Page 68 of She's the Star

“No.” She shakes her head. “It’s the opposite of a problem. It didn’t occur to me that he might need help with Maddy. And it definitely didn’t occur to me that you’d be willing to be friends with him. It’s…how can you be so perfect?”

“I’m not perfect.” Not at all.

“You are. You’re perfect for me.” She points at Maddy. “For us.”

“I want this”—I gesture between us—“to work. I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure it does.”

“I don’t even know what to say to that.” She leans toward me, her hands frame my face, and her lips press gently into mine. It’s a soft kiss, almost careful, and it lights me up, because it’s exactly what I crave. It’s a promise of more than just attraction and affection—it’s also appreciation and comfort. She gives me things I didn’t even know I was looking for.

“Thank you,” she whispers against my mouth. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I kiss her again.

Maddy drops a toy on her forehead and cries out.

Amber scoops her up and while she examines Maddy’s forehead, a loud knock sounds at the door. A moment later, it swings open to reveal both Brian and Mina.

“Good, you’re up,” Brian says as he barrels into the room.

“I haven’t eaten. I haven’t even had coffee yet,” Amber warns him.

He taps on his watch. “I can give you five minutes, but you’ve got a packed day, and we have a lot to discuss so we need to get started.”

Amber nods and bounces Maddy on her hip as she moves over to the table. I grab the coffee pot off the cart and pour a cup. I add a bit of cream and hand it to Amber. Then I slice a bagel in half and cover it in a thin layer of cream cheese. I take a bite from one half and pass the other to Amber along with a bowl of fruit.

She snags my hand and squeezes it before picking up the bagel and taking a bite. Maddy tries to snatch it out of Amber’s hand, and she lets Maddy gnaw on it for a second before taking another bite for herself. They work out a system where Maddy mangles it, drools on it, and sucks off the layer of cream cheese, and then Amber takes a bite. It’s fairly disgusting to watch, but Amber seems happy and so does Maddy, so I keep my opinion to myself.

Unsurprisingly, Mina does not. “That’s gross,” she says.

Amber shrugs and takes another bite. As she chews, she says, “She came out of my body. I’m pretty sure her spit isn’t going to hurt me.”

“Maybe not, but a soggy bagel is disgusting.” Mina shudders dramatically.

Amber laughs, shrugs again, and keeps eating.

When they finish the bagel, she turns to Brian. “Tell me.”

He takes a deep breath and starts talking. “The interview is scheduled for tomorrow. Annabelle and her team are coming here. The hotel is giving them a conference room on the third floor for filming. They wanted some footage of you with Maddy, but I said absolutely not, and they backed off. The press is dying for a comment from us or Teddy about why Teddy was slinking around here yesterday instead of getting ready for his show. I spoke to his manager, and they agreed to release a joint statement later this morning. I have a copy if you want to take a look. Teddy already approved it, but we can make any changes you want before we release it.”

He stands up and hands his tablet to Amber. She purses her lips while she reads it. “You don’t think we should address the rumors directly?”

“The PR team thinks it’s best to focus on Teddy’s relationship to Maddy rather than his relationship with you. The interview tomorrow will make it clear you’ve moved on without forcing you to comment on how you feel about Teddy.”

Amber’s brow scrunches. “I don’t want Maddy to be news.”

“You aren’t going to be able to avoid it,” Brian says bluntly. “If we say that Teddy stopped in Dallas to see his daughter, was disappointed she wasn’t at the arena and then came to the hotel because that’s where she was, we kill the romance rumors and establish that Teddy interacts with Nolan. It’s important that the three of you appear to get along.”

“We do get along.” She keeps studying the statement. “What do you think?” she asks me.

I’m a bit taken aback by the question. It’s not surprising that she values my opinion, but I am surprised by how often she seeks it out. I have every intention of following her lead on anything that pertains to her career. She’s the star and she knows more than I’ll ever know about being famous. “Seems like a reasonable approach to me.”

“You don’t think I should double down on the fact that Teddy and I are over?”

“I don’t have much experience with this kind of thing, but if this is the approach that the PR team thinks is best, I have no reason to question them. Don’t they usually steer you in the right direction?”

“Not always. They pushed me to speak out against Teddy when he cheated. They wanted me to vilify him.”

“And you said no?”

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