Jake was working the cameras but I knew that if I didn’t make a statement now, the headlines would only get uglier. I envied his ease in front of all the people judging him, looking for weaknesses. He made it look easy while I was busy trying to remind myself to smile.
“Maddie, why did you do it?”
“Were you making a political statement?”
“Is it true that the police officers handcuffed you?”
I gritted my teeth in what I hoped looked friendly and didn’t look at Jake as I stepped forward. Getting revenge was at the top of my to-do list. Perfect Jake Simmon was going to pay for spilling my secrets to his sex-kitten.
“Hi, David.” I smiled at a couple of the reporters I knew. “How’s your son, Jan?”
“He’s good. Playing soccer. Can you believe it?” The woman pushed her glasses up a little and smiled.
“He’s what, two years old?” I pretended to be shocked. “Isn’t that a little young?”
“Six,” she snorted. “He still carries around the stuffed eagle you gave him though.”
“Geez, six? It’s been that long?” I shook my head.
“Goes fast.”
“All right, give me your question.” I let my shoulders slump in mock weariness. “I know that’s what you’re waiting on.”
“Did you really try to break into a pharmaceutical company to rescue dogs?” Jan asked with a small smile.
“Yes.” I stood up a little straighter so everyone would know I wasn’t playing. “Despite my good intentions, what I did was wrong. I’ve paid to fix any damages I’ve caused to Sabre Pharmaceuticals and am devoting all of my free time to volunteer work. After a lot of talks with my father and the people in charge at Sabre, I see how my efforts actually hurt my goals. So, in the future I will be pursuing legislation.”
“Have you proposed a bill?” One of the newer reporters leaned forward, pushing David to the side. He rolled his eyes and someone muttered about newbies.
“Not yet, but that is one of my goals. Sabre euthanized twenty-six dogs this week, fourteen cats, and dozens of rodents. Unfortunately, even If I’d been able to save those poor animals, most of them would not have been able to adjust to life outside of a cage.” I took a deep breath. There was no backing down now. “My goal is to stop animal testing before it even begins.”
“Do you have a sponsor yet?” David took his spot back.
“Not yet, but hopefully soon.” I held up my hands. “That’s all I’ve got for you guys today about that stuff. Right now I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and help build one of our American Heroes a new home.”
“But—” The new reporter tried to push her way back to the front and David moved so she couldn’t get by.
“Do you know who this home is going to?” David raised his voice. You didn’t get to be a senior reporter for an important paper if you didn’t know when to ask certain questions and when not to.
“Not yet, but we’re hoping to meet the family in a few weeks.” Jake moved so that he was standing next to me and I tried to not bristle. “In the meantime, we’re always happy to have more help. Anyone here know how to install sinks?”
There were some laughs and the group started to disperse.
“How about I trade you some plumbing skills for an exclusive?” David cocked his head to the side, eyes trained on Jake.
“I don’t know, David, are we going to have to hire someone to come back and redo everything you did?” Jake raised his eyebrows.
“Worked for a contractor when I was in college.” David shrugged. “I’m not certified, but I can do a lot of the grunt work.”
“E-mail the coordinator and we’ll work something out.” Jake reached out and shook the reporter’s hand.
“Well, I’d love to offer the same, but I’d likely break the whole house.” Mary laughed.
“There are a lot of other ways you could volunteer,” I offered.
“I’ll look into it. I don’t mind working for a good cause.” She motioned me a little closer. “Off the record, how are you?”
“I’m good. Embarrassed.” I trusted Mary, but I also knew I had to be careful what I said out in the open. “But okay.”
“If it’s any consolation, I think what you did was pretty brave. Stupid, but brave.” She patted my arm and I laughed.
“Definitely stupid,” I agreed.
“If you need help with the bill, let me know. I might be able to call in a few favors.”
“Are we bartering?” I frowned. Being friends with reporters was dangerous, but I’d always liked Mary. She’d been a new mom when we first met and I’d taken to her maternal glow.
“No, though I’d get fired if I turned down an interview.” She chuckled and her glasses slid down her nose a little. “In the fifteen years I’ve been at the Post, I’ve made a lot of connections, and honestly, I just hate the thought of those poor babies being mistreated. No animal should have to endure that.”
Her eyes got a little misty and I watched as her hand drifted down to her stomach.
“Mary Peterson, is there something you want to tell me?” I looked pointedly at where her hand rested.
“Oh, gosh. Well, yes, but it’s still really early.” She smiled.
“Congratulations!” I hugged her, but kept my voice down. “But now I feel like I’m taking advantage of your hormones.”
“Oh, take advantage of them.” She waved her hand in front of us. “Might as well be good for something!”
“Thanks, Mary.” I gave her another quick squeeze. “Please tell your family I said hi.”
“Take care of yourself, Maddie.”
“Yes ma’am.” I watched her head toward a photographer.
“Well, that didn’t go too bad.” Jake’s warm voice slid over my skin and I almost jumped.
“Jesus, Jake. Don’t sneak up on people.” I took a deep breath. My heart was beating out of my chest and I was pretty sure it didn’t have anything to do with being angry at him. But I was pissed, I reminded myself. Really, pissed. I just wasn’t blind.
“I didn’t sneak up on you.” He crossed his arms, his eyes glinting with humor. “I’ve been standing here the whole time.”
“Oh, great. Looking for more secrets to spill?” It took every ounce of self-control to keep from poking him in the chest. I focused on the earplugs that were dangling from a string around his neck.
“What?”
“Don’t play innocent, Jake. In fact, just don’t talk to me. Acting like we’re friends is a waste of time. Especially if you’re just going to run over and tell your new girl all my secrets.” I leaned toward him, barely able to keep from launching into a tirade where everyone could hear us. “‘No one else can really relate to our lives. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.’ Blah, blah, I’m a big asshole, blah, blah, blah.”
“You think I told the reporters about your run-in with the cops?” Anger simmered just under the surface of his polite mask.
“Let’s see. You go home with Bimbo Reporter Number One and the next day she releases all the juicy bits of my stupidity for the world to read. So, yeah. I think you were so gung ho to hop in her pants, you gave her just what she was looking for.” I started walking away but he kept pace with me.
“You’re right. I gave her exactly what she wanted.” Cold fury laced his words and my stomach took a nasty nose dive. “Funnily enough, you never came up in the conversation.”
My cheeks flamed and I tried to stomp down on the cold pit forming in my stomach. “Whatever, Jake. Go tell it to your reporter. She’s going to be jealous when she finds out you promised David an exclusive.”
“You’re the only one that sounds jealous.”
I froze midstep before turning to face him. He’d just used the words I’d thrown at him all those years ago. “You’re so arrogant! I point out the obvious and your only defense is that I’m jealous? Of what? You? Get a grip, Jake. If I want to screw someone, you’d be the last person on my list. No, you wouldn’t even
make the list.”
“You say that, but I remember how you used to look at me.” He crossed his arms and my mouth fell open. “You said we never talked, but I remember you would just clam up around me, and stare with those big eyes.”
“Wow. Afghanistan really turned you into an asshole.” I noticed Tony standing off to the side and waved him away. “No matter what I may or may not have thought of you years ago it has no bearing on the present. You’re just another man whore. You threw me under the bus to get a piece of ass.”
“It keeps coming back to me sleeping with Ronnie, but the fact is, I didn’t tell her about your little drunken felony. In fact, we were too busy to discuss much of anything.” He rocked back a little and I almost—almost—put out a hand to steady him, but I caught myself. It would serve him right to fall on his ass. Stupid, arrogant asshole.
“Who else would have told her? Veronica Whitmire, the worst reporter in D.C.?” I crossed my arms. Body language be damned. Let anyone watching us think what they wanted. There was no reason we needed to pretend we liked each other. “You handed her a golden ticket. She’s gone from bottom of the totem pole to countless stories.”
“I’m sure I’m not the first person to be interested in what she was offering.” His jaw tightened and he leaned down toward me.
“Oh, you’re right. Absolutely spot on. She’s offered it all to most of my exes too. That’s her thing, Jake. She’s nothing but a glorified call girl. Only you leave secrets on the nightstand the next morning instead of cash.” I leaned forward too and lowered my voice. “At least none of them gave her any dirt on me. They just had a good time and moved on.”
“Shit.” He rubbed a hand along his jaw and stared up at the sky for a second. “I didn’t know about your exes.”
“Whatever, Jake.” I started to walk away but his fingers curled around my shoulder. “My exes don’t matter. You throwing me to the wolves is what matters.”
“I didn’t tell Ronnie anything about you and the police.”
“Save it.” I shook my head.
“Look, I’m being serious. I was just looking to blow off a little steam. That’s it.” He frowned. “There wasn’t much talking. She must have known about everything before we hooked up.”
“Sure.” The way he talked about screwing Ronnie so casually made my stomach sick.
“I’m serious, Maddie. I wouldn’t have done that to you. I meant what I said last night. Most people can’t relate to our lives. I wouldn’t stab you in the back.” He ran a hand through his hair. “In fact, when I heard about it on the news I came early to try and deflect some of the reporters.”
I blinked. He had tried to save me? If it hadn’t been Jake, who else would have known? And out of all the reporters, why would they have given that story to Ronnie?
“You’ve ratted me out before, Jake,” I reminded him.
“I didn’t rat you out, Maddie.” He groaned. “That was years ago, you know. And I was trying to protect you from that little prick and his father.”
“And score points with your mom? All I heard about for months was how perfect you were and how stupid I was.” My fingers clenched. “All I’d wanted was to be a girl for a little while, Jake, not the President’s daughter. Like you said, blow off a little steam.”
“He was just using you,” Jake explained. His eyes darkened and in the back of my mind I wondered just how deep his hero complex went. He was still upset about that?
“I’m not stupid, Jake. I knew he was using me. I wanted to be used.” I glared at the man in front of me and threw my hands in the air. “I was tired of being invisible. For just a little bit I wanted something that was about me.”
“You aren’t invisible.” His eyebrows drew together. “And you deserved better than that jerk.”
“It’s over. I wouldn’t have even brought it up if you hadn’t done it again.” I was regretting this whole conversation more than the actual arrest. I never should have told him why I’d agreed to go off with the senator’s son.
“I didn’t tell anyone about the arrest. This is different. And no matter what you think, I didn’t profit from telling your dad about that night and I didn’t need to share your secret to get in Veronica’s pants.”
“Ugh. Arrogant ass.” I muttered a bunch of nonsense under my breath, mainly curse words I didn’t want the media to lip read on the news.
“I might be arrogant, but you know I’m honest. I never lied about who told all those years ago and I wouldn’t lie now.” He stood up a little straighter. “Give me some credit, Maddie.”
I frowned and watched him with narrowed eyes. He was right in more ways than one. He had never hid the fact that he’d told about my late-night rendezvous and he didn’t need my dirt to sleep with the bimbo reporter. Not a woman in the world would turn Jake down. They’d have to be stupid.
Though I was starting to wonder how stupid Jake actually was if he slept with Ronnie.
“I hope you wrapped your cucumber,” I blurted out.
“What?” His eyes were so wide I thought they might pop out of his head.
“Before you went dipping in her salad dressing. There’s no telling what kind of fungus you might have caught.” Heat rushed up to my cheeks.
His laugh was so loud and infectious I was shocked it came from him. “Don’t worry. I took my own Saran wrap.”
“Good plan.” I tried to keep from being disgusted by the fact that he had actually fucked Ronnie and tried to remind myself that he’d been gone for the last six years and hadn’t had to deal with her.
“Look, we’re going to be working together a lot. It’d be nice if we could get along.” He leaned his head down to look in my eyes. His warm brown eyes pleaded with mine. “You make me laugh, Maddie, and that’s something I’ve come to appreciate over the last few years. Friends?”
“No.” I shook my head. Could I trust him? Had he really shown up early to try and cover for me? “I don’t think so.”
“I thought we were on our way to being friends last night.” He must’ve sensed that I was caving because his smile grew. “You saved me from my mom, I came out here to save you from the press. That’s what friends do, right?”
“Jake—no.” I shook my head. He’d sold me out. I couldn’t really think Veronica had just happened to get that story from someone else, could I?
“C’mon, MadLibs.” A hint of his boyish charm peeked out at me and I rolled my eyes.
He screwed Ronnie, accused me of being jealous, and now wanted to be friends. Why was I even tempted?
“You’re on probation.” The words fell out of my mouth before I could rethink them.
“Probation? I can work with that.” He nodded his head, a sly smile creeping onto his face.
“And I wasn’t jealous.” I poked him in the shoulder.
“C’mon, you were a little jealous.” He stood up straight and his dimple flashed.
“Not even a little.” I said it a little too firmly and his grin grew. “And if I find out you were the one that spilled to Veronica, I’ll make your life a living hell.”
Chapter 6
Maddie
The phone rang and rang. I had to fight the urge to curse out loud. There were a ton of people still moving around the worksite and I didn’t want to cause a scene. I’d gotten a voice mail from one of the private shelters I volunteered at during the semester. They were short on help and someone had vandalized a storage shed.
“Jonah,” I said when the phone beeped for my message. “The shelter needs more hands. Give me a call.”
Jonah was one of the few friends I’d made at school other than Phoebe. He was quiet and reserved but great with animals. I hoped he’d help.
I tucked my phone into my back pocket and stared off into the distance. We were wrapping up here for the day, so I might be able to go over to the shelter and get a couple of hours of work in before I collapsed. Those animals would need their kennels mucked and medicine dispensed. Flora, the owner, had her hands fu
ll or she never would have called me.
I looked down at my hands and grimaced at the blister on my thumb. I’d need to get a Band-Aid on that or it’d get infected.
“Everything okay?” Jake grabbed a paper cup from the top of the water cooler next to me and poured himself a drink. I watched as he threw his head back and swallowed the contents of his cup. His dirty shirt stretched across his sweaty chest and I found my eyes tracing the hard lines.
“Uh, yeah. I just need to go help a friend.” I tore my eyes away from him and looked down at the dirt as if mesmerized by the brown stuff I was kicking with the toe of my work boot. “One of the shelters had an unfriendly visitor last night.”
“What happened?” Jake sat down on the bench and threw his arm over the water cooler.
“I need to help out a friend.”
“Hold on.” He lifted his sound-cancelling earphones and pulled out the earplugs he was also wearing. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
“Jerks ripped off the doors and stole some of the containers. It rained last night and a lot of the supplies were ruined. They need some people who know how to handle the animals to do those chores while the others take care of the damage.” He handed me a cup of water and I took it. “I figure I’ll run over there and help divvy out the medicine and pick up some of the slack.”
“You don’t hesitate to put in long hours, do you?” Jake shook his head.
“I can’t just tell them no.” I looked over at him. “They need help.”
A loud bang filled the area and Jake jerked, wincing as he ducked his head. I stayed very still, filing the incident away in my brain. I wasn’t sure why, but the look on his face made me wince. It was several seconds before he seemed in control of himself and looked back my way.
“You’re starting to sound like me.” His laugh was weak, but I ignored it.
“That’s a scary thought.” I frowned.
“My point is, you could tell them no, but you aren’t.” He stretched his legs and groaned, rubbing where his prosthetic attached to his leg. “When do we go?”
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