Lucky Me (7 page)

“What?” Jack said, and I realized my face had probably given away my epiphany.

“Nothing,” I replied, looking at the floor inconspicuously.

Telling Jack about the movie dialogues was a terrible idea. It made it seem a lot worse than it probably was, and I didn't need Jack giving me another lecture or questionnaire.

“Gia, you're not fooling anyone,” Jack said, and I looked up at him with a glare. “Just tell me.”

“Fine! The conversations are dialogues from my dad's movies! Whoever it is, they play random parts of the movies to me. There! Are you happy?”

Boy, I didn't last one second under that pressure. I would be the
worst
in hostage situations where they needed me to divulge secrets. I'd give them everything they wanted before they even finished asking.

Jack looked at me, expressionless. It was so hard to tell what he was thinking. He was always a question mark. “Still think this is just some stupid game your brother's playing?” he asked, challenging me to say yes.

I knew he had a point, but there was no way I was going to give him the satisfaction. Besides, if it wasn't my brother, then there really was some random out there harassing me. Not exactly something that helps you sleep peacefully at night. So I did the mature thing, and completely denied everything.

“Look, forget it,” I declared. “I'm over all of this. Let's just forget the whole thing and move on, okay?”

I turned my back to him, giving another sigh. The conversation was never ending, and I was struggling to keep it together in that much spandex. How the hell does Spiderman swing from buildings and save lives in that material? I can barely waddle in it.

“I have a proposal,” Jack said from behind me, after only a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

I stiffened. A proposal? Like a legit proposal! Sure it was a bit soon, and I didn't particularly like Jack, but he was hot as hell. And if he had a nice ring I wasn't going to say no. Hell if he had a crappy ring, I'd still probably say yes. I'd just have to break the news to Brendan later. He'd understand. Maybe.

“Um . . .” I spun on my heel hesitantly, turning to face Jack's extremely serious face.

“Look, it's pretty obvious that, for whatever reason, you don't like me very much,” Jack said. “But I know this isn't really about me. I'm not really the problem here.”

Okay, so no ring. His proposal was clearly not going down how I thought it would.

“What are you trying to say?” I asked him, putting my hands on my hips.

“I'm willing to help you investigate this whole prank call thing and figure out who's behind it,” Jack said, his tone sounding very business-like. “But, you need to accept the fact that I'm not going anywhere. You can hate me all you want, but I'm still going to be around.”

“What if I don't want to know who's behind it? What then?”

“I think we both know that's a lie. And you don't have the ability to find out who it is by yourself.”

“But you do?”

Jack shrugged. “I could definitely help. Plus, you've got that Golden Globes thing you're so excited about. You don't want to ruin that, do you?”

I raised an eyebrow. “How do you know about that?”

“Gia, I live with you remember? It's all you've been talking about for the past few days.”

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. “Let's say I, hypothetically, take you up on this offer. What do I have to do?”

“Drop the act,” Jack said simply.

“Come again?”

“Oh come on, Gia,” Jack replied. “You can't honestly hate me this much for no reason. You don't even know me! This is probably just to get back at your dad for something.”

I stared at him silently for a few seconds. Alright, so he had caught me. I mean, it wasn't like it was a huge secret or anything. But I wasn't exactly expecting him to just blatantly state it like that.

“Well what's in it for you?” I asked, deciding it was a good idea to ignore his very valid points and swiftly move on.

Jack's expression remained completely serious. “The sooner we figure out who's doing this, the sooner you're out of danger. Which also means I'm no longer needed. So I go back to New York, your life goes back to normal, and everyone's happy. It's a win-win from where I'm standing.”

I hoped I also looked like a Victoria's Secret model from where he was standing. I took a deep breath, majorly unhappy with where this was headed. He
did
have a point. As much as I would miss his overwhelmingly attractive good looks, having Jack out of my life would bring back a lot of peace to my world. And he was right. Now that I was up for the role of Miss Golden Globe, I couldn't afford for anything to go wrong and ruin my chances. I wasn't about to let some weirdo with far too much free time get in the way of me handing Bradley Cooper a trophy.

“So you'll help me catch this creep, and all I need to do is be nicer to you?”

“Pretty much.”

“You know, I could just fire you and all our problems would end.”

Jack shook his head and said, “Actually you can't fire me. I technically work for your dad and not directly for you.”

I did some mental reasoning, weighing up the pros and cons. Being nice to Jack was going to be tough, but it would lead to a lot of my problems beings solved.

Against my better judgment, I finally sighed and gave a reluctant nod. “Fine.”

The corners of Jack's lips twitched as if they were going to curve up, but didn't quite get there. He extended his hand toward me so that I could shake it.

“Deal?” he said.

I looked at his hand uncertainly, and the back at him. The hostility was my only defense mechanism! I was practically signing over my one weapon to my enemy. Unfortunately for me, I needed Jack's help, and his offer worked out pretty well in my favor.

I put my hand in his and shook it firmly. “Deal.”

“Great,” Jack said, our hands still holding one another.

“Just so you know, this doesn't make us besties.”

“Got it.”

“And my rules still apply.”

“I figured as much.”

My gaze dropped to our hands, and suddenly the electric currents started shooting through my body again. I yanked my hand out of his placed it behind my back, where it wouldn't be tempted to try and rip off Jack's shirt.

“Alright, no need to get emotional,” I said.

Jack's grin reappeared as he walked toward the door. “It was a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Winters.”

I watched him walk out without saying a word. The moment I heard the soles of his shoes hit the stairs, I exhaled deeply, slapping my palm to my forehead. Jack seemed to have taken all the air out of the room when he walked out. The stupid spandex was killing me, and my pants were so tight I was scared Anya would need to cut them off me.

I had absolutely no clue who was behind all the phone calls and the texts. Maybe they were they same person, maybe not. One thing was for sure, though. I had just made a deal with the devil.

And there was no going back after that.

Chapter Four

When Saturday night finally arrived, I had a game plan set out in my mind and was fully ready to execute it. When I had told Dad I was going to Brendan's party he had looked at me like I was crazy and then flat out refused, even though I hadn't really asked for permission. It might have had something to do with the fact that Jack had opened his big mouth and told my dad about the phone calls and the text. Needless to say, he freaked out and started talking about how he was going to have to lock me away in some tower just to keep me safe. Unfortunately for Dad, he could try and Rapunzel me all the way to San Francisco if he wanted, but I was going to that party come hell or high water. If there was one thing Meghan was brilliant at, it was getting her way. She wasn't an idiot; she knew for sure that Brendan and I had been fighting all week. His party was the perfect setting to flip her hair and throw some playful winks in his direction. And knowing Brendan, he'd fall right into her trap. So I told Dad to take a chill pill and relax, promising I wouldn't be out too late, even though we both knew that was a big fat lie. He did lots of sighing and kept giving me his
I'm a pained parent
look, but couldn't really stop me in the end.

Jack and I rode to Brendan's house that night in almost complete silence, which was good because I still didn't trust myself to not say something stupid around him. I was already on edge because of the party; I didn't need Jack's perfect blonde hair messing with my thoughts. Besides, our little arrangement in the gym meant that I'd have to tone my attitude down around him, which was going to be hard because it was becoming more of a habit now than anything else. Luckily for me, Jack had given up on trying to make small talk about a minute into the ride, and instead turned the radio up as loud as our ears could manage. Apparently pretending the other one didn't exist was working out to be the preferred coping method for the both of us.

When we finally arrived, Jack parked on Brendan's street a little away from the open gates leading to his enormous mansion. He turned the car off, eyes straight ahead.

“Jesus,” Jack said. “Did the whole of L.A. turn out for this party?”

There was a sea of luxury cars ahead, as already tipsy teenage girls were making their way past the manicured bushes and into the house, while their boyfriends yelled at each other not to scratch their new Lamborghinis while parking. The music was so loud that we could hear it from Jack's jeep, even with the windows rolled up. I didn't recognize about eighty percent of the people I saw, but that was pretty normal. Big parties always tended to draw attention from the outside.

“I wonder if Meghan's here yet?” I said, scanning the crowd.

“Seriously?” Jack turned to face me. “You're
still
on that?”

“If you're referring to how Meghan Adams is trying to get her slimy fingers on Brendan, then yes. I'm
still
on that.”

“You've got a lot of issues.”

Yeah, well, who doesn't buddy? Jack shook his head, opened the car door and climbed out. After a few seconds of mental pep-talking I did the same, trying not to fall flat on my face as my five-inch Balenciaga shoes hit the pavement.

“Wait,” Jack said, eyeing the area around the car. He stood on his tiptoes, peering over the back of the car.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“All clear,” Jack said, slipping the keys into his jeans pocket. “Just checking.”

Now it was my turn to shake my head. After our deal, Jack had gone full spy mode. He kept looking out the windows like a hired assassin was going to jump out from behind a bush with a pair of nunchucks. Which was fantastic, because Dad was already hyped enough about it. No really Jack, thanks a bunch. Luckily Kenny, although slightly concerned, kept reminding him that there was nothing we could do until we got another sign from whoever this Dr. D was.

I had even taken it upon myself to do some top secret spy research and Googled the different ways someone could anonymously send a message. I'm pretty sure some of the sites that came up had some illegal content on them, but apparently it was possible to send texts from certain websites. That, and there were single, busty Russian girls in my area who were dying to meet me.

“Can we tone down the whole secret service thing you've got going?” I said. “It's freaking me out.”

“My ‘secret service' thing is what's going to keep you safe.”

“Can't you just, like, give me a can of pepper spray like a normal person and go home to New York?”

Jack smiled. “That wasn't our deal.”

I groaned and said, “Ugh, this stupid deal is going to kill me.”

And if it didn't, Jack's appearance definitely would. He had his hands tucked into the pockets of his blue jeans, and was wearing a maroon, button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had taken a little extra care with his hair, and his eyes looked bluer than I'd ever seen them before. There was a large part of me that thought I should just give up on the Meghan thing and let her have my boyfriend and focus all my energy on Jack. But there was another part of me, most likely my ego, that wouldn't allow it. At least not yet. I had barely known the guy a week and I had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

Although now that the party was right behind me, I was beginning to have some doubts about my game plan. So many things could go wrong; it was ridiculous. Jack and Brendan in the same place with unlimited alcohol
and
Meghan Adams could only result in something bad happening. The alcohol was inevitable and I doubted I could handle a Brendan-Jack showdown, but Meghan I could deal with. I took a deep breath, giving the air a sharp, determined nod. It was just a party. I had been to a million of these and I'd survived. Of course I had never had to deal with Jack Anderson before, living proof that there is a God and he does love us.

“We should cover a few things before we go in,” I told him, leaning against his car.

But Jack didn't look like he was listening. Instead, he was eyeing me up and down, now that my outfit was in full view. I guess he hadn't bothered to notice it when I was in the car.

“You look nice,” he said, giving a light shrug.

Wow. Really wasn't expecting that one.

“Are you allowed to say that to me?”

“What? I'm just harmlessly complimenting you.”

I scoffed and said, “Yeah, alright buddy. Keep it in your pants. It's just a dress.”

OH. MY. LORD. Jack Anderson had actually complimented me, which clearly meant he thought I looked hot! And good, because I was wearing a two thousand dollar Herve Leger dress. So if a few boys didn't have a heart attack at the party, then I'd be severely disappointed. Sure, it was a tad much for an impromptu high school gathering, but given my circumstances, I needed to pull out
all
stops.

“Fine,” Jack said. “You look like crap. Is that better?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, something I was doing a lot lately. “Are you allowed to say that to me?”

Jack rolled his eyes and said, “I can't win with you!”

I clutched my bag to my chest, trying not to shiver as a gust of wind blew past. “I think we need to add a clause to our contract,” I told him, hoping my voice was coming across as extremely professional.

Jack looked like he wanted to walk away and never return, but I could see the curiosity was kind of eating at him. I was right.

“Alright, fine. Let's hear it,” he said.

“I don't think it's fair that I have to be nice to you but you don't have to be nice to me,” I replied.

“I just complimented your dress!”

“So?”

“So that was nice.”

“No, that was inappropriate.”

“I can't separate the two.”

I gave him a knowing look. “Clearly.”

Jack gave an impatient sigh and said, “I'm helping you investigate your stalker. Isn't that enough?”

“You haven't even done anything yet!” I cried, half-laughing at how ridiculous the conversation was beginning to sound.

“Gia, I have nothing
to go off,” Jack said. “We have no phone number, no real name, no way of contacting this person. I'm doing the best I can!”

“Yeah well, do better,” I said, walking toward the loud music.

“Only the best for Harry Winters's little princess.”

I stopped walking, turning to face him with a wrinkled nose. It was only okay when I referred to myself as Princess Gia in my flashback story. Coming out of Jack's mouth, it sounded like a huge insult. I considered whacking him with my bag, but then eyed his deceptively toned muscles. They didn't look like Hulk Hogan, but I hit like a sissy. There was no way the bag was going to do enough damage. My stiletto might have, but I wasn't about to let my foot touch the pavement without a layer of protection.

Behind us, the drunken shouts of people singing along to a song I barely recognized grew louder.

“Look, here's the game plan!” I snapped impatiently. “We go in there, I find Meghan, confront her and make sure she keeps her paws off my man.”

“Please never repeat that last line.”

“I just know she's going to be prancing around Brendan all night in her hooker shoes.”

Jack looked like he was slowly losing the will to live. “Wait,” he said. “Your grand plan is to find Meghan and start a fight? How's that going to solve anything?”

“It's a working idea, okay?” I said, hands on my hips. “Just go with the flow. Oh, and if someone hands you a bag with white powder in it, it's probably not icing sugar.”

“Gia,” Jack said, giving me a knowing look. “I know how parties work, and I know what drugs are. I'm not actually from Guam. Which, by the way, happens to be part of America.”

“Seriously?” My eyes widened. “No kidding!”

Somehow Dad had forgotten to put that into his geographical fun facts.

“So can we go in now, or do you have any other freaky rules to go over?”

“No, I think that covers it.”

As Jack and I walked up Brendan's driveway, I did some major mental pep talking. I totally had the situation under control. I mean, my hair was perfect and my dress was beyond fabulous. Granted I couldn't really breathe all that well in it, but whatever. If you aren't in some kind of pain, your outfit isn't right.

We entered the house and were instantly greeted by a wave of minimally dressed, drunk people. The music was so deafeningly loud; my ears began ringing within seconds. It had been less than a minute and I had already inhaled enough secondhand fumes to last a lifetime. Jack leaned in and said something close to my ear, but I couldn't hear it over the sound of a group of giggling girls holding their heels in their hands.

“WHAT?”

“STAY CLOSE.”

He didn't have to ask me twice. I wasn't too keen on getting lost among a raging ocean of strangers, especially ones that couldn't even speak English, based on the two girls standing next to me. They kept yelling in what I could only assume was Swedish, and they didn't seem happy with each other. Jack and I weaved our way through the crowd, which seemed unusually packed given the time. It was just past nine o'clock and I was certain the police would show up within the next hour. I had been to a lot of parties in my time, but the turn out for this one was impressive. You'd have thought Dr. Dre and I really were collaborating on an album.

Unfortunately for me, from the minute we walked in, girls around the room had already spotted Jack as a possible target and were giving him hopeful smiles and waves. There was no way in hell I was letting Jack near the pool and the bikini-clad Barbie dolls surrounding it. Some perky brunette who I always saw around school, but never knew the name of, walked past us with a gentle “hi” to Jack, absolutely ignoring me in the process. She wasn't fooling anyone with the amount of makeup she was wearing; I still knew she didn't belong.

“Freshman?” I said, smiling at her innocently.

She looked at me nervously and said, “Um, yeah. Bu—”

“Get out!” I said, my smile unwavering.

Her eyes darted between mine and Jack's before nodding sharply, as she slipped back into the crowd without putting up a fight.

“Ouch,” Jack said beside me, and I glared at him.

“What?” I snapped.

“Nothing,” he replied, suppressing a smile.

Smart move on his part. It's not that Jack wasn't allowed to hit on other girls, or anything. I just didn't need anyone distracting my bodyguard just in case something were to happen to me. It was a matter of personal security and nothing else, okay? Pure and simple logic. Besides, freshmen weren't welcome at senior parties. I don't care what lame excuse she was going to conjure up to try to stay.

We made our way past the staircase and into the first living room on the right. There were plastic cups scattered across the floor and empty pizza boxes shoved into the corners of the room. I had no idea where the furniture had gone, but Brendan had clearly moved it so that he could accommodate the large amount of drunken teens gyrating against one another. A Nicki Minaj song was now blaring through the house, and the people surrounding us all had their hands up in the air, waving them around and fist pumping. The room was dark aside from disco lights that had been put up on all four corners of the room, and the glow-stick necklaces wrapped around a group of boys whose Ralph Lauren polo shirts were well on their way off their bodies. I scanned the room for Brendan and Meghan, coming up short. I had no clue where my friends were either, and calling them up would be useless over this music. Parties suck.

“GIA!”

I spun around and came face-to-face with Lincoln Foster, smiling back at me in the dim lighting. Lincoln was one of the nicest guys in the school and truthfully also one of the best looking. And if that wasn't good enough, Lincoln was an actor, trying to break into the business. He had been in a few movies, usually playing the role of someone's son or another's best friend. He wasn't an extra, but hardly a leading man. I had had a bit of a crush on him back in the day, but after we became good friends I ruled him out as an option. It was actually a surprise that he was at the party. Brendan didn't like him very much, on account of him being way more successful with his acting gigs. Clearly jealousy was a reoccurring pattern with my boyfriend.