“What?” I asked, and had to stop myself from pointing out to her that she just swore for the first time in front of me.

“I’m trying to tell you that I work hard, but everything I’m saying is just stupid. None of it sounds hard. I have to memorize lines and get into character and be really good at what I do. But I know that my job is a luxury. I know how lucky I am.”

“You do more than just act, though. I mean, you’re all over the place.”

“I am. I have meetings constantly. I’m reading scripts all the time, deciding if I like certain parts or not. I also have to do a ton of publicity for all of my movies, as well as personal publicity. I like the image that I have, and I work hard to make sure it stays that way.”

She took a sip of her beer before continuing. “I have to be really particular about what events I attend. I need to know who is putting on the event, what it’s about, who else is going to be there, where it’s at, and that kind of thing. I also have to pick and choose where I hang out and who I hang out with. All kinds of things that most normal people never even have to consider because they don’t wake up with their antics from the night before plastered all over the Internet and the supermarket tabloids.”

She sighed. “I’m not complaining because I knew it was part of the deal. It’s just more work. And it never ends. I never get to walk away and say, leave the office at five p.m. and turn my work off when I get home, you know? My work and my reputation and the things that I do are a 24/7 job. It never stops. I never shut off.”

“That would be hard,” I said slowly, realizing that only certain people could handle that sort of life.

“Don’t make fun of me,” she snapped.

“Shit, Paige.” I reached across the couch for her knee and squeezed. “I wasn’t. I wasn’t at all. I think it sounds like a lot of unnecessary shit to deal with. And I have no idea how you’re still such a good and kind person.”

That got a smile out of her, a big one, and I wanted to pat myself on the back. “Thank you, Tatum. I try really hard to stay grounded. Being raised normal made all the difference, I think.”

“Raised normal?”

“I just mean I wasn’t raised in the business. Sure, I’ve been doing it since I was fourteen, but that also means that I had fourteen years of complete and utter normalcy, unlike my best friend, Quinn, who was raised in the business. She has no idea why I miss the things I miss, or want the things I want, because she never had that in her life and it doesn’t appeal to her.”

“But she’s your best friend, so she can’t be all that bad,” I said, knowing exactly who she referred to. Quinn Johnson was hot as hell. Nowhere near as hot as Paige, though. Quinn was blond, and I had a thing for brunettes. At least I did now.

“Quinn’s amazing, but she’s had hard times. She just went through them all before we found each other. If I had known her when she doing the stuff she was doing, we wouldn’t have been friends.”

“You don’t think so?”

“No way. I don’t stay away from drugs and all that sort of stuff to be a good role model. It’s just not my scene. I’m not into it. I don’t like it, and I don’t want to be a part of it. So I stay away from the people whose lives are ruled by it.”

“Your parents must be really proud of you.”

“They are. I think.” She scrunched up her nose. “They don’t really treat me any differently. And they don’t play favorites between me and my sister.”

“Wait,” I said. “You have a sister?”

“Yeah.”

“Younger or older?”

“Younger. She’s graduating from high school in a few weeks.”

“I had no idea.”

“And here I thought you knew everything about me,” she said with a wink.

“The only thing I really know about you is that your lips are my kryptonite.”

“So you want to stay away from them?”

I inched closer to her. “I never said I was Superman.”

I crawled across the couch and hovered above her body. Reaching for her beer, I placed it on the floor and leaned my face toward hers. Closing my eyes, I crushed my lips against hers and tucked my arm under her waist, lifting her body up against mine. She wiggled her hips and rubbed herself against the hardness in my pants. I stopped myself from moaning.

Our tongues were melding together as I nibbled and bit at her. The way her hips raised into me, I couldn’t stop myself from grinding against her. I worked myself into a frenzy with all the gentle grazing, teeth biting, wet tongues kissing, and hips rubbing.

Pulling my mouth away from hers, my hips continued to grind into her warmth. Her mouth fell open, and I forced myself not to grab her again. I pushed up from her, smiling at the effect I had on her.

“Oh good Lord, Tatum. You can’t just do that to me!”

“But I did.” I smirked before moving back over to my side of the couch. I wasn’t sure why this thought popped into my head, and she might get mad as hell at me for asking it, but now that she was sitting here like this, I suddenly found myself wanting to know. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” she said as she ran a finger across her bottom lip.

“Since you mentioned your reputation and all that, remember those tabloid reports about you and that director?”

Her sweet expression immediately dropped and turned sad. “Remember? How could I ever forget.”

“Was it true?”

“Tatum!” she yelled. “I was seven-freaking-teen. And he was forty-five!”

I shrugged. “I’m sure that kind of thing happens in Hollywood all the time.”

Her eyes narrowed. “First of all, ew. Second of all, it might happen sometimes, but it didn’t happen with me.”

“Not an ounce of truth to it at all?” I was pushing her and I knew it.

“I was naive then, far more naive than I am now. But no. Nothing happened between us. And I probably would have freaked out and cried in a corner if it did.”

“So people can just say whatever they want in the news and tabloids? It doesn’t have to even be remotely accurate?”

She nodded. “Pretty much. As long as they say they got their information from a source,” she drew quotes in the air, “they can write whatever they want.”

“That’s wrong. And screwed up. I don’t like it.” I found myself getting defensive of her innocence again. Imagining Paige at only seventeen years old, dealing with that kind of thing, made my blood run hot.

“It was horrible. Those reports. Those lies. They broke up a marriage. And for what? It wasn’t even true. It wasn’t even close to true.” Her lip started to tremble, and I knew I’d lose it if she cried.

Please don’t cry.

“The guy’s wife didn’t believe him?”

“No. And I even talked to her. Here I was, little teenage Paige going up to this grown woman, trying to tell her nothing happened and that I would never do something like that. You know what she said to me?”

“What?”

Paige sniffed. “She said, ‘That’s what I used to say too. We all do things to get ahead in this business, Paige. He might have been your first, but I’m sure he won’t be your last. Enjoy your career.’”

“What a bitch,” I snarled.

She chuckled. “I should have needed therapy after that fiasco.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you.”

Her face finally softened, and the Paige I was growing to adore was back. “It was a long time ago. But thanks.”

“Random question,” I said as more thoughts filled my mind. She tilted her head, giving me the silent okay to continue. “Did you ever think about suing them? Can you sue the tabloids?”

“That’s one of the worst parts. You can sue a tabloid or a news outlet, but all the obligation is on you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, like we just talked about, they can pretty much say and write whatever they want to sell papers, advertising, however it is they make their money. They can do whatever they want. But if I wanted to defend myself in court, I would have to prove that their words caused me to lose money. Like if they defamed my character, I would have to prove that their defamation cost me. Either I stopped getting job offers, or I lost roles I was up for. Things like that. But I would have to prove that all those things happened because of the articles and claims made by them. Gosh, am I making any sense at all?”