Breaking Stars (The Celebrity 2)

Tatum smiled. A real, full-on, genuine smile, and I wanted to tell him to never stop doing that. My attraction doubled each time those lips curled upward. “The fire pit gets set up in a pile of dirt so there’s nothing for it to burn except the wood. And we always carry plenty of water in case things get out of hand. But we’ve been doing this for years. The fire burns itself out eventually.”

“You guys have never…not once…lit the town on fire?” I tilted my head and raised my eyebrows. “Or this farm?”

“Cross my heart.” His hands gestured across his chest and my eyes followed.

“So are you taking me around to meet everyone, or will they come to us? How does this work?”

“It’s a party, Paige. Everyone is gonna be pretty social. And seeing as how you’re a new girl and you’re with me, we’re going to draw plenty of attention tonight.” Worry lines deepened between his eyebrows as he turned his baseball cap around and pulled it low.

I looked up and not

iced a group staring in our direction. “They’re already looking over here.”

“It’s not because of you,” he said, “at least not yet. I haven’t been out here in a couple years.”

“How come?”

“I just haven’t wanted to be around everyone since my dad died. I sort of felt like when I quit college, I’d let the whole town down,” he admitted, and my heart pinched for him.

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“I’m not. You ready for this?” He gestured with his head toward the group now making their way toward us.

“Yep!” I answered with excitement in my voice.

And I honestly felt that way…at first. Then the group of people reached us. The guys shook hands with Tatum, saying things like “It’s been too long” and “Good to see you, man.” And before they asked him who I was, they all stopped and stared. Their eyebrows pulled together as they tried to figure out why I looked so familiar.

I started to shift my weight from foot to foot before the whispers kicked in, and I heard “Paige Lockwood” mentioned in every other breath. This was the sort of thing I was used to. Most people reacted this way when they saw me in public.

“Tatum, who’s your friend?” a guy with blond hair asked.

“Troy, this is my—” Tatum fumbled a little before recovering. “Paige. Paige, this is Troy.”

I extended my hand toward the guy, who brought it to his lips and kissed the top of it. Laughing, I pulled my hand back and shook my head.

“It’s nice to meet you, Paige.”

Tatum’s face reddened. “Knock it off, Troy,” he said, glaring at his buddy.

“What? I was just saying hi.” Troy lifted his hands, palms up in innocence, but Tatum looked genuinely upset.

“You okay with all this?” Tatum whispered in my ear as his hand settled possessively on the small of my back.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” I said, loving the way his hand felt.

“Are you Paige Lockwood?” Troy asked, and the crowd around us grew quiet.

I nodded instead of saying yes, and he promptly asked if we could take a picture together. He pulled out his phone and I leaned in toward him, my head resting against his as he took a selfie of us.

Tatum looked around at the group that was now chirping with excitement and squabbling about who was next to take a picture with me. “Okay, listen up. Paige got a flat tire and she’s staying in town with us until I get the damn thing fixed. All we ask is that you don’t post about her being here. Not on Twitter, or Facebook, or InstaStupid or whatever the hell else you kids are playing on these days.”

The crowd laughed and one of the guys hollered, calling him an old man as Tatum continued. “Please don’t ruin this for Paige. If you post about where she is, she’ll have to leave.”

He leaned toward me. “Do you care if they post the pictures after you’re gone?”

“Of course not,” I said.

Tatum pulled me close, then addressed the group again. “Feel free to post the pictures you take with her after she’s left town. But not before. I don’t want to have to kick anyone’s ass tonight,” he finished, looking me in the eye before planting a kiss on my cheek.