Page 88 of Enemies Off Camera
He knew what he was doing.
“Here’s the deal,” he said calmly. “Ashley’s here, and so is the media. You’re going to do a press conference. Tell them it’s over with Zara. Say you and Ashley are figuring things out. That’s all. Then we’re done with her, and with that agent of hers.”
I stared daggers at him. That was the real issue. Anne Park. He couldn’t stand the fact that someone outsmarted him. That she had won.
I told him I didn’t want to see Ashley until we got back to San Diego.
He didn’t respond, but I could see it in his face—he was already planning his next move.
I had plans too. A press conference wasn’t going to go how he thought it would.
But none of that compares to what just happened.
“Hi,” Zara says. Her voice is quiet, uncertain. She lifts her hand slightly, like she’s not sure if she should even be here.
I make my way toward her, trying not to move too fast on the crutches. Every step hurts, but I don’t care. She’s here.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “About everything.”
She frowns, surprised.
“I know Anne didn’t pass along your message. And I don’t know if you saw the photos of me and Toby, but none of that was real. I’ll explain later.”
I release a sigh of relief that I didn’t know I was holding.
Roger’s voice cuts through behind us. “Let’s go.”
He’s already heading down the hall with the press following him. They’re snapping photos of us now, like this is part of the story too.
I glance at him briefly, then turn back to Zara. I don’t want to waste another second.
“It feels like it’s been forever,” I say.
She nods, her eyes soft. “I feel the same way. It’s been... hard.” Her voice wavers, just enough to crack.
Her skin looks impossibly soft. Every nerve in my body remembers her—how she felt wrapped around me, bare skin to bare skin, the heat of her, the way she pulled me deeper and deeper inside her.
“Can I kiss you?” I ask, my voice low, the words catching in my throat as I swallow—bracing for whatever comes next.
She doesn’t answer—she just leans in.
Our lips meet, and something in me settles. Her hands on my face, my hands at her waist. The crutches fall to the floor, and I don’t even care. The pain in my leg pulses, but it barely registers.
All I feel is her.
Her mouth. Her breath. The warmth of her body leaning into mine. The moment we lost, the weeks of silence, all of it disappears.
She’s here now.
And so am I.
SIXTY-FOUR
Ihelp Jaxon steady himself on his crutches.
“Stay by my side,” he says in that bossy tone I used to hate—but now it makes me hot.
As we head toward the press room, a breathy but unmistakable, “Jaxon?” floats after us. We both turn. Ashley is trotting toward him.
