Tension (26 page)

After leaving Greg’s office, they headed north, back to the suburbs.

“How about dinner?” Jesse asked.

“Sure.” Stella wrapped her arms around herself, still reeling from the fact that Jamie was trying to sell a sex tape of them. From college. A sex tape, for crying out loud.

They talked about mundane things while they traveled up 400 and headed toward Roswell. The downtown area was quaint and lined with galleries, bars and restaurants. He pulled into a valet parking area. A young guy opened Jesse’s door and smiled broadly.

“Mr. McIntyre.”

“Hey, Tim,” Jesse said as he got out of the car.

Stella got out and followed Jesse across the street and into a restaurant called Little Alley Steakhouse. The hostess recognized Jesse immediately. If it’s possible, Jesse’s swagger got even more pronounced. The look of the restaurant was industrial, but with leather booths and a full bar lining one wall. There were meat hooks hanging from the ceiling. The employees wore all black. It was all very imposing.

“Mr. McIntyre, I didn’t know you were coming today.” A pretty brunette smiled at him, completely ignoring Stella.

“Last minute thing. You got my table?” It was clear he held sway here. The hostess looked down at a computer screen, then up with a satisfied nod.

“Follow me.” She led them down the side of the restaurant by the bar to a booth. “How have you been? It’s been a while.”

“Well, football season is really busy.” He was smiling, but Stella noticed it was his media smile. He was placating her.

“Oh yeah,” she said and then put the menus down in front of them both. “I know you’ve been here a bunch, so I’ll just let your server go over the specials.”

She sashayed away and Jesse stared at her ass as she walked toward the front of the restaurant.

“Nice,” Stella commented.

“What?” He shrugged. They both laughed at Jesse’s obvious ogling.

They ordered steaks, wine and sides to share. Stella ordered a filet and after she put the first bite in her mouth she moaned. Jesse looked up at her from his food, amused.

“This is fucking awesome.”

“Yep, one of the best steak places around here.”

“So, do you think Greg will be able to stop that video?” She took a bite of the crispy Brussels sprouts. “If not, I’m done. I seriously am done.”

“If anyone can do it, he can,” Jesse said in between bites. “A couple of years ago, I had this bitch coming at me with a kid she said was mine and he made it all disappear. I didn’t have to pay her shit.”

Stella looked at him. “Was it your kid?”

“Hell no.” Jesse shook his head vehemently.

“Well, I can only imagine what George is thinking right now. I haven’t heard from him.”

They finished their meal and Jesse threw some cash down to pay for their dinner. Stella protested, as usual, and he laughed her away. As they began the walk toward the front of the restaurant, Jesse saw three or four photographers out front.

“Shit, we’ve been spotted.” Jesse took her hand in his and guided her out of the restaurant and then helped shield her from the photographers.

She stood close to him, her face in his chest and his arms around her, trying to shield her as best he could. Stella flinched at the sound of the shutters clicking.

#fbibeautyflyingwithfalcon

Stella’s mother forced her to eat dinner with them the next night. Stella was restless. George hadn’t returned any of her calls. She and Jesse both had issued statements, via Greg, denying any relationship other than friendship. Jesse’s statement went further than hers.

“Stella Murphy is a true friend who has endured more in the last four years than most people have in their entire life. I’m saddened that the media continues to pry into her life; it’s hurtful to my friends Stella and George.”

Her father started the conversation she was dreading. “Why did you suddenly need to see an attorney yesterday, Stella?”

“Because someone is trying blackmail me,” she said.

“What do you mean? For what?” her mother asked.

“Okay, maybe not blackmail me. They didn’t ask me for any money.” She fidgeted, looked down and then took a breath.

“Stella, baby, it’s okay. Tell us what’s happening,” her father said.

“This is a conversation that should never happen.” She chewed at her nail on her left ring finger nervously and looked anywhere but at her father. “Jamie filmed us having sex. Someone has it and is trying to sell it,” she blurted out.

Her mother gasped and her father got up and left the room.

“N-nobody has seen it!” she stuttered to her sobbing mother. “The media knows that it exists and I went to see Jesse’s lawyer about preventing them from airing it, selling it, whatever.” Stella was glad her parents weren’t on Twitter because they would have seen all of the soul crushing tweets.
This is so fucking embarrassing, having to talk to my parents about a sex tape.

#fuckyeahfbibeautysextape

#jellysextape

#nakedfbibeauty

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Daddy!” she called. “I’m trying to fix this.”

First, George had to endure watching a sex video Stella sent him of her with someone else. Then he’d been forced to examine the pictures that were all over the Internet with her and Jesse fucking McIntyre leaving a restaurant.
She was going on dates with that motherfucker?

He couldn’t take it; couldn’t take not being able to tell what was really going on, not knowing fact from fiction. The media had a good story; Stella left him for Jesse. The pictures supported the story; she was there, with him. Twitter was blowing up.

#stellaandjesse

#poorgeorge

#stellaisaslut

He kept trying to forget the image of that guy with his hands, lips and dick in Stella. His blood pressure was so high he felt his blood pumping in his eyes. Pulling on pants, a sweatshirt, a hat, and his iPod, George burst through the front door and through the paparazzi that had gathered around his house to get pictures of the recently dumped bartender. He ran south for miles. The houses and businesses going by helped fill his brain so he wouldn’t think about the noises that Stella had made in that video. The music helped him push out the thoughts of how her body reacted to that guy’s touch.

It was the first time George thought he’d finally had enough. He couldn’t do this with her. He’d never be able to look at her again, touch her again. Those noises he thought she made just for him weren’t just for him. He wondered if she made those noises for Jesse
fucking
McIntyre. The pounding of his feet helped drive the doubts from his mind. For now.

Stella took a plane to DC, leaving Cooper with her parents for a few days. Seeing and touching George was necessary right now. She hadn’t heard from him after she sent him the video, other than a few curt replies to her texts. Then the story broke that she’d left him for Jesse; she knew he was boiling mad.

She took a cab and got to his house a little after noon. Opening the door, she sighed, feeling more at home than she had in the last several weeks at her parents’ house. She kicked her shoes off as she walked up the stairs. Noticing there was paper everywhere, she paused. It looked like all the files related to Montana, her medical reports and George’s notes. She looked upstairs and her stomach flipped; she knew this wasn’t going to be a fun conversation.
I hope George hasn’t hit his limit.

“George!” she called as she walked up the stairs to where his bedroom and study were. Stella didn’t call to warn him she was coming and it didn’t look like he was there. She stood in the doorway to his study. He must have just left; his computer was still up, showing a picture of her with her face buried in Jesse’s chest from a couple of days before.
Fuck.

Pulling out her new phone, she called him while she walked back downstairs. No answer; she left him a message and tossed her phone on the bed. Stella hadn’t packed any clothes and was exhausted from worry. She looked around and then decided just to take a bath. She went into the bathroom, peeled off her clothes and started the water. Examining herself in the mirror, she wondered how anyone could find her attractive with all her scars. Although they weren’t as inflamed as they had been, her scars were still red; her chest looked like something out of a horror movie. She piled her hair on top of her head and got into the tub.

George’s texts were incredibly short after the pictures of her and Jesse came out. Stella knew she needed to do some major damage control.
How can I convince him he’s it for me?
With everything that had happened, she didn’t know if she could and she understood if George didn’t believe her.

After what seemed like hours, she walked into the bedroom, crawled under the covers, and closed her eyes.

Stella didn’t know how long she was asleep, but she felt the covers lift and someone get into bed with her. It was after 2:00 am when she glanced at the clock. Her eyes widened; she’d slept for over ten hours. Her arms reached for George, pulling him to her. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear before she kissed him. She caressed his face in the dark, feeling facial hair. “Is that a beard?”

She felt his cheeks lift in a smile. “You like it?” he asked.

“The jury’s out on that one,” she said, turning on the lamp next to the bed. She examined him closer.

After a short kiss, George looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Love, why didn’t you tell me you were coming? How long have you been here?”

“Since noon.”

“Noon?” George asked and rubbed his head and face with his hands. “I’m glad you’re here, but wish you would’ve given me a heads up.”

“Why would you need a heads up?” Stella asked, slightly irritated. “I told you I missed you and I needed to see you. Feel you.” She pulled him closer. She realized he was wearing boxers; he always slept nude. “Why are you wearing these?”

“El, I wasn’t expecting you.” He kissed her jaw line and then pulled her earlobe into his mouth.

“You don’t sleep naked when I’m not here?” she teased.

“It’s not necessary,” he said huskily, pulling off his boxers. In between kisses and caresses, he murmured, “We’re not done talking about this...”

“I know.”

By four in the morning, Stella was ravenous. “You got any food in your house, George?”

He took her in as she walked into the bathroom. “Our house, Love.” He pulled his boxers on and walked to the doorway. “I missed your naked ass parading around
our house
.”

“I’m glad to be missed. I missed parading around naked in front of you. My parents really don’t appreciate it,” she joked, pulling one of George’s t-shirts that was strewn across the counter.

His eyes clouded over at the mention of Atlanta, his face darkening.

“Look, let’s get something to eat, okay? Then we can hash it out. Alright?” She took his hand in both of hers and kissed it. He turned with her and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. “You’re kind of a slob when I’m not around, aren’t you?” she joked, nodding at the slew of papers everywhere.

“I’m working on a follow up to the Montana story, since they apprehended one of the guys.”

Her eyes popped open. “What?!”