“Like a blacksmith?”

“Close enough.” I go back into the foal’s stall to give her another bottle. She’s standing, ears forward and eyes wide. My heart swells a little. She’s going to be just fine. Aiden ducks in next to me and comes over, holding out his phone.

“What are you doing?” I ask, suspiciously eyeing the camera screen.

He stands on the other side of the foal and puts his arm around me “Taking a picture. What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Don’t you dare,” I say. “I look like crap.”

He holds out his arm and looks at me. “I honestly don’t think so. You’re kind of beautiful, you know.”

“Just kind of?” I retort with a smile. He snaps the picture.

“You’re more than kind of. I just said that to make you look at me.” He flashes a panty-melting smile and brings the phone to him. “People will love this.”

“Don’t you dare post that!” I threaten and reach for him. The foal is hungrily sucking down the bottle, and I’m stuck. He dashes out of the way, laughing. “Aiden!” I say, eyes going wide. “Let me see it first!”

“You look good, I promise.”

“Please! At least let me smile or something. And brush my hair. Really, I’d like to brush my hair.” I reach up and pull hay from it.

Aiden laughs. “You always have hay in your hair, don’t you?”

I can’t contain my smile. “I do. And horse treats in my pocket. But please, let me approve or deny.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t worry, no one will know who you are. They’re interested in me.” His words are meant to comfort me, but they just make him seem like a dick. Which he is. Maybe…maybe not. He did spend the night in a horse stall with me. And he has a point. Anyone who followed him on Instagram cared about seeing pictures of him. And I wouldn’t let myself care what kind of nasty comments mega-fans would say. I could be Miss America and they’d still call me fat and ugly.

“Fine, whatever.” I’m still smiling and shaking my head when I look back at the foal. She pops off the bottle and walks around the stall. She nibbles on hay and sticks her nose up at the bars, sniffing at Shakespeare. I exit the stall. “We can go eat first. I’ll let them out in a bit.”

“I’ll help,” he says, and my heart does a weird flutter thing. I haven’t felt something like this—something that makes me feel alive—since before the fire. He pockets his phone and links his arm through mine. Being this close to him causes my body to react, and I’m suddenly feeling very attracted to him.

I need to fight it. I don’t want to end up being a fling, just something to do—literally—while he’s bored on location. There really isn’t much to do around here when you’re used to partying with the rich and famous.

A truck slows at the end of the driveway, sticking a newspaper into the holder on the mailbox. I need to cancel the paper subscription. I get free papers from work. We walk down to get it, and I remember I haven’t gotten the mail from yesterday either. I open the mailbox and internally groan when I see the bills from the hospital. What was the point of having insurance?

I should never have taken the foal. I knew I’d spend at least six hundred on formula in the next few weeks. Six hundred dollars. Nerves race down my spine, and sweat breaks out across my forehead. Where was that money going to come from? I got paid yesterday, and it was barely enough.

“Are you all right?” Aiden asks, taking his arm out of mine and placing it on my waist instead. Warmth rushes through me when his fingers gently press into the soft flesh on my side.

“Yeah. I will be.” I turn to him. “Really.”

“Good,” he says. “But you know you don’t have to lie.”

I look at the barn. “I know. I will be in time.”

Neither of us speaks as we go to the back door, entering through the garage. Chrissy is still sleeping, stretched out on the couch, guarding the house like a champ. She barks at the doorbell, but only because Mom trained her to do that. Aiden goes into the bathroom and I fill the coffee pot with water. My phone rings and I dig it out of my hoodie pocket, wondering who the hell is calling me so early. It’s Lori. I raise an eyebrow and answer.

“Hello?”

“Dammit,” she sighs. “I was hoping you wouldn’t answer.”

“Then why did you call?”

“To see if you were in bed with Aiden.”

“Oh, sorry to disappoint.”

“Tell me everything,” she gushes.

“I can’t right now.” I plug the coffee pot in and turn it on.

“Why the hell not? I know it’s early, but you get up at the butt crack of dawn to feed the horses, so don’t even try, missy.”

“Why are you up?” I question. I pull a carton of eggs from the fridge. They expired eight days ago. Meh, it’s probably fine. Probably.

“I couldn’t sleep not knowing the details.”

The toilet flushes. Aiden will be out in just seconds.

“Hay, tell me, I’m dying to know!”

I smile. “I can’t tell you, Lori, because Aiden’s still here. I’ll call you when he leaves.” I hear her squeeing with excitement and Kit grumbling for her to shut the hell up before I end the call.

“What’s on the menu?” Aiden asks as he comes into the kitchen. He’s pushed his hair back. He looks like he just walked off a photoshoot…and he slept in a horse stall. I don’t want to look in a mirror until I’ve showered and brushed my hair.

“Uh,” I start. “French toast or pancakes. I’ve been putting off grocery shopping for a while now.” I wrinkle my nose. “I’m lazy.”

Aiden’s arms wrap around my waist as he steps close. “I don’t think you’re lazy. Crazy busy, yeah. But not lazy.”

“Thanks. I need to hear that.” I sigh and let the fridge close. I haven’t been grocery shopping because I have zero money for it. And if it came down to a meal for me or a meal for the horses, I’d go hungry for a while.

“French toast sounds good,” he says, dropping his lips to my neck. Tingles make their way through me and I twist in his arms. My breath catches in my chest, and I want to kiss him.

“What are you doing?” I blurt.

“I’m standing here with you,” he says slowly, giving me a look.

“No, that’s not what I mean. What are you doing with me?”

He hikes an eyebrow. “How is that not what you mean? I’m standing here…with you.”

I break out of his embrace. “Why?”

He shakes his head, his eyes not leaving mine. “I don’t know. I like being with you.”

That’s an even bigger “why.” I bite my lip and smile. “I know I’m not the type of girl you usually, uh, associate with.”

“Are you saying I have a type?”

Now it’s my turn to stare at him incredulously. “Thin, beautiful, busty. Oh, and rich and famous. I’m not any of those.”

He moves forward and puts his hands on my waist, avoiding the burns on my left side. “You do own mirrors, right? I don’t like boney women, so you’re wrong there. You are beautiful, and your tits are fantastic. And being rich and famous isn’t going to make me like you more or less.”

Oh, Aiden, what the hell are you doing? Stop saying such beautiful things that warm my heart and turn me on. “Then why do actors always date actors?”

He slides his hands around my back and pulls me in. “It’s a whole other world, and other actors get it. I’m busy—really busy—and I’m not home that much. If I dated an actress, she’d be busy doing her own shit while I was working on mine.”

“That makes sense. I never thought of it like that before.”

He shrugs. “There are unspoken rules in Hollywood too. I, um, haven’t been in it that long, you know, so I don’t know them all. Yet.” He stammers a bit as he talks, embarrassed to admit it. It must be difficult to be thrust into a world of A-listers with only a few years of experience. Wait, what? Am I really feeling sorry for him for rising to fame so quickly?

Aiden, what are you doing to me?

“French toast?” I say and go back to the fridge. He tells me about the movie he’s working on, and we laugh about outtakes and botched lines. He helps me clean up after we eat and walks with me back to the barn. He’s so perfect it terrifies me.