Tonight’s gala was going exactly the way I’d hoped. The dress I wore was so perfect, my hair and makeup hadn’t looked this good since my last movie premiere months ago, and no one had said anything negative to me yet, not even the photographers I’d posed in front of on the red carpet.

But I had been here for almost three hours, and Brett hadn’t spoken to me once. However, he’d spent time with every other person in this room, especially the women he’d talked to at least twice. And then there was the one he was chatting with now. Her name was Rebecca Andrews—an actress I’d never worked with, but I’d heard lots about. I also knew she was single, and she’d been flirting with Brett every chance she got. Now, her hand was on his chest, her lips pulled in a smile, her eyes wide and gleaming, like she wanted to eat him in that handsome tux and that deliciously short beard he was now sporting.

I knew the feeling.

Every time I saw him, he made me feel the same way.

But Brett wouldn’t let my mouth anywhere near him. Instead, he had his team doing all the work, where they told me to plaster a permanent grin on my face while they introduced me around the room. Their hope was that, after people had a conversation with me, they wouldn’t look at me like I was a porn star, but an actress who valued my career and was passionate about the industry.

It was working.

During all my schmoozing, I’d been invited to lunches, garden parties, and more charity events, and a group of women had even invited me for tea. Brett’s team was keeping track of the requests and would follow up to schedule dates, so I could focus on keeping my smile and giving the right answers.

I appreciated the acceptance I had been getting from the crowd. That was what I wanted after all.

I just wished Brett’s attention could be included. That, for my first event, he could make me feel as though I mattered, that I was as important as all the other women in here.

To make matters even worse, I’d received a celebrity alert about an hour ago that said Abel and Sophia had gotten engaged in Fiji.

Fiji had been our place.

Apparently, it was now their place, too.

As I glanced to my left, I saw Rebecca’s hand had lowered to Brett’s forearm, and she was rubbing it back and forth. He was doing nothing to stop her. In fact, the expression on his face was only encouraging her to do it more. If those were my fingers, he would have removed them.

I wondered what made her different.

Maybe he hadn’t slept with her and respected her more than me.

I’d learned, during my time in Florida, that Brett was named Miami’s most eligible bachelor and was on the front cover of Miami Magazine. He was certainly living up to his name.

I faced the other direction, unable to look at them anymore, and saw Max approaching our small group.

“How’s everything going?” he asked.

Jack and Scarlett had come over throughout the night to check on me, so I’d expected Max to be next, especially because he’d slept with Eve. The two of them had gotten it on in my guest room the night they met, and they’d been talking every day since she flew back to LA. This morning, she’d texted me that she was planning another trip here to visit us both.

“It’s going pretty great,” I replied. “I’ve made some strong connections, and everyone has been really nice.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Do you need anything?”

I shook my head. “Brett’s team is taking good care of me.”

“Where is that motherfucker anyway?” He looked to the side of us, spotting Brett less than ten feet away. “Ah, he’s talking to Rebecca.”

Her hand was still on his forearm, her thumb caressing the sleeve of his jacket.

“Did you get a chance to meet the head of the hospital?” he asked me. “I’m not sure if he and his wife were on your list, but you’ll be seeing them at lots of other events, and it would be good if you knew each other.”

“They were introduced already,” one of the team members said, “and his wife asked James out for lunch.”

“Looks like you’re ahead of me,” Max answered, laughing.

I didn’t know why, but I turned to my left again and saw Rebecca whispering in Brett’s ear.

I couldn’t watch this shit anymore.

“Do you mind if I take a quick trip to the ladies’ room?” I asked.

I didn’t know whom I was asking but felt I needed to say something before I just walked away.

I felt Max’s stare on me, but he wasn’t the one to respond. That came from another one of the team members, who said, “No problem. We’ll wait for you right here.”

Heading in the opposite direction from where Brett stood, I made my way outside the ballroom and followed the signs to a hallway and through a door that was across from the men’s room.

I didn’t look at any of the women standing around the sink. I just went right into a stall and locked it. Not needing to go to the bathroom, I leaned against the metal wall and took out my phone to text Eve, seeing that she had already sent me one.

My heart sped up as I read her words.

She’d promised she wouldn’t say anything to Max about Brett and me. The last thing I needed was Brett hearing that I had been talking to my friends about what had happened between us. Eve had thought that, by saying something to Max, she could dig a little and find out how Brett really felt about me.

I had immediately shot that down.

I put my phone back in my clutch, flushed the empty toilet, and went out to wash my hands. While I squirted soap into my palm, I overheard the conversation happening two sinks down. I didn’t recognize the women, but from what they were saying, I could tell they were talking about Rebecca Andrews.

“She’s not single,” one of them said. “I’ve seen her all around town with Brett Young.”

“Maybe they just work together?” the other one asked.

“Possibly, but did you see the way she’s been acting tonight? You’d think she was just attending, so she could make their relationship public.”

“She does seem extra giddy.”

“Giddy? That’s because he probably took her into his limo and screwed her brains out.”

“I did see them leave the ballroom together. Oh my God, this is so juicy. I can’t wait to tell the girls at lunch tomorrow.”

I wanted to throw up.

Brett had disappeared for a while. Not once, but twice.

And I knew how he liked to fuck people in public places where he could easily be caught, like a conference room…or the back of his limo.

I quickly dried my hands and slipped out before the women looked in my direction, and just as I was walking into the ballroom, Anthony Dine, the quarterback for Miami, said, “Hey.” He looked at both sides of me. “Where’s your entourage?”

I laughed.

Anthony and I had already met tonight when Brett’s team introduced us.

“They took off the handcuffs, so I could use the ladies’ room.”

“Isn’t that nice of them?” He glanced at my fingers, and then our eyes connected again. “You’re empty-handed. How about we get you a drink?”

Anthony was even taller than Brett and had a completely different look to him with shaggy blond hair, deep blue eyes, and a smile that made you want to grin in return.

“I’d like that.”

He stuck his arm out, and I looped mine through it before we walked to the closest bar.

“Vodka tonic,” he said to the bartender.

She looked at me.

“Just a Diet Coke, please.”

“That’s all you want, big spender?”

I felt my cheeks blush.

Before the tape had been leaked, I would have ordered a cocktail. But, now, I just wanted to be extra careful about every move I made, and drinking in front of all these people didn’t feel like a smart one.

“I’m not really a drinker,” I lied.

“Nothing wrong with that.” He grabbed my soda and gave it to me. Then, he slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out some cash that he dropped into the tip jar. “How long are you in town for?”

He took his drink, and we stepped away from the bar and moved toward the side of the room where it was a little quieter.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “Probably several months at least.”

“Are you filming?”

He obviously wasn’t a subscriber of celebrity alerts because several had gone out following the sex tape that notified the world that I’d lost my upcoming movie deals and that I was unemployable. Or maybe he had seen them and was acting dumb.

“Not at the moment.”

“So, what are you doing in Miami?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer his question, so I said, “I’m just taking some time off. Focusing on me. It’s been a while since I’ve done that.”

“Looks like you’re focusing on your tan, too. Damn, girl, you’re darker than me during football season.”

I smiled. “I like the pool.”

“The pool? You’re in Miami. Why aren’t you going to South Beach? That’s where you and your little bikini should be going every day.”

I laughed at the expression on his face, and just as my head straightened, he reached forward and moved a piece of hair off my lip. It caught me off guard, and I heard myself suck in a breath. He must have heard it, too, because he chuckled a little, and I swore, he took a step closer.

“A few of us are going back to my place after this. You should come. It’ll be fun.”

I suddenly felt a hand on my lower back, and my nose filled with Brett’s spicy scent. Just as I turned, I met his face. But he wasn’t looking at me; he was staring at Anthony.

“Anthony,” he said, “I’ve got to steal James for a second.”

“Bring her right back,” Anthony replied.

Brett laughed, and I felt the push of his palm to get me to start walking. “Smile,” he whispered in my ear. “People are watching.”

I did as he’d told me, dropping the scowl that had been there previously, and I followed him around the side of the ballroom and out the back where an SUV was parked right by the door.

“Get in,” he ordered.

“What? Why?”

“Because tonight is over.”

“For what reason?”

“You’ve spent enough time here, and you met the people I needed you to. Now, you’re going home.”

“Are you punishing me?”

“Get in,” he growled.

“Brett, you’re acting ridiculous.” And then it hit me. “Are you mad that I was talking to Anthony?”

“I’m not having this conversation out here.” He opened the back door, moving me over to it and urging me inside. He got in behind me and said to the driver, “Go ahead and take us to my building.”

“I can’t believe you right now.”

“Me?” he snapped. “You’re just recovering from the biggest scandal of your life, and I find you publicly flirting with Anthony Dine.”

“Flirting?” I wrapped my arms around my stomach. “I wasn’t flirting.”

“Prove me wrong, James.”

“He got me a soda. We were talking. I didn’t do anything wrong.” I pushed my back into the corner of the seat and door, and I faced him. “In fact, I was so perfect tonight, it was almost sickening. I smiled and spoke to every person your team had introduced me to. I was the model client, and don’t you dare tell me otherwise.”

“And then you publicly flirted with the biggest playboy in Miami.”

I was so mad, my top lip curled. “I don’t think Anthony has that title. I think that one goes to you.”

“Now, I’ve heard it all.”

“Brett, women were talking about you in the ladies’ room when I went in there to pee.” There was so much emotion in my chest, it was hard to take a deep breath. “They were saying you brought Rebecca Andrews to your limo, so you could fuck her tonight, that they’d seen you all over town with her.”

He glanced out the window, shaking his head. “They have seen me all over town with her because she’s my fucking client.”

“Are you sleeping with her?”

“No.”

It was too dark in the back seat to see his eyes, but I wasn’t sure if looking into them would tell me the truth anyway.

“I don’t believe you.”

“You need to quit this jealousy, James, and grow the hell up. This is my life and my business, and just because you see me talking to a woman doesn’t mean I’m fucking her.”

My whole body was shaking now.

“I need to grow up? You’re the one who threw a fit when you caught me talking to another guy.”

“Every time a different woman approached me, I saw jealousy all over your face. So, you thought you’d flirt with Anthony to get back at me. The same way you did to Abel the night you met Calvin.”

It felt like he had just slapped me across the face.

“That’s low.”

“It’s the truth,” he hissed.

I turned my body toward the front, and before I took my eyes off him, I said, “That wasn’t what I was doing. I ran into Anthony on my way out of the restroom, and we started talking. It was completely innocent.”

“Nothing with Anthony Dine is ever innocent.”

I didn’t reply, and several minutes passed before he spoke again, “I didn’t mean to ignore you tonight.”

The feelings that flowed through me hadn’t died down at all. I was hurt at what he had said. I was pissed that he hadn’t given me any attention. I was jealous that women thought he was sleeping with Rebecca when I wanted him to be sleeping with me.

“Tonight didn’t go the way I had planned,” he added.

“What would you have done differently?” I held my breath as I waited for him to answer.

“I would have taken you all around the room, so my hands could have been on you all night.”

I didn’t know how to respond, so I didn’t. Instead, I rested my face against the window, and I watched the SUV head toward our building.