He stretched. The bedding was pretty awesome too. He’d slept through the night for a change. And now the rhythmic sound of waves filtering through the open windows called his name. He’d have a nice long jog on the beach, lift weights, then scope out the area where some of the filming would take place. A little precarious since that was actually Chloe’s property.
He thought of the pretty brunette holding up that little piece of nothing and grinned. Those eyes of hers had transfixed him at first glance. He’d flustered her—and enjoyed doing it. She hadn’t known quite what to make of him at first, and he enjoyed that too. Watching her cheeks flush pink and her elfin chin notch upward had been the highlight of his week. And he could listen to her talk for hours with that sweet southern accent. He almost hoped he ran into her at the filming location just so he could get under her skin again.
His phone buzzed once more, this time a call. He grabbed the phone. Spencer. He wasn’t exactly eager to think of his LA life right now with the beach awaiting him, but he’d ignored his manager yesterday—and he’d apparently missed a few texts from him this morning.
He swiped the screen. “Spencer, buddy, how’s it going?”
“I can’t decide if you flew to North Carolina or fell off the face of the earth.”
“What time is it there?”
“Early. From what I remember, we were going to talk about your little problem before you flew across the country. The studio is concerned.”
“You know I like to arrive before prep work begins.”
“Not a week early. You ditched me.”
“I was ditching LA, not you.”
“Well, let’s talk now since you bothered to answer the phone.”
His reputation was the last thing he wanted to talk about, but he couldn’t deny the gossip had gotten out of hand. What started as honest coverage of his casual dating style had morphed into something uglier. The tabloids had begun painting him as a heartless playboy. They’d recently announced he was cheating on Brittney Bloom with Katie Simpson, and Brittney seemed all too willing to play the victim even though they’d only gone out once. So now he was an unfaithful cad.
“This is bad for your career, Liam. The old adage ‘All publicity is good publicity’ isn’t really true. You’re gonna start losing parts.”
“I don’t know what you want me to do. I can’t tell the press what to print, and I can’t stop them from using old photos that make me look like a cheating tool.”
“No, but we can try to control the narrative.” Spencer’s psychology degree sometimes came in handy despite his radical career shift. “Did you get my texts this morning?”
“Uh, yeah.” Liam quickly tapped a couple of buttons and scanned the texts.
“So who’s the girl?”
“What girl?”
“The pretty brunette with the skimpy bathing suit... Ring a bell?”
Liam touched the live link Spencer had sent, and theTattletalewebsite opened. There, front and center, was a photo of Chloe and him outside that shop yesterday. She was holding up the bikini and the headline read, “Has Liam Ditched Katie for Southern Squeeze?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered.
Now Chloe was being pulled into the sticky web of his gossip-laden life. It was unlikely the paparazzi was here already, which meant some pedestrian must’ve recognized him and snapped and posted the photo. The tabloids picked it up. He scanned the article. Thankfully the gossip site hadn’t identified Chloe. But it was only a matter a time.
“Hello? Care to elaborate?”
“She’s just— It’s Chloe Anderson. Author ofBeneath the Summer Skies.”
There was a beat of silence. “The one who insulted you over the phone?” Spencer’s amusement came through loud and clear. He’d laughed uproariously when hearing about that phone call. It wasn’t every day a woman shot Liam down so bluntly. Sometimes having a friend for a manager sucked rotten eggs.
“Yeah, laugh it up. Happy to entertain you.”
“Why was she getting your opinion on a piece of lingerie?”
“She wasn’t. I ran into her downtown, that’s all. We exchanged words.”
“You’re smiling at her.”
“Smirking.”
