Over Exposed

by Stephanie Julian

  Now he had to deal with this.

  “She looked pretty wiped. Maybe she’s asleep and you can let it go until tomorrow morning.”

  Cracking open the soda, Greg took a sip before he opened his eyes and stared back at Tyler. “Yeah, you know it’s never that easy with Daisy.”

  “True.” Tyler’s bland expression grated on Greg’s last remaining nerve.

  “What? Spit out whatever it is you want to say. It’s been a hell of a long day. Actually, life’s been a bitch pretty much for the past three weeks. And why are you dressed like you’re going to a funeral?”

  Tyler didn’t bat an eye at Greg’s bad-tempered diss at his dark suit and muted tie. “We’re hosting the staff for dinner tonight. We close the dining room and hire outside waitstaff. We’d hire a chef, but you know Marco would never allow it. He and the kitchen staff fix dinner and then we all eat.”

  So Sabrina would be at dinner. And she’d be missed if she didn’t go.

  Greg laughed but it was more in frustration than amusement.

  “Do you want to join us?”

  Hell, yes. He wanted to see Sabrina any way he could. It’d be hell not being able to talk to her, touch her, hold her. Shit, he wasn’t even sure she’d allow him to after all this time.

  Maybe she’d decided he wasn’t worth the trouble. He wouldn’t blame her.

  “Kate told me you’ve kept in contact with her.”

  “Oh, yeah? What else did Kate tell you?”

  “That you better not fuck with that girl’s head.”

  Greg had to set the soda can down before he crushed it, wanting to punch the wall.

  “I don’t want to fuck with her head.”

  “Did you sleep with her up at the retreat?”

  “What? You don’t know already? And how is that any of your business?”

  “Because she’s one of my girlfriend’s best friends, you ass. And she’s my employee.”

  “Which is exactly why this should be none of your business.”

  “You made it my business when you decided to pursue her.”

  His temples started to throb and he let his head fall back on the cushion again. “Jesus, Tyler. Why is that such a bad thing? You practically delivered her to me on a silver platter. What’s changed?”

  Greg opened his eyes again to see Tyler’s smirk. “Not a damn thing. You know it’s okay to actually like her, right? Or is there something else going on here that I’m not seeing?”

  Greg gave Tyler the finger. “You’re worse than my grandmother, you know that? I tell her not to read the tabloids or watch those shows but she still does. And then she calls me and wants to know why I don’t bring any of those nice actresses I date home to meet her.”

  Tyler gave him a raised eyebrow. “What the fuck does that have to do with this situation?”

  “Because you’re acting like an old woman, butting into a situation that’s already filled with enough landmines. Christ almighty, yes, we slept together. It was fucking amazing. She’s sweet and smart and I like her. I want to see her again. Enough already.”

  Tyler’s only response was a shrug. “Okay. So where do you think Neal is?”

  Greg ran a hand through his hair, trying not to anticipate disaster or get whiplash at Tyler’s change of subject. “Who the fuck knows. I guess I’d better go find out.”

  “Do I need to brace the hotel for an onslaught of paparazzi?”

  “I’ll let you know after I talk to Daisy.”

  “She seems pretty upset.”

  “I’m sure she is.”

  “Of course, you can never tell with Daisy,” Tyler continued. “She’s a damn good actress, after all.”

  Greg eyed Tyler without speaking. Daisy and Tyler had met several times when she and Greg had stayed at Haven as a couple. Tyler had never treated Daisy poorly but he’d never warmed up to her, either. And it was hard not to like Daisy.

  Yes, she could be demanding but she was never a diva. She treated everyone as a potential best friend—which usually backfired on her. People thought because she was so sweet, she was also a pushover.

  Not so much. In fact, you really didn’t want to piss off Daisy. She could cut your heart out with a few words and leave you bleeding to death, but when she loved you . . . well, you were the center of her world.

  It’s what had allowed her to put up with him for all those years. She’d loved him. And then she hadn’t because she’d met Neal. And anyone who’d seen Neal and Daisy together could see how much they loved each other.

  Yet Greg had only seen how potentially devastating that relationship could be to both of them. Like what was happening now. Except Greg hadn’t expected them to take him along for the ride.

  Finally, Greg responded. “Yeah, she is. Give me a few hours. I’ll figure out if she was able to get here unseen.”

  Christ, if anyone figured out Daisy and Neal hadn’t arrived together the tabloids would go crazy. Considering filming was supposed to start next week, Greg didn’t need an onslaught at the set. He’d managed to keep the exact filming site under wraps by having Trudeau lay out several decoys. He’d hoped to get at least a couple days of shooting in without the press hounding them.

  He’d planned to schedule interviews at the end of shooting but now he might have to rework that timetable. He needed to call Trudeau—

  Tyler stood and headed toward the door. “Just let me know what’s up.”

  “What? That’s it? No more third degree?”

  “Nope. I figure you’ve got enough on your plate right now. And you know how I feel. Hurt Sabrina and I maim you. And after that, I’ll let Kate go to work on you. That will be even less pleasant. Let me know what’s up with Neal.” Tyler opened the door but turned before he closed it behind him. “Hope this doesn’t fuck your shooting schedule. I know it’s tight.”

  “Yeah, me too. Hey, Ty.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You see me screwing with her head, you have my permission to kick the shit out of me.”

  Tyler gave him a look that said he thought Greg was being fucking hilarious. “Don’t need permission. I’d do it anyway. See you at dinner?”

  “Thanks, but I doubt it.”

  “She’s working the overnight shift. Just FYI.”

  Tyler closed the door, leaving Greg to consider adding something a little harder to his Coke before he headed up to see Daisy.

  Nah, might make things worse.

  Taking a detour through the bathroom to splash water on his face, he checked his email and messages, just to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Trudeau hadn’t contacted him at all. Neither had Daisy.

  No, she’d simply shown up here. Four days early. By herself. Without the man who’d been glued to her side since she’d left Greg for him.

  Fuck.

  On the elevator, he texted Trudeau, who got back to him in seconds.

  No, haven’t heard from either of them. Let me know what you need.

  He needed this fucking shoot to go well. He needed this film to be exactly what he wanted it to be.

  He wanted to see Sabrina.

  First things first.

  The top floor of the hotel consisted of six suites, three each on either side of the elevator. He stopped at the door to Daisy’s, took a deep breath, and knocked.

  He almost hoped she didn’t answer.

  No such luck. The door opened just as he was getting ready to knock a second time.

  The second Daisy saw who it was, she flung herself into his arms and started to cry.

  And Greg watched all his careful planning go up in flames.

  * *

  “. . . heard she checked in without her husband. Could mean nothing. Could mean there’s trouble in paradise.”

  “And when isn’t there trouble in a Hollywood marriage? Seriously?
How can anyone have a normal relationship in that business?”

  Sitting at a table with other members of the registration staff, Sabrina had been trying to have a good time. Really, she had. But Greg was returning sometime tonight.

  Would he call her? Would she see him?

  Beside her, Darryl Heister gave her shoulder a nudge and smiled at her. “You’ve been awfully quiet. Not interested in Hollywood gossip, huh?”

  Sabrina returned the smile of the tall, slim man with skin the color of cocoa and eyes as gray as storm clouds.

  “Just a little tired. Feel like I’ve been fighting a cold.”

  “You’ve been working way too many hours,” piped up Teresa Dumbroski, her riot of brown curls contained in a ponytail that fell most of the way down her back. “Heard you drew the short stick for tonight. That sucks. But I’m going home to two toddlers hopped up on sugar because my mom is babysitting and doesn’t know how to say no to her demon grandchildren.”

  Darryl laughed. “Your children are not that bad. Did I tell you what Shawn did to Derek last night?”

  The two thirty-somethings continued to trade tales of their children as conversation at the table swirled around her. Sabrina made sure she smiled and added to the conversation, but mostly, she tried not to think about Greg.

  And didn’t correct Teresa’s assumption that she’d been given the overnight shift.

  In reality, she’d asked for it.

  Coward.

  Absolutely. She’d known Greg was coming back tonight and she’d wanted to be busy when he did.

  “Did you hear about Daisy Devlin? She showed up early this morning.” Teresa leaned closer to Sabrina so she could talk to Danica. “She seemed nice enough when she checked in but she looked like she was crying. And her husband’s not with her.”

  “Ooh.” Danica’s eyes went round. “And Greg Hicks just rolled into the hotel an hour or so ago. I wonder if they’re starting up again. They’d been engaged for years before she and Neal hooked up.”

  “Well, she and Neal have been inseparable since then, according to ET.”

  Darryl shook his hands and screwed his face up in mock horror, making the women laugh. “And we all know how reliable a news source that is.”

  “Hey, I have kids, give me a break. I don’t get out much.”

  Sabrina barely heard another word.

  Greg had arrived.

  And he hadn’t contacted her.

  She had to bite her tongue so she didn’t interrogate Danica.

  How had he looked? Had he asked about her?

  Of course he hadn’t. If he had, Danica would’ve been interrogating her.

  Instead they were discussing the possibility that Greg was sleeping with his ex behind her husband’s back.

  Her stomach rolled and she put down her fork.

  Why hadn’t Kate told her?

  Sliding a glance at the table behind her, Sabrina saw Kate and Tyler engaged with several other couples. Jared and Annabelle were at another table, talking and laughing.

  Because they were busy with their lives, that’s why.

  Daisy. Greg’s ex. Here alone.

  Of course that was the reason she hadn’t heard from Greg. He was with Daisy.

  And maybe you aren’t giving him enough credit. The guy is filming a movie in less than a week. Daisy is working for him.

  Maybe Daisy had arrived early to do publicity or rehearse or . . .

  Then why hasn’t he been in touch with you?

  She tried to ignore the growing ache in her chest as dinner went on. What she really wanted to do was go back to her room, curl on her bed, and fall into unconsciousness. Which wasn’t going to happen because she had to work. Hours and hours of alone time to think.

  Lovely.

  She managed to make it through another half hour at dinner before she was able to plead work as an excuse, go to her room to change, then head back to the reception office.

  Laney, fully recovered from her accident, was more than happy to give up her post early so she could enjoy dessert with the rest of the staff. She thanked Sabrina with a tight hug then promised to bring Sabrina a piece of whatever the chef was serving. Sabrina didn’t have the heart to tell her not to.

  By three a.m., she’d devoured the slice of decadent chocolate cake and was following it with some highly caffeinated, highly sweetened tea, trying not to let her brain become caught in a rut.

  So was he up there with Daisy now?

  She huffed. “No, I’m not going to think about it.”

  “Think about what?”

  She bit back a surprised squeak as she shot up from the chair she’d been sitting on at the computer terminal.

  A man stood in front of the reception desk, baseball cap low on his forehead, black leather coat collar shadowing the bottom half of his face. She couldn’t believe she’d completely missed his entrance into the lobby. And now she wondered if that was on purpose.

  Her gaze slid toward the door, where the bellman should be. And wasn’t.

  She swallowed down the flash of fear that sprang up. He couldn’t have come in through the front door because it was locked this late at night. Which meant he had to have come through the garage, and the only way into the garage was through the bellman, who doubled as security this late at night. Which would explain why there was no one at the door.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you come in.” She dredged up a smile. “Welcome to Haven. How can I help you?”

  “Well, for starters, I’m sorry I scared the crap out of you, but you looked pretty intent on what you were doing.”

  Setting his bags on the floor, one of which was a guitar case, he folded down the collar then took off the hat.

  Sabrina felt her eyes widen as his face emerged. At first glance, he wasn’t conventionally handsome. Shaggy, dirty blond hair flopped over his broad forehead, almost obscuring light eyes that were either blue or green or maybe somewhere in between. His nose was slightly too large for his face, and his chin made up for the nose in being perfectly masculine and covered with reddish-gold whiskers. And that mouth was something else.

  Running a hand through his hair made it fall in crazy ways that were just as attractive as before. “I was told to contact Tyler Golden when I got here but since it’s three in the morning, I figured I’d just check in and touch base with him tomorrow.”

  “Oh, of course. Do you have a reservation?”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure.” He grimaced and looked like the next words out of his mouth didn’t taste all that good. “I believe my dad was going to take care of that.”

  She brightened her smile, wanting to put him at ease. The closer she looked at him, the more she could see exhaustion in the pallor of his skin and the dullness of his eyes.

  “Okay, let me check. Can I have your name?”

  “Sebastian Valenti.” Then he paused, as if waiting to see how she reacted. When she didn’t, he continued. “Might be under my dad’s name, Arthur Valenti. Like I said, I’m not even sure he made the reservation. He only told me Golden would be expecting me.”

  “Just give me a minute.”

  She had already double checked the registration roster when she’d started tonight, but maybe she’d missed something. Her concentration had been fractured.

  Haven wasn’t the kind of place where people walked in off the street to book a room. Yes, visitors came for the bar or the restaurant and, very occasionally, a few of those guests would book rooms for the night, if there was one available.

  They did have rooms tonight so registering him wouldn’t be a problem.

  But if he really was supposed to contact Tyler when he arrived, she figured she’d better do just that.

  “I’m sorry I don’t have you on the list but let me contact Tyler. If he’s expecting you—”

  �
�He is.” Sebastian sighed, grimacing. “Unfortunately. Look, I really don’t want to wake him this late at night. I’ll just check my bags. I think I saw an all-night diner just down the street—”

  “No need for that.” Tyler walked out of the elevator just as she’d been reaching for her phone to text him. “Sebastian, I’m Tyler. Nice to meet you.”

  Sebastian visibly tensed as Tyler came toward him, hand outstretched, smile firmly in place. Almost as if he didn’t want to meet him.

  When Tyler was almost on top of him, Sebastian finally took his hand.

  “Thanks for taking me in.” The words sounded almost bitten off. “I appreciate it.”

  “Not a problem. We’re glad to have you.”

  Taking him in? Her natural curiosity kicked in but she didn’t have time to indulge it because Tyler turned to her.

  “Sabrina, we’re going to register Sebastian under a false name. He’s going to be staying with us for several weeks and he’d rather keep his whereabouts secret.”

  “Of course.” She flashed Sebastian another smile, noticing the tight set of his jaw and the clenched fists at his sides.

  Obviously this guy was someone famous. And she had absolutely no idea who he was. He did look like he could use a friend, though. Which totally wasn’t in her job description.

  And neither was sleeping with Greg Hicks.

  Better stick to work. At least she knew what she was doing there. Mostly.

  * *

  Greg stepped out of Daisy’s room, pulled the door shut behind him, then leaned against it and closed his eyes.

  The queasy feeling he’d been fighting off since he’d entered her room hadn’t abated, but now he had a headache to go with it.

  He needed some food. He hadn’t eaten since a late lunch on the plane and that had been about, oh, nine hours ago.

  But he’d forgo food if he could see Sabrina.

  Goddamn it.

  He’d wanted this shoot to fly under the radar. Now, he didn’t know if that was going to be possible. Luckily, he’d already fought some of the battle. He’d managed to track down Neal after nearly five straight hours of phone calls. Then he’d sent Trudeau to get Neal’s ass on the first plane to the East Coast. He’d also told her not to leave Neal’s side and to make sure he wasn’t high as a kite or falling down drunk by the time he got here.