Chapter 16

Jesse

Jesse coached herself to remain calm and reasonable even as her emotions were in turmoil. Hal Roberts was in her house, and Mark and Tony had seen him come in. She had no doubt that she would be faced with all manner of questions on the matter later.

For now, though, she had to deal with an extremely attractive man sharing the same small area with her and had no idea how to deal with that situation. So far, she felt that she was merely lending herself to a lot of amusement on his part. As far as she was concerned, that was probably for the best. At least, she wasn’t saying anything offensive.

“Would you …” Jesse offered. “Would you like to watch a movie?”

“Sure, sounds like a perfectly mundane pastime,” Hal said with a flick of his eyebrow. Jesse couldn’t help blushing.

“Well, what would you like to watch?” Jesse asked as she moved toward her collection.

“Anything is fine,” Hal answered easily. “As long as I’m not in it, of course.”

“Oh, nothing to worry about there,” Jesse said, flipping through her boxes. “I don’t have any of your movies.”

Hal was silent for a long moment.

“Seriously?” he asked, his tone a mix between hurt and disbelief.

“Seriously,” Jesse confirmed, a small smile slipping onto her face.

“Wow,” he said, mostly to himself. “I guess not everyone is as fascinated by me as I thought.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Jesse said in mock comfort. “I’m sure there are a lot of people who have nothing better to do than fawn over some hot celebrity.”

“So you think I’m hot?” Hal said from the couch, his tone full of mischief, and Jesse couldn’t help laughing.

“You would think you would know that without my opinion,” Jesse remarked, finally settling on some cheesy romantic comedy.

“Well, a little affirmation never hurt anyone,” he said.

“But a lot can make them famous,” Jesse said, and she heard Hal laugh.

“True enough,” he said.

Jesse put in the movie and turned on the television to start it. She moved over to the couch, sat down, and then picked up the remote from the coffee table to select ‘Play’ from the menu. She heard Hal groan from the couch beside her.

“What?” Jesse asked, raising her eyebrow. “Don’t like this movie?”

“Never seen it.” Hal sighed. “But I read the reviews and decided it wasn’t worth my time.”

“Well, now you’ll just have to live through it somehow.” Jesse shrugged, leaning back into her portion of the couch.

Hal groaned again, and the movie started playing. Jesse had seen the movie before, but even if she hadn’t, she would have had a hard time paying attention. She couldn’t get over the fact that Hal Roberts was sitting beside her in her own home, watching some B-movie that she had randomly picked from her collection.

Every now and then, Hal would give some comment or other about the main actor.

“He must have just graduated from the porn industry,” Hal grumbled, and Jesse couldn’t help agreeing.

“Well, the writers didn’t really give him much to work with,” Jesse commented.

“It’s not always about the words.” Hal sighed, shifting his positions on the couch.

“Well,” Jesse turned toward him. “I mean, I’m sure they at least play a small part.”

“Oh, sorry.” Hal laughed. “Forgot you’re a writer. What I meant to say was, the words are only as good as the way they’re delivered. A bad actor can make the best script in the world sound like it was written by a six-year-old.”

Jesse couldn’t really argue with that, so she could only lean back and continue to watch the movie.

“In this case,” Hal continued to remark, his eyes fixed on the screen, “I think we have a strong mixture of both problems.”

Jesse rolled her eyes and shook her head. Fortunately, the movie was shortly over.

“Well, that was an adventure, wasn’t it?” Hal said as he stretched.

“Definitely.” Jesse sighed and moved back over to the television to put the movie back in its box.

“What exactly does your movie collection consist of?” Hal asked, his voice teasingly hostile. “I mean, you don’t have any of my movies, and you decide to show this nonsense when the most famous actor of our generation comes over to your house.”

“Well ...” Jesse sighed. “Had I realized you would be visiting, I would have definitely stocked up on all your films so I could stroke your ego.”

“Perfect, just the way I like my afternoons,” Hal said, and Jesse looked back to see a soft smile on his face but dark circles under his eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Hal nodded with a slow blink. “I think I’m finally sober. I should probably get out of your hair.”

“Oh,” Jesse blinked, feeling a little bit blindsided by his decision. “Well, at least let me walk you back to your car.”

Hal looked her up and down, and Jesse felt vaguely violated.

“What are you looking at?” Jesse asked, her tone defensive.

“Oh, nothing.” Hal held up his hands. “You’re just dressed the same. I thought you might want to change. We’ll have to walk through the park again. And I know you were uncomfortable the last time … so …”

Jesse was somewhat surprised that he had remembered and a little embarrassed that she had openly complained about her discomfort to him.

“Um, don’t worry,” Jesse laughed lightly. “I’ll be fine.”

“Nonsense,” Hal said with a wave of his hand. “I’ll wait here, and you go change. And I’m not going anywhere until you do.”

Jesse scoffed at his ultimatum.

“Well, this is my apartment,” Jesse said. “I could always kick you out and then just conveniently follow you.”

“Well, I am a celebrity.” Hal crossed his arms and seemed to contemplate the scenario. “I could always just refuse. And then you would have to call the cops to help enforce your demand. And you would have to, seeing as I hardly think you have the strength to throw me out yourself.”

Jesse let out a long sigh.

“If I change, can we go?” Jesse asked, and Hal smiled, showing off his brilliant white teeth.

“Yes,” he answered. “Don’t worry—I’ll wait.”

Jesse rolled her eyes but moved back into her room. She hastily took off her dress and put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then a pair of converse sneakers. She looked herself over in the mirror, satisfied that Hal would be content with her level of comfort. She let out a sigh, bewildered by her own actions. Finally, shaking her head, she moved back into her living room.

“Well,” Jesse said, gesturing to her outfit. “Is this acceptable to you?”

Hal’s eyes traveled over her body, and they held a look of intensity that she couldn’t help but noticing. Her stomach fluttered in response, and she cleared her throat.

“Well?” she asked again, raising her eyebrows.

“Stunning,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.

Jesse felt a blush rise in her cheeks yet again.

“Um … great,” Jesse managed to mutter. “Let’s get you to your car.”

A slow smile stretched across Hal’s face, and he rose from his seat on the couch with a long stretch.

“Um …” Jesse frowned.

“What?” Hal asked, raising his brow at her.

“Are you still drunk?” Jesse asked, concern in her voice.

“Not at all,” Hal shook his head. “Why?”

“You said I look stunning,” Jesse said. “In jeans and a T-shirt.”

“So I’m not allowed to have my own opinions?” Hal said, raising both brows at her.

“I mean, I guess everyone has their own tastes ...” Jesse shrugged as she moved toward the door.

“Well, what do you expect?” Hal said, slowly following her. “Did you think I would only be attracted to supermodels in short skirts?”

“Something along those lines.” Jesse nodded with a curt smile.

Hal chuckled.

“Maybe for quick fucks in dark corners.” Hal chuckled. “But not for anything long-term. I find models don’t have the appreciation for food that I find very attractive in a potential mate. Plus, I generally like my women on the shorter side as well. It helps to inflate my ego further.”

Jesse couldn’t help laughing.

“Come on; you need to go home.” Jesse shook her head as she opened the door and moved outside of the apartment.

“Aw, and here I thought we were just starting to have a good time.” Hal smirked as he followed her out into the hallway.

Jesse laughed and shook her head, then closed and locked the door to her apartment. She led Hal out of the apartment, back down the sidewalk and made to head into the park, but Hal seemed to hesitate.

“What’s wrong?” Jesse asked, turning around to face him.

“It’s getting a little dark,” he said slowly. “Are you sure it’s safe to go this way?”

Jesse looked around in confusion. The sun was at least an hour away from setting, and there was hardly anyone to be seen on the streets or around them.

“I think we’ll be fine,” Jesse said, looking back at him with raised brows.

“Alright, I trust you,” Hal said warily. “But you should probably stay closer to me. You know, just in case.”

Jesse narrowed her eyes suspiciously. With a sigh, she relented and stepped back to stand beside him. He offered her his arm, and she rolled her eyes and set her hand on his forearm.

“There,” he said with a smile. “Much safer.”

“You know, if I didn’t know better ...” Jesse looked up at him. “I’d say you were flirting with me.”

Hal laughed aloud.

“Now that is an absurd notion,” he remarked. “You see, you of all people should know that celebrities don’t flirt. We just offer exorbitant amounts of money to people so that they will agree to be seen with us in public. That way, there are no real attractions formed, and nobody gets their feelings hurt. It’s all much simpler that way, see?”

Jesse sighed and shook her head.

“You know,” Jesse said. “I have no way to tell if you’re telling the truth. So I guess I’ll just have to believe you.”

Hal laughed at her.

“I like you, you’re funny,” he said, smiling down at her. “The next time I need to be seen in public with someone, I’ll have to call you up and offer you an exorbitant amount of money.”

“Well, my rates are pretty high.” Jesse shrugged. “But I wouldn’t charge you for the phone call.”

“Oh, how gracious of you.” Hal laughed.

The two spent the rest of their walk in agreeable silence until they finally made it through the park and back to Hal’s Range Rover in the parking lot.

“Well, thank you for escorting me back,” Hal said.

“You’re most welcome,” Jesse said with a smile.

“And thank you for taking care of me in my drunken state,” he said with a soft smile.

“No trouble,” Jesse offered him a half smile. “I’ve dealt with drunks much more rowdy than you.”

Hal’s joking smile was replaced by a look of concern.

“Not recently, I hope,” he said, his tone dark.

“Oh no.” Jesse shook her head. “Just an ex of mine. He had some real issues.”

“Hmm,” Hal grunted and frowned. “Nothing too severe, I hope.”

Jesse frowned at the sudden change in topic.

“Honestly, this isn’t something I’m comfortable discussing,” Jesse said, making her feelings on the subject very plain.

“I understand.” Hal nodded. “We should probably wait until we’re better acquainted for such serious questions about your past.”

Jesse did not miss his innuendo to their interview earlier in the day, and she let out a long sigh.

“Look, about that …” Jesse started.

“Hey, it doesn’t matter,” Hal cut her off. “We’ll call it even if you let me give you a ride home, alright?”

Jesse looked up at him and saw sincerity shining in his green eyes. She smiled and gave him a nod.

“Alright,” she said softly.

“Great,” Hal said and moved to open the passenger side door for her. He helped her into the car before getting into the driver’s seat.

Jesse was silent as he turned on the car and pulled out of the parking space, then headed down the street toward her apartment.