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“We do need to know if there’s something…” Johnny searched for the right word. “Significant about your relationship with Zara Lorna.”
Asa’s stomach tightened again. So much for relaxing. His mind raced with all the ways he could answer that question.
Significant?
Maybe. But it was only on his side. And it was more like a professional crush than anything else. Still, he didn’t want to lie and then get caught. Though he had no idea how he’d get caught.
Being hyperaware of truth tended to make him overshare and over explain.
After a beat of silence, Hannah pursed her lips. “There’s no wrong answer, Asa. Zara attracts a certain amount of attention. So, if say, she starts making trips to Chicago to visit someone, we could prepare for that ahead of time. Get in front of it. Also, I can talk to her myself and make sure we’re all on the same page.”
This was just getting better and better, wasn’t it?
Asa’s head swam with possibilities. The last thing he wanted was to put even more on Zara’s plate.
“No. There’s nothing significant there,” he finally said. It was the truth, but his gut reacted like it was a lie.
He was way too into her.
He could see that clearly now.
“She’s good friends with Nikki. I was just in the right place at the right time and it got spun into something else. We don’t have contact otherwise.”
“Okay.” Hannah nodded. She sounded like she believed him, but there was a subtle shrewdness in her gaze that made him squirm.
He needed to make what he said the absolute truth.
Not just to save his own ass, but Zara’s as well.
Z: I hope you’re okay. I keep thinking about you. I know that probably doesn’t make sense. My publicist told me what’s been happening. I’m so sorry. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.
He had been staring at the text for an hour.
She was too sweet for her own good.
This was why people kept taking advantage of her. Because she honestly cared about others.
Thinking back to his first assumptions of her, he wanted to kick his own ass. She wasn’t spoiled or entitled. She was a very talented artist who worked hard and deserved to have that hard work recognized.
He wasn’t going to be one more person taking advantage of her goodness.
But it was easier said than done.
Which was why he’d spent an hour sitting on the back porch, in the growing cold, listening to the sounds of the city, and avoiding what he knew he needed to do.
His thumb hovered over the delete button on her text thread. He bit the inside of his cheek. Heknewit was the right call, to sever all connections with her. He was only hesitating for selfish reasons.
He hit the button and watched the thread disappear from his phone.
He took a deep breath of cold air and found her contact information.
The night they hung out, sharing secrets and ideas and space flashed through his mind once more. Just because he deleted her contact information didn’t mean he deleted that moment. He’d be able to call it up whenever he needed something to make him smile.
Because no matter what the media reported or what rumors were shared, that was a moment that was all theirs. It had been real and he had been there.
He deleted her contact.
There.
