“A little.”
“The gossip mill went crazy, and it got out that I, supposedly, threw a glass at my girlfriend. I didn’t. I have never done anything like that before. And I’d never do anything to hurt Kennedy. She yelled at me. I yelled back. We both regret it, but there are people out there who are trying to make their money off our lives by saying that Kennedy was about to hit me, which, again, didn’t happen because she’d never do that.”
“I didn’t hear any of that. Admittedly, I don’t pay much attention to celebrity gossip. I scroll past a lot of it.”
“You should. It’s mostly all shit anyway. Yet, no one wants to hire us right now because they don’t want the scandal. Today, I heard from someone that they can’t hire me on a TV show I would’ve been perfect for because if either of us were a guy, they would’ve gotten so much shit for putting us on their show right now, and they want to treat us all equally. It’s a big pile of crap. They’re only worried that Kennedy will show up and yell again, causing drama on their set.”
“What was she yelling at you about, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Oh. Some woman was flirting with me. I wasn’t flirting back, but Ken had had a bad day, night, or maybe week; I don’t know.” Cameron sighed and dug her feet a bit deeper into the sand. “She yelled and pointed. I told her that nothing had happened. A glass fell. It was honestly just a normal fight that any couple in the world could have, but it’s caused some issues. We both love what we do. We were both at the top of our careers, and then, this happened. Now, no one will even hire us for indiefilms in production this summer. We might still be able to find things for the fall or winter, but we’re both workaholics. We take breaks between projects, but never for too long. And when we’re bored, we–” She’d been about to tell a near stranger that when she and Kennedy were bored, they fought more, and that was why she wasn’t too keen on them taking a long trip to Italy as per Kennedy’s suggestion. “We get restless,” she said instead.
“What are you going to do?” Lacey asked.
Cameron didn’t want to tell her that they werealreadydoing it, that this whole weekend was part of their reputation rehabilitation tour. Lacey didn’t deserve to be dragged into this whole thing, but Jessie would’ve hated for her to tell this woman the truth.
“Jessie is on it. She’s working on a plan with our agent. This… double date thing was already in the works with the charity when it happened,” she lied. “So, we wanted to make sure we followed through with it. Kennedy and I have both been to the hospital to visit kids sick with cancer, and while I think they would’ve been much more excited if either of us were a Jonas brother or whoever is popular right now, we always have such a good time with them and try to leave them smiling if we can.”
“You and Kennedy seem like good people,” Lacey replied.
“You are too. You donated a lot of money. It all goes to them,” she said.
“Yeah… That wasn’t exactly selfless on my part,” Lacey shared.
“What do you mean?”
“Cam!”
Cameron turned quickly and found a very angry-looking publicist standing there in the open doorway.
“What?”
“What are you two doing out here? And why is the cameraman sitting on the couch in there, drinking water?”
“He wanted to sit down and have a drink?”
“He’s supposed to have that camera aimed at you two, and he has a union break after dinner.”
“Jessie, did you need something?” Cameron asked.
“Yes. River and Kennedy are on their way to check out the downstairs. I’d like you both to be inside to meet them and, you know, have the double date Lacey and River were promised as part of their prize package.”
“Right.” Cameron turned back to Lacey. “Pick this up later, maybe?”
Lacey nodded and gave her a small smile.
CHAPTER 14
Kennedy
“Please tell me you make more than just beer-flavored fudge. Have you tried it with a spirit, too?” Kennedy asked.
“A few times, but I don’t make it for the shop because the alcohol doesn’t always cook out.”
“I thought it did.”
“It depends on the other ingredients in a recipe, time it’s cooked, temperature, and other stuff like that, but since I’ve got kids in the shop, I’m careful. Besides, they buy the regular stuff anyway. I make it fresh every day, but I can’t keep it out front. It usually sells out before we close, and I mainly make it for orders, like for parties or events. I’ve made rum fudge more than any other kind. People seem to really like that.”
Kennedy took another bite of the coffee-almond fudge that River had offered her. They were sitting on the floor of the bedroom that River and Lacey would be sleeping in that night, which had been River’s genius idea because the cameras weren’t allowed in here unless they had their permission, and neither she nor River had given it to them. Kennedy was grateful because, as comfortable as she was around cameras, that didn’t mean she wanted them around all the time.
