Josh eyed Mad. “What the hell did they do to you?”
Mad touched her hair self-consciously. “I told ya I was going to be in that movie.”
Josh shook his head, poured a beer on tap and set it in front of her. “Too much makeup.”
“Whatever,” Mad said, sliding onto the stool next to Hailey and ratting her out. “Hailey says we’re gorgeous.”
Josh’s eyes landed on Hailey. She felt herself flush under his scrutiny. “This all your doing?”
“No. But I was happy to help. The where and the why are top secret.” They weren’t supposed to talk about the movie. Once it released next year, they were free to blab as much as they wanted. She whispered in Mad’s ear to remind her of that.
“It’s Josh,” Mad said, flapping her hand at him. “He won’t tell anyone about the movie.”
She was probably right, but they’d given Claire their word. A mojito appeared in front of her with a mint leaf sticking out of it. Her usual drink, which she hadn’t even requested.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
Josh shook a martini shaker without comment. He served that to Charlotte.
“What else can I get you beautiful ladies?” he asked, giving the other women a charming smile.
After he served them all, he busied himself stacking glasses behind the bar. It wasn’t too crowded on a Wednesday night at Garner’s. Hailey found herself distracted, wondering when Josh was going to leave. Claire would flip out if he didn’t show. She was very worked up about this bad press.
Finally Hailey couldn’t take it anymore. Josh had to leave right now or he’d be late. She hopped off the bar stool and shifted down the bar to stand directly in front of him. “Don’t you think you should get going soon?”
He poured another beer on tap. “I’m on until ten.”
“But you said you’d meet her at nine!”
He stilled. “Yeah. That’s right. How long are you ladies going to hang out?”
“I don’t know. Why does that matter?”
He went back to work, not bothering to reply.
She returned to her seat, something tickling her brain, an uneasiness that something wasn’t quite right. She was a little worried for Claire’s sake.
Chapter Eleven
Jake was about to head to the small airport for private planes when he got a text from Josh that Claire wanted to see him again, same place, tonight. He puzzled over that. Why? What more was there to say? She saw no future with him, that much was clear, even after he’d told her he felt something real. The conversation had been at times painful, at times almost stimulating. He sensed more fire in her than the shy Jenny had, and his own natural competitiveness liked the challenge of sparring with her. He’d toyed with the idea of telling her who he was, but he stubbornly wanted her to want him for himself, not the shine to his gold-plated name. He’d been himself on those dates, except for the gentleman thing and the few times he’d been forced to come up with a Josh-like explanation for why he went on the blind date in the first place.
Josh texted again. We got trouble. There was a link too.
He clicked on it to find Claire splashed across a tabloid in disguise, not the Jenny disguise, one with short black hair as she walked with a tight crowd of people around her. The headline said Meeting with her bartender lover! Mia and Damon on the rocks!
Weird. It was like the press didn’t make a distinction between the real person and the character she played. Another text popped up from Josh.
Some reporters showed up at work. Gonna lie low for a few days as soon as my shift’s done.
Shit. The press must’ve tracked down Josh, trying to get info out of him. His twin didn’t do well with aggressive people. His combat training kicked in, making him act first, ask questions later. They all knew better than to sneak up behind him.
Sorry, I’ll see what I can do, Jake texted back.
His mind kept circling back to how the press knew any of this. He hadn’t said a word. Josh sure as hell wouldn’t. Who else knew? Ty. But his brother wasn’t a snitch. Maybe it was Claire’s preemptive move to control the message. He did some searching online, but none of the articles were complimentary. They made her sound like she was too good for them, playing at being what she thought of as a regular girl. A princess among the peasants. There were even pictures supposedly of Claire as Jenny. They were of a very homely woman with the headline: “Next Oscar-winning performance?”
No way a publicist would let the message be so negative. Claire must have a leak somewhere with someone close to her, someone looking to get back at her, maybe, or just earn a little side cash.