Page 25 of Claim to Fame

“Hell yeah, I should. You should be too. Gotta be business as usual until everyone moves on.”

Because clubbing all night was business as usual for Jackson Hayes.Yet another reminder that the version of him she’d known while they were on Broadway together had only been a curated glimpse of his life.

“They surrounded my apartment building,” she said. “They took pictures of me through my window. From my fire escape.”

The background noise on the other end dimmed, as though he had stepped outside. “Yeah, I heard. I’m sorry about that, Hannah. I really am. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” If she said it enough times, would it be true? “I left the City for a bit.”

“Good idea. You should come to Mykonos!”

“Jackson, I can’t—”

“We could have so much fun! We could even leak some photos for the press to throw them off the trail. What do you think? Want to put on a show?”

“Jackson, no,” Hannah said, unable to hold back her exasperation. “I don’t want to go to Mykonos. I don’t want to plant even more lies in the press. I just want everything to go back to normal.”

“It will,” he insisted. “Hang in there with me for a little bit longer until the premiere.”

“You’re kidding. No one will believe we’re still together. They have photos of you with two other women.”

“Three, actually,” he said, and she could almost picture the abashed look, the ‘aw shucks’ boyishness that had kept him in his fans’ good graces for all these years despite his reputation.

“We have to put out a statement. Micah thinks—”

“I know. He told my people all about what he thinks. What about whatwethink?”

She took a slow breath in through her nose and out through her mouth, watched as the airplane disappeared behind a bank of clouds. “I agree with him. I’m sorry, Jackson. I know I said I’d stick it out until the premiere, but this—” She broke off, swallowing the bile rising in her throat. “I’ll pay you back for my treatment. It might take me some time, but—”

“I don’t want your money, Banana.” He sighed, the noise around him swelling again. “It’s fine. I’ll tell my people to work on a statement with your guy. We can say we broke up before I went to Bora Bora.”

“Thank you.”

“No sweat.”

The line went dead and she allowed herself three more slow breaths before she went back inside. The trivia game was already underway, but when she re-entered the bar, her steps stuttered. Ethan Hart was staring at her, his blue eyes narrowed and cold, his jaw working, as though he’d stared at the door the entire time she’d been gone, willing her return. She met his gaze, searched his face, and, as she watched, all emotion slipped away again. Like he was wiping a chalkboard clean. How did he keep doing that?

She made her way across the bar, past him to the table with the other women who greeted her with a chorus of her name. But when she glanced back, he was still watching her.

Chapter Seven

“We are the champions!” Hannah sang more than a little off-key, her body swaying to the music in her head as Ethan unlocked the front door to his house.

“Only because Mrs. White and her friends weren’t there tonight,” he said.

“I told you I’d win.”

“It was a lucky guess.” He held the door open for her to go through ahead of him. Her hips swayed as she walked past, her eyes bright with laughter.

“We beat you by twelve points. That’s a whole category, my friend.” She adjusted the dollar-store tiara the girls had been presented with upon winning. It was clearly meant for a child and the plastic gem in the center bore the logo of last summer’s blockbuster animated kids’ movie, but she’d accepted it with a seriousness as if it were the real thing.

“Traitors, the whole bunch of you,” he said, but there was no heat in it.

She laughed and stepped out of her heels. When she bent to pick them up, Ethan’s gaze snagged on her ass, the fullness of it taunting him. Just as her laughter and the easy way she’d fallen in with his friends had been taunting him all evening. Just as that phone call and the way she’d gone pale at the sight of his name—Jackson—had been driving him slowly insane.

She turned, a question on her lips, and he looked away quickly. “Did you want something to drink?” he asked, heading towards the kitchen.

“Ethan Hart!” she gasped in mock offense. “Were you staring at my—”

---