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“Noah, I’m fine.”
“I didn’t think anyone knew we were out there.”
Dropping my phone into my lap, I scrubbed my face. I felt the car purr below me as he started it, the song that had been playing when we’d pulled up too cheerful for the moment. I heard Noah slap at the controls and dropped my hands into my lap, unable to help the spurt of laughter I hadn’t thought I was capable of producing.
Taking a deep breath, I turned in my seat, the amusement falling away as quickly as it had come over me.
“It’s not an ideal situation,” I admitted.
Noah inclined his head as though that was a terrible understatement.
“But it’s not the end of the world, is it?” I asked.
“Not for me, but you…?”
I shrugged before reaching out and pressing my finger into the cute dip between his bottom lip and chin. “Anyone that matters already knew you and I have something between us. I admit thinking about my parents seeing a fuzzy picture of my side boob makes me cringe, but it’ll blow over.”
“Your friends?” he asked.
I held up my phone. “Already told me how proud they are.”
Noah pulled out from the marina; his laugh more genuine.
“You know, this is usually the part where women walk away because they realize how public my life is. How I’ve managed to keep you a secret for almost five years is beyond me.”
“You tried to have a relationship before?”
“Before they decided the Hollywood Playboy thing suited me, I was with a woman I thought I loved. When my career took off, so did she. The media weren’t kind to her. She was…”—he tipped his head to the side and grinned—“older.”
“How much older? You were a child star, and your career was big long before you were legal.”
“There was a transition period between child actor and actor when things were quiet. Roles weren’t coming in quite as often, so I lived off what I’d made for a while and enjoyed my life. I was nineteen, and she was twenty-seven.”
I felt an eyebrow raise. I didn’t want to judge, but the age gap seemed like a lot, considering how young he’d been.
He read my expression when he glanced away from the road and at me. “I’d been through a lot, Elmer. I was forced to grow up long before my time. I wasn’t the usual nineteen-year-old.”
Noah picked up my hand and kissed my knuckles as we stopped at a red light. I smiled sadly, recalling the story he’d told me the first night I’d met him.
“What happened? With the woman?”
“Work started coming back. The studios offered dream roles to me, and with that came the rest of the bullshit. Agent and publicist, reporters, and paps. Studio executives and stylists. They all wanted something from me, and no matter how often I said no, it got more difficult for her to believe I could keep it that way. When the media started pulling her apart and following us everywhere we went, she started struggling. When a tabloid took photos of her coming out of a grocery store in sweats and had some disparaging comments, she packed her things and walked away.”
“That’s horrible.”
“It’s only gotten worse over time,” he said. He pulled away from the red light but shot a look over at me. “Babe, if you take me seriously about anything, let it be this: don’t read the comments on any article or meme or anything that has us together. People have this weird ownership thing when it comes to celebrities. They will rip you apart simply out of jealousy because you’re living a fantasy they had in their head at some point over time. They will have nothing flattering to say, and it’s toxic.”
“I think I can manage that.”
“I’m serious. People can be cruel. I don’t want you touched by that.”
“I’m not going to make a promise, Noah. Not when it’s one I may not be able to keep. Shit happens. I will promise that I’ll do my best to stay away and not react if the worst should happen.” I reached out and cupped his cheek. “That you warned me is a huge help. That I’ve seen Kenzie go through it is another helpful reminder.”
He smiled over at me again, his eyes searching mine for a moment, making sure I was serious. When he was satisfied, he turned his attention back to the road, leaving me to think about what he’d said, distracting myself from the voicemail on my phone for a while longer.
ChapterFour
Monday, April 4, 2016
