Chapter 22

Ethan

Every emotion possible raged through me on the way to the studio on Tuesday morning. Two days and nothing from her. Were we back to playing hide-and-go-seek with each other? It sure as fuck felt like it.

I parked my Mercedes in my spot at the studio and got out. Anticipation swelled in my chest. Maybe she was there and just had a lot of shit going on. There was an explanation. There always was.

Trish stood beside the stage, facing me when I walked in. She gave me a weak wave and went back to talking to the girl next to her.

I glanced around to see if Riley was anywhere that I could get to her fast. Of course not. I walked toward Trish, knowing she would take it the wrong way if I didn't stop by and give my condolences on her divorce.

"Hey." I stopped beside her and a girl I'd never met before.

"Hey, Ethan. This is Patty."

The girl gave me a quirky smile and stuck out her hand. "I am by far your biggest fan. I've seen all your movies at least two million times."

"Two million? Really?"

She didn't pause while I spoke over her. "Your ads and videos. I've read your blog."

"Yep, don't have a blog. I hate commas, and they hate me."

Still didn't pause, not even to breathe.

"And those great commercials you did when you were a kid."

The best part - she did the rerun of the commercial on her phone.

Trish's eyes grew wide over the two-minute conversation, and she stepped in front of me and used what I could only imagine would eventually be her 'momma-voice'.

"Hey. Patty. Could you give us a second? I'm sure Ethan needs to get on set." Trish put her hands on her hips as I stood behind her. I almost felt blessed not to be the one getting her attention at the moment.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry." The girl laughed and rolled her eyes. "I just got wrapped up in Ethan, because, well, he's here and he's so beautiful."

She kept going, so I leaned around Trish and waved with a cheeky grin on my face. "I'm still here."

Trish glanced back at me. "You're not helping right now."

"Who the fuck is this chick? Biggest stalker in the world."

There was no need in worrying about the girl’s feelings. She couldn't hear us over her own chatter. Trish shut her down a few minutes later and turned toward me.

"Good grief. Please tell me that doesn't happen very often."

"More often than never. How about those odds?" I smiled.

"Shit. I'm so sorry." Her expression softened and she reached out, taking one of my hands. "You doing okay? I know there's a lot of crap in the media right now."

"Yeah. I'm all right. I guess." I glanced around, looking for Riley again.

"You looking for Riley?"

"Yeah." I turned back to Trish. "That obvious?"

"No. I just know what's going on with you guys thanks to you sharing."

"Have you seen her?" I slowly pulled my hand from Trish's and crossed my arms over my chest. I didn't need anyone getting the wrong idea.

"She's on another set. One they’re working on at the edge of downtown."

"What? Since when?" I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted Deza to find out what the hell was going on. Being informed would be really freaking great. Time was money, or something stupid like that.

"No clue." She gave me an empathetic look. "She understood about the Deza thing, I take it?"

"The Deza thing?" Confusion rolled over me. "Not sure what you're talking about."

"The video."

"Nope."

"Of you and Deza."

"Doing what, exactly?"

Deza and I hadn't taken a video outside of a press conference in years. Maybe someone was recycling one of the ones from when I was a kid and we were trying to still get attention?

"Kissing."

"What?" Ice water rushed through my veins. "I didn't kiss Deza."

"Um... I hate to break it to you, but yeah, you did. You either kissed her or your doppelganger did."

"What? Let me see this video." The voice in my head screamed no a hundred times before Trish finally got it loaded.

I watched the first few seconds and handed her back the phone before the kiss. "You have to be fucking kidding me. I can't win for losing around here anymore."

"Ethan. It's all okay. We know you were just helping her in front of Darren."

"Right. Does Riley know that? How about the world?"

By the look on her pretty face, I was getting loud and scary.

I pursed my lips and glanced toward the sky. "I'm sorry. You doing okay since the divorce?"

"I'm all right. Let me know if you need me, okay? I'm here for you." She reached for me, and I hugged her like I would a fan. Quick and disconnected.

She walked off as I stood there, still in shock. Of course Riley hadn't called. She figured I'd replaced her with the only woman I'd had all my life - my agent.