Page 107 of The Encounter
Haley laughed and nodded. “We’ve got it. Go get her back.”
Seth threw an arm around Haley and another around Kayla. “Yeah, we’ve got it.”
Haley threw Seth a dirty look and shoved his arm off her. Kayla only giggled. Jace would have laughed if he hadn’t been so focused on his plan. Instead, he turned and jogged out of the room.
34
Jace texted Samantha—something he hoped he’d never do again. But he knew this would be the last time and then, hopefully, everything would be right in the world. He didn’t want to play dirty, so attempting one last friendly cease-fire seemed to be the best option.
Meet me at the café in ten minutes.
The café had been their old stomping grounds growing up. And they had understood it in their friendship that if one of them asked the other to meet at the café, it was serious business.
Be there soon, was her reply.
He sat at a window booth in the corner with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. The last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself when he was meeting an old love interest, especially when reporters had been harassing him even more since the story broke about Maddie’s past with a married man. Despite him no longer being with Maddie, he didn’t need any other tabloids to jump in on the game of throwing chaos into his life.
Samantha stepped into the café and glanced around before her gaze zeroed in on Jace. A bright smile plastered to her face as she walked toward him and scooted into the seat across from him.
“It surprised me to hear from you. Dump Maddie already?” Her tone was cocky, as if she knew anything about his life. They hadn’t been friends in years, and she wasn’t about to slide right back into his life that easily. Even if he and Maddie weren’t together, Samantha had proven herself to be a vindictive person he had no desire to associate with after today. This would be the last time he would ever talk to her.
“I want you to back off of Maddie. No more articles about her. No more articles about my relationship with her. Nothing.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Little girl can’t take some heat?”
“If you ever cared for me, you’ll stop this. You attempting to hurt her only hurts me.”
Something flickered in her eyes that he couldn’t quite read, but she quickly recovered and leaned her elbows on the table. “You know I’m known for posting on the local celebrities. If I can’t write about you, what would I write about?”
“You can write whatever you want about me. I’m asking for you to not write about her.”
He knew that Samantha rarely had anything negative to say about him. It was only when he dated other women that things became negative. However, she had never taken it to the level she had with Maddie.
She leaned back and tapped her long manicured fingers on the table as if she were thinking.
“I’m sorry, Jace. You know I can’t make that agreement.”
He nodded. “I suspected you would say that. I didn’t want to do this, but I guess you leave me no choice. Goodbye Samantha.”
“What do you plan to do?” She hadn’t seemed concerned; more curious than anything.
He only smiled and left her sitting in the booth as he walked back out onto the street and got into his car.
Seth’s words rang inside his head.Take that bitch down!
The building smelled like newspaper.Celebrity Status had resided here for as long as Jace could remember. Their newspaper presses ran most of the day, printing all their papers along with all the local newspapers.
He took a deep breath and scrunched his nose. It was never a smell he particularly enjoyed, yet every time he stepped foot in the building, he had to take a deep breath.
After walking up to the front desk, he signed in and got a visitor badge before going over to the bank of elevators on the far side of the lobby. He half expected to see Samantha charging in there to see what he was up to, but she had yet to arrive. For all he knew, she laughed at his mild threat and ignored it, thinking he would do nothing to jeopardize her career.
When the elevator slid open, he allowed the people inside to step out before stepping in and hitting the button for the top floor. The elevator music was outdated, but he suspected no one truly cared. The ride to the top floor was quick.
As he stepped out onto the landing, the receptionist at the front desk smiled warmly at him.
“Hello, Mr. Locke. Are you here to see Dave?”
“Hi Marla. It’s good to see you again. Yes, I am, but he’s not expecting me. I hope it’s not a problem.”
