Page 97 of Lovestruck at Sundown
When I opened the envelope, there was a small note that read:
Jag visste inte, älskling.
Älskling was all I could understand, but the note made me cry even if I couldn’t understand its meaning. I could feel how William was trying to make me feel better with it, and thefact that it was written in Swedish was a gesture I appreciated. If I wanted to know what it said, I could grab my phone and translate it, and if I didn’t and still needed space, I could ignore it and go to bed.
You’ll always have a choice with me, he told me once upon a time.
I left the envelope beside my phone on my nightstand and climbed into bed. My head felt heavy as it sunk deep in the pillows. I shut my eyes and filled my lungs with a deep breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths.
My eyes popped open, and my hand reached out for my phone. Who was I kidding? There was no way I’d be able to fall asleep without knowing what William said in that letter. I didn’t have to grab it because I’d memorized the words.
Jag visste inte, älskling.
I hit the translate button, and the results came out:
I didn’t know, darling.
I grabbed theenvelope and kicked my comforter away without a second thought. My hand pressed against the invisible door and pushed it open, but William’s bed was neatly made, and he was not in his room. The faint sound of a guitar filtered in from the other side of the door.
“William?” I called in a soft, weary tone as I walked out of his room, but his apartment was dark, so I followed the sound to his living room.
William was barefoot and shirtless, but he still had on the dark green pants he had worn to dinner. He was reclined against the sofa with one of his legs propped up and his guitar on his lap. “Hey.” He turned to look at me and followed me with his gaze but didn’t stop playing.
“Hey.” I sat on the coffee table in front of him and waved the envelope to let him know I’d seen it.
He placed his palms over the strings, pressed his lips into a tight smile, and started playing Dave Matthews Band’s “Where Are You Going.” I stared at him as he played and sang the song.
By the time he was halfway through it, I stood. He tossed his guitar to the side, grabbing my arm and pulling me on top of him. I straddled his hips and let my weight fall on his lap.
“I didn’t know,” he said, tucking my hair behind my ear and leaning in to press a kiss below it. “I didn’t lie or withhold the information from you because I didn’t ask them to follow you. They are paid to stay out of sight and keep me safe during work events and specific outings.” His hands moved to my waist. “I’d never mentioned them to you because I honestly forget they even exist. Agent Hawthorne is my assigned bodyguard, and I’ve only interacted with him a handful of times. But it’s Alice’s responsibility as my personal assistant to let him know where he needs to be.”
“So why did Agent Hawthorne follow me while you were gone?”
William blew out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck with a shrug. “When I questioned Agent Hawthorne about it at the restaurant, he said the company reached out to Alice to confirm our relationship and asked if the contract should include you, too. Alice said yes because she thought that’s what I would say. But of course, she never mentioned it to me because she knows I don’t like getting too involved in those matters and I’d just left for Vancouver. But I called her earlier, and she said she didn’t think they would follow you when I was gone, that she thought they meant for shared outings.”
I took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “I’m sorry I assumed the worst.”
“It looked bad,” he said. “I don’t blame you for getting upset. But when your father mentioned it, he caught me off guard, too. You know I would never lie to you about something like that.”
“I know.” I shook my head. “But I should’ve let you explain. And—”
“It was a rough night,” he cut me off gently. His hands moved inside my pajama top and slid up and down my ribcage, giving me goosebumps.
“I’m sorry I doubted you.” Here we were again, me distrusting William and letting my impulsive emotions get the best of me.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.” William looked … sad. I’d been so focused on my feelings that I completely forgot about the awful and disrespectful things my father had said to William during dinner. “It was all a misunderstanding.”
“I’m so embarrassed about my father’s behavior.” I cupped his face with my hands. “He was unnecessarily rude and I’m so sorry he behaved that way.”
He parted his lips to speak, but his blue eyes darkened and flicked away, evading my gaze. “Then why do I feel like he’s not entirely wrong about some of the things he said?”
I shook my head and placed my hands on his chest. “So you didn’t graduate. Who fucking cares?” My brows bunched up. “You became an amazing, talented actor who’s worked in more films than most people in the industry can dream of. And you’re about to secure a multi-million-dollar deal with one of the biggest movie franchises of all time. Don’t let him get to you. He’s an expert at manipulating and putting others down with his words while pretending otherwise.”
William nodded slowly. His hands squeezed my waist and pulled me closer to him. “So what did he tell you when he set you aside to talk?”
