Except, what Carly and I had going was real. I’d never had anything more real in my life, and I knew it with every fiber of my being. I knew Carly felt it too. I could see it shining in her eyes every time she looked at me, feel it in her touch.

But I knew that, no matter how real it was, revealing it to people had to be orchestrated, controlled.

As he went over everything for the hundredth time that day, I tuned him out. When he jabbed me hard in the shoulder and told me to pay attention, I just rolled my eyes at him.

“Ry, if you tell me one more time to kiss her, I’m going to pop you in the mouth, I shit you not.”

He studied me for a minute, and then cracked a grin. “I guess you’ve gotten the kissing her thing down, considering how often you two have been ‘practicing’ the past two weeks, huh?”

“Practicing,” Carly echoed, her eyes wide. She gave me an innocent look. “Exactly what we’ve been doing, right, Bobby?”

“You were practicing?” I lifted a brow. “I thought you were trying to memorize the feel of my tonsils.”

She blushed, her cheeks going a shade of pink that almost matched her top. It was strapless and snug, tucked into a skirt that showcased her butt to perfection. I would have a hard time keeping my hands off that butt when the car door opened, but Ryan had been specific. A solid but passionate kiss. No groping.

Carly started to respond, but Ryan cut her off. “Okay, you two need to get moving. Remember, Dave will stop the car at the gates, get out, look under the hood, then tell you two to get out while he calls up to the house. Cameo will bring the Range Rover down and, while you’re waiting, you two start getting...familiar with each other...”

“They’ve already done that.”

The hostile voice came from across the hall and one by one, we all looked at Ridley.

I’d suspected it before, but these last two weeks had just solidified my suspicion that Ridley’s problem with me was that he had a crush on Carly. Maybe it was just physical, or maybe his emotions were involved, but whatever he felt for her, he didn’t like that she’d chosen me.

I made the wise decision to keep my mouth shut. One of these days, that boy and I were going to come to blows. It was fast approaching too. Personally, I would have very much preferred to just get it over with, but Ryan had put a lot of work behind staging whatever this was. This ‘expose’ of our relationship. Why it mattered so much how the public found out about it, I didn’t know, but I hadn’t lived and breathed Hollywood for more than half my life. Both Carly and Ryan said it mattered, that they needed to stay in control.

Since it wasn’t going to speed the time table along to get into it with Ridley, I focused on running my knuckles up and down Carly’s half-naked back. That served several purposes – I enjoyed it and so did she. If it pissed Ridley off, then so much the better. I could sympathize with Ridley’s unrequited feelings, but that didn’t mean I had to like him being an asshole.

“Ridley, do you have a problem?” Ryan asked, moving between us.

The other man took a moment to answer. “I just don’t see why we’re playing this fucking game.”

“Several reasons and none of them concern you,” Ryan said easily.

“Since I’m a part of this security team, I’d feel better about it if I understood those reasons,” Ridley snapped.

“Ridley, lighten up,” Carly said. She was getting aggravated. She caught my hand and tugged me along toward the door. “Come on. I’m getting hungry.” As she strode toward the door, she shot an annoyed look at Ridley. “The VMAs are coming up and everybody is already talking about how I’m supposed to be mending things with that jerk-off, Mendoza. We all know that’s so not happening. This kills two birds with one stone. The news about Bobby and I will come out sooner or later, and I don’t want to hide it. Plus, we can plan on him being with me at the VMAs now.”

I shot Ryan a questioning look, and he gave a slight shrug.

I didn’t know who Mendoza was. I barely knew what the VMAs were – music awards of some kind, I thought. Then I processed what she’d said and gaped at her. “You plan on taking me?”

“Who else would I take?” She kissed my cheek. “Come on. We’re supposed to meet Max in ninety minutes.”

The drive from her front door to the elegant wrought-iron gates seemed to take ten times longer than normal. My stomach churned. The thought of putting myself in harm’s way for her didn’t even make me blink. This, however, was freaking me out.

Even though I knew the media had been tipped off, it was still something of a surprise to realize there were photographers hiding. Some of them poorly, some of them fairly well. I’d already counted four of them when the car came to a stop and Dave made a very good impression of a frustrated driver. Even though it was just us in the car, I got the impression he wasn’t acting solely for us.

“Sorry, guys. Something’s not running right.” He opened the door and climbed out.

“That’s fine,” Carly said, leaning against me. She grinned up at me. The look on her face was adorable. She was clearly having fun.

I felt half-sick.

She smoothed a hand up my arm in a soothing gesture. “Relax,” she whispered, her breath soft against my neck.

Ridley leaned against the seat across from us, although leaned wasn’t really the right word. His body was rigid. He looked about as uncomfortable as I felt, really. For a moment, I almost felt sorry for him. I knew what it felt like to want her and not have her.

Knuckles rapped on the window and that was our cue to open the door. Except Ridley didn’t move.

Knuckles rapped again.

I looked away from Carly’s smiling face to look at Ridley. He was staring at me with pure loathing on his face.

We had a stare-down that lasted maybe ten seconds, and then he opened the window, had a terse conversation with Dave before looking at us.

“Go do your thing.” The words were sharp, brittle. “Put on your show.”

Carly frowned, but by the time we got out of the car, she was smiling. I tugged her up against me, determined I wasn’t going to be the reason behind her next frown. I’d do whatever it took to make her smile.

She came to me and curled her arms around my waist. “Smile pretty, handsome,” she said, her voice almost inaudible.

I knew I couldn’t, but in my head, I heard the clicks of a hundred, a thousand cameras as the shutters clicked. I brushed a kiss across her lips instead and she pressed her hand to my cheek. It felt like a lover’s caress, but I followed the gentle pressure she applied.

Angling my head for the cameras, I assumed. Then she pulled back slightly to smile up at me, I returned her smile, mechanically at first, but it didn’t take long for the warmth she always filled me with to spread through me. Without thinking about it, I reached up and brushed a flyaway curl from her face. I forgot about everyone watching us and thought only of her. I cupped her cheek, wondering again what I’d done to deserve her.

She covered my hand with hers and said quietly, “Nobody has ever looked at me like you do.”

“Yeah?” I rubbed my thumb across her skin. She was so soft. “And how’s that?”

“Like all you see is me. Like I’m all that matters to you.”

I frowned. Didn’t she understand? She was all that mattered. But I didn’t ask her that. “What else am I supposed to see?”

She sank against my chest. “Maybe that’s why it’s so special, Bobby. Because that’s the only way you’ve ever thought to look at me.”

Dave’s voice cut into our personal moment. “Head’s up, folks. Cameo’s almost here with the Range Rover.”

I’d almost forgotten that we were doing this on purpose. As one, Carly and I looked up, watching the big SUV eating up the distance left between us. When the car came to a stop, Carly glanced over at Dave.