“How has everyone not seen through your act yet?”

Colin sneered before looking me up and down. “Because they don’t want to believe the bad. They want to love me. Just like your girlfriend does.” He snickered as he pulled his black sunglasses over his eyes.

I clenched my fist and pulled out of Sam’s grip to storm over to Colin.

“What did you say?” I practically spat in his face.

“You know you can’t erase the history I have with Paige. You’re nothing, country boy. And as soon as you’re gone, I’ll be the one fucking her every night just like before. She is a good lay, don’t you agree?”

Everything around me blurred except for Colin and his shit-eating grin. I pulled my arm back and swung, the sound of my knuckles meeting his jaw echoing in the otherwise empty lobby. Colin’s head practically spun around on his shoulders as he reached up and cupped his face.

“Say another word like that about Paige and I’ll hit you again.” I glared at him as he tried to smile, but grunted with the pain instead.

“Thanks for that. You’re real good at giving me ammunition, country boy,” Colin said before he turned and ran out of the building like the little coward he really was.

Turning toward Sam, the reality of what I’d just done hit me like a tsunami wave as I looked down at my already bruising hand.

“Shit, Sam. Did I just completely screw it all up? Did I ruin everything?”

Sam shrugged. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time now.”

His unexpected response made me chuckle. “Hit Colin?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So, now what? How long until that’s reported?”

I hadn’t necessarily thought everything through, what my being here might do to Paige’s hard-earned reputation; I hadn’t even considered it. All I knew was that I needed to make things right with Paige, and I was only screwing it up more.

“I’d say it’s probably already live.” He pointed across the street where Colin stood talking to the lone paparazzi guy I had spoken to earlier, holding his cheek and swaying back and forth.

“Paige is going to kill me.” My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it from my pants, seeing my mom’s name.

“Ma?”

“I’ve been following the gossip sites since you left. They’re saying awful things, things that polite people don’t say, Tatum.” Her voice cracked, and I knew her heart hurt for both myself and for the girl she’d grown to care about.

“I haven’t seen anything since I got here, but I appreciate the heads-up…again. And just so you’ll know…it’s going to get a little worse.”

“What have you done, son?”

“I might have hit Colin.”

She laughed into the phone, my mom actually laughed, which eased my anxiety a bit. “Good. I’m sure he deserved it. Now, have you seen her?”

“Briefly.” I all but sighed as the lobby telephone rang in the background, and Sam moved to answer it.

“She’s mad, isn’t she?” my mom asked.

“She is.”

“You don’t come back here until you’ve made things right. You hear me?”

“Yes, Mama,” I said with a smile, not wanting to let her down.

“’Bye, son. I love you,” she said, then ended the call before I could say my own good-bye.

“Tatum?”

I turned to find Sam holding the phone receiver out toward me.

“It’s Miss Quinn.”

“Quinn?” I asked before remembering that Paige’s best friend was named Quinn. “She’s calling for me?”

He nodded, and I reached over to accept the phone he offered me.

“Hello?”

“Oh, good,” a woman’s voice said. “You really are in town. Don’t move, I’m coming to get you.” Then she hung up.

A little numb with surprise, I handed the phone back to Sam. “She’s bossy.”

Sam laughed. “That she is, sir. But it suits her.”

I glanced outside where Colin had stood and noticed he was no longer there. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I braced myself for what was to come.

• • •

Quinn arrived shortly after hanging up in my ear.

I blew out an exasperated breath as she exited her ridiculously overpriced car, her blond hair blowing in the breeze. Being a young actress in Hollywood sure had its perks. The paparazzi that had gathered again attempted to swarm and attack her, but she maneuvered through them with ease, appearing completely unaffected by their presence. It was as if they didn’t even exist to her as she refused to acknowledge them or even look their way.

Bursting through the double doors like a hurricane, she raised her sunglasses and narrowed her eyes at me. “Tatum?”

“Quinn?”

“Hi, Sam,” she said before giving the man a hug, and I watched as the older man practically turned to goo in her arms.

“How’d you know I was here?” I asked as she faced me and placed a hand on her hip.

“I get any media alerts about Paige sent to my phone. And I was already close by, so I figured why not come here and see what you’re all about.”

“All right then,” I said, my tone hesitant.

She narrowed her eyes on me. “You hit Colin.” It wasn’t a question.

I shrugged. “Allegedly.”

She grabbed my hand and inspected my knuckles. “Allegedly, my ass. Sam, I’m stealing him for a bit. Make sure his car stays here, and don’t tell Paige I have him. Promise?”

Sam frowned before slowly nodding his head.

“Say you promise, Sam. You can’t tell Paige.”

“I promise,” he reluctantly agreed, his gaze pinging between the two of us.

I shrugged at his unasked question. I had no idea what Quinn was up to any more than he did.

“Unless she kidnaps and murders me,” I told Sam with a grin. “Then definitely tell Paige, okay?”

“You’re too cute to murder.” Quinn gave me a slight smile. “Now hurry, before she gets back from wherever she went.” She turned toward the door and started walking.

“Where are we going?” I asked as I followed in her wake. The woman was like a force of nature.

“To my place.”

Quinn drove like a crazed lunatic, swerving in and out of traffic as the paparazzi trailed behind us. How celebrities lived this way seemed utterly insane to me. When you viewed a chase like this onscreen, it didn’t seem entirely real, as if it were a movie. But actually being chased like this felt pretty damn real. And it was terrifying.

“This is crazy,” I said as I glanced back at the cars following dangerously close behind us.

“Don’t look at them. Ugh, Tatum, open the glove compartment.” She pointed, and I did as she asked. “There’s a pair of sunglasses in there. Put them on.”

“Damn. You really are bossy.”

“Nice to meet you too.” She glanced over and smiled, then turned her gaze back to the road.

I stared out at the ocean scenery whipping past us as Quinn drove. It was beautiful. Mesmerized by the waves crashing against the shore, I immediately saw the appeal of living here, especially if you got to see this view every day.

“I’m mad at you,” she announced, but I had figured as much.

“I know.”

“Do you even want to know why?”

“I’m pretty sure I already do,” I said, figuring it had to do with the way I left Paige.

“Then how come you’re in LA?”

Her tone wasn’t entirely friendly, but I assumed it could be much, much worse. Something told me that Quinn was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.

“I’m sure you can figure that out,” I teased gently, hoping to lighten the mood and sway her toward my side, even if just a little.

“Well, it’s about time you showed up. I mean, seriously, how long were you planning on going without talking to her? Not even a single text? Who does that?”

I burst out laughing. “Bossy and direct. I don’t have any excuse other than the fact that I’m a complete idiot.”

“We can both agree on that. Hold on,” she warned before turning the wheel sharply to the right. We cruised through a residential neighborhood and pulled up to a house unlike anything I’d ever seen before in my life.

The large iron gates swung open as she pulled her car inside, then ground to a halt before shutting with a groan when she pressed a button on her rearview mirror.