Fake Boyfriend - Miley Maine Page 0,14

out there for just a minute?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.” I wasn’t really good, but I would survive.

Jackson studied me for a second then nodded back. He climbed into the backseat of the car and closed the door. I couldn’t hear anything that he said. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

Now my hands had started to shake.

Within a few minutes, Jackson opened the car door. He left his hand clamped down on the guy’s shoulder. “If you’ll hand me your phone I’ll call 911.”

“I don’t want to call 911,” I said.

Jackson frowned. “You need to call 911.”

“No. Let him go.”

Jackson tried again. “Loren--”

“No. I don’t. I don’t want this in the headlines. My parents aren’t Hollywood celebrities, but certain news sources will be all over this.” Not to mention that my mother and father would lose their minds.

“Okay,” he said. Jackson crawled back into the car, and they stayed inside for another few minutes. Then the guy got out on the other side. After a quick glance back at me, he took off running.

Nausea washed over me. I felt like I was going to throw up.

Jackson opened the passenger’s side door of his Jeep and pushed me into the seat. He picked my purse up off the pavement and stuck it in between the seats. He pulled the bottle of water we’d gotten on the last flight out of his backpack and handed it to me. “Drink this.” He reached around me and turned the Jeep on, and sent a cold blast of air conditioning right into my face.

The very first time I’d tried to travel on my own, I almost got robbed. At gunpoint.

I would have been, had Jackson not shown up.

I could hear my family now. They’d say that I should have been more aware of my surroundings. I should have never traveled alone, when there’s a perfectly good private jet waiting to take me where I want to go. They’d say this was my fault, for not traveling with the security.

Would I have been more aware of my surroundings if I had grown up without guards? Would I have walked alone into an almost-empty car rental carrying a three-thousand dollar purse?

I knew it wasn’t my fault. If it was someone else, I wouldn't blame her, or make her feel like it was her fault for being the victim, but that didn’t change the fact that I still felt like I could have prevented this if I’d just planned ahead better.

Thank God Jackson had shown up. If I’d been here alone, I don’t know how I’d have coped.

Chapter Seven

Jackson

“You need to call the police.” I’d given the little bastard a piece of my mind, and it was highly unlikely he’d try to steal again soon. He was damned lucky that piece of wood hadn’t really been a gun. He’d be on the goddamned ground right now.

Loren had only thought I let her walk away unprotected. But I could tell how distracted she’d been in the airport. It wasn’t safe for anyone to walk around like that, unaware of their own surroundings. So I’d grabbed my checked backpack as quickly as I could, and I’d rushed after her. I’d spotted her in an instant. She was the one at the car rental counter, renting her car in person.

I’d wondered if she didn’t know about the car rental app because of her privileged family, or if she’d wanted to handle the details face to face with a cashier.

I tucked my hands in my pockets. They were trembling more than hers were, and I didn’t want Loren to see.

I’d held it together in front of her, because that’s what she needed. She didn’t need to see me have a breakdown. When I’d seen that jackass move toward her…

He was lucky I didn’t have my gun loaded yet. I would have happily blown a hole through his head if he’d hurt her in any way.

My breath picked up. I closed my eyes, and counted until I was in control again. I was reliving the worst day of my life all over again.

I’d had a little sister once. She was a lot more serious than Loren -- she’d had to be. The only way out of our poky little town in Florida was through good grades and a decent college. But even though she’d never had a fancy camera, she’d loved to take pictures.

She’d been taken from me, from a piece of shit who’d claimed to love her. She’d tried to walk away.