Finally, he rolls to the side, pulling me with him. “Thank you for such an amazing wakeup.”
I press kisses to his sweaty chest and nuzzle against his chin. One thought keeps repeating in my mind. I don’t want to leave him.
Chapter Four
Mallory
“I hate that I’m always leaving you.” I curl my fingers into Chaser’s jacket, trying to dislodge the awful feelings tearing me apart as I’m about to board my plane back to L.A.
He presses his lips to my forehead and inhales deeply. “I do too.”
I pull away and slowly lift my gaze to his. “Tell me we’ll get through this. I want…I like being on the show. It’s why I came Hollywood.” I wouldn’t be able to admit this next part if he didn’t look as broken as I feel. “But I want you more.”
“Mallory.” He brushes my hair off my cheek. “I’ve wanted this, where the band’s headed, since I was twelve.”
I swallow hard, willing my chin not to tremble.
“But I want you more too.”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know, little dove.”
“I want this for you too. I’m so proud of you, Chaser. I’m not trying to say I want you back in L.A. just to…I don’t know…”
His mouth curls into a gentle smile. “Be your bodyguard?”
“Maybe.”
“I want your success too, you know. Every week when I see you on television…” he pats his chest, “…I’m so fucking proud of you.”
Still, I can’t let go.
“You’re coming to the New York show,” he reminds me. “We’ll have some time off to spend together after that.”
“I’m worried about you too,” I admit. This latest episode has done nothing to alleviate my existing fears.
“I’ll be fine. This might have been the wake-up call the guys needed.”
My mouth twists down but I don’t want to contradict Chaser’s optimism. He knows his band better than I do. Maybe Jacob’s near-death experience will be the cure for his addictions.
Time ticks down way too fast. I squeeze my eyes shut and kiss Chaser one last time before boarding the plane.
The flight seems to take forever. I try to sleep but every time I wake we’re still in the air.
Finally, the pilot announces we’re touching down in Los Angeles.
My car’s where I left it mere days ago. The thought of going to our empty home hurts too much, so I drive to Marilyn’s office instead.
“Mallory!” She stands to greet me. “Funny you showed up now. I was just on the phone talking about you.”
“I hope that’s good news?”
“Yes, yes. I have a PR lady on the story about you and Chaser. That’s a non-issue. I saw Andrew made a public statement.”
I nod politely but I hadn’t been that concerned about bad publicity from the incident. “Did you have something else you wanted to tell me about?”
“Yes!” She slaps her desk and grabs a folder. “How do you feel about Jazzercise?”
“What?”
“You as the star of your own celebrity fitness video.”
Confusion leaves me shaking my head. “Celebrity fitness? Me? Why?”
“You’re young, pretty, in good shape, and it’s lucrative.”
“But I don’t know anything about fitness videos.”
“Then it’ll be like any other acting job.” She waves her hand at me. “With some choreography thrown in.”
“When?”
“They’ll work it around your Shallow End schedule. A couple days to get the choreography down and two days max to film the whole thing.”
“This is legit?”
She leans over, opens a drawer, and tosses a few VHS tapes on the desk, one-by-one. “Jane Fonda, Raquel Welch, Olivia Newton-John, Alyssa Milano—all legit actresses who have fitness videos. It’s an honor to be asked, Mallory. Another revenue stream.”
Nightmares of bopping around in bright-colored spandex, striped leggings, layers of colorful socks, and terrycloth headbands assault my brain. “Okay,” I answer slowly. “If you think it’s a good idea, I’ll consider it.”
By the way she works her jaw from side-to-side, she must have expected me to immediately accept the job with effusive gratitude. But it seems like such a strange job I want to talk to someone else about it before I agree.
It’s probably not a good sign that I don’t trust my agent’s advice.
“This could be very lucrative, Mallory. The Jane Fonda Workout alone has sold almost a million copies.”
“I said I’ll think about it.”
“We want to do it soon. Capitalize off your Video Vixen win.”
Ah, the ‘Candy Jar’ video just keeps on giving.
As I leave her office, I consider who the heck to ask for advice. Pamela? No, she’d probably make fun of me, then try to steal the offer behind my back.