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Can Derek Dashwood rehab his image? Beneath it, in bold, it said, Actor checked himself into rehab for mental health crisis.
Obviously, it was an online tabloid.
I glanced at Luke, then back at the article, which next showed a photo of Luke in a tuxedo standing beside a dark-haired woman. She had sleek black hair and more curves than a dangerous mountain road.
“This is you.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“It says you’re in rehab. I don’t understand.”
“Do you recognize the woman in the photo?”
I took another peek. “No.”
“Of course, you don’t.” He sighed. “Right, well, that’s Lacey Anderson. I work with her. She’s an actress on NYC ER. She says we’re dating, which everyone believes, but we’re not.”
“The girls mentioned her last night.”
“Since I came here instead of being in LA right now, she told the tabloids I’m in rehab.”
“What? Why?”
“Because she doesn’t want to be rejected and this is juicy gossip, and it keeps her in the headlines.”
“By lying?”
“I’m sure the words supposedly and purported and sources say are in the article. That means they don’t have to be the least bit accurate because it’s not fact.”
I licked my dry lips and suddenly felt really nauseated, and not from the wine. “I don’t understand. Are you dating her?”
He shook his head. “No. NO,” he said, very clearly. “On the show, we’ve slept together. The characters, Shep and Amy. The scene when edited is racy looking but really, there are like thirty people hovering around the set while I’m in bed in shorts and Lacey’s wrapped in a sheet. She’s got a strapless bikini-thing on beneath. Sure, we kiss and roll around, but it’s fake. Really fake.”
“Like her boobs?” I asked.
That made him smile. “Exactly. The tabloids played up that maybe we were dating in real life because our characters in the show are. But it’s not true. I don’t even like her. She’s difficult on set, catty, annoying.”
“Then why are you photographed together?”
He pointed to his cell in my hand. “That was taken at an awards dinner last month. What you don’t see is the other members of the cast standing with us. It was cropped. If you go to a different site that covered the event, you’ll probably find the full photo. I’ve never been out with her one-on-one, or even worse, as a couple.”
I ran a hand over my hair, pushed it out of my face.
“Can’t you just post a photo of yourself from Hunter Valley and say you’re not in rehab?”
He shrugged. “Yes, I could, but that doesn’t solve her saying we’re dating. Who knows what Lacey will counter with. I need a girlfriend to replace Lacey, not that she ever was my girlfriend.”
He actually shuddered.
“I need to share that I’m with someone new, someone special, to knock Lacey out of all this. The tabloids will have to let go of the rehab concept–and I only showed you one article out of many–and Lacey will have to find her fifteen minutes of fame with someone else.”
“Why now? You said you didn’t like all that insanity.”
“I don’t. But I told you about that movie part. They want me as the lead. I have a screen test next week. This is a big deal for me, and I can hopefully break out of the Shep Barnes persona.”
If the way Mallory behaved at yoga was any indication to how people acted around him, then I could see why he wanted to work on other projects.
“You don’t want to be Dr. Dark and Dangerous any longer?”
