To Love Jason Thorn (6 page)

Jason winked at me.

My heart fluttered.

Then his hands finally left my face alone,
only to grab my hand and turn back to Tom.

“You can handle this?”

“Of course, but I think you should stay.
We’ll keep it short,” Tom responded.

What?

“You can take care of everything.”

“Jason, wait a minute.”

Yes, Jason! Wait a minute!

His gaze landed on Bobby. “I’m in. You can
go over everything with Tom.”

He was in? In what? IN WHAT? Certainly not
my book?

“Are you done with your meeting with
Olive?” he asked Keith next.

Hello, people! Am I not still standing
here?

Keith’s gaze found my startled one before
he answered Jason’s question. “I’ll send you the contract and personally call
you to schedule a lunch date. We’ll go over the optioning agreement with you
and make the necessary changes then.”

I was starting to feel dizzy. Had I said
okay to their proposal already?

Absentmindedly, I nodded.

“Call me when the meeting is done, Tom,”
Jason said as he pulled me behind him.

“I can’t believe this,” he muttered as soon
as we were out the door and in the maze again.

Other than being shocked into silence, I
just hoped he had been in the building enough times to know how to get out of
the damn thing.

One hand engulfed in Jason’s, the other flailing
behind me with my handbag, I tried to keep up with his big strides.

Is this really happening?

Just when I saw the light and thought we
were finally out, I was pulled into an empty office and those dark chocolate
eyes of his focused completely on me.

“Olive, you are beautiful,” he said after
we took in each other in the thick silence. “You’ve grown up so much.”

Fuck.

“I did do that. You look very good, Jason.
It’s nice to see you.”

Was that my voice that was trembling? He
was still my first crush and my first heartbreak, but he was also Jason Thorn.
The
Jason Thorn who was only twenty-six and had two Oscar nominations under his
belt, but I wasn’t going to think about what was under his belt because that
would be bad. Really bad. He was one of the most versatile leading actor in the
industry. Did I mention he was the best? He was more than just an actor. He was
a star—a troubled one, I should say, but still a big, shiny star. Any other
woman would be jumping on him if they ever found themselves locked in a room
with him, which I believed they usually did.

I, however, was slowly stepping back toward
freedom.

“That’s it? That’s all you’re gonna say to
me?”

The last day I’d smiled up at him, he had
managed to stomp on my heart with a simple text message, not even knowing he
was stomping on it. The last time he had tugged my hair as a goodbye had been
the last time I’d ever heard from him.

Sure, he had texted and called Dylan for
the following few weeks, but after that I don’t think even Dylan heard from him
again. One year later, we had watched his first movie as a family in the same
living room where he had spent countless hours with us.

“I’m too shocked, I don’t know what to say
really,” I blurted before I could say something stupid.

“I am too, but, god, look at you, little
one.” Another slow perusal of my body. “I didn’t even recognize you when I
first walked into the room. What are the odds?”

“Right?” I chuckled nervously. “What are
the damn odds…”

“You have to tell me everything.”

“Everything? What do you mean?”

“Dylan? Is he here in LA. too? How about
your mom and dad? Is everyone okay?”

“Yes. They are all fine. Mom and Dad still
live in San Francisco. Same house, actually. Dylan is in D.C. He is a teacher,
and married to the sweetest girl. Can you believe that?”

I kept walking backwards.

Small steps, Olive. You’re so close to
freedom.

“Actually, I can.” His smile got even
bigger as he sat on the edge of the office desk. “He wanted to be a teacher
ever since middle school or something like that, and family was always
important to him. No wonder he couldn’t wait to start his own.”

 Finally reaching the door, I rested my
back against it and waited for the perfect moment to escape.

“God, Olive, you can’t even imagine how much
I missed you guys.”

“When you stopped calling, they missed you
too.”

He arched an eyebrow. “So, you didn’t miss
me?”

You hurt me, you big, sexy meanie
, I wanted to say.

“Um, sure. Of course.”

His dimple disappeared and he straightened.
When he started walking toward me, I had nowhere to run.

“What’s wrong with you, little Olive?”
Reaching out, he tugged a strand of my hair, a gesture so old that it tugged at
something in my heart. “I’m not your friend any more?”

He had remembered. The hair-tugging thing he
had started doing every single time he saw me was like a warm ‘hello’ from him.
I used to love it, thinking he couldn’t keep his hands off of me. I had been in
love with him. You could call it a crush, but for me, it was pure love. He’d
been my one and only wish on every single one of my birthdays.

“I would’ve thought you’d be happy to see
me, too, Olive. If not happy, hell, maybe a little excited. My ego is taking a
real beating.”

“Sorry,” I said, wincing a little. “It’s
been a…a weird day, to say the least.”

“Still not admitting that she missed me,”
he muttered almost to himself. His eyes seemed to be taking in every inch of my
face, yet I chose to focus on a spot over his shoulder. His face wasn’t strange
to me, as mine was to him. And I remembered that tender look all too well.
Hell, it was just one of the things that made me swoon for him.

“You’re a writer,” he commented, as if the
thought had just occurred to him.

“Looks like it.”

He hit me with that dimple again. “Tonight
I’ll be reading your words.”

Panicking, I said, “Oh, you really don’t
have to. It’s not even that good. It’s my first book and these people are plain
crazy.” His smile got bigger and bigger. “I might even be getting punked right
now. I’m being serious, you wouldn’t even like it, Jason. And what kind of a movie
star are you that you have enough time to read a book?”

There was sex in that book! Pounding.
Fucking. Sucking. Orgasming.

Oh, dear god. There were words like
cock
and
pussy!

He chuckled. “Now you’ve intrigued me even
more. I’ll have to read it as soon as I get home. Plus”—he lifted a finger when
I opened my mouth to object again—“I just said I’m in to the studio execs who
are interested in turning your book into a feature film. I think I should know
what I’m signing up for, don’t you think?”

“Why did you even say that if you have no
idea what it’s about?”

“My agent dragged me here, saying it was a
good choice for me. I’m guessing he knows about your book and I trust him.”

“Fine. You go do that. I have to go.”
Taking a step to my right, I opened the door. “It was so good to see you. Goodbye
now.”

His eyes lit up. “There’s the little Olive
I know.”

Before I could pull my hand away, he
grabbed it as if he was getting ready to walk a kid across the road.

Why did my heart flutter so much every time
he touched me even though it was obvious that he still saw me as his best
friend’s little sister, the kiddo?

“What are you doing?” I asked as I was
being pulled toward freedom.

“I’ll drop you off wherever you want to
go.”

“You don’t even know where I live. What if
it’s an hour away? I’m seriously starting to doubt your movie star status.”

Again, that chuckle. “It’ll be fun. I
promise to entertain you the entire hour, little one.”

“It’s not an hour. Seriously, I can get
there in like no time.”

“Then you won’t suffer too much in my
presence.”

“Were you always this stubborn when you
were little?” I asked, starting to get a little annoyed about being pulled
around like a doll.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said softly, looking
over his shoulder, the annoying dimple winking at me. “You were always the
little one, not me.”

After pushing a reluctant Olive into my
car, I rounded it and got in as she was mumbling something about killing
someone.

Amused, I asked, “Are we going on a killing
spree?”

I still couldn’t believe my eyes, that she
was actually there.

Frowning, she looked at me, her hand
jerkily pulling on the seatbelt. “What?”

“Easy there killer.” I smiled and leaned
over her to take care of her little dilemma.

My nose was almost touching her cheek.
Mmm.
She smelled like apples, fresh and sweet.

I felt her stiffen.

My little Olive.

Securing her, I leaned back and my eyes
zeroed in on her parted lips. “There you go.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled, looking anywhere
but me. I looked away, too.

“So, you were muttering about killing
someone?”

“Lucy. My friend.”

“What did she do to deserve such a gruesome
death?”

Starting the car, I discreetly glanced at
her.

The little girl who had always given me the
biggest smiles was long gone. While it looked like she hadn’t changed at all, I
knew everything had changed. It looked like I wasn’t the receiver of any smiles
any more.

“I can’t be that bad of company, can I?” I
asked before she could reply about her friend.

She gave me a small smile. Not one of her
beautiful ones that used to light up her eyes and flush her cheeks, but still a
sincere one nonetheless.

“No, you are not that bad. You can drop me
off at USC, I’ll find my friends.”

“You go there?”

“Yes.”

“Come on, Olive. Don’t be like that. Tell me
more about what you’ve been up to. I still can’t believe we found each other
here out of all the other places in LA.”

“A coffee shop or something like that
would’ve been more like it, wouldn’it?”

“Exactly. A studio exec’s office? No way in
hell.”

She chuckled. “It is a little weird, isn’t
it?”

“Weird? I don’t know, probably. You never
were an ordinary girl, though.”

Stopping at the red light, I faced her. She
was looking out the window, her hands resting on her lap in tight little fists.
I tugged at a strand of her strawberry blonde hair—which looked much lighter
than it had years before—and she looked at me. I smiled and said, “Hi.”

She bit on her lower lip and smiled back shyly.
“Hi back.”

“I missed you, little one. I didn’t even
know how much until I saw you.” Her smile faltered a bit, but she managed to
turn it into a lopsided smile, which looked strangely attractive on her.

The light turned green and I had to give my
attention to the road, special cargo and all that. Several minutes passed by with
neither one of us saying anything, then we both spoke at the same time.

“Did you—”

“Can I—”

I chuckled. “You go first.”

“I just wanted to ask why you stopped
calling Dylan. For a while there, he used to get touchy if someone mentioned
you. I think he didn’t want to show how upset he was. I know it’s none of my
business and you certainly don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I’ve
always wondered.”

When the car in front of me stopped due to
traffic, I changed lanes and slowed down. Rubbing the back of my neck, I let
out a deep breath.

“You don’t have to answer,” she repeated
before I could form an answer in my mind. I didn’t have a good enough reason to
give to her.

“No, it’s okay, little one. I know it was a
shitty thing to do after everything your family had done for me. To be honest,
the first few weeks were really hard. Maybe you remember,” I said, glancing at
her. “My father and I were never close, and my mother’s death didn’t change
anything on that front. The day I left you guys, he didn’t even speak one word
to me the entire ride here. When we finally made it, he showed me to an empty
room in a big house and went back to his clients. Just like that. I barely saw
him, and he certainly didn’t care what I was doing. Unfortunately, it only got
worse after that. I didn’t want to be that kid who only called to complain.
And, don’t tell your mom, but I think if I had talked to Emily about how I was
doing, I would’ve broken down and cried like a baby when I heard her call me
sweetheart in that tone of hers. Lying to Dylan was surprisingly easier.” When
she didn’t say anything, I continued. “And in time, with school and then the
movie stuff…”

It sounded lame even to my own ears.

“I’m sorry you had a rough time when you
first got here, but you must be so happy now. I’m glad things turned out for
the better. When we watched your first movie, I think I saw Mom wipe away tears
more than a few times.”

“She cried for an action movie?”

“You were shot, and well, I think she cried
because she was proud of you.”

An arrow straight to my chest. When my
mother had passed out from her daily drinking, consequently locking me out for
the night, Emily had taken me in. After that night, I’d stayed at their house
more than I had at my own. She’d been a better mom to me than my own could ever
be. Dylan was my brother and Olive…well, Olive had been my friend, too. They
were the only family I’d known. It was as simple as that.

“You really didn’t miss me?” I asked,
trying to diffuse the heavy quiet in the car. “Didn’t wait by the phone for my
call? Come on, don’t be shy. You can tell me.” I watched her out of the corner
of my eye.

She laughed. It was beautiful to watch.

“I definitely didn’t wait by the phone.”

“But you admit to missing me, don’t you?”

“Maybe,” she said so quietly that I wasn’t
even sure if I’d heard her right.

When her phone rang, she gave me an
apologetic look and answered it.

“Where are
you?
No. Okay. Yes, the
meeting is over, I’m on my way back. Ok, I’ll be home soon. No! No, wait
inside. Lucy, I swear to god, if I find you outside—Hello? Lucy? Damn you!”

“Something wrong?” I asked, amused.

“No, it’s okay. Well, good news for you,
you don’t have to drive me all the way to USC. We’re closer to the house.”

“Lucy is your roommate?”

“One of them.”

“How many roommates do you have?”

“With Lucy, three.”

“Is it hard?”

“Not really. I mean, we’re all friends, so
I guess it’s easier than it would be if they were complete strangers.”

After she gave me the address, we were
quiet for the rest of the ride. Fuck, but I couldn’t stop glancing at her. She
had the same little nose, that same spark in her eyes, yet she was so different
than when I had last seen her. The worst part? She had boobs—boobs big enough
that they’d cushioned my arm when I had accidentally encountered them as I
secured her in.

Fuck me, but my little Olive—the same
little girl I had protected from shitty bullies—was not so little any more.

“Is this the right street?” I asked when I
took a right turn.

“Yes. You can stop here. I took enough of
your time already.”

“Don’t be like that. Tell me which building
it is.”

“Maybe I don’t want you to know where I
live.”

I gave her an exasperated look, and she
gave me an annoyed one, which only made me laugh.

She huffed and pointed to an old building.
“Do you see those three people waiting there?”

“That old building?”

“Yeah that one.”

Coming to a stop in front of the building
she had pointed out, I turned off the engine.

“Is this place safe?” I asked, leaning
toward her to glance at the building through her window.

“Safe enough.” With a quickness I wasn’t
expecting, she opened the door and got out. Leaning down to look at me through
the open door, she said, “Thank you for dropping me off, Jason. It was really
nice to see you again. I’m glad we did this. Don’t read the book because it kinda
sucks if you ask me. Have a nice life. Bye.”

She shut the door on my smiling face.
Ah.
She was acting as if she could get away that easily now that I’d found her.

Chuckling to myself, I reached for my Ray-Bans
and stepped out of the car. Following her, I watched a girl separate from the
other two and run straight into Olive’s arms, all screaming and jumping.

The other girl had an equally big smile on
her face when she finally reached the jumping duo. The guy? He didn’t look that
happy at all.

“Start from the beginning, you have to tell
us everything. Do they want the movie rights? Did you say yes? How much did
they offer? Who will play Isaac?” I heard her friend ask rapidly. I couldn’t
hear Olive’s answers, but I was aware that she was trying to herd them back
toward the building.

And she hadn’t noticed me—yet.

“Olive,” I said next to her ear when her
friend focused on the other two and was looking over her shoulder.

“Jesus!” she screamed turning around.