Read Online Reservation (Preservation Series) by Rachael Wade - Free Book Online Page B

shoulders slumped, like an overgrown toddler. “I’ll tell you the same thing I just told Dean. I don’t see why Carter would listen to anything I have to say. Of all people, I would think he would listen to you.”
    The man’s voice I heard moments before reappeared, interrupting Kate’s response, mumbling something about another drink.
    I stiffened.
    “Kate.”
    She thanked him quietly. “I’m here, sorry.”
    “Don’t tell me you’re accepting drinks from complete strangers.”
    “Will isn’t a complete stranger.”
    So, mystery man had a name. And he was buying my girl drinks on the other side of the globe.
    My voice went cold. “Mark wasn’t, either.”
    Kate’s voice turned just as icy. “Don’t you dare go there.”
    “I don’t care who the fuck he is, I don’t want him buying you anything , let alone alcohol. How can you even accept a drink again from someone after what happened to you? I’m not there, damn it. I’m not there to watch out for you.”
    “I can take care of myself—and before you even object to that, I knew damn well what I was doing the night I went to the gala. I chose to go. Everything that happened fell on me because I chose to go. Regardless of the outcome, I was taking care of myself that night by standing my ground and doing what I thought was right for my career. I wasn’t a damsel in distress needing someone to barge in and rescue me. People make their choices and then they live with them. I wasn’t being careless then, and I’m not being careless now. Just out with some friends. I have to be in bed by 11 o’clock anyway for work tomorrow morning.”
    I spoke calmer, knowing she had a point. The last thing she needed was me trying to place any blame on her for what went down at the gala. No matter how careful she was that night, those assholes would’ve done what they did. It wasn’t her fault. “Well I’m glad I did.”
    “Glad you did what?”
    “Barge in.”
    Her anger melted into the phone, and in a split second, her voice resumed its soothing tone. “I am, too. Look, I don’t want to fight. I just can’t stand you worrying about me. It does you no good, not when you’re across the world and unable to do a thing about it. To answer your question about Carter, I don’t know what to tell you to say to him, but I just know he’ll listen to you. I’m too close to him, and so is Dean. You’ve become a good friend of his, but you’re removed from him in a way that we aren’t. Please just try and talk some sense into him.”
    “I’ll do what I can, but I doubt it’ll do much good.”
    “Thank you. Hey, I better get back inside. Talk to you tomorrow? I promise we’ll catch up. Text me and let me know what happens with Carter.”
    “Yeah, okay. Talk to you then. Just...be safe, please?”
    “I will.”
    We hung up and I promised Dean I’d talk to Carter tonight after their show, which I wouldn’t be going to until after I got some work done here at home. Papers needed grading, I needed to speak with Danny about how to answer certain questions for my first interview, and I needed to fit in a swim before the end of the day before the stress ate me alive. We said our goodbyes and I saw him out, feeling like I could already pass out and call it a day, only it was lunch time, and the day was far from over.

4. PRESSURE
    My first TV appearance on Friday went surprisingly smoothly, but nothing could have prepared me for the circus surrounding the event. Local reporters, media hounds from all corners of the U.S., and even paparazzi bombarded my every move from the moment I arrived at the studio until the second I was rushed into the cab to leave.
    In the short span of a week since I’d returned from St. Lucia, I’d entered another world—one that left me dizzy, stunned, and most of all, missing Kate. Bouncing between the real world, where I was just an everyday guy teaching classes at a university, and the celebrity world, where people waited on me