Impossible To Resist (BWWM Romance Book 1)(26)

“Uh, yeah.” Jessica took Jared’s hand and smiled up at him as if remembering she was here for him and not his agent. “Sorry if I was tough on you, Jump. I believe you and I’ll look forward to seeing you in action again. Thanks for seeing me today.”

“Anytime, Jess.” Jared followed her toward the front door and waved as she climbed into the second limo. When she was out of sight, he spun on his agent, forgetting for a moment that they weren’t alone. “What the fuck did you do, Derek?”

“Got your shit going again, Jump,” Derek snapped, his face turned cruel. “You were throwing your life away and I wasn’t going to let that happen. You hired me to look out for your best interests and this is in your best interest. Period.”

“Ambushing me was in my best interest?” Jared yelled. “Seriously? You couldn’t give me a heads up before unleashing the hounds? There wasn’t a better option?”

“Calm down, Jump,” the suit from L.A. chimed in, “you weren’t returning calls and we know it had nothing to do with losing a phone charger.”

“I’ve been working my ass off to get back in shape, I asked for a few more weeks to get into the shape I wanted to be in before returning to L.A. This was a circus.”

“You never complained before,” the suit said blandly.

“I’ve never had to recover from a near-career-ending-injury before,” Jared bit back. “This was an invasion of privacy at best.”

“Yeah, yeah, you can thank me later when you’re back in L.A. with a hot piece of ass on your arm at the club,” Derek replied from behind his phone, again. “Just pack your shit up and we’ll have this place taken care of.”

“I have people I need to say good-bye to. I’ve got plans.” Jared’s temper flared. “This is a bullshit move. You’re both on my shit list and I may not play as nice as you like if you don’t let me at least say good-bye to the people who have been there for me the past few months while you’ve been ignoring me altogether.”

“There just isn’t time,” The suit stuttered, his pinhole eyes disappeared even further behind his tortoise-shell glasses.

“Make the fucking time,” Jared spat. “Make the fucking time or you will regret it, I promise you.”

“Okay, Jump, calm down. How many stops do you have to make?” Derek put his phone down and attempted to charm him.

“At least three,” Jared stated firmly. “And I need at least an hour at each.”

“We can fit in three, an hour at each, but no more,” Derek compromised, “we can’t miss the flight back to L.A.”

“Yeah, we brought the team jet to take you back, Jump,” the suit, bolstered by Derek’s interference, chimed in, “we’re taking you back in style.”

“Great. Yippee-fucking-doo,” Jared muttered and headed for his room. He stopped and turned back to his agent. “And Derek?”

“What’s up, Jump?” Derek didn’t look at him.

“You’re a douche rocket.” Jared didn’t wait for the reaction, just stalked back to his room to pack.





Chapter7

“Thanks for everything, Marie. I mean it. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Jared hugged his surrogate mother tightly. “Please come visit me soon. I’ll pay for the tickets and you can all stay with me, okay?”

“Sure, Jay.” Rick nodded. “Let us know when and we’ll be there.”

“You bet, Jay.” Marie wiped at her eyes. “It’s been an honor and a pleasure having you around these past few months.”

“I am so grateful to all of you.” Jared felt like he was gushing but there were no words to convey his gratitude to this family for taking him in. The horn blared outside indicating his hour was up. “I’m sorry, I had no idea this was happening so fast. I really have to go.”

“Take care of yourself, Jay.” Rick extended his hand and shook Jared’s firmly.

“You too, Rick.” Jared bobbed his head and walked out.

He hated missing the rest of the family but Marie and Rick assured him they would understand. Jared got the feeling that none of them expected to see him again at all and that left him feeling uneasy. He walked slowly back to the limo, dreading the next stop. The rec center had been easier than he imagined, Rick and Marie tougher than he thought, but nothing could make his last stop anything but painful.

“Where to next?” the driver called back. Derek and the PR suit from the team were already at the airport so it was just Jared, the straight-laced limo driver, and the security detail.

“Amherst Hospital.” Jared slid into the limo where the security detail nodded approvingly. “What? It’s not like you all are giving me much choice.”

“It’s not like that, Jump.” The driver did all the talking.

Neither of the security guys seemed to have a voice, just nods and shakes of the head. They were all huge, built like linemen and probably with more than a little experience hitting other men. Hell, the driver was most likely part of the security package. Derek and the team clearly weren’t willing to risk him running.

“Listen, I only took a half hour at the rec center and a half hour with Rick, can I have two hours at the hospital? These people did a lot for me and I want to make sure they know how much they mean to me.” So Jared lied, a little bit, more stretching the truth really. “I will still get to the airport on time.”