Hiding Out in Hollywood (Celebrity Love)

Chapter Thirteen

"What did he do?" Emily tried to keep the edge out of her voice, but she was already mentally plotting how to track Darren down and wring his neck. Nobody got away with bringing her best friend to tears.

"The usual. He backed out of plans we'd made for tonight, even though I'd asked a friend for a favor and had us on a guest list for a show, then spent the night talking down to me and acting dodgy. I looked at his phone when he was out of the room and saw a text from the girl he'd cheated on me with during college. I guess he tracked her down and told her he lives here again. I figured out he bailed on what we were going to do tonight because she asked to see him. I confronted him about it, and he freaked out that I'd read the messages on his phone. We started fighting about things that happened years ago, and I broke up with him. I'm not going down that road again."

"Sounds like a lot of breaking up went on last night," Emily mumbled, stirring creamer into her coffee. When she put her spoon down, she saw Shelby staring at her.

"You and Raine broke up?"

"Maybe. Your guess is as good as mine." Emily took a sip of her coffee.

"Want to tell me what happened? I thought things were going really well?" Confusion was written all over Shelby's face.

"He invited me to his movie premiere and wanted me to walk the red carpet with him."

"And?" Shelby prompted.

Emily scowled. "The premiere is next week. That's still too soon, and he should have known that."

Shelby frowned at her. "Too soon for what? You guys have been spending a ton of time together, and I know you've spent the night at his place at least a few times. Last I checked, you were calling him your boyfriend. Of course he'd want you to be his date."

Guess I need to spell this out. Emily reminded herself to be patient with Shelby about not connecting the dots. She'd had a rough night, too.

"Think for a second," Emily said. "What happens when you're on the red carpet as a celebrity's date?"

Shelby looked at the ceiling. "I don't need to think. You just told me everything. Can I take a guess at how last night went?" She didn't wait for Emily to answer. "He asked you to be his date to his movie premiere, mistakenly thinking that since you two have been getting more serious and are sleeping together, you were ready for what logically comes next, which is telling people you're seeing each other or going out in public. You balked. He realized you still want to hide out all the time, and he got upset because he wants to date you for real."

"We are dating for real," Emily argued. "Or were. I don't know."

Shelby snorted. "Maybe if this was the witness protection program. At some point, dating for real means being seen together. You realize that, right?"

Déjà vu, Emily thought. She hurried to speak before Shelby could give her the same spiel Raine had about feeling like a doormat or a booty call.

"It's not the whole story," Emily protested. "Someone sent Wally a photo of Raine and I sitting together in our yoga class and claimed we're a couple."

Shelby had stuck by her side the last time every detail of her personal life had been broadcast to millions of strangers who'd had a dizzying array of opinions based solely on speculation and half-truths. Emily hoped by reminding her about the people out there who stopped at nothing to start rumors and gossip, she would remember that happily-ever-after wasn't a mission statement of the tabloids.

"I never thought I'd say this, but thank God for Wally. Him running that story will force you to just get over it and let yourself be with a good guy."