Page 24 of Beneath the Fame

It had been five or six years since my rap career exploded, and I wasn’t yet knocking on the door of thirty. So pretty much every adult relationship in my life, even the ones Iwantedto be more than sexual, were short-lived, marred by trust issues, jealousy, and envy.

It was alwayssomething.

This one wanted to tamp down my autonomy, that one hated the attention I got, another one believed every rumor that spread about me supposedly sleeping my way to the top, and yet another was deeply insecure about the astronomical differences between our levels of income.

It was exhausting.

I’d dated regular guys and other superstars, hoping to find some sort of equilibrium I soon realized simply didn’t exist.

Keeping things casual was the only way to protect my sanity.

And so far, that decision had never proven itself to be anything other than a good idea, and not evenoneperson had made me second-guess it.

Well…onlyone had made me wonder.

A knock at the door to my trailer pulled my attention, and I glanced down to make sure I’d properly belted my robe post-shower so I wasn’t exposing anything by accident. Prior experience told me it was either Charlotte or Elodie at my door—one offering script and scene notes, the other offering drinks or dinner, orboth.

I knew which I preferred.

But it wasn’t either.

“Alec,” I breathed out. “Um…what are you doing here?”

While I hadn’t been able to avoid him completely, I’d definitely been ignoring texts and calls, dodging anything that wasn’t explicitly work. I had a feeling he’d been simply letting it slide more than I was actually succeeding, and his presence in the door felt like hard proof of exactly that.

God, he looks good.

He wasn’t due on set at all today—I’d checked—but here he was, in fresh sneakers, jeans, a crisp tee, and a freakingchain.

Inside, I was screaming.

“I was hoping to catch you before you went home—do you have plans?” he asked, draping himself in the doorway, so close I could smell the hint of smoke in his cologne, feel the heat from his body.

“Um…no,” I admitted when I couldn’t seem to bring the lie to my mouth. “Why?”

“Let’s get something to eat,” he said. “Maybe sushi?”

My eyes went wide. “What, like…publicly?”

“You ashamed to be seen in public with me?” He smirked, and I shook my head.

“It’s not that, but Alec…come on. Youknow?—”

“I don’t know shit,” he interrupted, grabbing my hand. “Except that I want you to have some dinner with me. Don’t overthink it.”

“The only thing I want to do is overthink it though.”

“Don’t.” He laughed, planting a quick kiss on the backs of my fingers. “I’ve got a quick meeting with Nolan, then I’ll be back to scoop you up. We can ride together.”

“What about security?” I asked, searching for anything.

“They’ll be close, don’t worry,” he countered, already letting my hand slip out of his as he stepped back. “It’s going to be a good time—don’t sweat it.”

Like hell.

Sweating it was the only thing I was sure about.

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