Page 1 of Rushing Into Love

1

Bree

Pacing the terrazzo floor of Terminal Three at LAX, I scowled with annoyance at my silent phone.

Crickets.

Pax, my soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend, was ignoring my barrage of angry texts.

Two days ago I’d seen a suspicious tweet from a twit named Keely:Had the best night w/ @PaxJones!But my breaking point was an Instagram pic of Pax kissing a rando girl smack on the lips.

It could have been a scene from his upcoming movie, but I didn’t think so. He’d told me he was in Montana, filming scenes for his next big film, a Western flick starring him as a gorgeous-but-lonely cowboy. But the background in the photo appeared to be the Pacific Ocean, and even though I’d never been to Montana, I was pretty certain that’s NOT what it looked like.

I immediately did some digging and sure enough, that asshole was in Laguna Beach, staying at the Ritz. And he definitely wasn’t alone, judging by the amount of Veuve and spa treatments charged to his room.

“Final boarding call for Flight 4356 to Atlanta, GA. All remaining passengers should board at this time.”

I hesitated, took a deep breath. If I was going to flee LA and the paparazzi, I had to get on this plane. Any second now, the disastrous headlines could hit:

Relationship expert Bree Hart is no ‘expert’ when it comes to her own love life

Superstar Paxton Jones leaves so-called ‘dating doctor’ for B-list actress

Relationship guru Bree Hart left brokenhearted by actor Paxton Jones

Gah. I so didnotwant those headlines to hit. My dating podcast was finally trending, and I’d just made it into the Top 25 in the Relationship Category. This could devastate my career. Never mind my heart—Pax had already broken that several times.

I’d been trying (unsuccessfully) to dump Pax for the last 24 hours. Timing was everything and I wanted to break up with him before the media got wind of a cheating scandal. Then I’d disappear for a bit, under the guise of visiting my sister. Pax could step out with someone new, and I’d fade into the background, yesterday’s news.

But, per the usual, Pax was even making breaking up difficult. He wasn’t answering my texts or calls, probably because he was too busy with his new sidepiece.

“Seriously. This is the last and final boarding call.” The ticketing agent shot me a pointed look. I was the only person still standing at the gate.

Taking the not-so-subtle hint, I wheeled my suitcase over to the kiosk and presented my ticket.

“Have a safe flight.”

“Thanks,” I said, juggling my shoulder bag and luggage.

As I made my way down the ramp, my shoulder vibrated. Crap. That could be Pax, finally calling me back. I rooted through my bag and managed to fish out my phone.

“Hello? Hello?”

Silence. I checked the screen. One missed call and it was from Pax.

“Damn it!” I immediately hit his name, calling him back. One ring, two rings, three, four. Pax’s voice came on the line, “You know what to do. Leave me a message.”

“Hey, Pax, it’s me, Bree. So, I saw your Instagram and it looks like you’re with someone else. Not going to lie, I’m pretty upset and it’s really uncool that you’re not even answering my texts. But whatever. Obviously, you’ve moved on. I’m not going to stall here or anything, I’m just going to come right out and say it. We’re—”

“Good-bye.”

Seriously? Even Pax’svoicemailwas too busy for me. I dialed him back. I needed to get this off my chest this instant, so I could move on with my life and avert career disaster.

Ring, ring, ring.Beep. “Sorry, but the voicemail box is full. Call back later.”And with that, I was automatically disconnected.

“Ugh!” I cried, shaking my phone. “All I want to do is dump you!”

I slammed my phone back into my purse and looked up. Two flight attendants flanked the doorway to the plane and they were both staring at me.

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