After an early breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast, Jacob and I finally got on the road back to LA. Before we left, my parents made us promise to go and visit them again soon. Another pang of guilt bit at me over that, although this time it was mixed with confusion. Jacob and I had actually hooked up last night. That wasn’t part of the fake boyfriend deal.

So what did that mean?

Did it mean we were together for real, and he might actually come and see my family again?He certainly sounded interested last night when he asked me if it was going to happen again, although to be fair he was probably only referring to the sex.

I knew it sounded incredibly middle-schoolish to ask stupid questions like ‘are you my boyfriend now?’ so I refrained and played it cool instead, not daring to utter a single one of my thoughts.

I decided a moment later that yes, I was definitely being stupid and childish. Just because I had sex with a guy one time didn’t mean we were bound together for all eternity, and when he asked if it was going to happen again, it didn’t necessarily mean he wanted a relationship. Perhaps he simply wanted to add me to his harem—all the women I was sure he kept on some sort of rotating ‘friends with benefits’ schedule.

I wondered which day I would be. Monday? Friday? Every second Tuesday?

“You’re pretty quiet this morning,” Jacob said, glancing over at me as we stopped at a red light. “Everything okay?”

I nodded. “Just tired.”

He grinned. “I guess we didn’t exactly get much sleep last night.”

Okay, I lied. I didn’t have sex with Jacob just once last night. We did it another two times in the early hours of the morning, although if sex occurred multiple times in a twenty-four hour period with the same partner, I was sure that technically counted as only one time.

That’s how it worked, right?

“Your parents seem cool,” Jacob went on as the light turned green. “I mean, they made me that awesome breakfast, and you know what they say about the way to a man’s heart.”

“Through the ribcage with a sharp knife?”

He chuckled. “I was referring to the other saying. But that works too.”

“Well, thanks for coming and pretending to be my boyfriend,” I said. “I suppose I’ll call them with the sad news of our breakup in a few weeks.”

I was speaking in the most casual voice I could muster up, but really I was tense as hell. A lot was riding on what Jacob’s reply to my previous statement was. I inspected a split end in my hair, pretending I didn’t care endlessly about his response.

“Maybe you don’t have to do that,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked, mentally kicking myself as I realized my casual tone had already evolved into more of a shrill squeak.

“I mean maybe we just see what happens. Like you said last night.”

“Oh.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’re not okay with that, of course.”

I shook my head. “No. I’m okay with it. I mean yes. Yes, we can do that.”

Jesus, I was behaving like a twelve-year-old with her first crush on a boy at school.

Jacob’s hand moved to my left thigh. He squeezed it, claiming me as his with his fingertips. “Good.”

And then the awkwardness was suddenly gone again, just like that. Magic. I still didn’t know if we were in any sort of proper relationship, but there was definitely something happening between us, and we were going to explore what it was and where it took us.

When we arrived back at my place, I couldn’t hear Oscar barking at the front door, desperate for my attention like I assumed he would be after spending a night without me.

“I’m sorry, boy,” I called out as I unlocked the door. “I know you’re mad at me. But Angie came round and gave you some love for a few hours yesterday, right?”

Silence.

“Everything okay?” Jacob asked from behind me.

“I can’t hear Oscar,” I said as I finally pushed the door open. “Usually he bounds up to the door and barks his head off when I get home.”

“He’s probably asleep.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

As soon as we stepped inside, we knew that wasn’t true. Not only was Oscar seemingly not in my house, the entire place was trashed. My possessions were strewn all over the floor, my curtains were slashed to ribbons, and several words were spray-painted in crimson letters on the light grey living room wall.

Bitch.

Cunt.

Slut.

Die.

“Oh my god,” I said, my left hand flying to my mouth as my knees turned to jelly.

“Go back to my car and lock yourself in,” Jacob said, passing me his keys. “I’ll check the place out and make sure there’s no one here.”

I nodded weakly and did as he said. Five minutes later, he returned and tapped on the passenger side window, his jaw set in a hard line. I opened the door, gazing up at him with fearful wide eyes.

“The place is empty, so you can go in,” he said. “I’ve called the police and they’re on their way.”

“Empty? Even….”

I couldn’t say it, but Jacob knew what I meant. He nodded grimly. “Oscar is gone.”

“This had to be James. That bastard!”

“Of course it was. I want to fucking kill him,” Jacob replied, hands curling into fists.

We stepped inside so I could properly survey all the damage to my place. Tears gathered in my eyes as I saw that some of my china plates had been pulled out of the cupboards and smashed on the kitchen floor. The intricately-patterned dinnerware once belonged to my grandmother. My parents gave it to me when I got my own place because they knew I’d always loved the set and would take good care of it.

That wasn’t the only thing. Many of my possessions were either broken or tossed carelessly on the floor, and worst of all, my poor Oscar was out there somewhere without me. Probably locked in James’ garage with no food.

“I shouldn’t have left him,” I said, my voice almost cracking. “I should’ve taken him up to Santa Barbara with us.”

Jacob put his hand on my shoulder. “We didn’t know we were going to stay up there for the night, and you had Angie come round and make sure he had food and plenty of attention. You can’t always be here. Anyone would understand that. It’s not like you could’ve predicted that someone would do this.”

He made a sweeping gesture around the place. I burst into tears, still wholly blaming myself. “Don’t cry,” Jacob said, pulling me into a hug. “This isn’t your fault. It’s my fault. I’m a fucking idiot.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. Before he could respond, I was disrupted by my phone ringing in my pocket.

It was Angie.

“Hey, when do you want me to bring Oscar home?” she said.

“What?”

“When do you want me to bring the dog back?” she repeated.

“You have him?” I asked, my mind flooding with relief.

“Yeah, you asked me to come round and take care of him for the night, remember?” she said. “I came and got him and brought him back to my place.”

“Oh, thank god,” I managed to choke out. Then the tears started all over again as I slumped onto my sofa.

Jacob gently took the phone from me and explained what had happened to my house. I could hear Angie shouting expletives on the other end of the line.

Jacob passed the phone back to me a moment later when I’d calmed down enough to speak again.

“Nora?” Angie said. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault.”

“How?”

“When I came to get Oscar, I went into the backyard to grab some of his toys. I think I left the back door unlocked. That’s how James would’ve gotten in. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” I muttered. “The prick was probably casing my place for days, waiting for a chance to get in somehow.”

“I wonder how he got past the security gate.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I have to go. I think the police just arrived.”

Angie made me promise to call her as soon as I was done with the officers, and then we hung up. Jacob guided one of the police officers around my house, showing them all the damage, and I sat at the dining table with the other officer, explaining the situation. He nodded and made notes as I spoke.

“We’ll certainly go and speak to your ex-boyfriend,” he said. “And you’re right, I’d say it was almost definitely him. Wouldn’t be the first time an angry ex did something like this. You said he’s also been sending you abusive messages on the internet?”

I nodded. “Yes. I blocked his real Facebook account, but he just made a new one to message me from. Then when I blocked that one, he made another new one.”

“I think you should seriously consider getting a restraining order against him. We’ll be pursuing charges for this incident,” he said, waving his hand at the carnage around us. “So it shouldn’t be difficult for you to obtain one. But when you file for it, bring printed copies of all those online messages with dates and times. The more evidence you have to demonstrate why you need the restraining order, the better.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“If I were you, I’d also go and stay somewhere else for the time being, if possible,” he said. “Do you have family or friends you can stay with until things are sorted out?”

“She’ll stay with me.”

I turned my head. Jacob was now standing right behind me with the other officer. “My house has optimal security, and James doesn’t know my address,” he went on. “She and Oscar will be safe there.”

“Is that okay with you, Ms. Valencia?” the officer asked.

I nodded at him, then turned back to Jacob. “Yes. Thanks.”

“It’s no problem,” he replied softly. He had a somewhat guilty expression in his eyes, but I wasn’t sure why. This wasn’t his fault. James was obviously a total psycho, and it wasn’t like Jacob could’ve seen this coming and prevented it.

No one could.

When the police had everything they needed to start their investigation, they left, and I went into my room to pack some clothes and other essentials in a travel bag. Then I went and shoved it all in the back seat of my car.

“I’ll follow you,” I said to Jacob. “I just texted Angie, and she’s going to drop off Oscar in an hour. Can I give her your address?”

“Of course.” He nodded, got into his car and pulled out of my driveway. I followed suit.

Ten minutes later, I was cruising down Benedict Canyon Drive on my way to Jacob’s place. I’d never been there before, obviously, but I knew it had to be nice. After all, it was Beverly Hills and he was a millionaire Hollywood hotshot.

I sighed. Lord, it still didn’t feel real. I was hooking up with a bona fide movie star. Little old me.

I arrived at his house in Beverly Hills two minutes later, though ‘house’ probably wasn’t the correct word to use in this case. Behind a guarded gate lay a dreamlike white mansion on several lavishly-landscaped acres, and I marveled at the gorgeous architecture as I slowly meandered down the long driveway. It was lined by tall poplar trees, each one in perfect alignment with the others.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Jacob said in a jokey tone as I met him near a large marble fountain out the front. I was still casting my wide-eyed gaze around the property.

“I feel very poor right now,” I said with a self-deprecating grin.

“Well, this is your house for the time being, so we’ll have none of that,” he replied with a wink, ushering me inside.

The interior was just as impressive as the exterior—hand-carved wooden doors, coffered ceilings, expensive furniture and artwork everywhere. I padded over to a large picture window on one side and sighed as I took in the view. Directly below us was a vast pristine lawn, enormous infinity pool, and a tennis court with a small pavilion. A large Moroccan-style guest house stood further down the grounds with a tiled footpath leading up to it.

I sighed again and turned back to Jacob. “God, I could really get used to this.”

“Maybe you should,” he replied, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

“Thanks so much for letting me stay here. Oscar is going to love running around out on that huge lawn.”

“I know. That’s the real reason I invited you to stay—so I could have him here.”

I laughed and elbowed him. “Oh, very funny.”

He chuckled as well, then squeezed me tighter. “Want me to show you your bedroom?”

I turned around and widened my eyes. “My bedroom?”

He nodded. “One of the spare rooms. I thought you might want some privacy for a while, after what’s happened today. If I were you, I’d be swearing off all men.”

I shook my head slowly. “No. I think I’d be happy in your bed,” I said.

Jacob’s eyes gleamed. “Oh, would you now?”

I gave him a nonchalant shrug and smiled slyly. “Only one way to find out…”