“Only because I haven’t been able to keep my eyes off you since we met at the Golden Globes,” I confessed.
“Even when you thought I was with Jasper?” she teased.
“Even then,” I grumbled, my lips turning down in a wry grin. “Which is why I was such a dick to you at first.”
“Well, you’ve more than made up for it since then, so don’t beat yourself up too much over it.”
Genuine people were hard to come by in Hollywood, but Morgan was the most up-front and open person I’d ever met. “And that right there is part of why you ended up with that hickey on your neck. You’re just too damn irresistible.”
“And that brings us back around to the reason you called. The stupid articles going around right now,” she huffed. “I don’t want you to worry about them too much. I can handle this. I swear.”
“I know you can, beautiful,” I reassured her. “But you shouldn’t have to.”
“Maybe not, but it’s part of the life that we lead, and you’re more than worth being harassed by the paparazzi.”
Once again, she didn’t hesitate to put herself out there, strengthening my feelings for her more. “You can’t say stuff like that to me when I’m all the way across the country. It makes it harder to be far away from you.”
“Tell me about it. I’ve missed you so much since I’ve been back.”
We spent the next ten minutes talking about nothing and everything before she needed to take a call from Dane, her agent. Talking with Morgan solidified my decision. I needed to step up and do whatever it took to protect my woman.
I sent a quick text to Shawn, letting him know I was done talking to Morgan. As soon as he returned, I asked, “Can you hunt down the director and producer for me? I need to talk to them asap.”
“Sure, boss. I’ll make sure they’re here before you’re even out of your costume and makeup.” Shawn proved he was worth the ridiculous salary I paid him because he delivered on his promise in under five minutes. Five minutes after that, I did something I’d avoided in all my years as an A-lister in Hollywood—I threw my weight around to get what I wanted.SeventeenMorgan“Morgan! Morgan! Who gave you the hickey?”
“Why were you in Georgia?”
“Did you and Jasper break up, or are you cheating on him?”
“C’mon, Morgan! Give us something!”
At my side, Allie muttered beneath her breath about how she hoped the four paparazzi that had virtually been camped outside of our condo development for days would get horrible diarrhea. I bit my lip to keep a straight face and kept my head down as we hurried to the limo. It was taking us from our house to the Four Seasons hotel to get ready for the Oscars.
Inside the car, I let out a long breath as I rubbed at my temples. “I can’t wait for this to just be over already. They’re relentless because they want to know who I was in Georgia to see. Hopefully, once Gage comes back and we go public, that’ll die down some.”
Allie snorted. “You can’t really think that once they find out that you’ve locked down Gage Ryan, they’ll be less interested in your private life, right?”
I frowned and stopped rubbing at my temples. “True,” I muttered, “but at least he’ll be here, and we’ll handle it together.”
Allie smiled. “More like, he’ll step in and take care of it as much as one can. I think there’s more to be said for dating an older man than just that they know their way around a bedroom.”
I stopped rubbing my temples and let out a laugh. She definitely wasn’t wrong about that.It was a struggle not to gape like a child gaining admittance to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory as I stepped out of the limo and took in the scene before me. The dream I’d held close to my heart for years was coming true. Before me lay the five hundred infamous feet of red carpet all actors wanted to walk. What looked like a thousand people were already on it, spread out all over the place for the gauntlet of press lines and photo staging areas I needed to work before the ceremony began. From behind me, I felt Allie making sure the train of my scarlet-colored dress sat just so before I went any farther.
I glanced down to confirm that the plunging neckline of my gown hadn’t somehow come loose from the tape that kept my breasts from popping out. A relieved breath escaped when I saw that all was as it should be. I wasn’t red carpet roadkill, at least not yet. There were hundreds of feet of carpet to go, though. I knew I wouldn’t get to breathe deeply again until I was inside the Dolby Theatre. As excited as I was, I couldn’t help wishing that Gage were with me to experience it. Granted, he’d walked this particular red carpet more than a dozen times, so it wouldn’t have been a new experience for him, but having him at my side would’ve gone a long way in settling my nerves.