Breaking Stars (The Celebrity 2)

“Thank you so much,” I said, then enveloped her in a warm hug.

• • •

A little later, I walked around the back of the main house toward the barn. When I knocked on the door, memories of last night flooded my mind. Tatum had taken over my brain and turned me into some horny teenager. I’d been around good-looking guys my whole life, but this…this was different. Tatum was smoking hot, but he was real. And his genuine nature, no matter how brutally honest, pulled me to him even more.

“Hi,” he said as he opened the door.

I looked into his deep blue eyes and said, “I’m sorry about earlier.” Why was I apologizing again?

“Me too.”

With that out of the way, I asked, “Do you think I could use the computer again?”

“Of course,” he said, holding open the screen door. I brushed past him as I entered and forced myself to keep walking when all I wanted to do was turn around and run my hands all over his well-formed chest.

Sitting down at the desk, I noticed the computer was already on, so I logged back in to my personal e-mail. My mom had e-mailed, wanting all the information for where I was staying, including full names and addresses. She told me if I didn’t have them, to get them. I wanted to roll my eyes, but she was right to want that stuff, and I quickly typed out an e-mail telling her everything I knew about where I was and who I was spending my time with, including the phone number to Mrs. Montgomery’s house.

And then I sent Quinn the same e-mail with the same information, plus a little extra. I told her all about Brina and about the field party. I told her that I wished she were here, experiencing all of this with me. E-mailing her wasn’t the same as hearing her voice, so I told her to call me soon.

I continued to ignore the other e-mails from my agent, manager, publicist, and everyone else, figuring that they could all wait until I was ready to deal with them. It surprised me how good it felt to claim some of my power back, although a small part of me felt like I was just avoiding everything and that avoidance didn’t really equal power.

While I was relieved to have left town, I also felt cowardly. As if running away was a weak move, even if it had been necessary. And I convinced myself that it had been absolutely necessary to leave. I imagined myself sitting in a corner in my apartment all alone, rocking back and forth, if I hadn’t gotten out of there when I did.

I logged off and turned around, searching for Tatum. He was standing in the kitchen watching me, but his eyes had a faraway look about them.

“So, about tonight…” I started, and watched as his eyes blinked and refocused.

“What about it?”

“I wanna go.”

“Have you thought about this, Paige? I mean, really thought about this?” He crossed the space between us and stood in front of me.

“What is there to think about?”

“The repercussions of your actions, maybe? That going to this party might ruin everything for you?”

I let out an exasperated breath. “Tatum, just stop.”

“Stop what?” he asked as he tucked his hands inside his jeans pockets.

“You’re trying to control me, and that’s exactly why I left LA in the first place. I don’t need more people in my life telling me what I can and can’t do.”

“I don’t want to control you. I just want to protect you,” he said, and the sincerity of his words took the edge off my anger.

“Protect me? I don’t need you to protect me. I just want to do something normal. But I don’t want to do it without you. Please come with me tonight.”

He looked conflicted as he pondered my request. I didn’t want to fight with him, but I would in order to get what I wanted. And right now, I craved normalcy. I longed for something typical. And a Southern field party was something I wanted to experience.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” I repeated with a slight smile.

“We’ll go.”

“Yay!” I hopped up and wrapped my arms around his shoulders without thinking, my body pressing against his in every place it could. I felt him harden against me as he quickly pushed me away. “Sorry,” I said quickly, feeling stupid, but secretly turned on by what had just happened.

“We’ll head out after dinner,” was all he said before leaving me standing alone in his living room.