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She sprinted back to the house with Tugger chugging along beside her, and fired up her laptop. She spent the next three hours bringing her love story to its conclusion and crying copious tears. She was glad she could give her characters their happily ever after, but she was wishing she hadn’t been denied her own.
~ ~ ~
Reece sat at the table, smiling, chatting, signing autograph after autograph, and having his picture taken with a multitude of his fans.
His hand was cramping from holding the pen for so long, but he wasn’t complaining. These folks were the reason his career was still going strong, despite the bad movies and bad press.
He glanced up at the line in front of him, still filing out the door. It looked like he’d be pu
tting in a little overtime on this one because he never walked away, leaving a fan empty handed.
“Hello,” he said, smiling up at the girl, standing with her mother. “Who should I make it out to?”
On and on it went, more hours passing with the line growing slowly smaller.
A cute little redhead walked up to the table, causing his heart to jump in excitement. Could it be? No, it wasn’t her. This girl was too young to be Nicole, although she did bear an uncanny resemblance. It must be the red hair. He found he was a sucker for redheads.
“Hello,” he said as he pulled a picture toward him. “Who should I make this out to?”
“I don’t want your autograph,” she said, waiting for him to look up. “I actually have a picture for you.” She slid it across the table.
Reece stared at the picture as if in a haze. It had been blown up and was slightly distorted, but it was the snapshot he’d taken with Nicole at the beach. “How did you get this?”
“I stole it off my sister’s phone.”
His eyes widened as he looked back at her, the resemblance even more startling this close. “You’re Lindsey?”
“Yes.” She leaned across the table, planting her hands on opposite sides of the picture. “I don’t know what your side of the story is, but I do know Nicole’s been miserable for a long time now.”
“Where is she?” He glanced around, his gaze hopeful.
“She’s not here. She bolted for home the moment she found out you were in town.”
His shoulders slumped. “I saw her the other day. I wanted to talk to her, but she ran. She’s always running away from me.”
“That’s because you hurt her pretty bad, Mr. Collins.”
“How did I do that? Those pictures weren’t my fault.”
Lindsey shook her head. “It wasn’t about the pictures or the paparazzi. You did something that devastated her. It’s been over a year. She’s just now starting to come back from it.”
Reece’s eyes widened. “I would never hurt her,” he swore. “I lo . . .” he almost shouted, glancing around. “I love her,” he stated in a more level tone.
Lindsey smirked. “I figured as much when I saw this picture.” Her gaze grew serious. “Look, I don’t know what went down the last day she was with you, but something spooked her. She’s been running scared ever since.”
“She has to know I would never intentionally hurt her. I have to find her.” He watched her, his expression tense but hopeful. “You know where she is, don’t you? Help me make this right.”
“I’m here to help you make it right.” She peered over her shoulder for Audrey to join them.
“Hi, I’m Audrey, Nicole’s editor. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” She shook his offered hand. “Nicole’s writing doesn’t do you justice.”
He was surprised to hear it. “Nicole writes about me?”
The woman rolled her eyes, reaching into her bag and handing him three books. “These are ARC’s of Nicole’s stories; the titles were released simultaneously. If you read them, you’ll notice all her heroes have at least one aspect of you: your hair, your eyes, or your body. She writes about you constantly.” She then placed a flash-drive on the table. “This is her latest work in progress. It’s about an aspiring author and a movie star. Does that ring any bells?”
He lifted puzzled eyes to her. “She’s writing about us?”
She shrugged. “To an extent, but unlike real life, this couple will get their happy ending.”
