Falling Star

by Olivia Brynn

  "You, sir, are a distraction, and I can't be late for work."

  "I'm just helping so you'll be ready faster."

  "Then keep your tongue in your mouth."

  Not hardly. She did make it to work on time, but only because Adam drove like Mario Andretti. "And now I'll have to pick you up tonight." He kissed her cheek. "I love you, Jade."

  Two days after their dinner at Pianissimo, Jade's picture made the front page of four tabloids. She knew only because Ella and Dean informed her. She still refused to read the articles, so she relied on Dean to filter the information for her.

  "They're making you out to be some kind of Cinderella. A poor little working girl who struck oil. They didn't even spell Earth Scents right, they spelled it with a C." Dean shook his head.

  Jade floated through the weeks that followed. When she wasn't with Adam, she was thinking about him. Earth Scents was busier than ever, but Jade knew it was her recent notoriety drawing the curious crowds to her shop. As long as they kept buying things, she wasn't going to complain. There were days when Dean and Ella had to run the front while she arranged in the back, just to keep the crowds calm. They were able to bump Ella to full-time, and had even interviewed a few applicants for a part-time position. Adam teased her that with the extra help she could take another weekend off soon.

  Jade spent a lot of time at Adam's house, much to the pleasure of Elaine. The only thing Jade had to watch for was Elaine's tendency to push for an engagement party in the fall.

  Thinking about the night they both swapped doctor's notes, now weeks later, Jade still blushed. She loved the power she felt when she pleased him with her mouth, and for the first time in her life she'd given him a blow job that made him writhe on the bed, and she ignored his warnings to stop. She didn't let up until he came in her mouth. As she drank down Adam's seed, her own sex throbbed with desire. He flipped her onto her back and immediately fastened his mouth on her pulsating core. Two splintering orgasms later, Adam slid his hard cock deep inside her for a third. When they kissed, her taste mingled with his in their mouths. Jade didn't think she'd ever experienced anything anywhere near as sexy.

  When Adam went to New York for ten days, Jade moped around the house. Even Marco made fun of her melancholy mood. She gave Dean another weekend off, partly to keep herself busy, but also in the hopes that when Adam returned, she could give him a very lengthy welcome home. She told him her plans over the phone when he returned to his hotel room after dinner with "an old friend's father" one night, and he immediately booked a suite at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

  "I'll call Carley and tell her to charter the jet. Pack light."

  "Skip the pajamas?"

  "Definitely."

  * * * *

  Days later, Jade hurried through a shower. She, Dean and Marco had rented a movie, and she could already smell the popcorn. She towel-dried her hair and threw on a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top since it was such a warm evening. She shook out her curls, and took her pillow with her to the living room. The boys better not have started the movie without her.

  "Jesus, she can't see this."

  "You can't hide it from her." Marco leaned over Dean's shoulder to read whatever was on the computer screen.

  She walked into the room and stood behind Dean.

  "I can't hide it, but I'm not going to be the one—"

  Jade had heard enough. "What are you doing?"

  Dean shot to his feet and faced her. "Jade! Nothing. Just some…nothing you want to see." Dean reached back and snapped his laptop closed.

  That scared her. "What is it? Nothing's happened to Adam, has it?" She mentally went over his travel itinerary. He wouldn't be in an airplane until Friday morning, but it could always be a car accident…or a crazed fan.

  "He's not hurt."

  "Then what is it?"

  Dean's lips tightened, and he looked to Marco for help. "It's something you need to hear from Adam. Not on the news."

  "Dean…you are going to show me what the hell you're talking about, and you'll do it right now."

  "Huh uh. You'll freak out."

  "I'm freaking out right now!" She hugged her pillow against her chest, and looked from Dean to Marco, who had backed away, and kept his mouth shut. "Tell me Dean."

  "No. Adam will be home in three days. You can freak out on him."

  Jade recognized the stubborn tilt to Dean's jaw. He wasn't going to give in. With one more glance at Marco, she spun on her heel and locked herself in her room, ignoring Dean when he yelled out her name. The first thing she did was power up her laptop. Whatever Dean looked at involved Adam, and therefore involved her.

  For the first time since she started seeing Adam, she typed his name into her search engine.

  The first result was his website. She'd look at that later. Music videos after that, and then…oh God.

  Adam Nash Dumps Florist for Nicole…Love Blossoms Without Florist…Playboy Nash at It Again…Nash Sobers Up for a Second Chance with Reece.

  She clicked on one. Pictures of Adam and Nicole Reece in an embrace outside of a downtown New York restaurant.

  Adam Nash has apparently grown tired of his florist girlfriend after only one month, though still a Nash record. While in New York last night, the country music star was seen having a private meal with actress Nicole Reece at Georgio's, a five-star restaurant in The Village. It wasn't long after the meal when they left together, and showed the world that the two were again the hottest couple in entertainment. According to one Georgio's customer, Nash and Reece rarely looked away from each another, and Nash couldn't keep his hands off the British actress. The only surprise here, folks, is that it took him so long to prune his dying foliage to return to the rose.

  Jade ignored the slight, and stared at the picture, looking for something to prove it a fake. She could only see his left side, his right hand wrapped around Nicole's waist, his left buried in the blond curls falling down her neck. It was him, and it was a recent picture.

  "No," she groaned.

  The next article was similar. This one sported a close-up of Adam's smiling face whispering into Nicole's ear. Her eyes were closed, and her face beamed.

  Jade wiped tears away before they could fall on the keyboard and short out her laptop.

  Article after article. Even blog posts from people calling themselves "Industry Insiders". All saying the same thing. Adam spent the evening in Nicole Reece's company, and they left the restaurant in her limousine, presumably to spend the rest of the night in her hotel suite. Like some deranged fan, Jade clicked on every article and memorized each picture until her stomach rolled. One article she read bothered her the most. Not due to the article itself, but the picture attached to this one was an extreme close-up of Adam kissing Nicole passionately. Their faces filled the frame, so close Jade could see the calluses on Adam's thumb where it lay against Nicole Reece's diamond-studded ear. The camera even caught how her perfect pink tongue was tangled with his inside her perfectly made-up mouth.

  Her skin crawled. Her worst fears were coming to fruition; Adam had grown tired of her. He went back to his playboy lifestyle. Back to the beautiful celebrity women he was comfortable with.

  More articles detailed his earlier drunken antics, pictures of him with bloodshot eyes and intoxicated expressions. She didn't even have the stomach for that kind of research. She closed her laptop, and concentrated on the piercing pain of heartbreak until she felt each tearing muscle. When she was sufficiently numb, she shivered, and although the house felt too hot earlier that evening, Jade found her most comfortable pair of flannel pants and her pink fleece bathrobe. Before another bout of tears could erupt, Jade left her bedroom in search of her best friend.

  She found him in the kitchen. Dean sat at the table staring into a mug of coffee, while Marco stood behind him, rubbing his lover's shoulders. As soon as Dean saw her, he stood and enfolded her in his arms.

  "You looked, didn't you."

  She nodded into his shoulder, and clung to
him as if her life depended on it. Her tears began anew, and this time she couldn't hold back.

  "Damn it Jade."

  "I love…I loved him."

  He sighed. "I know."

  "I can't believe it. God Dean, it hurts so bad. I knew it would hurt, but…" She sniffed.

  Dean bent down and scooped her into his arms. He carried her to the couch and held her like she was a lost child. She vaguely heard Marco bid them goodnight after a gentle hand on her shoulder, and a kiss for Dean.

  Her phone rang from the other room, and she could tell from the personalized ring tone that it was Adam.

  "You should talk to him," Dean said against her hair.

  "No. I can't. I don't want him to know I'm crying over him."

  "There might be an explanation."

  Leave it to Dean to play devil's advocate. "The pictures I saw were pretty self-explanatory. His tongue was in her mouth."

  "Shit." He groaned, and held her even tighter when her phone rang again. "I knew this would happen. Knowing the way he was with women…I never should have let you get on that boat."

  After three ignored calls, Dean's phone rang. Before she could stop him, he pulled it from his pocket and answered it.

  "Hello?"

  Even though this man hurt her, Jade still found herself straining to hear his voice, and wishing she had the nerve to talk to him.

  "Oh, yeah I can see how you'd worry, but she's fine. She's here…no, she…can't talk right now. She's lying down." Another pause. "She's not really sick, she's…uh…I'll tell her you called, but why don't you send her a text or something. She'll see it when she gets up I'm sure."

  Would Adam recognize the tightness in Dean's voice, or was it only obvious to her? By the time Dean snapped his phone shut, Jade was crying again.

  She couldn't focus on anything but her own pain, and the strong arms where she spent the night withering away.

  * * * *

  No amount of makeup could hide her red-rimmed eyes on Friday morning when she and Dean pushed their way through the photographers crowded around the door of Earth Scents. She ignored them like she had since the story broke, but today she couldn't even seem to fake a smile. She hid behind her dark glasses until she was deep in the recesses of the back room while Dean called the police to have the entrance to their business cleared of the paparazzi.

  They were worse today, it was as if they knew Adam Nash was flying home today. At eleven fifteen. Flight eleven-twenty from JFK, not that she cared. Maybe they did know. Nothing was sacred to these people.

  She'd stopped carrying her phone, tired of the text messages asking what was wrong--as if he didn't know--and tired of the calls she refused to take. Even the incoming calls at Earth Scents she'd delegated to either Ella or the new girl, Cassie. Since business had picked up, Jade never had to work alone, but now that she was no longer dating Adam Nash, her customers might disappear just as quickly as Adam had.

  In the wee hours of this morning, as she again lay sleepless, she'd decided that it was good while it lasted. She'd fallen in love with a man who satisfied her every desire, both in her bed and in her mind. It was an experience she'd never forget, and although she regretted giving her heart to him, she was a better and wiser person for it.

  That strength didn't last long, because this morning she again found herself staring blankly at the orders for the day.

  Soon she wasn't allowed the luxury of self-pity; Earth Scents was too busy. Any time a customer asked her about Adam, she hid in the back room like a coward.

  "I ordered lunch," Dean announced, breaking her out of another daydream. She looked at the clock, surprised to find it was almost noon.

  "Thanks. I lost track of time." Adam would be home by now. Maybe he brought Nicole with him. Maybe they were in his bed right now. Or maybe he didn't even come back. He could have decided to spend some more time in New York with her. Or London. Not that she cared.

  Damn.

  Marco followed Dean into the back room, carrying two brown bags. Dressed in his bike helmet and deli uniform. Jade shook her head, Dean ordered lunch just so he could get his hands on his boyfriend.

  "I'm starving." She dug through the bags and found a turkey sandwich. While Dean and Marco greeted each other with a long sexy kiss.

  "Break it up boys. No loving in front of the heartbroken girl."

  "I offered to kiss you, you turned me down," Dean teased.

  "I've seen you kiss—like a man who is used to kissing men. You'd leave scars. Besides, it would be like kissing my sister."

  "You don't have a sister," Marco pointed out in that musical Italian accent.

  She popped open a can of soda. "None of my brothers kiss men, so that's as close as I get."

  Dean had just unwrapped his sandwich when Cassie squealed from the sales floor. A noisy murmur of voices, Ella's announcement of, "Hey, you can't go back there," and the hallway lit up like lightning flashes.

  Jade stood, toppling the folding chair as she did. There was no doubt in her mind what caused the disturbance. Adam was here, and he'd brought the media with him.

  "No." She shook her head and backed against the stainless sink. "I can't Dean. I…I can't."

  Dean and Marco were halfway to the door when Adam stepped in. Tyrell was behind him, pushing the camera-snapping vultures back into the store.

  Jade drank in the vision of him. He was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Even better looking now than the day he'd bought Carley flowers. She saw past his un-tucked wrinkled blue shirt, stubbly chin, and the dark circles under his eyes, and saw the man she'd come to love.

  Used to love.

  His gaze found hers and held on. "Jade." He took a step toward her, and she arched her back over the sink.

  "Dean," she whimpered.

  Dean stepped into Adam's path. "Don't do this now, Nash."

  Adam didn't break his stare to look at Dean, he held her prisoner of his gaze, and if she didn't know better, she'd think he was as hungry for the sight of her as she was for him.

  His hands clenched and flexed. "I have to Dean. I love this woman, and I'm not going to let the goddamned media ruin the best thing that's ever happened to me."

  Jade had never seen this emotion behind his eyes. He looked desperate, frantic, maybe even a little angry. He moved around Dean, and was blocked by Marco. Finally he tore his eyes away from her, and faced the men.

  "Look, guys…I appreciate what you're doing. I'm glad Jade has someone watching out for her when I'm not around. But I'm back." He ran a hand through his hair, and faced Jade again. "I know she's hurting. Give me the chance to make it better."

  "Jade?" Dean hadn't stepped away from Adam, and he didn't take his eyes off him either, but she knew what Dean asked. The murmur of anxious paparazzi floated from the sales floor, and three men squared off. She didn't have much choice. As much as she didn't want to have this conversation, let alone here in Earth Scents during business hours, she didn't want to cause an even juicier scene for the tabloids.

  "It's okay Dean. I can listen to him." She covered her heart with one shaky hand, and gripped the edge of the sink with the other. Marco and Dean walked around Adam and toward the door.

  "I'm right down that hall."

  Jade wasn't sure who Dean's comment was directed toward, but she nodded.

  Adam took two steps toward her before she raised a hand to stop him. "Don't." The word came out a strangled cry. She cleared her throat. "Don't come any closer. Just say what you have to say and go."

  He winced, but didn't take the final steps to reach her. "I see your pain. I feel it too. I missed you so much over the past week and a half that I just wanted to—"

  "No," she barked. "I saw how much you missed me Adam."

  "Tell me." He inched closer, but stopped again when she flinched. "Tell me what you saw. Tell me where you saw it."

  "Why? Is there more than one hot story about Adam Nash going around?" Her voice rose to a frantic pitch, but she couldn't control i
t any better than she could control her shaky knees.

  "There's always more than one," he shouted back. "It's one thing after another out there." He pointed one finger toward the now empty hallway, then brought that hand back to drag it down his face. "I'm sorry, Jade. I'm not mad at you. It's the damned cameras in my face all the time. It's been a hell of a long week, and the last few days without talking to you have been…please, can I just hold you for a minute?"

  "Maybe you should have brought Nicole Reece along if you wanted your hands on a woman."

  He sighed, opened his mouth, then closed it, brought one hand out toward her, then dropped it. Then he swore. "That's what I thought." He speared her with eyes that suddenly looked more black than blue. "Jade, I did not sleep with Nicole."

  She pinched her eyes closed, happy to have heard the words she desperately wanted to hear, but hearing him say that woman's name muffled her joy.

  "I know some pictures got out, and I know that's what you're upset about." He started pacing, his long legs stiff and tense. "And I don't know exactly what you saw, or what you read, but when you stopped talking to me, I went over everything that was printed about me in the past few days, which just reminded me why I hate to read that garbage." He stopped in front of her, almost close enough to reach out and touch, but she clamped onto the cold steel of the sink's edge to resist the temptation.

  "Yes, I saw Nicole Reece while I was in New York. We had dinner together. What the articles conveniently left out was the fact that her father was with us. He's the guy I told you about on the phone later that night." Her eyes snapped to his, and he nodded wearily. "Joshua Reece is a big fan of mine, and it was his birthday. Nicky asked if I'd join them for dinner, and that's what I did."

  Jade did recall a phone call one night, when he told her about his old friend's father who joined them for dinner. She was sure he hadn't mentioned that his old friend was a woman, or that her name was Nicole Reece.

  "You failed to mention who your old," she threw up air quotes, "friend was, or even that she was a woman."

  "No I didn't mention that, but not because I was guilty of anything. I've always had an issue with people name-dropping all the time, trying to look important by who they know; I've just turned it into a habit to keep quiet about who I'm with and what I do." One more step, and he was close enough that she had to lift her chin to see him. "That's my fault. I guess I'm just not used to having someone in my life that would give a damn about anything I do. I should have told you who she was, but honestly, that's how I see her, as a friend."