by Rachel Lacey
Harry nodded. “We’ll do whatever’s necessary to smooth it over.”
It was all so matter-of-fact. Harry discussed legal technicalities while Kate stared at the wildly inappropriate selection of daisies on the coffee table before her. Red, pink, yellow…brilliant, vibrant colors. Couldn’t someone have changed them out for lilies or roses? Her eyes stung, and she took a drink of water to cover the moment.
Where were these emotions coming from? She didn’t even remember her father. She couldn’t mourn him if she didn’t know him, could she? Only in her incredibly screwed-up life would the death of her father warrant a business meeting. A few details to hammer out, and then life went on.
“Oh, and Katie?” Vero’s voice yanked her back to the present. “Try not to let something like this happen again, okay?” She slapped a copy of the Enquirer on the table, headlined by a photo of a smiling Kate, arms extended as she appeared to hold nude enlargements of herself toward the row of fans before her.
“Oh, for crying out loud.” Kate lurched from her seat. The photo had been taken in Central Park on Thursday, and it was ridiculously misleading.
“That was uncalled for, Vero,” Harry said.
“Sorry, but it looks like—”
“I know what it looks like.” Kate walked to the window. “Look, if you guys are finished here, I need to get ready for my run.”
Vero stood and faced her. “One more thing. Who’s the guy?”
Harry’s eyebrows lifted, and Jenn grinned.
Kate rubbed her neck, keeping her face impassive. “What guy?”
“The one you brought home last night. I’ve had a half-dozen requests for his name already this morning.”
“No comment.”
Vero’s expression sharpened. “Why? Who is he? If this is something scandalous…”
Kate shook her head. “It’s not scandalous. He’s just not the kind of guy who’d appreciate having his name printed in the tabloids.”
Vero cocked her head. “Interesting.”
They were all staring at her.
“Not really. Look, I really do need to get ready for my run…”
“So who is he?” Vero asked again.
Kate sighed. “Josh Randall. He teaches at Columbia. Jenn’s already checked him out. He’s legit and completely unscandalous, and his name doesn’t get printed. Okay?”
Vero tapped a finger against her lips. “Hmm, this could be good.”
“Excuse me?”
“You and the college professor. You’ve lost a bit of your ‘girl next door’ appeal lately, Katie. What with the Hollywood boyfriends, famous friends, a nude photo scandal… It could be good to be seen around town with an everyday guy.”
Kate bit her tongue against the desire to tell Vero where she could shove her dating advice. After all, her publicist was only doing her job. Kate just wasn’t used to having her dating decisions analyzed so closely. Probably because her usual dates had a Hollywood pedigree as long as the red carpets they were so fond of showing her off on.
After Jenn and Harry departed for their hotels, and Vero to the airport to return to LA, Mick accompanied Kate on her morning run through Central Park. She sweated out a solid five miles, burning anger and frustration as her feet pounded the pavement. By the time she’d showered and eaten a late lunch, it was almost time to meet Josh. First, though, she sat down to write a message to her fans, explaining that the photos were fake and how sorry she was about the whole thing. When she’d finished, she sent it to Jenn to put it up on her website.
She glanced at the clock, a reluctant smile tugging at her lips in anticipation of seeing Josh. She pocketed her phone and clipped leashes on Ben and Jerry. They hadn’t exactly behaved last time—and they certainly didn’t help her fly under the radar—but she’d feel like a traitor going to the park without them. She headed out the back, thankful it was again clear of paparazzi.
Josh was already there, seated on the hollowed rock, two cups from Olive’s on the grass in front of him. He wore jeans with a red knit pullover, and her heart jumped at the sight of him.
“Hi,” she said as she dropped down beside him. She hadn’t meant to sit quite so close, but the curve of the rock dictated that she sit with her left leg brushing against his right.
He turned toward her, and their shoulders bumped. “Hey, yourself.”
Oh yeah, this rock was cozy. She could’ve pulled back, but she didn’t. Neither did he. His eyes met hers, so close she could see the green flecks mixed with gold in his irises.
A warm tingle spread through her belly. Apparently, her hormones had shifted from cosmetically enhanced actors to ruggedly handsome scholars. Go figure. Never missing a chance to ruin the moment, Ben and Jerry wiggled their way into her lap and popped up between her and Josh, fluffy tails wagging.
“I knew I would regret bringing them.” She scooted them off her lap. They yapped their displeasure before settling down at her side to people-watch in the warm sunshine.
“Ah, the troublesome duo.” Josh handed her one of the cups.
“Thank you.” She took a long sip.
“So how does Katherine Hayes spend a Saturday morning? Shopping at Tiffany’s? The spa? Another live concert performance?”
A smile quirked the corner of her mouth. “Are we talking about me in the third person now?”
“Katherine Hayes the superstar still doesn’t seem like the same Kate I’m sitting here with. I’m trying to merge you together in my mind.”
“One and the same, and I spent my Saturday morning in a business meeting.”
“That’s not very glamorous.”
“I never said my life was glamorous.” She glanced over at him. “I get what you’re saying, though, and I’m sorry about Bóheme. The plain truth is, I’ve never really dated outside the business, and I didn’t think about what it would be like for you there. This”—she gestured to the park around them—“is as much a part of who I am as the superstar stuff.”
Josh sipped his coffee. “You’re just Kate to me, but my sister blew a gasket when I told her about you. It was a reality check, I guess.”
“Well, if you’re going to hang out with me, you’ll have to get used to it.” She couldn’t help the niggling suspicion over what else he might have shared with his sister. She was fairly certain he meant well, but he had no clue how her world operated, and she had spilled way too much information last night.
“Don’t worry, I only told her we’d been to dinner. I have no intention of betraying your trust.” He spoke as if he’d read her mind, and she heaved an internal sigh of relief.
“Thank you. I know it’s probably hard to believe, given my career choice, but I’m a pretty private person.”
Josh raised an eyebrow.
“When I’m out in public, anything’s fair game. But behind closed doors, family stuff, that’s personal.”
“Fair enough.”
“Which is why, for the record, I asked my publicist to keep your name out of the papers.”
He sat up straight and gave her a hard look. “My name?”
“The media’s curious after we were photographed together last night.” She sipped her cappuccino. “Anyway, the tabloids see what they want to see. Some of it’s true. Plenty of it isn’t.”
“The nude photos?” he asked.
“Fake.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “You look surprised. I’ve worked hard to build a career I can be proud of and set a positive example.”
“That’s more than I can say for some of your peers.”
“A lot of young girls look up to me. I don’t take that lightly.” She knew what it was like to be young and impressionable, without a proper role model. To grow up with a mother who defined herself by men and sex. A mother who thought Kate was nothing but a whore. She’d spent the last twelve years proving her wrong. “I try to portray myself honestly in the media, but this business with Lori is between us. I have a trustworthy team, but even so, it�
��s hard to keep anything personal.”
Josh looked into her eyes. “And you’re worried I’ll sell you out.”
“Not intentionally, but even a casual conversation over a couple of beers can wind up splashed all over the internet.”
He held her gaze, his eyes steady and earnest. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a private person myself. You have my word.”
“Thank you.” And he brought up an interesting point. Besides his profession, she knew very little about Josh.
“You’re welcome. Any more run-ins with Lori? She was still out there when I left, and not looking too happy.”
“Harry, my manager, came over and talked to her last night. We’re meeting on Monday to do a DNA test. He is dead…my father. He died about a month ago.” She stared at the cup in her hands.
“I’m sorry.” He placed a hand over hers. “It must be hard, even though you didn’t know him well.”
She picked at the edge of the cup’s lid. “You know, I grew up basically hating him for abandoning us, but I guess a tiny part of me always wondered if he’d come back with some ridiculous but plausible explanation for where he’s been for the last twenty-seven years.”
“What about your mom? How’s she taking it?” His fingers threaded with hers.
“I don’t know. We’re estranged.” She kept her voice flat.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s ancient history.”
“Well, I’m sure your dad was proud to see everything you’ve accomplished.”
“I doubt he knew. I changed my name when I moved to New York.” Kate bit her lip. What was it about Josh that had her spilling her guts?
“Well, I think it’s natural for you to grieve, even if you didn’t have a relationship with him.”
“I guess.” She looked over and saw the empathy on his face.
He squeezed her hand. “He was your father.”
She nodded, her throat gone tight.
“How did he die?”
“A car accident. He was driving drunk.” She shook her head. It pretty much confirmed that she hadn’t missed out on much by not having him in her life.
Josh watched her, his eyes dark. Their shoulders bumped again, and his fingers tightened on hers.
“Thank you for asking about him.” She felt lighter somehow, now that he’d allowed her to vent the feelings she’d been choking on all morning.
“You’re welcome.”
She glanced up, and their eyes locked. There it was again, the tingle that snaked down her spine and spread warmth through her belly. If she wasn’t mistaken, Josh was breathing faster than he had been a few minutes before. Her own pulse jumped in response. The entire left side of her body was pressed against his, and his warmth soaked through her jeans and sweater. Butterflies of anticipation fluttered in her stomach.
He leaned back. “I should probably get going.”
“Oh. Okay.” She pulled Jerry into her lap and curled her fingers into his soft fur.
“If the thing with Lori makes it into the papers, it didn’t come from me. You have my word.” He was saying goodbye. For good.
Which was fine, because she trusted him now not to break her confidence about Lori, except that it wasn’t fine, because she wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Not yet. “I believe you. And I really am sorry about Bóheme. It would have been more fun to do something casual. I could have even gone incognito for you.”
He grinned. “Incognito? I doubt it.”
“You think I can’t blend in?”
“You blend in like a supermodel at a nun convention.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Have you forgotten how we met?”
“I don’t think I’m a good example of the general population.”
She scrambled to her feet and planted her hands on her hips. “Wanna bet?”
His cheek twitched as if fighting a smile. “What do you propose?”
“Dinner. Say, Wednesday night? This time, you pick the place. Meal’s on me if I make it through dinner without being recognized.”
He took her hand and gave it a firm shake. “You’re on.”
What was it about this guy? She’d been holding back tears all morning, and now she was fighting the urge to double over in laughter. She took a couple of steps toward the path, then turned and glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, and Josh? I’m very competitive.”
His eyes twinkled. “And Kate? I never let a woman pay for dinner.”
6
Kate pressed her face into the pillow and bit back a scream. With a sigh, she raised her head. The red numbers glaring like angry eyes from her alarm clock read four thirteen.
Two minutes since the last time she’d checked.
She whimpered. Fatigue stung her eyes. Bits of the nightmare lingered, like a residue clinging to her skin. She fought the urge to get up and take a cleansing shower.
Sleep. She needed to sleep.
Outside her window, the Manhattan skyline glowed over the darkened expanse of Central Park. She focused on a lit window in an apartment building across the park, imagining forbidden lovers meeting for a late-night tryst. And the window next door? The light was out, but maybe someone inside lay awake, struggling for sleep just as she did.
An idea sparked, and she reached for the notebook beside her bed. She scribbled a few rough lyrics, then collapsed against the pillow, spent.
Her eyes closed, and her body relaxed against the cool silk sheets.
Music shattered the silence like a shout in the darkened room. She lurched upright as the haunting opening bars of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” played from the cell phone flashing impatiently on her bedside table. She grabbed it. Vero’s name showed on the display, accompanied by a photo of a Chihuahua baring its teeth.
Middle-of-the-night phone calls from her publicist were never good news. She groaned and flopped back in bed as she connected the call.
“Katie, what are you doing awake at this hour?” Vero sounded wide awake herself despite it being after one in LA.
“Why are you calling me at this hour?”
Vero chuckled. “Expecting your voicemail, for one thing. But since you’re up, the Examiner’s running a headline on you this morning. They got a picture of you smoking pot behind your old high school.”
She pressed a palm to her forehead. “What?”
“Check your email. I sent it to you.”
“Okay.” Reluctantly, she pushed the covers back and stepped from the warm cocoon of her bed.
“Two negative headlines in a week, Katie. You need some good publicity. Maybe a PDA with the professor or a promotional piece doing something charitable for the community.”
“I don’t live my life for the tabloids, Vero.”
“Well, maybe it’s time you start. We’ve got to turn things around before voting for the Fans Voice Awards nominations closes.”
Kate recoiled. While she was still in a solid position for a nomination, she’d fallen to third place in the polls, behind up-and-coming pop sensations Marin Starr and Kelsey Hunt. Her fingers clenched around the telephone. “I’ll see what I can do.”
She disconnected the call and trudged downstairs to the kitchen for a glass of water, loading her email as she went. Goose bumps rose on her arms as she sat at the counter, chilled by the morning air in her wispy silk tank top and boxers.
A photo loaded on her screen of Kate in her red cheerleading uniform, smoking a joint behind the bleachers by the high school track. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced back the bile that had risen to her throat at the sight of herself in that uniform.
This photo was the real deal.
Not one of her finer moments, but what high school student hadn’t gotten high a few times? It wouldn’t have been a big deal if it didn’t come at the end of a very unflattering week of headlines. She walked to the window and looked out. Beneath the night sky, lights glowed across the city as other New Yorkers got an early start to their day.
The city that neve
r sleeps. She could personally vouch for that.
Ben nuzzled his way between her feet to paw at the glass door to the balcony. She reached up to deactivate the security system before opening the door to let him and Jerry outside. They scampered to the other end of the balcony where she kept a patch of grass for their convenience.
A siren wailed somewhere in the distance, and a puff of cold air blew across her skin. She shivered, closing the door while she waited. The boys weren’t out long and had soon run upstairs to snuggle back into bed.
Kate followed them up. She found them on her pillow, two cream puffs against the lavender silk. She bent to ruffle their fur. Having given up on sleep, she traded her pajamas for a sports bra and athletic shorts, then exited her condo and jogged up the stairs to the gym on the top floor. She spent thirty minutes on the rowing machine, burning her frustration.
Then she showered, dressed, and got ready for what she’d thought would be the only unpleasant part of her day. At nine o’clock, she sat face-to-face with Lori Booth. Harry sat to her left, his face open and gracious. To her right, Jenn was poised and ready for action.
Lori sat on the chair opposite, cheeks flushed, eyes bright—though with anger or hurt feelings, Kate couldn’t be sure. She suspected her own expression was much the same. Lori’s timing made her suspicious as hell. Her so-called sister had shown up the same day the nude photos hit the internet, and now the photo of her smoking pot on the day of their meeting? Kate didn’t believe in coincidences like that.
“So.” Lori leaned back, tension rolling off her in waves.
“It should take about a month to receive the results of the DNA test,” Harry said. “Once we’ve received them, we can determine the next steps.”
Lori’s chin went up. “I’m not after your money.”
Kate sucked in a breath. They didn’t resemble each other on the surface. Lori’s chestnut hair and brown eyes were the opposite of her own. But there was something in the set of her chin, the rounded bump that bridged her nose. In that moment, she had no doubt she was facing her sister. Her own flesh and blood. She saw something of herself in Lori’s eyes, the same fire and determination that had carried her through when all else failed.
