Chapter 14

Juno

Sitting down with my tea at the cafe table, I exhaled and felt my body relax. It had been over a week since the TV interview and I was finally getting some relief from all the hounding and questions upon questions about it all. I'd also finally got to the point where my body no longer hurt so much when I moved or sat.

Most of the bruises were gone, and the rest didn't hurt so much. It was a relief all of its own.

"There you are," Kit, one of my best friends, said. She beamed as she spotted the drink I'd also ordered for her and sat down. She took a sip and let out an approving moan. "No one else makes tea like they do here."

I grinned, pleased to see her.

"So, tell me all," she said a moment later. "What's up with all these major changes? This isn't like you."

"I…" I trailed off, feeling my emotions rise, my throat restricting and my eyes moistening.

Turning my head, I looked out the window and found something to focus on. A mother trying to wrestle a toddler into a winter jacket, the rain getting heavier and the child wanting none of it. While I watched, I pushed the emotions back down. I couldn't show them all right now. Not yet.

"Things with Greg had been getting worse and worse. I couldn't take it anymore. This is better, but…" Kit was a close friend, but I hadn't been able to bring myself to tell anyone properly yet what had been happening.

"No one else is seeing it that way," she replied, her eyes full of warmth.

I nodded, emotions threatening to overwhelm me again, but this time full of gratitude. Here was someone who wasn't judging me. Someone who accepted it when I said it was better to be over than to keep fighting.

"Anyone with sense has been seeing the cracks. If this is what you want, I won't tell you not to do it. I am worried about you, though. Rick said you missed the last writing evening, and you've not done much else."

"No," I said as I looked at her again, preparing to lie as naturally as I could. "I needed to get the new little flat organized and get paperwork done, that kind of thing."

"And you really won't tell anyone where it is?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I don't want Greg to know where I am, and if none of you knows, then you can honestly tell him that. It's easier for now. Once it's all over, you can all come over for a little housewarming if you like."

"That sounds more like you."

We slipped into silence, sipping our teas some more before I remembered to ask her how she was doing. She grinned and spent the next ten minutes telling me about the latest comic book she was illustrating, clearly enjoying the process.

Listening to her helped relax me even further. I'd missed this. Missed just chatting to someone about what mattered to them and creating beautiful art.

Eventually, she ran out of things to say, our tea gone but neither of us eager to move. It was good to catch up, and my conscience wasn't completely comfortable with not telling her more about what was going on with my life, but it didn't feel like I could go back to it now.

With the lull in conversation, I took a bathroom break and suggested we get another round.

"Cake this time?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Only if they've got that gorgeous, gluten-free carrot cake," I replied, grateful for a friend who understood.

I wasn't gone long but by the time I came back, Kit had two more teas on the table and a slice of cake each. She was also scrolling through something on her phone, her eyes wide.

As I sat down, I pulled one of the cake plates toward myself, wondering if I should ask what was so interesting, but she soon turned the phone to me.

"When were you going to tell me you hooked up with one of the most amazing men on the planet?"

On her phone was a picture of Jack leading me out of his car and into the restaurant, my fingers entwined in his and his bodyguards at our sides.

I frowned, noticing the headline over it was speculating that we were a thing. We were very much not a thing.

"It was just dinner with his band and groupies. He grabbed my hand to help me through the crowds, I think," I explained.

"So what happened afterward?" she asked.

"He left. The whole band did, and I talked to Alma, Kai's wife, for a while. She was lovely, by the way."

Kit sighed and sat back, but she got the point.

"Really, nothing happened?"

"I've only just separated from Greg, and honestly, I wasn't sure what to make of him. He was…confusing." I shrugged. I didn't have the words to tell her he wasn't someone I was interested in right now, even if he might have been in the past. I didn't need an alpha male in my life. Not until I'd healed and figured out who I was again.

Of course, another set of news reports and all this extra attention was enough to set my phone going again, my mother the first to call me. I hung up on her, not wanting to go through another argument about my life choices, but my agent called again as soon as I'd finished my cake.

I gave Kit an apologetic look and answered.

"When were you going to tell me you'd hooked up with one of the most eligible bachelors in all of history?" my agent demanded.

"We didn't hook up," I immediately protested, rolling my eyes and already aware I was likely to be sick of saying this before I'd managed to convince everyone that nothing had happened.

I spent the next few minutes repeating what I'd told Kit.

"Such a shame. That would have been so good for your career. Might have given you a lot more leverage with this TV series and made it even easier for me to get you a decent movie deal. Hmmm… Promise me you won't publicly deny it just yet?"

I rolled my eyes, already knowing what my agent was thinking. If everyone thought it was true and I hadn't denied it, it might allow a quick deal to go through under the assumption.

"What if he comes out and denies it? Or he's seen with another woman tomorrow? Hell, I don't even know where he is."

"You let me worry about that, sweetheart. Now, if anyone else comes along and takes an interest, don't blow it this time. Give them your number at least, or, I dunno, get in their pants quicker."

"I'm not seducing someone just because it's good for my career," I replied, firm even though he hadn't sounded entirely serious.

"Pity, but either way, I'll work with what I've got now. Photos of you with Jack Starling? I feel like it's Christmas."

He hung up, and I shook my head, not sure whether I wanted to laugh or cry. On the one hand, I was angry at even the idea that I might choose to have a relationship with a person based on how much money they could make me, but equally amused at my agent's delight in me being a big story.

"You've got to admit, there's a certain ring to Juno Starling," Kit said a moment later, grinning, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Stop right there," I replied. "We're not together, and I have no intention of trying to make it happen. I'm grieving a past relationship, and I'm busy making a TV series work."

"Not to mention all those deliciously dark romance novels people are now reading in droves."

"Exactly," I responded. Sales on all of them were up after the pen name had finally been fully outed as me, and there were clamors for me to write more of them. Of course, I'd had another in the planning stage for a while, but no one else had needed to know that.

"Right, I really better get back to work. See you for games and dinner tomorrow?" she asked.

I nodded, already off in my own head, trying to reach for my new characters and get to know them a little better. It was time for both of us to get back to work.