Waking Up to You: Overexposed (13 page)

Her brain wasn’t functioning, and she couldn’t figure out what to say. Her hand lay limply in his as he lifted it and slid the ten-pound rock onto her ring finger.

“There, now you’re fully dressed,” he said, leaning down to rub noses with her.

She clenched her fists in his leather jacket—no black tie for the sexy movie star—and whispered, “Get me out of here. Now, Tommy, I mean it.”

“Five minutes. Then we split.”

But, she suddenly realized, she didn’t even have five minutes. Because word of the superstar’s arrival had apparently spread, and people were coming from all over the hotel to gawk at them. Sure, San Francisco had its share of celebrities, but Tommy was the “it” guy of Hollywood right now, having starred in two blockbusters in the past eighteen months. Directors courted him, women threw panties at him, men clapped him on the shoulder. Of course people would come and stare. Including a few from the ballroom.

Panic rose within her. She had to get out of here, had to escape and find a quiet place to sit down and figure out how to handle this nightmare. What on earth was she going to say to Oliver? Yes, of course he would someday find out she was marrying Tommy. But oh, God, she did not want it to be like this. Not tonight, on what had been, up until a few minutes ago, one of the most magical she had ever experienced.

Suddenly, she spied a face in the shifting crowd. Her worst fears were coming true. Her heart thudded in her chest and sweat broke out on her brow. This couldn’t be happening!

But it was. As fans drew closer, asking Tommy for autographs, she saw Oliver’s face in the crowd. He stood about twenty feet away, his attention glued on her, his face expressionless. How long he’d been standing there, she had no idea. Considering Tommy was hugging her to his side like she was his prized possession, she could only imagine what he was thinking.

The worst.

“No,” she whispered.

Tommy, probably thinking she was nervous about the growing hysteria of his largely female fan riot, dropped a possessive arm over her shoulder and hugged her tightly against his side. “Hey, folks, don’t freak out my fiancée, okay? I don’t want to scare her off before I get her down the aisle.”

The words caused a stir in the hallway, and every whispering person in the hallway gaped at her, most of the women eyeing her with jealousy, the men assessing her looks.

And then there was Oliver. She watched as shock washed over him, his dark eyes widening, his mouth moving, though she couldn’t hear a word he said. Of course, she really didn’t need to. Because, as the truth of the situation hit him—at least, the truth as he saw it—he drew himself up stiffly and thrust out his jaw. His shoulders squared, his eyes cold, he nodded briefly in her direction. Then he turned and walked away, heading for the lobby and, she imagined, the exit.

“Tommy, let go,” she insisted, knowing she had to go after Oliver and try to explain.

“It’s okay, honey, we’ll get up to our room soon,” Tommy said, overplaying the part of horny lover. She would bet he’d rather be chatting up the superhot waiter who was hovering near the banquet room door.

Just as she was ready to pound on his chest and scream at him to let her go, she saw another familiar face. It was Madison. She stood in the lobby and was jumping up and down, waving her arms over her head, trying to be seen above the crowd.

Her sister. Her twin. That was just who she needed.

“I, uh, need to use the facilities,” she said to Tommy, knowing her face was red with frustration and anger. Hopefully his adoring fans would think she was blushing over the behavior of her flirtatious fiancé, or at least because she’d had to make a public issue out of needing to use the damn john.

He finally let her go, but pressed a quick kiss on her lips before she could escape. “Hurry back sweet cheeks.”

She growled at him, and for the first time since he’d arrived, he finally looked her fully in the face and realized she was absolutely furious. And positively devastated.

“Babe?”

“I’ll deal with you later,” she snapped, pushing her way through the throng, who continued to converge on Tommy, gushing over his films. Nobody paid her much attention, and she slipped away, hugging the wall, until she reached the lobby.

She didn’t see Oliver anywhere. But she did see her twin’s head as Madison ducked down another hallway. She followed her, rounding a corner as Mad disappeared into what turned out to be a ladies’ room.

Hurrying in after her, she bumped into her sister, who’d been waiting anxiously by the door.

“Oh, God, Madison!”

“I know, I know,” she said, grabbing Candace and hugging her.

“How? When...”

“I was at the center and went to the cafeteria to get Grandpa some ice cream. When I came back, he said Tommy had called, looking for you because you weren’t answering your cell. He had just landed at the airport and wanted to know where you were.”

Of course Grandpa would tell him. He’d known Tommy since they were kids and probably thought his surprise would be a wonderful one for Candace.

“As soon as he told me, I started trying to call you.”

“I forgot to turn my phone back on,” she admitted.

“Where’s Oliver? Did he...”

“Yes. He saw. He turned around and left.” She sniffed, trying to hold in a sob as she imagined how he was feeling. “He’ll probably never speak to me again.”

Madison stepped back, gripping Candace’s shoulders, looking into her face, her expression serious. “Is that for the best, do you think? I mean, if you’re going to really go through with it and marry Tommy, maybe you should just let him go.”

“No!” The very idea was abhorrent. Yes, she’d intended to leave, to remind him of their agreement, fly back to Los Angeles and move on with her life. But at no time had she envisioned him being so publicly slapped in the face with the decisions she’d made before she’d ever met him.

He deserved an apology, and as much of an explanation as she could give him. He also deserved the right to tell her off, even if she had kept the truth from him out of loyalty to her oldest friend.

She understood now, though, that her loyalties were more torn than ever. She loved Oliver. If she were free, she would want to make a life with him. She wouldn’t choose marriage to a movie star, with all the money, fame and glamour it included, over Oliver. Not a chance.

But Tommy? Her lifelong friend? The one to whom she’d given her word?

“Oh, God, Mad, what am I going to do?”

Her sister scrunched her brow, then nodded. “Take off your dress.”

Her jaw unhinged. “What?”

“Come on, hurry up. Somebody might come in.” She pushed Candace toward the stalls, shoving her inside one. “Get out of it. We’ll switch clothes. I’ll go back and play adoring fiancée while you get out of here and find Oliver.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course I’m serious. Hell, it’ll be an adventure. I can’t stand reporters—it’ll be fun putting one over on them.”

Candace simply stared.

“I know, I know,” her sister said, waving an airy hand. “I’m a reporter. That doesn’t mean I necessarily like myself. I think I chose the wrong field.”

“Nice time to decide that, Ms. Columbia Master’s Degree.”

“You want me to change my mind?”

“Oh, hell, no!”

Thankful there was a way out of this, at least for right now, she immediately leaped on her sister’s offer. It wasn’t, after all, the first time the two of them had traded places.

“Thank you so much,” she said, yanking down her zipper and flinging the dress over the wall of the stall.

Madison, who’d shoved off her jeans and shirt, took the dress, doing a double take. “Whoa, Candy, that’s some serious underwear you’ve got on there.”

She looked down, seeing the incredibly sexy set of lingerie she’d bought especially to wear under tonight’s dress. A red bra with cutouts over her nipples, and a skimpy thong. She’d envisioned Oliver being the only one seeing her in them for the few minutes it would take to rip them off. Right now, though, she was too anxious to be embarrassed.

“Where do you think he went?” Madison asked as she yanked the dress on over her head and struggled to smooth it over her slightly larger butt.

“The keys to the rental car are in my purse,” she said, buttoning the jeans. “So he either got a cab or walked.”

“Walked, I’ll bet. Men like to go walk out their frustration over this kind of stuff. It seems like the guy thing to do.”

She had no idea whether that was true or not, but was ready to take any help she could get. She’d try walking, and was very glad she had her sister’s flat shoes in which to do it.

Yanking her hair into a ponytail and wetting a paper towel to wipe away some of the heavy makeup from her face, she shoved her purse toward Madison. “Lipstick. Eye shadow. Now.”

Her sister went to work, applying cosmetics with a heavy hand, a look that was most unusual for her. Candace took the pins she’d pulled from her own hair and used them to twist her sister’s into a quick updo, hoping nobody would notice it was a lot less intricate than Candace’s had been.

When they were finished, they stood side by side and looked in the mirror. Madison looked so close to the way Candace had earlier tonight—she had no doubt most people would be fooled.

Her sister took her hand and squeezed.

“It’ll be okay.”

“How?” she whispered, not seeing a happy ending here. Maybe she could find Oliver. Maybe he’d stand still and listen to her enough so she could apologize. Maybe he’d even forgive her.

But that didn’t change the fact that they couldn’t be together.

12

A
S
O
LIVER
STALKED
out of the hotel, needing to get away and deal with the truth, he vacillated between anger and devastation. His emotions churned one way, then the next. One minute he wanted to punch something, the next, he was tempted to go back to the hotel, haul her into his arms and ask her why in hell she was marrying a pretty boy movie star who could never make her happy.

“Married,” he muttered out loud, drawing a curious look from a passing couple, dressed for clubbing, who looked like every other couple he’d passed. Saturday night in San Fran was when all the hipsters came out, and he felt entirely out of place. Although, not as out of place as he would feel in Candace’s world, now that she was engaged to one of the sexiest men alive.

Bastard.

When he’d first walked out of the ballroom to look for her, having grown concerned when she didn’t come back right away, since she’d looked on the verge of tears when she left, he hadn’t believed his eyes. Seeing Candace there, standing in the embrace of another man, he’d had a sudden certainty that he was seeing Madison. Not Candace. Not his Candace.

But the dress was the same. The hairstyle. The pale face, trembling lips, damp eyes.

It was her. He’d known that even before she’d met his stare and silently pleaded for understanding he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to offer.

The farther away from the hotel he walked, the more he tried to understand.

That she was really engaged seemed beyond doubt. She’d let that guy slide that big ugly ring on her hand. She hadn’t laughed it off as a joke or shoved him away. In fact, the two of them looked pretty comfortable and cozy together, and he had to wonder how long they’d known each other.

Probably longer than the two weeks she’d been here. But damned if he’d let anyone tell him he didn’t love her more than anyone else could. She’d become a part of him. He couldn’t fall asleep if she wasn’t in his arms, and was edgy every day until he heard her voice. She was the one he wanted to talk to about his plans for the future—maybe going back to work in a local law office, maybe getting married and having a family. Those things had seemed impossible—and he hadn’t really wanted them—until she’d crept into his life and turned it completely upside down.

She’s marrying someone else. She always planned to, and you know it. She warned you.

Yeah, she had. That first night when he’d made love to her, she’d laid down her conditions, stated her terms. He tried to remember exactly what she’d said, though his brain had been foggy with lust and he’d had a hard time thinking of anything except how much he wanted to be inside her.

She’d made a promise to someone, he remembered that much. A commitment. One that meant she and Oliver could have no more than one week, and would have to part ways, no questions asked, not seeing each other again.

He’d sort of believed she meant it. But a part of him really hadn’t. And once they’d started sleeping together, once the physical connection had wrapped them up in such strong emotional bonds, he’d had an even harder time with the idea.

He should have pressed her when she’d offered to try to explain. Maybe then he wouldn’t have been so blindsided when she turned out to have a fiancé.

She hadn’t lied. She’d answered him truthfully when he’d laid out his three deal-breaking conditions. She’d wanted him, she was an adult and she wasn’t married.

Just engaged to a freaking movie star.

“Oliver, please wait!”

He froze, spinning around and seeing a woman hurrying after him. His heart leaped as he thought for a moment it was Candace, that she’d walked away from the crazy promise she’d made to marry a man she didn’t love, and had come after him. But he noted her clothes, and realized that was impossible.

“I’m not in the mood, Madison,” he told her, striding away before she got to within ten feet.

“Oliver, wait, it’s me.”

He stopped again. This time, when he turned around, he studied her more closely, noting the full lips so recently well kissed, the faint circles under her eyes and streaks on her cheeks that said she’d been crying.

“Candace?”

She nodded and came closer, stopping about three feet away.

He clenched his hands by his sides, not reaching out for her, though he very much wanted to.

“Can we please talk?”

He looked around, seeing a few bars, but also a small coffee shop that was still open. He gestured toward it, and she nodded in agreement, walking with him across the street.

They didn’t speak while they walked, and the tension built. Oliver wanted to ask her what had happened, what her coming after him meant and how the hell she’d gotten hooked up with Thomas Shane. But he didn’t know where to start, and she didn’t break the silence.

Not until they were sitting across from each other at a small booth, waiting for the waitress to return with their coffee did she attempt an explanation.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“Excuse me?”

She was looking down at her own hands, which she kept twisting together on the table, and cleared her throat. “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

He was about launch into a barrage of questions when he realized what he was not seeing on that hand.

The ring. That big ugly ring.

His heart flipped in his chest. Had she ended it? Broken off with the golden boy?

“I didn’t mean for that to happen. I had no idea Tommy was coming up here or I would never have put you in that position. Or myself, for that matter.” She rolled her eyes, disgusted. “He’s a publicity hound.”

“How the hell could you even think about marrying someone like that?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, the waitress returned with two steaming cups of coffee. She chatted a little, offering them dessert, but they both declined, waiting for her to leave.

Once she had, they both sat silently for a minute, stirring their coffee, searching for words.

Eventually, Candace began to explain.

“I’ve known Tommy since I was a toddler. He and Mad have been my two best friends my entire life.”

He blinked in surprise, but didn’t interfere.

“Tommy and I had a lot in common. We were both artistic and emotional and very theatrical, while Mad was the calm, blunt one who evened us out and kept us steady. We made a good trio, spent our entire childhoods together. Every school year, every summer break, every birthday party, Tommy was with us.”

He didn’t doubt anything she said, having heard that the breakout star had come from Florida, just as Candace had. He had never really thought about the young lives of the rich and shameless, but it sounded like Shane’s had been pretty normal.

“So what happened when you grew up?”

“I studied design in college, he went into theater. Madison decided to move to New York to go to grad school, so we thought we’d give our starry-eyed dreams a shot and moved to L.A.”

“You lived together?”

She nodded.

He clenched his teeth so tightly his jaw flexed. He had to busy himself lifting his coffee cup to his mouth, sipping it though it remained very hot, just to avoid saying something he shouldn’t. She’d said they hadn’t been lovers, yet they’d lived together? Was it even possible for a woman as beautiful and sexy as Candace to live with a man and not tempt him into bed?

“It’s not what you’re thinking,” she insisted. “We weren’t lovers, Oliver. I never lied to you. Tommy and I have never had a physical relationship, and we never will. I think of him as a brother. Period.”

A hint of relief washed through him. It didn’t last long.

“Brothers and sisters don’t usually exchange wedding vows,” he objected, unable to keep his anger as tightly controlled as he’d like.

“There are other reasons to get married, aside from romantic passion.”

“Not any better ones,” he snapped.

She sagged back in her seat, sighing deeply. “I know.”

“Then why?” A thought occurred to him. “Is it because he’s rich and famous?”

“Yes, although not in the way you might imagine. I don’t know if I can make you understand....”

“Try.”

She nibbled her trembling bottom lip, casting her eyes away, still twisting those hands. Her anguish as she tried to figure out how to explain something he already found unfathomable made his chest tighten, and he nearly reached out and covered her hands with his, wanting to stop that desperate, heartbroken clenching.

He didn’t. She might have taken the ring off, but she still hadn’t said whether she’d broken this sham engagement.

“As you said, Tommy is a star. He’s under a microscope, his every move dissected, every part of his life spied upon and discussed.” She shook her head sadly. “He doesn’t deserve it. He’s a good guy, one of the best, and his world is coming apart because people can’t mind their own damned business.”

“If he’s such a good guy, why did he put on that ridiculous performance back there? Why did he back you into a corner and talk you into marrying him when you’re not in love with each other?”

“I was single. I hadn’t been seeing anyone in a long time.... We’re best friends. I never envisioned...never thought I would...”

“Fall for someone else?”

A stark nod.

It was the closest she’d come to admitting she had feelings for him. He waited for her to say more, but she didn’t.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” he mumbled, still unable to follow everything. “Shane is the bachelor of the damn year—he could have any woman he wants. Why the hell does he have to have you?”

“He needs me. I...I understand him.”

“What’s that mean?”

She dropped her gaze, not meeting his eye.

Oliver continued to mull it over, until a thought began to form in his brain. It was small at first, a crazy possibility. But he focused on it, developed it. And while it shocked him, given the fact that he’d caught a couple of Thomas Shane’s movies and seen him in person, he finally had to ask, “Is he gay?”

She bit her lip even harder, refusing to say a word.

Oh, Christ. Now everything made sense.

He leaned his head back against the booth, looking up at the ceiling, wondering how things had ever gotten this screwed up.

Her lifelong best friend had asked her to help him hide his sexuality from the press and the public who would rip him apart over it.

That’s why she’d said yes. That’s why she’d told Oliver they could have only one week and he could never try to contact her afterward. That’s why she wouldn’t explain what her secret commitment was all about.

She was displaying all the character traits he most admired in a person—the ones he’d seen so little of during his years as a prosecutor. Loyalty, compassion, integrity.

Yet, right now, with his heart pounding over the fact that he really might lose her to a guy who could never make her body sing—and didn’t even want to—he wanted her to give up all those things. Break her promise, betray her friend, come away with him.

If she loves you, that’s exactly what she should do.

Maybe. But the choice had to be hers. He couldn’t ask it of her, couldn’t make things any more difficult than they already were.

He only owed her one thing: honesty about his feelings.

“What are you thinking?” she whispered.

He wrapped his hands around his coffee cup, realizing they were shaking when a little of the lukewarm liquid sloshed out.

“Tell me. Please.”

Unable to resist, knowing it might not matter, knowing it might even hurt her, he still went ahead and told her the only thing he could. The truth.

“I love you, Candace.”

She sucked in an audible breath.

“I don’t mean to hurt you, or make this any worse than it already is. But I love you.” He reached for one of her hands, catching it in his and holding tight, knowing he would soon have to let it go for good.

“Oliver, I...”

“You don’t have to say anything. I just thought you should know. Believe me, I want to fight for you, keep you, but I know I can’t. You’ve got to do what your heart tells you is right, and I can’t be the one who makes you betray a friend or go back on your word.” One more tight squeeze, then he released her fingers. “So I have to let you go.”

Tears were spilling from her eyes and running down her cheeks, and he wanted more than anything to take her in his arms and comfort her, kiss the tears away, assure her everything would be all right.

He didn’t, though. Everything wouldn’t be all right. He didn’t know if things would ever be all right for either of them again.

Knowing he needed to go now before he changed his mind and kissed her until she admitted she could never really leave him, he slid out of the booth and stood.

“Goodbye, Candace,” he said.

Stiffening his resolve, he headed for the door. But right before he exited, he heard her murmur his name.

“Oliver?”

He turned back and looked at her.

“I love you, too.”

Their stares met and locked, a thousand more words hung in the silence, questions asked and answered, promises offered and lost. All the might-have-beens held in that one long, steady stare.

Until he looked away, opened the door and walked out into the night.

* * *

C
ANDACE
SAT
AT
the table at the all-night café until her coffee was cold and her tears had dried. The kindly waitress had brought her some tissues, patted her on her shoulder and then left her alone. She spent the next hour sitting there, going over everything that had happened, marveling at how her life had changed so very much in just a few short weeks.

And wondering what she was going to do about it.

Finally, seeing it was almost midnight and knowing her sister would be worried, she pulled her phone out of her purse and texted Madison, telling her where she was.

Her sister wrote back immediately.
On my way.

She hadn’t asked her twin to come, but of course she’d known she would.

She just hadn’t known she wouldn’t be coming alone. When Madison walked into the café, with Tommy hot on her heels, Candace threw herself back in the booth and groaned. She just wasn’t up for a dramatic scene.