Realising that you love someone is easy; it’s the moment that you want to protect their heart, more than you want to guard yours.
I am so bloody angry with that bitch/cowbag/gold-digger/whore; I could go on and on with choice names for her but will politely settle for her given name, Vanessa ‘BitchBagDiggerHo’ Havers.
How dare she fabricate all that bullshit and demand two bloody million, to admit to her lies.
What kind of person does that?
I hate that Jake is giving in to her demands, not that I have any say over his finances but no-one should profit from such malicious deceit.
If I ever see that woman again…..
My thoughts are interrupted by Tina returning to the room.
Jake is currently in the room next door, in hour three of the press junket and he’s almost due for a quick lunch break.
I’ve been sat helping his assistant Nina reply to thousands of fan emails, love letters and marriage requests. Okay, so maybe we don’t reply to those ones but the genuine fan letters all get a response, as per Jake’s request.
“How many hours a day do you spend doing this?” I ask Nina, who is using her tablet to check all of Jake’s social media sites and send tweets or status updates on his behalf.
“Hmm emails? I only get to those about once a week but it can take hours to go through them all. Some of them are pretty freaky and quite explicit but you’re lucky, I quickly vetted the file you have before I let you loose on them.” She smiles over at me, “You’re welcome.”
I can’t help but shake my head and laugh at her, “I can handle a few marriage proposals, I’m pretty sure they won’t scare me off.”
She raises her eyebrows with a smirk, “Oh you sweet girl, it wasn’t the proposals I deleted, it was the naked full frontals.”
My head shoots up so fast I crick my neck and I am unable to keep the shock from my face. “Naked? Women? They really send in pictures of themselves?”
She laughs at me before looking back at her tablet, “Not just women, those I can handle. It’s the full blown cock-shots that turn my stomach. I’m a lady lover remember?”
No way! Women and men send Jake pictures of their bits? That’s just wrong on so many levels.
I am stupefied, my mouth is hanging open in shock so I don’t hear Tina when she first begins to speak to me.
“So, Emma. Has Foxy spoken to you about the opportunities coming your way?”
I shake my head to clear away the mental images and look over at Tina. She’s surrounded by a mass of paperwork and is balancing a phone between her ear and her shoulder.
“Sorry I didn’t catch what you just said?”
“Opportunities, Emma. I’ve had tabloids, glossy mags and talk shows all get in touch wanting to do an interview with the elusive Emma Campbell, the girl that stole the bad boy’s heart.”
I’m shocked into silence, why would anyone want to interview me? I’m not famous.
“Oh …. umm …. no, he hasn’t spoken to me about it but probably because he knows it’s not something that would interest me.”
I go back to the emails in front of me, wondering why she would bring it up while Jake’s not around.
“Not interested hey? Not even for enough cash to get rid of the fake baby mamma?”
Her words stun me.
“What did you say?”
She disconnects the call she has on hold and throws her phone down on the table in front of her, knocking some papers to the floor in the process.
Snaring me with a steely gaze, she seems to be assessing me before she begins to speak again.
“These opportunities come with a lot of cash. Probably enough to get rid of that skank and have plenty left over. You could solve this entire shit storm with one afternoon of interviews and a photo shoot. Cosmo is very eager to get your story, says it will resonate well with their readers. Think about it Emma.”
She gives me a long look and retrieves her phone but before she can press redial I interupt, “Set it up.”
She falters for a second, cocking her head to the side to look at me, judging my words.
“You sure Emma? If I set the wheels in motion there’s no backing out.”
I mimic her stare, not willing to let her see that the very thought of doing this has turned my insides to jelly.
“Set it up but don’t mention a word to Jake. I’ll tell him in my own time.”
Everyone is silent while Tina absorbs my words, her eyes never leaving mine.
Then, just as the door opens to the room and Jake strides in, she gives me a small smile and a nod.
He wastes no time in striding over to me, taking the laptop away and discarding it without care, then dragging me up his body and placing a scorching hot kiss on my lips.
I burn up, from both the heat of his lips on me and the brazen display we just put on for everyone.
“What was that for?” I mumble into his chest when he finally tears his mouth from mine, trying to hide the blush that stains my cheeks.
He squeezes me tightly, running a hand up and down my back before speaking into my ear, “I missed you; do I need another reason?”
Tina breaks up our private party.
“Foxy put her down and eat up, the food’s been delivered. You’ve got thirty minutes before you have to be primped, preened and presented for another set of interviews.”
He leans back slightly, drawing my face up to his and placing a light kiss on my lips.
“Come eat with me Emmy, I’m starving.”
Half hour passes quickly and after sharing a huge buffet with everyone, Jake heads back into the next room to be pampered by hair and make-up, ready for his next round of press.
As soon as he leaves the room I turn to Tina, who is unsurprisingly expecting me to speak, judging by the way she’s already looking at me with her assessing stare.
“Make the deals; I want enough money to get rid of that awful woman once and for all. I don’t care what deals you chose or who they are with, just arrange it and soon.”
Her eyes flicker over my shoulder and all the air gets sucked out of the room when I feel the ripple of awareness that only Jake’s presence can bring.
“Over my dead fucking body.”
I can’t even turn to meet his gaze as his tone of voice leaves me frozen.
“Tina, do not, do fucking not, set anything up. Emma will not be selling anything to anyone. Do you all fucking hear me?”
Tina opens her mouth to speak but he shuts it for her, “This is not a debate Tina, I’m warning you. It’s not happening.”
Pride, love, determination and even a little bit of anger, all propel me around to face him.
I take one look at him and hesitate at his furious expression that has turned his breathtaking features into pure steel.
“Jake … “
“NO, Emmy. You will not prostitute yourself to the press to pay off my mistake.”
His words cut through me, striking me in the chest with such force that I am immobile. All I am capable of doing is watching him storm from the room, slamming the door behind him.
The room is silent, deathly so. The only noise the ticking of an ornate clock on the wall.
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
The sound is mocking me; turning my shock and embarrassment at having everyone witness Jake’s rage towards me, into sheer anger.
Spinning around wildly so that I am facing Tina again, I inject as much calm into my voice as possible, “Make the deals Tina.”
She smiles approvingly, treating me to a rare, beaming grin that looks foreign on her usually tough face.
“That’s my fucking girl. Now I see exactly why you have stolen that boy’s heart.”
Realising that you love someone is easy; it’s the moment that you want to protect their heart, more than you want to guard yours.
Tina has emailed through a dozen offers, from various publications and companies that she has cherry picked as the cream of the crop.
Each deal has a monetary value alongside it so I can see exactly which ones to take, to get rid of this nightmare once and for all.
I highlight an underwear campaign and an exclusive spread with a worldwide, women’s glossy magazine.
These two deals alone will pay off FML and leave me a little extra to put aside for my big plan. Add that to my VB payout, plus associated deals and I’ll soon be making Emmy mine in more ways than one.
Time to put phase two of my plan into action.
I email Nate everything I need, knowing that he is back in the U.K. for a few days before he flies back out to Ibiza.
Within half an hour I get a reply text.
Bloody hell bro, I’ve only been back in the country a few hours. U sure you’re not rushing into this?
I appreciate his concern, kind of, but nothing anyone can say or do will change my feelings. I don’t want to get into a debate with him via text so I send back a short reply.
Why wait? It’s what I want Nate, just send the info when U get it
After waking early to prepare for today’s junket, I get Emmy set up with my team in a room that’s right alongside the one being used for my interviews.
This way I know I’ll get to spend any free moment I have during the day, with her.
The morning drags with round after round of interviews. Various members of the press are rolled in and out, all asking the same monotonous questions, all dying to pry further into my personal life, but the VB rep in the room swiftly steers them back on course without me needing to say a word.
By the time lunch comes around, I’m hungry and not just for food.
I exit the room via the interconnecting door and instead of finding Emmy relaxing while listening to music or reading a book, I see her sat with Nina’s laptop in front her and she’s answering some of my fan mail.
The thought of her using her free time to help me in some way, instantly warms my chest. I can’t help myself from walking straight up to her, pulling her up from her seat so that she’s standing in my arms and then devouring her with my mouth.
She’s lucky that we have an audience or she would be spread out underneath me within five seconds flat.
We share a quick lunch and I give Emmy a kiss goodbye before heading back into the other room ready and eager to get this long day over with. I can’t wait to take my girl back to our suite and lose myself in her all night long before flying out to Australia tomorrow.
It’s only when I return to the other room that I realise I’ve left my phone back with Emmy. I turn back around to grab it quickly, not wanting her to accidentally read any emails or texts from Nate; what she sees might scare her away and I need to keep it a surprise a while longer.
On entering the team room I am stopped in my tracks, not by what I see but by the tone of Emma’s voice while addressing Tina. It’s firm, demanding and filled with ice; the words I hear spilling from her mouth shock me even more.
“Make the deals; I want enough money to get rid of that awful woman once and for all. I don’t care what deals you chose or who they are with, just arrange it and soon.”
What. The. Fuck.
This is not happening and I will be having words with Tina later for even putting these ideas in her head.
After making damn sure she understands that I will not allow her to sell herself for me, I storm from the room before I say something I might later regret.
The hair and make-up girl gets the full brunt of my mood. I either scare her or she’s having withdrawals because she can hardly keep her hands from shaking as she primps and preens me to within an inch of my life.
“Bring the first vulture in.” I bark at Crystal, the VB rep.
Thus begins another round of brain numbing questions, only this time I don’t even bother to hide my disdain for the process. I’m sure that by this time tomorrow, more than one publication will be printing how much of a prick, bad boy Jake Fox really is, and I couldn’t give a single fuck.
By the time the second round of interviews finish, my temper is close to boiling point and I storm back into the team room before the last reporter has even got up out her seat.
Only Emmy is left waiting for me. Everyone else has gone and I find her curled up in a large chair in front of the patio doors, a book in her lap, headphones on and her head tipped back with her eyes closed.
Watching her for a moment and seeing her happy and relaxed soothes my anger to a more comfortable level.
As long as my girl is okay, everything else is irrelevant.
It doesn’t take her long to open her eyes. I instinctively know when she is near and I am comforted by the fact that she is also able to feel this tangible electricity between us.
Removing the headphones and closing her book she gives me a sweet smile, “Hey, you all done for today?”
I lean over her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead and then another on her lips.
“I need you, then I need to eat, then I may need you again.” I give her a cheeky grin, “Those plans okay with you?”
She leans forward to place a kiss on my lips, my bottom one fitting perfectly between both of hers and her reply escapes on a sigh, “Yes, perfect.”
After taking care of part one of my plan, and by taking care I mean taking her up against the closed door of our suite as soon as we step over the threshold, we are now on to step two.
We decide to order room service, our earlier escapades, combined with the long day, makes us both want to just chill out and enjoy each others company.
So after a delicious meal that comprised of lots of fresh seafood, which Emma ate as much of as I did, we sit curled up together on the sofa sharing dessert.
Between mouthfuls of chocolate soufflé, a groan of ecstasy leaves her lips and I have to readjust myself from the sound alone.
“God this tastes divine.” She rolls her eyes and leans back to pat her flat stomach, “Please don’t let me eat anymore; I’m fit to burst.”
I am just about to offer her something else to eat, something that’s not on the room service menu, when my phone rings with Nate’s ringtone.
“Sit here and chill for while, let all that food you scoffed down settle, I’ve gotta take this.” I swipe my screen to answer as I get up from the sofa and she promptly sprawls across it, stretching her body like a cat lazying in the sun.
Now there’s an image I could stop and stare at.
“Nate.”
I greet my brother while I walk towards the bedroom.
“Any news for me? Have you heard from H today?”
“Yes to the first question, I’m emailing you a couple of particulars now and no to the H question, but I’m heading straight to the hospital to visit him as soon as I get off the phone.”
“Thanks Nate, for both; I wish I could be there for him bro.”
“Shall I tell him you’ll call later? I’ve already checked with his parents and they said the surgery went well and that he’s in recovery.”
“Yeah I’ll call in couple of hours, let him have a chance to come around from it first. It’s such a relief to know that it went as planned.”
We are both silent for a few moments, reflecting on the ordeal that H is currently going through. Nate is first to break the silence.
“Want my opinion on the details I’m emailing over?”
I laugh, knowing that he’s going to give me it anyway, “Yeah go ahead, what’s your thoughts?”
“If I was buying it would be number three; great location, a good size and lots of potential.”
“Thanks bro I’ll let you know which one I want you to proceed with.” I hesitate for a second before asking, “Will she like it do you think?”
Now it’s Nate’s turn to laugh, “Well you know I can’t keep anything from Liv and she reckons she will love it.”
“Good to know. Just tell your girl to keep her mouth zipped. I’m not ready to tell Emmy yet.”
“Will do bro; have fun in Australia. You know if you fancy flying us out again for a few days, I wouldn’t say no.”
I shake my head even though he can’t see me but I’m guessing that he can hear the smile in my voice, “Like I said, good to know. Take care bro, speak to you soon.”
As soon as I disconnect the phone, I sit on the bed to pull up my emails.
Nate’s got it spot on, number three is the one.
I flick over to my text feature to let him know.
Number three is a winner. Set things up for me bro
A few moments later I get a reply but it’s from Liv’s phone, not Nate’s.
Eeek!! She is going to pass out when she sees it
I laugh at her obvious excitement and feel a little calmer that it has the blessing of Emmy’s best friend.
Yeah well, it’s a secret remember?
I watch the little dots on my screen that let me know she’s typing and up pops her reply.
Zips mouth shut, padlocks it & throws away key
Nate’s girl is fucking cuckoo.
Tell Nate he can thank me later for the silence
I turn off my phone, not waiting for a reply and wanting to spend the rest of the night in the arms of my girl.
Soon I’ll tell her everything I’ve been keeping from her. I just hope she doesn’t run for the hills.