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I patted myself figuratively on the back and went for the craft services table, selecting a sandwich and a bottle of water.
I found Adalyn tapping on her phone in the corner of the room. “Want to watch the show from the green room?” I asked.
“Yes.” She followed me down the hall, and we made ourselves comfortable on a literally green couch. I picked up the remote and raised the volume on the TV. Rhett entered the studio on screen to the sound of many excited audience members, and my stomach swooped. Jimmy Fallon welcomed him, smiling like he had something excellent brewing.
It was hard to pay attention to the show with Bridget’s warning pecking at me. I couldn’t figure out if the swirling in my stomach was a residual of my food poisoning or if I was now seeing Rhett in a different limelight. The cameras panned the exuberant audience after a commercial break, then cut to Rhett smiling on the couch.
Jimmy started questioning him about his upcoming movie,All Aboard, and working with Sunny Nash on the project.
“We’ve recently learned you halted production to attend a wedding during the middle of filming,” Jimmy said. “How was that?”
A flutter of something passed over Rhett’s face, but he covered it quickly.
Adalyn gasped quietly and sat forward on the sofa.
“I thought I was here to talk about myself?” Rhett said, grinning. His smile was wide and relaxed. I would have thought it was real if it wasn’t for Adalyn’s reaction to the question. Great. Was I completely inept at determining when Rhett was real and when he was faking it?
Jimmy laughed. “We are! Did it throw a wrench in filming?”
“Well, the entire filming experience was great. Sunny is a perfect costar, and I would film again with her anytime.”
“What about Karina Bier?”
“If she moved from the music industry over to films, I’d be happy to work with her too.”
Jimmy picked up a large, black card on his desk and flipped it over to reveal the photo of Rhett with Karina at the fundraiser back when we were in New York. “It looks like you’ve already been spending time with her again.”
If Rhett was growing annoyed, he was doing a remarkable job of hiding it. He looked simply amused. “Karina is a good friend of mine.”
Jimmy flipped the card to show a shot of Rhett laughing with Sunny Nash during theBreakfast with Julianainterview. “Sunny’s also a good friend?”
“She is. I’m blessed to know her.”
He flipped the card again to show an image of Rhett walking on the beach in Miami, holding a woman’s hand—myhand.
I sucked in a breath.
Adalyn gasped again.
On screen, Rhett completely froze.
We were pictured from the back, so as long as Rhett didn’t reveal my identity, we were safe.
Adalyn looked at me sharply. “That’s you.”
So it wasn’t acompletesecret. But Adalyn had already proven that she was good at protecting confidential information. The novel-sized NDA we all signed probably had something to do with that.
“Jimmy Fallon can’t possibly know that, though,” I muttered.
“Where is that? Miami?”
I made a noncommittal sound, my eyes superglued to the screen.
“You just love surprising me, don’t you?” Rhett asked, laughing hard like he’d been caught in a hilarious position and not at all like he wanted this to stay a secret. I couldn’t tell what direction he was planning to spin this, but he’d clearly slipped into a role. He was acting, and now it was pretty obvious.
Jimmy Fallon laughed. “I guess I do.” He continued to hold the picture up, and the camera zoomed in on it. It was grainy and dark, but Rhett’s face was turned enough to identify him.
“Which is why this surprise,” Jimmy continued, “doesn’t end here. How would you feel if we had all three women—”
