Page 55 of Overexposed

The movement of the door pushing outward alerted me to someone exiting. Sure enough, it was a familiar woman dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with casual slides on. She had a pair of sunglasses covering her face, but that thousand-watt smile had been winning hearts and awards for over two decades.

The guy coming out with her couldn’t have been a day over eighteen. Hell, I’d have been surprised if he was even that. That was, what? Nineteen-plus years age difference? I found that gross when men did it, so she didn’t get an out as a woman. Particularly not a full-ass adult with a teenager.

He caught her arm and she laughed as she turned, I had my finger pressed down on the shutter, the rapid cycling of photos snapping away as she caught his face in her hands and then kissed him.

Full, open-mouthed, spit-swapping with tongues clearly visible. For someone who valued discretion in an industry that feasted on scandal, she was an idiot. At least she was being an idiot right here on the street, where I could get some good shots.

I got a few more as they faced outward. She made it to the street and waved her arm. A car glided up and she climbed in after blowing a kiss to the kid, and then she was gone.

He stared after her looking utterly forlorn. It was like all the animation drained out of him. Poor kid. Those photos were going to net a nice sum. As it was, the guys had been nudging me to keep supplyingBright Starz.

I’d sold them a couple so far, and the pay had been decent, the funds transferred immediately. Still notquiteas much as I could get elsewhere. The images also didn’t break immediately.

Vetting took time, I supposed. Frankly, I wasn’t in this for the notoriety. My phone let out a series of buzzes in rapid succession.

“Keep your pants on, Gem,” I muttered as I picked it up. Sure enough the last four messages were from him as well as the five before that. Random comments about work, the weather, and then a couple of restaurant mentions.

The phone vibrated while I was holding it and a new message popped up. This one was from Ollie, though, and I rolled my eyes when I read it.

Elephant Ollie: Good morning, Snow. How’d you sleep?

I checked the time and smiled, shaking my head.

Stella: It’s almost lunchtime. Are you just waking up?

Elephant Ollie: Yep. Speaking of lunch…

We’d only been texting for a week, but I knew the game well enough to simply reply with a photo of my smoothie. He had zero faith in my ability to feed myself properly, and on more than one occasion, I’d found a full meal delivered to my apartment via DoorDash after I’d failed to answer him fast enough.

Elephant Ollie: Is that all? Just a smoothie? Snow…

Stella: I already finished my sandwich, so can’t show you that but I promise it was delicious.

There was a short pause, while he no doubt debated whether I was bullshitting him. For once, I was telling the truth, though. His nagging and bullying was actually creating better eating habits for me, and my energy levels were reaping the benefits. My concealer use had drastically reduced with fewer dark circles under my eyes too.

Elephant Ollie: Good girl. That’s what I like to hear.

I groaned out loud. Ollie was a fucking flirtanda tease, so I swapped to my messages with Gem instead. His latest one was asking if I wanted to go hiking with him tomorrow morning.

I wrinkled my nose as I typed out my reply, smiling to myself.

Stella: I’m so curious how I made you think I’m an early-morning hike kinda girl, Gem.

Gemini: Okay, fair. But I can’t exactly take you out for ice cream at the Santa Monica Pier or…anything normal. Hiking is private, and you’d look so fucking hot in activewear.

He had a good point. If I wanted to spend time with him in any real capacity, it couldn’t be a “normal” date in public. Not with his—and Seven’s—level of fame. Still, hiking was not my thing.

Stella: We could go for a drive?

It was the closest I’d come to agreeing to a date all week, and he was quick to jump at the opportunity.

Gemini: Done. When? Now? Pin your location. I’ll pick you up and we can get a picnic basket from Kitty’s Katering on the way.

Stella: Geez, Gem, play it cool. You’re a celeb, for fuck’s sake. Act like more of an aloof twat waffle, or you’ll make it too hard for me to remain unattached.

Crap. As soon as I sent that, I regretted it. I was doing exactly what I was teasing him about: acting way too fucking excited. Showing my cards way too early and risking rejection. Fucking hell. I needed to keep this complicated and messy, so I wouldn’t lose myself.

I swapped back to my text thread with Ollie, like the self-sabotaging bitch I was, but before I could type anything, Gem’s response message appeared on my screen.

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