Page 97 of Heart to Heart
“Miss me?” I answered.
“Uh, sure,” a male voice that most definitely didn’t belong to Tristan answered.
I could feel my face burning. “I’m so sorry. I thought you were someone else.”
“Nope, not Tristan. Just Brad in production. But Mr. Tate did ask me to relay a message to you.”
“Oh, sure,” I said, trying to be cool. “What is it?”
“He told me to have you meet him in his room. Suite 800.”
“Got it. Thank you, Brad.”
“Don’t mention it.”
This was it. He’d cut Jessica loose. It was all over. I set the phone down and all but sprinted out of the suite, headed to the eighth floor. I wondered if he sent everyone home, or if cameras would be hanging out to film me trying not to hurry while also very much hurrying to the elevator. I’d just seen him, but I couldn’t wait to run into his arms and tell him I loved him, too. Officially his without anyone looming in the shadows.
Like my suite had been, Tristan’s was located down a long hallway, and I could feel my pulse quicken with every door I passed. It felt like an eternity before I finally reached his ivory door. And when I did, I all but threw myself at it.
As it slowly opened, I geared myself up to launch my body into Tristan’s arms. But just as I was about to make the leap, my muscles froze in place. In the doorway to Tristan’s room stood Jessica, clad only in one of his T-shirts.
“Hello, Avery,” she said. The grin she wore was enough to slap me in the face. “Tristan told me to tell you that he’s changed his mind, but he thanks you for the time you spent together, and he wishes you and your mom’s business all the best.”
I was numb. No. Tristan wouldn’t send Jessica to do his dirty work. But then I caught a whiff of his sandalwood cologne andher mussed hair that screamed sex, and it was all I could do to keep myself upright.
“Where is he?” I asked, mentally praying that I could keep my tears at bay. “I want to hear this from him.”
“He’s in the shower and doesn’t want to be disturbed. He appreciates your friendship, but it’s time for you to go back home to Michigan.”
Movement from out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I gasped when I turned my head to see a camera had been filming our entire interaction. Tristan hadn’t let the crew go home, which meant he was probably in the room with Jessica. He sure as heck hadn’t sent her packing.
I couldn’t feel my legs; my body shook, and the entire country would get to witness my humiliation. For the second time in less than six months, I’d been humiliated by a man I thought had loved me. The world spun around me as I backed up, looking at the camera that was still trained on my face. I had to get out of here, and I had to leave now. Depleting my last shred of dignity, I sprinted down the hall to the elevators, pressing the button to close the door the second I stepped inside to not be stuck in there with a camera in my face, waiting to capture my inevitable breakdown. How stupid I had been to think a man like Tristan would want a nobody like me.
Tears flowed down my face by the time the elevator reached the fourth floor and came down in buckets when I ran out of it right as the door opened, bumping into a man standing in the lobby.
“Sorry,” I said, taking a quick glance at the man, doing a double take when I realized I knew who he was. “Jay.” I looked around the lobby to see whether Sasha was with him.
“She’s not here,” he said, keeping his voice low. “What’s wrong, Avery? What happened to you?” The way he asked me those questions reminded me of the way Josh was sometimesprotective of me whenever anyone hurt me in any way. It endeared me to Jay even more.
“I need to go,” I said, holding back tears. “Can you take me to the nearest airport?”
He studied me briefly, maybe gauging whether I meant it, before answering, “As much as you’ve done for me. Yes, I can do that.”
“Thank you.” I hugged him, which I knew was a sin in the Book of Jay, but I was already in hell, so what did it matter? “Are you able to get my phone back to me, too?”
“Now you’re just being a pain in my ass.”
“Speaking of asses. Remember that time I totally saw yours?”
“Okay. Okay. You got me. Van’s out front. I’ll be right back.”
I nodded, wiping a fugitive tear from my cheek. “I owe you.”
“Trust me, Avery. I could drive you to the other side of the country, and I would still be in the red with you.”
I turned to head out the front door of the lobby and rushed to the van sitting in front of the hotel, which Jay had left unlocked. Minutes later, he appeared with my phone and purse in his hand, tossing them to me when he hopped in the driver’s seat.
“You sure about this?” he asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
