberately change the subject. “I owe you a drink. You know, for saving me.” I tilt my head up so I can see him better. “What do you want?”
