Page 88 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

She eyed me as I sank down on the couch. “I’ve decided I don’t like Hannah Bryant.”

One corner of my mouth twitched with amusement. “And why is that?”

“Well,” she said, huffing, “there’s been a couple of blogs talking about a supposed romance between her and Josh. Some of them think their relationship is quite serious, so they’re not very happy with the pictures of him with you.”

I listened carefully. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t already told me.

“Now,” she continued, “Josh’s publicist put out a statement two days ago—the day after the party—saying he and Hannah were only costars. That they’re not dating, and never have.”

I nodded. That sounded right. “Okay.”

“But Hannah,” she said, pausing as she put one finger up, “is staying quiet. She’s happy to let these articles print their lies. Why? Because Josh is hot property, Liv. Those articles get her free press. And what does she care if it’s not true? It’s not hurting her any.”

Sipping on my coffee, I considered her theory. It made sense. I couldn’t exactly fault Hannah for simply not denying the lies, though. She hadn’t come out and directly said she and Josh were dating, so I couldn’t exactly agree to not like her. Unlike Mike. He was a different story. He’d deliberately outed me without any thought or consideration to my best interest at all. At first, I’d been concerned about how I was going to continue to work with him, but then the problem was taken out of my hands. He was transferred to the office in New York, and we had a new boss by the name of Penny. She was awesome.

“But this is the kind of crap the pap will taunt you with, Liv. They’ll ask you if you knew Josh was in a relationship with Hannah Bryant, just to get a reaction out of you. If you don’t have aspirations of getting into the industry, they’ll know you’re with Josh because you genuinely like him. They’ll play on your emotions. They’ll make you doubt his feelings for you.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Her warnings were kind of scary.

Sam sighed and turned her chair around to face me straight on. “The only way to arm yourself is to be confident,” she said. “And to be confident, you need to trust Josh one hundred percent.”

“I trust him,” I said, still slightly amused.

Sam smirked a little, but she sighed too. “I know I’m harping, Liv, but I’ve seen some bad shit happen because of printed lies. I just want to give you the best chance at making it work. And that means you and Josh need to be as open and honest with each other as you can. If you’re worried about anything, tell him. And you need to make sure he’s open about everything going on in his life. He needs to tell you if he has a meeting with some actress he’ll be costarring with next year, because you can bet your ass the pap will know, and they’ll take great pleasure in telling you he was seen wining and dining her, and show you the pictures to go with it as proof.”

I put my coffee on the table, my appetite gone.

Sam’s expression softened at my worried face. “You’ll be okay, Liv. There’s only one hard-and-fast rule you need to remember the most. And that is, if you hear anything you haven’t heard before, ask Josh. Do not jump to conclusions.” She tapped her chin with her pen. “Oh, and always wear underwear when getting out of a car.”

Laughing, I stood and took my cup to the kitchen. “Dad already told me that rule.”

Sam shut her computer down and stuffed it into her carry bag. “What did your parents have to say about it all?”

Rinsing my cup, I placed it in the dishwasher and closed the door. “They’re trying to be okay with it, but I can tell they’re worried. I reminded Dad that if they hadn’t dragged me off to Gulu, he would’ve been a pro at dealing with boyfriends by now.”

She jiggled her head side to side. “Fair point.” We both picked up our bags and made our way to the front door. Sam paused, hand on the doorknob. “You ready for this?”

I smoothed down my skirt. “Do I look like an ogre?”

She looked me up and down with disdain. “One hundred percent,”

“Let’s do it, then,” I said with a grin.

As soon as she opened the door, Gardner stepped into view. Josh had told me I needed to think of him as my new best friend. I hadn’t liked it. I’d even argued about the necessity of it. I didn’t tell him I was sure people would find no interest in me whatsoever, because I knew it wouldn’t have made an ounce of difference. He needed to know I was safe, so if I needed to welcome a new couch camper for that to happen, that’s the way it was going to be.

&n

bsp; “What’s the prognosis, Gardner?” I said, pulling the door closed and making sure it was locked.

He pressed his lips into a hard, flat line. According to Josh, Gardner had been in the marines with Daniel. Looking at his stern face now, I could totally see that. He was slightly scary looking. “There’s at least two dozen reporters waiting on the sidewalk. I’ve had to call a car to get you to work.”

I stared at him like he had two heads. “That’s ridiculous. Work is, like, two blocks away.”

Gardner narrowed his eyes. “I’m sorry, but we just can’t chance it. Walking even one block right now is asking for trouble.”

I gawked at Sam, waiting to see what she thought of it, but she simply shrugged. “Sounds good to me. I might be early for a change.”

I blinked up at the ceiling, trying not to let irritation seep its way in. “It can’t be that bad, can it? I mean, can I choose to not take the car?”

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