Her eyes flashed with anger. “But you said you’d protect me. You know what’s at stake, Alec! The divorce was messy. He wants the studio now that he knows the truth, and if he takes that, I have no money, and I have no—”

“I don’t give a flying shit if you have ten kids, two mortgages, and an incurable disease. I’m not going down on my own.” I threw my hands into the air and walked off.

“How are you going to explain the drugs? How are you going to explain everything to Demetri?” April called out. I froze mid-step and told myself I’d go to prison if I slapped her. “You can’t just explain that one away. After all, the pictures of that scene? Very real. Weren’t you in rehab during that stint?”

And there it was.

Her final play at my taking the fall.

I couldn’t think about it — didn’t want to. “The alarm’s not on, you can just let yourself in, April.”

With that, I walked off in search of Nat with a terrible sense of foreboding.

Chapter Eighteen

Demetri

“I cooked this,” I announced proudly as everyone began piling potato salad on their plates.

“You don’t cook potato salad,” Jaymeson said as he put a generous amount of ketchup on his plate. “Therefore, you didn’t cook it.”

“Tell them, babe.” I nodded to Alyssa.

She rolled her eyes. “Demetri only suffered two injuries while cutting the vegetables for the salad.” With an exaggerated arm raise. “Let’s all give him a round of applause.”

Jaymeson clapped once. Angelica mouthed whatever and Nat clapped with Alyssa.

“Thanks, guys. Feeling the love.” I filled my plate with a burger and two hot dogs just as Alec came bursting onto the lawn, guns firing.

“Whoa there, partner.” I put up my hand. “I don’t have any cash, just take my wallet.”

“Huh?” He stopped in front of me and shook his head.

“You looked like an escaped prison convict. I just assumed you were going to go with it and rob me,” I answered.

“Can I punch you in the face?”

I thought about it. “Hmm, just don’t hit my camera side.”

“Alec,” Nat scolded. “You’re moody. Eat some food.”

Alec smiled and saluted her as he made his way over to the picnic table where our feast was piled up.

“I have an announcement!” Ruben and the camera crew piled out of the house and onto the lawn.

“Do you think we can make a run for it?” I whispered to Alec.

“If I thought we could make a run for it, I would have already been gone.” He sighed.

“The polls are in!” Ruben clapped his little T-rex hands and rubbed them together. “Your ratings are the highest they’ve ever been, and I’m happy to announce that Teambuilding Week was a hit!”

“Probably because we made absolute asses out of ourselves.” Angelica scoffed.

“Just you, Angelica. Just you,” Alec added.

I smirked and nodded my head in her direction. I was gifted with her middle finger and a smile.

“Who won?” This from Jaymeson, who was currently fighting a losing battle with his hot dog. Did they not have hot dogs in England?

“That’s not how you eat a hot dog.” I pointed to his fork and plate. “You don’t cut it with a knife, England. You put it in your mouth.”

“Hot dogs remind me of man bits. No way am I putting a man bit in my mouth and biting down for all the world to see.”

“That was a visual I could have done without,” Alec announced.

Ruben cleared his throat. “As I was saying, the polls are in and I’m happy to say that the winning team was…”

“Please say the bunnies.” I crossed my fingers. I needed to get away from the cameras and spend some time with Alyssa before I resorted to sneaking into her room again.

“The Fairies!”

“Yes!” Nat threw her fist into the air and jumped. “Winners!”

I glared. “Yes, rub it in. Pour some more salt, and rub some more. Love you too, Nat!”

Alec was silent. He cleared his throat a few times. “Um, I feel like we win all the time. I know you really wanted it, man.” He slapped my back. “If you want it, it’s yours.”

“Come again?” Nat and I said in unison.

Alec shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong. I would love to be alone with Nat.” He gave her a knowing wink. “But I know you’ve been having to share Alyssa with her family during filming.” He took a bite of his hot dog, the right way might I add, and chewed.

“Sounds fishy.” I tapped my chin.

Nat looked between me and Alec. I could tell she was kind of bummed. How could Alec not see that his own girlfriend was really looking forward to a two-day trip with him?

“We’ll go!” Angelica yelled.

“No, we won’t.” Jaymeson sputtered. “Not unless you want me to bury your body under a seedy hotel.”

“I may kill you first.”

“If there is a God you’ll succeed, so I don’t have to listen to you—”

“—Stop!” Ruben cursed. “You guys are worse than kids. No prize trading. The viewers voted Nat and Alec win. They go to the Spa. Everyone else stays here and goes to the beach.”

Jaymeson raised his hand.

“What?” Ruben ran his hand through is hair. “What, Jaymeson?”

“Can I just go to hell? Instead of the beach, I mean?”

“Pardon?”

“Hell. I would rather go to Hell than be in the hot sun with that one.” He pointed to Angelica. “I can only take so much. I’m on borrowed time.”

“Any other questions?” Ruben ignored Jaymeson and searched our faces. “Good.” He clapped his hands one last time. “I’ll text the details to your phone, Alec, you know to keep the others from knowing all the private information and raining on your parade.”

“I would freaking storm on their parade if it means I wouldn’t have to be stuck here one more second.” Jaymeson stuffed the rest of the hot dog in his mouth and sighed with his mouth open.

“Close your mouth.” Angelica pushed him. “Gross.”

“Only if you open yours, baby. Come on, you can take me.”

I groaned and shook my head at Alec. “Lucky bastard. I get stuck with them all weekend.”

“And me!” Alyssa smacked the back of my head. “I’m fun!”

“You’re fine. They…” I pointed at Angelica and Jaymeson. “… however, may get arrested and take us down with them.”

Alec pulled out his phone and clicked through the details. His face paled. “Um, I thought we were going to stay in the general area of the, um… coast?”

Ruben’s eyes narrowed. “Is there a problem?”

“No.” Alec swallowed and laughed dryly. “I just didn’t expect us to fly somewhere. I mean, it’s only two days.”

“Stop stressing.” Ruben shrugged. “Go enjoy yourselves.”

“Right.” Alec bit down on his lip and slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Fun.”

Chapter Nineteen

Alec

“Where are we going?” Nat was doing cute little circles around me at the airport.

All I told her was that the climate was the same as Portland so not to get her hopes up that we were going to Disneyland for the weekend.

“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” I kissed her forehead. “Besides, you love surprises.”

Nat chewed her lower lip. “This is true. But you do know I’m going to find out based on the ticket counter we go to?”

I smiled. “We’ll see about that.” I led her toward the first class lounge of Alaska Airlines and went to the counter with both our ID’s and ticket info. The great thing about being famous? You could pull strings, and damn if I wasn’t trying to just use this time to be with her and only focus on her. She deserved that much after all the shit going on in my head.

After I checked in our bags I jogged back to the seat where I left Nat, but she was missing.

“Nat?” I went around the corner, then went and knocked on the door to the restroom.

“Be right out!”

I shrugged and picked up a magazine.

Fantastic. A picture of me and my glorious black eye filled the page. “Lover’s spat?”

I groaned and threw the magazine down.

Nat emerged from the restroom looking a bit pale. “Babe, you alright?”

“I think I’m just excited.” She sat down with a huff. “Plus, I may have skipped breakfast.”

I growled low in my throat. “You know how much I hate it when you skip meals, Nat. You have to take care of yourself.” I pulled her into my lap and stroked her face. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”

She sighed. “Even when I’m pale and look like a ghost?”

“Even when you wake up in the morning and your hair is poking all over the place.” I tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her nose. “Even when you scrunch up your face and scowl.”

She did exactly that and tried to pull away.

“I love you.” I kissed her softly on the mouth.

She pulled away. “I need food.”

“I need sex,” I muttered kissing her again.

“Um, I think public nudity is illegal.” She pushed against my chest and giggled as I kissed her neck.

“Not true. I’m famous. We can do whatever we want.”

“Wow, you really just sounded like Demetri.”

“And, no more sex talk…” I laughed against her lips. “Food wins. You win.”

“I always win.”

“That’s because you’re pretty.”

“Really? I thought it was because I was brilliant.”

I rolled my eyes and helped her to her feet. “You’re that too. Let’s grab some food and get on the plane.”

“Yeah, because it’s a really long trip to—”

“—Seattle.” I froze. “Damn it, Nat! You ruined the surprise.”

“You did just doubt my brilliance. Had to prove you wrong.”

She tried pulling away from me, but I jerked her against my body and then pressed her against the wall, luckily nobody else was in the suite. “I always knew you were brilliant and beautiful. It’s why I wanted you.”

“I thought it was because I was the shiny new toy and your brother wanted me first,” she joked.

But it left me feeling cold. I never wanted her to think that. It made me sick to my stomach that she would even joke about it. “Never.” My voice was hoarse. “Never say that again, Nat. I love you because you are you. I suck at romance, you know this, but these next two days I’m going to try really hard to make you remember why…”

She snaked her arm around my neck and pressed her lips to my cheek. “Why what?”

“Why you and me are forever.”

****

Nat and I boarded the plane and sat in first class, if one could call two rows with one curtain first class. At any rate, it gave us some privacy away from people.