Page 66 of Lucky Star

The fact that my mother resorted to using a word as crass as “tits” instead of calling them “bosoms” told me just how upset she actually was. So upset, in fact, that she’d failed to put two and two together. Stifling a chuckle, I asked her to describe the woman Cameron was seen with.

“Well, I only know what I read, and I don’t want to hurt you any more than you must already be hurting.” She might not want to hurt me, but that wasn’t going to stop Jane Travers from delivering the juicy bit of gossip she thought she knew. “You need to know the truth about him once and for all.”

“I’m sure it’ll be most enlightening.” I didn’t even try to mask my sarcasm; she wouldn’t hear it anyway.

“The article was very short, but it said he was at the airport booking a private jet, and that he was with a very pretty, very voluptuous redhead who couldn’t take her hands off him—if you get my drift. The woman who checked them in for their flight said the hussy was completely without shame, especially considering she was all over a man everyone knows has a serious girlfriend.” She took a breath, and I tried to jump in, but she just barreled forward. “I’m so disappointed, Sarah. When you told me that cockamamie story about the PR thing, I thought it sounded fishy, but between his co-star and this new harlot, I’m worried you’re fooling yourself, dear.”

“Think about this for a second, mother. Red hair. Voluptuous. Big tits. Can you think of anyone you might know who fits that description?”

Wait for it … wait for it …

“Darling! He’s replaced you with someone who looks just like you.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake!

“No, Cameron has not replaced me with a doppelgänger. That woman at the ticket counter? Me. We’re in Canada together. In fact, Cameron’s inside a coffee shop talking with some people who know the woman who was started the rumor.” Slowly, I breathed in and out in an effort to calm my frazzled nerves. No one could get me more wound up than my mother.

“Is he?” she hummed. “Well, you need to tell him he needs to do a better job with his PR, because right now he looks like an asshole.”

Tits and asshole. She was on a roll.

“Thanks, mom. I’ll be sure to give him your expert advice.”

“There’s no need to be nasty about it. I’m just looking out for you. I don’t want you getting hurt when he decides all those Hollywood beauties are more to his liking.”

“Why would he decide that?” I asked from between clenched teeth. “Are you implying that because of the way he looks, he’s too good for me?”

Finally sensing my rising anger, she sputtered, and tried to take back her words but the fumbled attempt only dug an even bigger hole.

“No, honey. You know I think you’re lovely with all that pretty hair from your father’s side of the family. And you’re so smart and generous. Everyone loves you.”

I’d been here before though, so I knew not to take the bait. When she led with a compliment that included something about my dad’s side of the family—one that pointed out just how different from her I was—I knew what came next would be an insult. It always was.

“And you have such a vibrant personality,” she finished.

Ugh. She may as well have said, “You’re ugly, but funny. People like that.”

“It’s just that you’re not exactly thin, are you, sweetheart? And men like Cameron? Well, you see it all the time. They want tiny little trophy wives.”

“Like you?” I asked, unable to keep the disdain from my voice.

It was one thing for people like Aerin Shandly to say that Cameron needed to be with someone who was as beautiful as he was, but it was an entirely other thing to have your own flesh and blood say you weren’t pretty enough for a man like him. That you were nice enough and sweet enough, but that at the end of the day, you just weren’t the right type of woman.

Except I am, I thought with confidence.

With that knowledge rooted firmly in place, I drew in a breath and pushed my shoulders back. “Goodbye mother,” I said, hitting the button to end our call.

I turned off my ringer and shoved my phone into my pocket. Facing the street so Cameron couldn’t see my face, I pasted a smile on my lips before rejoining the group.

“Well,” I said, interrupting their conversation. “It looks like we’ve been found out. Seems the enterprising Dolly has a direct line to someone who has a direct line to Us Weekly.”

Cameron had said he didn’t care if we were discovered, and now was his chance to put his money where his mouth was.

Quite possibly in the literal sense if Broderick sacked him.

A worried look crossed his face, but then he quickly masked it. Briefly, he glanced out the window, stared at the deserted street for a few seconds, and then turned back to me, his concern replaced by a smile.

“Don’t be sad, baby. This is great news,” he said, moving to my side and wrapping me up in his arms again. “The ball’s in Broderick’s court now.”

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