Rock Star's Girl (A Hollywood Dating Story #1) - Jennifer Farwell Page 0,75

some sleep. It’s been a long week.”

He tilted her chin upward with his fingers. “Call me tomorrow?” he whispered, his face just inches from hers.

“Mmm-hmm,” she agreed, hoping she sounded convincing. “I think we have an audience,” she reminded him, taking a step backward. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

She weaved through the rows of fans who were waiting to talk to him and to have him sign autographs. He waved at her when she got to the back of the room. She waved back, then opened the door to the lobby of the Hotel Café, where she headed straight for the door.

“Emily,” a voice said. She whirled around to see Jesse following her out of the bar.

Of course he was here, she thought. Even if he hadn’t known she would come out to see Cory tonight, he must have been betting on being spotted at this show, trying his best to get into the entertainment headlines for yet another day.

“For real?” was all he said to her when she stopped. His lips were pressed together in a hard line.

She nodded, not wanting to let on that everything he’d just seen from her had been an act.

Jesse blew a strand of hair out from in front of his face. “After all that, it’s that easy for him to win you back?”

Emily couldn’t be sure if the look on Jesse’s face was disgust or fear, prompted by him realizing that he was about to become irrelevant in the entertainment world.

“He’ll just use you again, you know,” he continued. “Give it a week, and he’ll be back to chasing his ex-girlfriend.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a woman holding up her phone. It appeared to be pointed in their direction, and Emily prayed the woman was filming her and Jesse and had plans to send any video she captured straight to the entertainment media.

“That’s probably no worse than you using me to get your own fifteen minutes of fame, right?” Emily asked, making sure her voice was loud enough to be captured on video. She inched closer to the woman holding the phone.

Jesse took a step forward when she did. “I thought we’d been over this,” he said. “I had nothing to do with us being tailed by photographers. That was entirely Bailey.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been thinking about it,” she told him. “You seem a little too comfortable with the spotlight and with letting Bailey off the hook for that. I’ve been trying to get over it, for the sake of remaining friends, but I can’t. I don’t think that’s something I can deal with.”

He smirked, and she saw a small vein twitch at his temple. “What would you do?” he asked. “It’s not like I’m getting any younger. You know this is my last shot at my dream. When you do something out of love and an opportunity falls into your lap, you have to run with it.”

She shrugged. “That doesn’t make it right for you to egg it along.”

He took another step closer to her. “What do you want me to do? At the end of the day, I have to know that I’ve done everything I can do to make my career a success. This is more than just me counting on it. I have three other guys I share a house with who have given up lives, jobs, and relationships in New York City to follow this dream and see it through.”

“How important would you say all of this is to you?” she asked, taking another step closer to the woman holding the phone.

“The most important thing in the world. My career and succeeding in this industry means everything to me. It always has.”

Emily looked down for a moment, studying the pavement. Finally, she raised her head again and nodded.

“Then that’s your choice.”

Jesse’s eyes widened. “Em, please. I’ve asked you before and I’ll ask you again. Don’t make me choose.”

“I’m not giving you an ultimatum. Your choice was made long before you and I even became friends. So I’m setting you free to head down that road. I just can’t go there with you.”

She turned on her heel and began walking down the sidewalk. She heard Jesse’s footsteps following her.

“Don’t,” she warned him. His footsteps stopped.

“You’re just going to leave like this and walk away?” he called after her.

“Yes, I am.”

“Can we talk about this?” he asked.

“I have a lot to think about before I’ll have anything else to say.” She turned her head to look