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The doorbell rang, and we both ignored it. Annoying paparazzi.
Commotion on the front lawn was louder than usual, and the doorbell rang again quickly, followed by a feverish knocking.
“They’re getting so much more persistent,” Charlie said.
The master bedroom door shut hard, and Liam called out, stomping toward the front of the house. “I’ve hadenoughof this.”
I cringed. It was my fault.
Charlie squeezed my arm. “Don’t stress about it, okay?” She licked her peanut butter. “So listen, I need to talk to you about the premiere next week.”
I sat up a little taller on the stool and took a bite of my cereal. “What about it? You and Liam are going, right?”
She looked guilty. “That was the plan, but I wondered if we shouldn’t go after everything that’s gone down.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want you to skip it for me. You know I’m not that bitter.”
“Okay.” She watched me, looking uneasy. “I figured, but I wanted to check. I think Liam’s looking forward to it.”
“Liam is looking forward to an event?” I asked, surprised.
“More like looking forward to seeing friends. A lot of people will come up to San Francisco for the premiere.”
I took another bite so I wouldn’t be able to say anything snarky. I was pretty sure thefriendsshe was referring to was Rhett.
The front door closed. “That took a while,” Charlie said. “I wish the police could make them leave.”
I picked up my bowl to drink the sugary milk. A man walked through the doorway into the kitchen and caught me by surprise. I spit the milk out and dropped the bowl on the counter. My spray covered everything.
“Rhett? What are you doing here?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I hopped down from thebar stool and fetched a rag, running it under the faucet. I focused on the milk-covered island, cleaning up the sticky mess so I wouldn’t be forced to address the movie star standing behind me.
Charlie grabbed her banana and the jar of peanut butter and started to walk out of the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
She looked at me over her shoulder with raised eyebrows. “To give you privacy.” She smiled at Rhett. “Good to see you again.”
His mouth tipped in a little smile. “It’s good to see you too. You look great.”
She did kind of a weird curtsy thing and left the room. I was about 80 percent positive she planned to double dip that spoon in the peanut butter, but pregnant women could be forgiven for doing weird things. The curtsy included.
I rinsed my dirty rag and kept mopping up milk, ignoring the man standing behind me. I could feel his presence like rays of actual sunlight emanated from his body. What was wrong with me? I was supposed to be mad, not appreciating him.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
I gestured for him to begin, but I couldn’t meet his eyes. “Go ahead. I need to clean up this mortifying mess.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“How about you spit milk all over the place when you see me for the first time after almost two weeks and then tell me how it feels.”
He cringed. “Yeah, okay. I get it.”
I went over the same spot on the counter again and then rinsed the rag to do it a third time. I couldn’t stop. If I did, I would have to face him.
