Her Secret Life

And he didn’t have the time to pursue it at the moment. So he filed it away to look at later. Maybe. If it reared up again.

“I told him I saw myself with him, that I was on the same path he was and that my goal was a forever relationship, but that I need to keep things just between us for the time being.”

“He was good with that?”

“He was great.”

Great, meaning he spent the night with her? Mike assumed they were sleeping together. What exclusive Hollywood couple didn’t?

But he sure didn’t want to hear details.

“He wants a key to my place.”

“Okay.” He wanted to support her. It’s what a friend did. “I assume you’re giving it to him?”

“I don’t know. His request for it was all mixed in with the rest of it and I didn’t really give him an answer to the key part.”

Shouldn’t she have done so? Without needing to think about it? If the relationship was right?

And then something else occurred to him. Even though he’d never met Neanderthal, he didn’t like the guy.

“Do you think Bo could be posting the photos?” he asked, the split second before he realized that the man could hardly have snapped a photo of himself while both arms were filled with a beautiful, intoxicated-looking woman.

“What? No! Of course not.”

He didn’t think so, either, and if he’d thought a second longer before speaking, he wouldn’t have asked. But now that he was there...

“You said that his career has been in a slump these past couple of months.”

“The sitcom he starred in was canceled. He just hasn’t chosen another yet. He’s had offers. He’s just looking for something that could give him a long run. You know, more than three or four seasons.”

He nodded. “And getting publicity as the man who saves the beautiful, famous and beloved daytime sweetheart wouldn’t help that along?”

“Not if it means he’s choosing to hang out with a drunk,” she said. “Think about that. If I’m the media draw, and he’s hoping to make a name for himself on my back, he’d be better served making me look good. The better I look, the more value I’d be.”

She was right. And he had to get his head on straight.

No more wandering down forbidden paths lined with jealous shadows.

“Besides, he doesn’t even know that Lace and I have a secret email address.”

Mike had left Neanderthal behind. “Were there people on the dock when you came off the boat?”

Someone had to have taken that photo.

“Seemed like hundreds of them,” she told him, sounding tired. “They clapped from the time Bo picked me up until he put me back down on the level ground. There’s always a crowd for events like this. You know, folks hoping to see someone famous. Get a photo. Media hounds hoping to make a name for themselves. Paparazzi...”

“In other words, anyone could have taken that picture.”

“Yep.” Her voice sounded close and clear all of a sudden. Right in his ear. His body jolted for a second.

“You’re at the studio,” he guessed. And off her car phone.

“Yeah. And I’ve got to run, Michael, but...”

“Go,” he told her, sitting forward. “I’ll see what I can find and we can touch base tonight, when you’re through for the day.”

“I’ll call you.”