That’s the question of the day. I’d planned to do just that when we got here, but Brenda’s expression keeps flashing through my mind. She’s not just losing me today. She’s losingHot Scoop. Probably her husband aswell. “I’ve ruined her life,” I murmur, “and it feels like too much to ruin anyone else’s.”
Donovan groans lightly, dropping her forehead to my shoulder. “You are a painfully decent human who makes the rest of us look bad,” she says.
Maybe I’m making a mistake, but this is one I can live with.
At least now we know who’s behind everything, so it’ll be a lot easier for Ethan to work his magic ifHot Scoopturns against any of his clients.
“Are you disappointed in me?” I ask, too curious not to.
Donovan chuckles. “I don’t think that’s possible, Supes.”
“So,” I say, stepping away from Donovan to face her. I take a deep breath and let the stress of the morning fall away with my exhale. “That was the awful part of the day. Are you ready for the fun part?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Fun for you, maybe.”
I mean, she’s not wrong. When Ethan and I worked out a plan for me to stay out of the public sphere without drastically damaging my career in the meantime, one of his suggestions was to spend more time on social media, something I’ve avoided for most of my career. He wanted me to build a genuine fan base that wasn’t curated by someone else, so I’ve been trying to put up authentic posts that showcase who I am beneath the veneer. I try to reply to a few comments on every post I make, and for the first time in a long time I feel like I’m actually connecting to my fans.
With Brenda and Shaw hopefully out of the picture, my fans are going to be key to getting me back into a place where I can do my job properly.
“You don’t have to do this,” I remind Donovan. “Ethan and I have a Plan B to get me back into the swing of things if you want to stay on the fringe. But…” Leaning down, I press a kiss to her neck below her ear, loving the way her pulse picks up speed beneath my lips. “If you ever want to open the door to Hollywood again, now is the time.”
She hums as I kiss a trail to her collar bone. “I agreed to this because it will help you,” she says, breathless. “Not because I have any plans to goback to that life. But after seeing the complete lack of fire and brimstone back there…”
When she trails off, I lean back to see her expression.
She smiles and brushes her fingers along my cheek. I trimmed my beard short enough that it’s just scruff, so her fingers scratch across my skin and send a shiver through me. “I think I unintentionally turned my past into more than what it was. I thought I’d left it behind and moved past it, but I’ve just been hiding. I want to face my fears head on the same way you’re doing.”
Anxiety pools in my gut when she says that, and I grimace. Today is Liam’s birthday, so all of my friends except Freya and Elliot are going to be in one place. “Maybe I should—”
“You’re going to go see your friends, Derek.” She gives me a stern look that reminds me of the way she looked at me when we first met. She’s not going to coddle me. “We’re going to go to that beach and get us both back in the spotlight.” She shudders but stands tall and wraps her arms around my neck. “And then you’re going to stop hiding from the people who love you the second most.”
I grin despite the fears building inside me. “Are you the one who loves me most, Donovan Tate?”
“Obviously that’s Hunter,” she says, but then she’s kissing me, her kiss speaking so much louder than her words.
Chapter Forty-One
Donovan
Ishouldn’tbedisappointedthat no one recognizes me. I’ve been out of Hollywood longer than I was ever in it, and a lot can change about a person in fifteen years. It was nice in Moab, when I didn’t want to be found, but now that I’ve decided to bring my old self back to life, I guess I expected…something. A glance, a smile, maybe a discreet picture disguised as a selfie.
“How can I stand in the middle of a beach in Malibu and not a single person knows who I am?”
Derek snorts a laugh a few feet behind me. “Not what I expected from you, but I’m enjoying the indignation.”
I turn to tell him that I’m more surprised than anything, especially becauseHot Scoopdid bring me back into people’s consciousness, but my words catch in my throat at the sight of him. This morning, hewore tailored slacks and a button-up to give off a serious air when we confronted Neil Shaw, but we both changed in the car for this next task, and I haven’t gotten a good look at him until now.
In his linen shorts and fitted t-shirt, he looks so much like he did on the river. While I’m convinced he could make a neon tracksuit look good because he looks good in anything, this casual version of him is my favorite. Comfortable, confident, completely himself. I wish he could lose the hat and sunglasses so I can fully appreciate the sight of him, but I highly doubt Derek Riley would get the same invisibility effect that I seem to have. It would take more than a few months away for him to not be recognized.
More than anything, as I take in the way the sun kisses his tan skin and the sea breeze ruffles the waves of dark hair that didn’t fit under his hat, one thing is very clear to me.
He belongs here.
“Like what you see, Tate?” he asks, one corner of his mouth lifting in a smirk.
Matching his smile despite being caught ogling him, I let my eyes rove over his body and the way his added muscle is obvious when it isn’t covered by jeans and flannel. “You have to remember that I just spent three months pretending I wasn’t completely into you any time a guest brought you up. I gotta let it out, Riley.”
“Ah, and that must have happened constantly,” he says with a serious nod. “You must be exhausted, considering I’m the most interesting topic of any conversation.”
