Jada took the unintentional lifeline. “Yeah, I wanted to do something low-key while everything died down, and he suggested I come work here. I was going a little stir-crazy being cooped up in my condo. Isn’t he the greatest?” She turned her back on Tamara and pleaded with him with her eyes. Please go along with this. Please. I’ll owe you forever and ever.
“You own this place, right? And play for the Knights?” Tamara asked.
“Yes,” he answered, his voice short and clipped. He was suspicious and wasn’t giving any more info than was required. Her shoulders relaxed marginally. At least he hadn’t decided to sell her out. Not yet anyway. A muscle in his hard jaw was ticking at a steady, angry rate.
Tamara looked at her with new respect. “Girl, if this is who you were coming home to, I wouldn’t have said yes either. I can see why he was on your mind when you were on the show.”
“Jada,” Donovan warned.
“What can I say? I’m a lucky girl,” Jada said. She had to get this Tamara person out of here before Donovan blew a gasket. His whole body, pressed against hers, was vibrating with suppressed tension. His fingers pressed hard into her waist, anchoring her to his side. He sensed she might make a run for it, and he wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Some of your luck has rubbed off on me. I’m so going viral. I’ve got to go write this story and upload the video before anyone else can. Thank you for the scoop!” And just like that, Hurricane Vampire Tamara was gone. Jada’s shoulders sagged in utter relief.
“Jada. My office. Right now.” Donovan’s tone—stern, angry, furious—immediately sent her shoulders skyrocketing up to her ears again. Uh-oh. So much for thinking she’d survived the storm. He turned on his heel. She wanted to stick her tongue out at him, but she had no right. Not after what she’d done. But she shuffled along as slowly as she could in her cool new Crocs. They made an absurd squeaky noise against the hard floor. Squeak, squeak.
“Now, Jada.”
Yeah, Stern Principal was back. She took a deep breath and lengthened her stride a tad, but he didn’t bark any more orders.
“What the hell was that?” he asked as soon as the door clicked shut behind her. At least he didn’t yell. But he didn’t have to. Clearly, he was used to people answering any question he had. The quiet command in his tone, his unflinching focus on her were just as effective. Probably more so.
She opened her mouth to answer. “I … well … it’s just…”
“Speak, Jada.” Yeah, he was tired of her crap.
“Have you ever heard of My One and Only?”
His eyes flashed. “No.” He inclined his head. Continue.
“It’s a reality show.”
“And?”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. “And it’s one of the most popular reality shows in the country. It’s a dating show. I was on it. I made it to the end, but I declined the proposal.”
“Get to the part that ends with you kissing me and declaring me your boyfriend.” He hissed the entire sentence, which was kind of impressive, considering there weren’t a ton of s’s in the sentence. He was still pissed, in other words.
Jada swallowed. “Right. I’m almost there. When I declined the proposal, I said the reason I did was because I was missing somebody at home.”
“And?” he asked, his exasperation clear.
“That person doesn’t really exist.”
“So?”
Jada lowered her eyes, then raised them. She’d gotten herself in this mess. She had to own up to it. “Look. I’ve become a villain.”
“A villain? After you were on a silly reality show?”
“Yeah, the internet hates me.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. People actually give a shit about what happens on reality shows?”
She shrugged. “I mean sports are the biggest reality shows out there, so yeah.”
“Jada.” The thunderous look on his face would have been hilarious if they weren’t talking about her life.
“Right. Back to the point. No, I’m not kidding. You can check my social media pages. I stopped a while ago. The hate is real.”
“Because you turned down a marriage proposal on some ridiculous TV show? People still watch TV?”
“Yeah. And they stream. Which extends the time people can get worked up and want to express their very important opinions on a variety of social media platforms, which then catch the attention of media outlets, who report on it, extending the life of the scandal.”