“Well, I think you two are going to make wonderful parents one day - when you’re ready. Cami really surprised me tonight. She never goes off

with people she’s unfamiliar with. But you,” Kelly mused and slid a piece of pie in front of me, “she loved you instantly.”

Her comment made me smile. I was quite taken with the little girl myself. I felt Ryan’s hand squeeze mine.

“She’s absolutely adorable, Kelly. One day, perhaps.” Change the subject, Taryn.

“Kelly, I’ve been meaning to ask you a question. When you were on Just Neighbors there was a character - his name was Kip?”

“Yes, Kip. That was Jesse Oberly who played him.”

“What ever happened to him? I was surprised when he was killed off. I’m sorry for bringing it up, but when I see you, I think of him and wonder

why he died on the show. Did he make someone angry and get fired?”

“No, Jesse left on his own. Actually I just spoke to him and his wife a couple of weeks ago. He has a ranch in Tennessee now where he breeds

and trains racehorses. He’s never been happier. One day he had a meeting with the producer and said he wanted out. He only signed on for one

season, and when his contract was fulfilled, the writers had his character die. More drama that way.”

“Why did he want to leave? His character was so popular,” I asked, sampling my slice of pie.

“He wasn’t happy. He was a brilliant actor; very natural in front of the cameras. But he didn’t like all the attention or the invasion of his privacy.

Kind of reminds me of someone else we know?” She looked at Ryan.

“Kelly, they post on the Internet where I’m having dinner for God’s sake. The attention I can handle; the obsessive crap is something altogether

different,” Ryan defended.

“No, I understand. When my show first aired, our cast went through something similar. We were followed and reported on, and of course we

were all sleeping with each other too! I think in one week it was reported that I slept with four different actors from the show. While I was in the

makeup trailer, supposedly I was getting lucky at the same time! One of the magazines reported that I had a weeklong affair with this one actor

when in reality I was at home with the flu. Cal knows. We had just started seeing each other.”

“So how do the magazines get away with printing all the lies? Can’t you sue or something?” I asked.

“I wish. It’s the lies that sell the magazines,” Kelly uttered sadly. “The bigger the lie, the more money they make. And if they get some racy

pictures too – that could turn a hefty profit for the photographer.”

“We had our picture taken a lot tonight,” I murmured. Ryan squeezed my hand again.

“Just be prepared, Sweetheart. Those pictures of us are going to be all over the tabloids, Internet, you name it. There’s going to be outlandish

captions under those pictures too, like when we both cleared off your windshield? If you moved your arm too fast to sweep one of the papers off,

they’ll print that you were having a jealous fit.” He rubbed his forehead. “Just don’t read them.”

He looked me in the eyes. “Remember what I told you when we were fishing? You can’t believe anything you hear, read, or see. If something

needs to be clarified for the public, I have a Publicist.”

“Can I ask a stupid question? Are you even allowed to have a girlfriend while doing these Seaside movies?” I felt dumb just for asking, but after

what Suzanne said I wanted to know.

Ryan looked at me like I was crazy. “What?” he asked.

“Are you under some contract or anything that says you’re not allowed to be seen in public with a girlfriend?”

“No.” He shook his head and squinted at me. “Where would you get an idea like that?”

“Something Suzanne said.” I shrugged.

“What did she say?”

“She said that the studio executives will be upset once they discover you’re seeing me - that they wouldn’t allow it.”

Ryan abruptly sat forward; the legs of his chair squeaked on the tiled floor. “She said what?” His eyes were wide.

“She said exactly what I just said, and also that if you stay single, your fan base will be higher and your movies will make more money. But if the

public knows you’re involved with someone, you may lose fans, your movies won’t make as much money, and the studio executives won’t allow that

to happen.”

“Is this another reason why you were so upset last Sunday? Because of these lies?” Ryan asked.

“Well, it was part of it. Suzanne made it seem like some studio executive was going to break us up first.”

Kelly gasped.

“That’s completely absurd!” he muttered. “They can’t do that.” He looked at Cal for reassurance. Cal didn’t say a word; his head was swaying

back and forth in disbelief.

“So what other lies did she tell you?” Ryan’s look frightened me. I could tell he was angry.

I looked down at the table, hoping to dismiss this entire conversation, but Ryan squeezed my hand again.

“Taryn, what else did she say?”

I took a deep breath and looked at Cal and Kelly. I didn’t want to say the rest of what she said to me in front of them. “I’ll tell you later,” I said

quietly to Ryan.

“No, I want to know now!” he urged.

“I always said that girl was trouble,” Kelly interjected.

“She basically called you a womanizer, but in many more words,” I whispered.

“What? She called me what?” His eyes scrunched up in confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?”

I stared at my dessert plate. “She said that you sleep with different women in every town. You tell them what they want to hear so you can get

some, and you leave a trail of broken hearts behind you.”

I locked my eyes on his. “She also said that you lie to women to make them feel like they’re your perfect match – that you’re a talented actor and

a gifted liar and I was just another fool to fall for it. Stupid American girls… Then she said that once you leave to do your next movie and find your

next conquest, you’ll forget all about me.”

Cal started to laugh. Apparently my comment was amusing to him.

“Oh my God! No way!” Kelly shouted. “Taryn, that’s such a lie! Ryan is the complete opposite of that!”

Ryan’s face turned red. “She’s a fucking piece of work, that girl. Why didn’t you tell me all of this before?” He was definitely angry.

“Because I was scared and I didn’t want to cause problems for you.” I hid my eyes under my hand. “I even thought that if I let you go, then you

wouldn’t feel obligated and somehow you’d be better off. You have enough stress to deal with without me ruining your career. The last thing I want is

to be another name on your stress list.”

“No wonder you were crying so hard. I went downstairs for fifteen minutes; when I left you with Marie everything was fine, and when I came back,

you were falling to pieces and breaking up with me. It all makes sense now.”

“You tried to break up with him at the party?” Kelly shrieked in horror.

Ryan nodded at her and then glanced back to me.

“I’m going to rip her throat out when I see her,” he spit through his teeth.

Thoughts of his career and his movie being jeopardized because of me flashed through my mind.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you,” I muttered, feeling guilty.

“Taryn!” he started.

“Ryan, you have a multi-million dollar movie riding on the fact that you have to get along with her. And there’s a third movie which you are under

contract to finish. I don’t want to be the catalyst to dissension.”

“She’s right, Ryan,” Kelly agreed. “As much as I despise that girl, you do have contractual obligations. And having you blow up at her in front of

everyone would not be a good idea.”

“Why is she doing this to me?” His fingers clenched his hair. “We used to get along so well.”