THE HOT lawyer's

Part 23

Lisa

I was reading the Celebrity Alert again when the gate outside my driveway began to open, the monitor in the kitchen showing Ten's car driving through.

He'd asked me to go out with him tonight, and I'd chosen sleep. I could only assume he'd ended up at the same club Jennie was at and that she was the passenger in his front seat.

I met her at the door, holding it open enough for her to slip inside, and I waved at Ten as he reversed out of my driveway. Once I locked up, she was sitting on my couch in the same dress that had appeared in the photos. Her hair wasn't as wild as it had looked in the shots, her skin not as flushed.

She didn't have any lipstick on.

"Do you want some water?"

She nodded, and I went into the kitchen, grabbing two bottles that I brought into the living room, handing her one. I took the blanket off the back of the couch and spread it over her.

"Tell me what happened."

Photographers manipulated their shots before they sold them to online outlets. Responses and situations were almost always taken out of context. I knew because these were things I fixed for a living, suing photographers and media sources when I could prove fraud.

Before my hands went anywhere near Jennie, I needed to get to the bottom of this.

And I needed to hear it in her words.

Her knees were pressed against her chest, arms wrapped around them; she looked even smaller than she already was. "I've never experienced anything like that before." She put her head down, and when she finally looked up again, I saw the emotion. "The lights, the screaming, all the rushing around me. It felt like I was being attacked."

I sat beside her, resting my fingers on the back of her neck, feeling the heat on her skin. "It can get intense, I know."

"It all started when Kai approached me in the VIP area," she began, and she went on to explain how he'd led her into the restroom to ask her out on a date. She described their conversation, how he'd come on to her and the way he had touched her face. She even told me the excuse she had given him and how he'd programmed his number in her phone.

She put down her water. "I mean, God, there were hundreds of other stunning women there tonight. Celebrities. Industry peeps. I didn't think he'd be interested in me."

It blew my mind that she had no idea how beautiful she was. That she didn't believe a cocky son of a bitch like Kim Jongin could want her.

But it wasn't the right time to tell her this.

"I don't like him—you need to know that, Lisa. I'm never even going to call him." She opened her bag and took out her phone, showing me his number. "See, I'm deleting his info right now." She tossed her cell against the couch, her eyes taking in mine. "Photoshop is what I know best, and I can promise you with everything I have that those shots were edited. I wasn't even wearing pink lipstick tonight."

I believed her.

Not a single part of this story surprised me in any way. This was Hollywood; these were the things that happened to make money and sell stories and gain popularity.

But there was one thing that needed clarification. "Why did you call me?"

She released a long exhale, her legs dropping from her chest, her hands folding on her lap. "When that happened, all I wanted was your voice. Your protection. Your arms around me." She ran her hand through her hair. "Then, you seeing that alert and thinking I would do that, that I would so easily be with someone else when I had all these feelings for you, was something I couldn't handle."