Head Over Wheels, page 10
He sits down across from me and slides my latte over. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
Jeff squints and leans closer. “Are you okay? You seem kind of pale.”
Ella, get yourself together. I cannot let on that anything has changed. If he takes one look at his phone the jig will be up. He’ll be able to tell from just looking at me that I saw the notification.
“Yeah, I just really need that coffee, I guess.” I grimace at him.
He taps his index finger against his cup. “The barista interrupted us earlier.”
Is it just because I know who he is now that everything he says seems to have a sinister bent? I am having trouble even meeting his eyes. I’m afraid he can see right through me. “Yep, I guess he did.”
“Are you going to tell me?” He arches his eyebrow with a hint of a smirk.
Tell him? What am I supposed to be telling him? I’m racing through my memories trying to figure out what he’s waiting for. My mind is blank now. It’s like everything that came before I found out his Elevate name is a blur. “I’m sorry, I think I got distracted by my latte. What did you want to know?”
“Are you involved with Jace Altman? That’s who my money’s on from the way he’s been looking at you all weekend.” The corners of his mouth turn down.
A frisson runs through me, I’m afraid he may be getting angry and that continuing this particular line of conversation is going to make it worse. How will he react if he does find out it’s Jace? Now that I know he’s been stalking me, I wish I hadn’t said anything earlier. Has he been following me this whole time, since June? Am I the only reason he even came on this retreat? I take a few yoga breaths to steady myself.
“Why does it matter who I’m seeing? It’s still so new, I’m not sure I want to talk about it yet.” I can hear my voice shake, and I’m hoping he thinks I’m nervous about this conversation.
And then it happens. His phone vibrates again, and his eyes dart down to the screen.
CHAPTER 23
I see it in his eyes the moment he realizes I know who he is. He looks up, and his sharp gaze cuts right through my layers of protection. My body starts to shake, and I look around to see if there’s anyone close by if I call for help.
I’m in a public place, I remind myself. The barista is five feet away if I’m desperate. Nothing will happen to me here. Now that he knows, I can just leave, right?
“So, you figured it out.” There’s no question in his tone, no uncertainty left for me to dance around.
“Yes, I know who you are. And now that we both know, I’m going to walk out of here, and I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from me for the remainder of the event.” Thankfully, my voice comes out stronger than I feel right now.
His sharp laugh makes me flinch. “Ella, you aren’t going anywhere.”
“Jeff, we’re in a cafe. There’s no way you can keep me here. I’m leaving now.” I move to stand, but before I know what’s going on, he’s moved to my side and has my arm in a vise-like grip. He pulls me back down beside him.
“Before you take off, let me just show you a couple of things. After that, if you still want to leave, you’re free to go.”
All traces of happy, easy-going Jeff are now gone. In his place is a complete stranger whose cool gaze is terrifying me. He nods towards his phone, and with his free hand he pulls up the photo gallery.
“Give me a second to just get this ready.” He tilts the screen, hiding it from my view.
I use this moment to see if anyone is watching so I can signal that I need help. Everyone is engrossed in their conversations or mobile devices, and even the barista has his back turned while he cleans the espresso maker.
“All weekend, I’ve been watching you, even documenting your new relationship.” He says the last word with such a sneer, I swallow hard.
“And?” I’d like him to just get to the point. His words are creeping me out even more.
“While I’m sure you and Jace are both just overjoyed with your newfound love, I wonder how the rest of the world would feel about it. So soon after his breakup? Would people be able to forgive their darling Jace for moving on from a very heartbroken Deb?”
“What’s the point of all this? Get to what you want to show me already.” I gesture for him to keep it moving.
“The point, darling Ella, is that I have photographic evidence of late-night visits between you and Jace, and of Deb in tears because of them. And we all know that Elevate doesn’t want its instructors dating members.” His mouth turns into a frown, and he runs his index finger down his cheek.
I was afraid this is what he wanted to tell me. Would anyone really care? Jace said he was going to speak to them first but these pictures will definitely cause him trouble and that’s the last thing I want. Then I think about how much I would have cared before I got to know everyone in person, and my stomach sinks.
“I can see you understand how this will look. Would you like to see the pictures?” Now Jeff is smiling at me, and he sticks his phone out.
My hand reaches out, thinking maybe I can delete them without him noticing, but he’s on to me and pulls it slightly out of my reach.
“No, no, no, Ella. This is a look don’t touch scenario.”
“Okay, got it.” I fold my hands in my lap, keeping them out of the way so he’ll show me the pictures.
He opens up the first one, and I see Jace and me standing outside my room. There’s a timestamp visible, showing it’s after midnight on Friday. We’re standing so close, and it’s obvious there’s something going on between us. Even if nothing had really happened yet, it looks like it. The next picture is us hugging, and my stomach churns, knowing someone was watching this innocent moment and making it ugly. He keeps moving through pictures, documenting us falling for each other.
There’s one of Jace letting me into his room, and another of us coming out of it together. My cheeks are flushed in the picture and my hair seems mussed, and it looks way more damning than it really was. And then there’s a series of pictures of Deb. Her wiping a tear away, another looking at Jace longingly, one dancing with Jace at the club looking completely in love.
The last few are from late last night starting with me letting Jace into my room. Then Jace leaving later on, smiling and tired, all with obvious time stamps. No matter how you look at it, it never looks good when there’s a man in your room after midnight.
“What are you going to do with these?” I let out a tired sigh, since I have a pretty good idea where this is going.
He bares his teeth at me. For a second, I wonder how I ever found him attractive at all. He’s been hiding his true self well. “Well, Ella, I’m pretty sure you and your precious Jace wouldn’t want this dalliance all over social media. I can destroy his reputation like that.” He snaps his fingers.
“If that was all you wanted, you’d already have posted them though, right? So tell me what you really want.” I’m past fear now, and my blood is pounding at this invasion of my privacy.
Jeff looks straight at me, unflinching. “What I really want, Ella, is you.”
CHAPTER 24
“Me? Why?” I’ve been assuming this was going to be about money or attention, but what can I possibly give him?
“I’m in love with you. Ever since I saw you for the first time last spring, I’ve been trying to find a way to meet you. I figured out your social media accounts from your Elevate profile and made a fake account there to learn everything about you.” His chest is thrust out as he tells me how he’s put all this together.
“You don’t even know me.” My eyes grow wide the more he talks. I’m mentally scanning through all my social media posts to figure out what he’s seen.
“But I know you well enough to know that you’ll inform Jace that you’ve changed your mind about him and that you’re with me now. You were just confused by his celebrity status, but now that we’ve spent more time together, you know that I’m the one for you.”
A snort escapes me, and his eyes flash. He wants me to take him seriously. I remind myself that I’m in a very public place and no one is going to hurt me here. He’s right though, those pictures would ruin Jace’s reputation and possibly affect his job, and I can’t let that happen. Not over me. There’s no chance that I’m going to date Jeff though, either. There must be a way out of this. I just need to buy some time to think.
“Jeff, this is a big decision. I need some time to think about it.” I try to school my features so he can’t see how I really feel.
He glances around uneasily. “How do I know you aren’t going to just walk out and tell someone?”
“Realistically there’s nothing stopping me from doing that ever, so at some point you’ll just have to trust me. And you have the pictures.” I glance at the phone he’s gripping.
“You know I’ll release them right away if you do anything stupid, right?” He’s glaring at me, and I try to remember what I ever found comforting about him. He’s slimy and angry and I don’t want to have anything to do with him.
“Got it. Can I go now?” I start to stand, anxious to get away so I can figure out my next move.
“I need your answer before the lunch event starts. So you have thirty minutes.” He checks his watch to confirm the time.
“I’ll do it, okay. You’re not giving me much choice. But you have to know I’ll never actually want to be in a relationship with you, right? You can’t force someone to love you.” The words pour out of me before I can stop them.
He beams at me, all traces of anger wiped away. “You will love me. I’m sure of that. See you soon. Don’t forget I have all these pictures that I can release with a touch of my finger.”
His laugh sounds a little forced, and I’m looking over my shoulder as I rush out of the cafe. As soon as I’m out of his line of sight, I slow down. Which is a good thing since I run smack into someone.
“Hey, Ella? What’s going on?”
I look up, and Jace is holding my upper arms, staring down at me, his blue eyes narrowed. Oh, this is just great. What am I going to tell him? There’s only one thing I’m absolutely sure of right now so that’s what I start with.
“Jace, we can’t see each other anymore.” A tear escapes my eye, and I lift a hand to wipe it away.
Jace immediately takes a step back from me. “Oh, okay. You’ve changed your mind about giving me another chance after last night?”
“Not really, but sort of…” Before I can get any more words out, a giant sob escapes.
He pulls me back against his chest and holds me tightly as I let some of the pent-up fear and anger out. “What’s happened? Did Jeff say something or do something to upset you?”
I take a few ragged breaths to get myself back under control. At least enough so that I can speak and tell him what’s going on. All of it pours out of me while Jace stands stock still, listening. His lips are pinched tightly, and his face looks impassive. He has his arms loosely draped around me, providing me support while I tell him what Jeff said he was going to do to us.
“And the worst part is, he has all these pictures. Remember I told you about my stalker last night? It’s him. I saw his username on his phone. I’m so sorry that I’ve put you in this position.” My mind is slightly lighter having shared the burden with Jace, even if the outcome is still the same.
“He’s not going to get away with this, Ella. You haven’t done anything wrong, this is all on him.” Jace is looking down at me, his eyes piercing with their intensity.
“I knew you would say that, but I’m not letting you risk your career and reputation over me. That wouldn’t be right.” My eyes are welling up again, and I look up at the ceiling to try to stop the flow.
He gently cups the sides of my face with his large warm hands. “That’s my decision to make, not yours. Either way, this jerk is going down.”
“Jace, I can’t just agree to—”
He softly places his index finger over my lips, halting my words. “Is he still in there?”
I follow his gaze in the direction of the cafe. “I guess so. I haven’t seen him come out, but there may be another way out.”
He nods once. “Stay here, I’ll take care of this.”
Before I can utter another protest, he spins on his heels and strides off into the cafe. While I have no desire to be within ten feet of Jeff ever again, I also really want to see what happens. I’m slightly scared for Jace, because who knows what this psycho is capable of. It’s a public place so I assume just words will be exchanged, but I need to watch over Jace. I walk back the way I came, and when I get to a point where I can see the cafe but can also partially camouflage myself against the wall, I stop.
The cafe still has a few patrons in it, and I see Jeff sitting exactly where I left him. Jace finds him pretty quickly, and I watch as he hauls him out of his seat by the arm. Jeff looks startled, but I’m too far away to hear what Jace says in response. Their faces are really close as they talk, then Jeff shoves Jace hard enough that he falls a couple steps backwards. I’m debating going closer when Jace pulls his arm back and punches Jeff in the mouth.
My heart is beating wildly, and I’m torn between running to get help and going over to get between the two of them. The barista takes a few steps towards them, and he’s on the phone now, probably calling for help. Jeff swings at Jace but he ducks, and then the two start grappling, and there’s no contest at all with Jace easily pinning Jeff down. He’s holding him on the ground as I rush towards them.
I hear voices and look over my shoulder to see two police officers rushing in behind me. I stand aside to let them pass and then follow them over.
One of the officers steps forward. “Okay, get up slowly and keep your hands visible.”
Jace immediately throws his arms up and stands slowly, taking a step away from Jeff. The other officer steps between them and moves Jeff so he’s standing in front of him.
The first officer starts speaking again. “Can you tell me what happened here?”
Jeff jumps in right away. “This man came over and just attacked me, completely unprovoked.”
By this point Jace has noticed me watching. He turns his attention back to the officer. “I think if you take a look at his phone, you’ll find that he’s been stalking this woman over the last few days—actually, make that months. He just finished threatening both of us with blackmail. And he came after me first.”
The officers turn to look at Jeff. He’s still sitting on the ground with a hand covering his jaw where Jace connected. He shrugs.
“Can you confirm this story, ma’am?” The other officer looks over at me.
“Yes, and I can show you some evidence I have on my laptop of events that happened before this weekend.” Now I am really glad that I’d kept screenshots when things started getting creepy in the summer.
“We’ll need to get statements from both of you. Are you able to come to the station now?”
I look at my phone to see the time. Definitely going to be late for the luncheon. Jace intercedes before I can reply.
“Actually, we’re both late for an event here at the hotel. Can we come by after?” He’s showing his best Elevate instructor smile now.
The police officers have a silent conversation, and then one tilts his head at us in agreement. “We’ll take the suspect in, but we’ll need your statements to hold him. Can we get your contact information before you leave?”
“I can’t believe you’re just going to listen to them. I’ve been attacked and no one seems to care or want to do anything about it.” Jeff is yelling now, drawing lots of attention.
One of the officers immediately walks over and says something, which causes Jeff to close his mouth and give us both death glares.
We make sure they have our names and numbers and get the address for the station. As soon as they give us the go-ahead to leave the cafe, we scurry out, trying to leave the whole situation behind us. The main thing running through my mind now—What’s next? Is this over?
CHAPTER 25
Jace pulls me into an alcove and draws me into his chest. “You okay?”
I have to think before I can answer. Am I okay? It’s been a rollercoaster of a morning. Now that Jeff is arrested and Jace knows the truth, I definitely can breathe a little easier. “I feel safe because I know, at least for the moment, Jeff can’t get to me. But I’m seriously creeped out that he’s been watching me all weekend, and I’m also worried about how all this is going to fall out for you.”
He takes my face in his hands. “Ella, do you trust me?”
I nod without hesitation.
“I’ll take care of this, I promise. He’s not going to hurt us or come between us.”
He seems so sure that I almost believe him. The way out of this mess doesn’t seem as clear to me as his words sound, but I’m hoping he’s right. “I believe you’ll try to sort it all out.”
His lip turns up on one side. “I guess that raging vote of confidence will have to do for now. I have to go and brief my management team and make sure that I get out ahead of any media on this. Are you sure you’ll be all right? Do you want me to stay with you?”
I push his chest with my hand. It doesn’t yield at all, he’s solid muscle. “I’m good, go. Text me when you’re done. I guess I’ll go meet up with Tara and Lisa at the event.”
“Right, it’s about to start. I better get moving then.” He kisses me quickly and fiercely and then leaves, bringing his phone to his ear the second he steps away.
Looking at the time, I see I have a few minutes to spare. With all the drama that just went down, it feels like it’s been hours, but it hasn’t even been an hour. I head to the bathroom to check my face and make sure I don’t have mascara everywhere. I dampen the pad of my thumb and run it gently under each eye to clean up any smudges. I flip my head upside down to give my hair some volume and then do a quick perusal. Everything looks as it should. You’d never know by looking at me that I’ve had the craziest morning. It’s time to find my friends and try to forget about creepy Jeff and his pictures.
