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He's going to flip out. We've spent every waking moment together for the last few weeks, but we haven't told anyone we're together. I want to shout it from the rooftops. I'm not sure how he feels about it, though.
He's already been through so much. He almost died as a little boy and spent his childhood watching the world pass him by. And then finally got to live his dream only to have it ripped away. The day he told me what really happened to him, I cried. He carried the truth in silence to protect his friend from jail. Only for people in this town to then treat him as if he's somehow less than because of the scars he carries. They have no idea how selfless he truly is or how amazing. He's been through hell and back. They could never understand the sacrifices he's made or the kind of man he is because they will never be that genuinely good.
I don't want to put him through a public spectacle…and once people find out we're together, there will be no way of stopping that. People pay way too much attention to who dates who in Hollywood. I worry that the fact that he's been out of the limelight for so long will only add fuel to the fire.
Apparently, it already has.
I don't want to hide him, however. I'm so in love with him. I think I fell our very first night together. He's the best man I've ever met. He may be gruff and grumpy, but beneath that, he's kind, gentle, loving, and so damn good to me. No one has ever treated me like he does. When he touches me, I feel like I'm a priceless work of art, someone worthy of devotion. When he kisses me, the entire world disappears. And when he's inside me, I breathe for him.
I want the world to know how I feel about him. I want them to know that he's the man I chose. But I don't think he wants them to know. Not because he's ashamed of me. But because he thinks I'm too good for him. It kills me that he feels that way. But after everything he's endured, I can't ask him to give up his privacy. It wouldn't be fair of me when my life is so public.
Except I may not have a choice now. Somehow, someone found out about us.
"How bad is it?" I whisper, dropping heavily into a chair across from my publicist. My stomach churns, and nausea climbs up my throat. All morning, my stomach has been unsettled. Maybe my body just knew something terrible was coming.
"Hollywood's shining star, Laura Groves, is MIA. Could it be because she's got a secret?" Roni reads from whatever website she's pulled up on her screen. "Rumor has it that our favorite curvy darling isn't as happy with her body as we've all been told. Sources close to the young starlet say she's vanished from the scene because she's recovering from an unspecified weight-related procedure. It looks like someone will be debuting a brand-new body just in time for the New Year!"
"What?" I shout, immediately jumping to my feet. My face blanches, white-hot anger rushing through me. "That isn't true!"
"Of course it isn't," Roni scoffs, a look of disgust crossing her face. "I doubt they even have a source. It's a slow news day, so they're just fabricating a story out of the fact that you've missed a few holiday parties and charity events."
"I've been busy," I mutter.
"Bullshit. You're in love."
"I…"
She spears me with a stern look. "I know you, Laura. You have stars in your eyes."
My cheeks heat, and I shift my gaze away from hers, glancing at the awards hanging behind her desk. Hollywood loves giving out awards. We have them for everything. She's won a lot of them over the years. She's good at her job. Too good, maybe. I can't get anything past her.
"Who is he?"
"No comment."
"I see." She sighs heavily. "So you'd rather let them run with this story than give up his identity."
"I…" My stomach churns uneasily. I expel a slow, heavy breath. "The last thing I want is the whole world talking about my weight again. I'm sick and tired of my body being a subject of discussion. But things are…complicated."
"Uncomplicate them." She stands from her desk and crosses to me, her heels clicking on the floor. She slips her hands into mine, concern stamped across her lined face. "I'm asking as your friend, not your publicist."
"I'm seeing Kaiden Huxley." I don't have to say anything further. Roni knows everyone in this town, and she's diabolically smart. She's one of the first people I talked to when I wanted information about him.
"Oh." Her hazel eyes widen. "Oh."
"I'm so damn in love with him." I laugh softly, tears in my eyes.
