Breaking Stars (The Celebrity 2)

I sucked in a lungful of air before responding, “No.” Then I turned back toward Paige’s apartment building, and the guy from the concierge desk held the door open for me as I walked back inside the lobby.

“She left. You know she left, right?” the man asked, his accent so thick he was hard to understand.

I nodded. “I wanted to talk to you. I can’t trust that kind of guy out there.” I lifted my chin in the direction of the lone paparazzi. “But I figured that you, I could trust.”

He smiled and extended his hand. “I’m Samuel Montoya, but everyone calls me Sam.”

“Nice to meet you, Sam. I’m Tatum Montgomery.” Our hands met, and he gripped mine tighter than I had anticipated.

“I know who you are. Read all about you this morning.”

“Right. So, about that—” I started, but Sam’s expression turned serious and his eyes grew wide.

“Mr. Montgomery?” he interrupted, and I dipped my head toward him, thinking he was about to divulge some secret. “Mr. McGuire is pulling up.”

“Mr. McGuire? You mean Colin? He’s here?”

He nodded. “Yes, sir. That is most certainly his car.”

I turned around to see a sporty black Porsche pull up outside with blacked-out windows, black rims, and all-black wheels. What a douche. The door opened and Colin climbed out. Bracing myself, I hadn’t expected to see him again so soon. Or ever, for that matter.

Watching as he held up one finger toward the valet to signal that he would be right back, he entered the lobby where I stood with Sam. He pulled off his sunglasses before squinting at me, as if trying to place exactly how he knew me. I could tell exactly when he connected the dots, because his expression turned smug.

“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me. What the hell are you doing here, country boy? Come all the way to LA to face the music?”

Instinctively, I straightened my spine and pulled back my shoulders, reminding Colin just how much taller and bigger I was than him. “Face the music? What the hell are you even talking about? The real question is what you’re doing here. I’m pretty sure Paige doesn’t want to see you.”

“And how would you know that? I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want to see you either, or you wouldn’t be sitting in the lobby right now. Am I right?”

Touché.

“Miss Lockwood gave me strict instructions. She does not want to see you, Mr. Colin,” Sam said from behind his desk, and I tried to hide the smart-aleck grin that spread across my face.

Colin looked me straight in the eye. “It’s good that you’re here. Now people will really believe the rumors about you and her. They would have had a hard time buying it before, but not now. Thanks for helping my cause, buddy. I’ll make sure the paparazzi know you’re in town and how heartbroken I am that Paige left me for you.” He started dialing on his cell phone before putting it to his ear, and I growled as Sam reached out to steady me.

“How has everyone not seen through your act yet?”

Colin sneered before looking me up and down. “Because they don’t want to believe the bad. They want to love me. Just like your girlfriend does.” He snickered as he pulled his black sunglasses over his eyes.

I clenched my fist and pulled out of Sam’s grip to storm over to Colin.

“What did you say?” I practically spat in his face.

“You know you can’t erase the history I have with Paige. You’re nothing, country boy. And as soon as you’re gone, I’ll be the one fucking her every night just like before. She is a good lay, don’t you agree?”

Everything around me blurred except for Colin and his shit-eating grin. I pulled my arm back and swung, the sound of my knuckles meeting his jaw echoing in the otherwise empty lobby. Colin’s head practically spun around on his shoulders as he reached up and cupped his face.

“Say another word like that about Paige and I’ll hit you again.” I glared at him as he tried to smile, but grunted with the pain instead.

“Thanks for that. You’re real good at giving me ammunition, country boy,” Colin said before he turned and ran out of the building like the little coward he really was.

Turning toward Sam, the reality of what I’d just done hit me like a tsunami wave as I looked down at my already bruising hand.

“Shit, Sam. Did I just completely screw it all up? Did I ruin everything?”

Sam shrugged. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time now.”

His unexpected response made me chuckle. “Hit Colin?”