Page 48 of Broken Rules

“Attagirl.I’m right here with you.”But she dropped a step behind, anyway, letting me take the lead.The red carpet stretched out in front of me, chock full of people jockeying to have their faces captured on camera when all I wanted to do was hide.

It was surreal the number of people unrelated to the project who had come out tonight.I recognized one famous face after another.They were here for my movie.What a shame it wouldn’t bemymovie they watched.

I didn’t have it in me to read the preliminary, spoiler-free reviews.It hurt too damn much.Now, walking the carpet with my best friend at my back, I wished I had at least skimmed them if only to get an idea of what the general consensus happened to be.Claudia swore up and down people liked it.I couldn’t see how.

There was one major blessing on the way into the theater.Nobody recognized me.They might by the time the movie was over, if I were given any recognition after the screening, but I was prepared to run if I had to.Lex could deal with the fallout of his director fleeing the event.After everything he had put me through, he deserved it.

“Oh, fuck me,” Claudia muttered, touching my elbow.I slowed down, turning my head so she could murmur in my ear.“Eric is here.Ten o’clock.”

I looked in that direction, and sure enough, there he was, speaking to a reporter who’d shoved a microphone in his face.His golden hair gleamed, his smile was blinding.He had gotten veneers that looked ridiculous like a set of shiny, white horse teeth awkwardly crammed into a hamster’s mouth.

“I need to get inside.”It was my sole mission now to keep my head down, stay unnoticed, and sidestep the cluster of people around Danica as she was photographed and interviewed near the entrance.She looked stunning and was clearly soaking up the attention.

Did she care that the best part of her performance had been cut from the film?I ached for her and everybody else and wanted so much to apologizeorat least make sure they knew it wasn’t my fault.I had done my best.

It was a small miracle that I was able to sneak into the theater, dashing straight to the restroom to calm myself.I was shaking, dizzy, and almost tripped and fell in my haste but caught myself in time.Dampening paper towels with cold water and touching them to my pulse points helped cool me down before nervous perspiration turned to sweat.

“You’re doing great.”Claudia pulled out a comb to touch up my hair.A few soft tendrils had fallen free of the knot at the back of my head.I looked like a ghost with only a slash of red over my lips, giving my face any definition.

“This was a huge mistake,” I whispered, meeting my best friend’s glance in the mirror.

“I don’t think so,” she whispered, giving me an awkward side hug.She then adjusted her pinned-up curls and checked out the dark blue, full-length Prada she had picked for the occasion.“I think tonight is going to be a good night.I feel it in my bones.”

Then she was delusional.Either that, or she was trying way too hard to pick up my spirits.

“All you have to do is sit in the back of the theater, try to keep a pleasant look on your face, and answer questions if anybody stops you.You don’t even have to participate in the Q and A.”That was one of my hard-and-fast demands, which she had negotiated for me.I would owe her for the rest of my life, end of story.She had come through in ways I couldn’t begin to repay her for.

“What about—” I cut myself off before his name fell out of my mouth.

Not that it mattered.He was the elephant in the room.“You know he’s going to be here.”With a grimace, she added, “And he has asked about you in his emails.More than once.”

“Good for him.”The subject of Lex Landry had been off the table at my insistence.I didn’t want to hear his name.I didn’t want to hear anything about him.It was bad enough thatI missed him with every cell of my being.Bad enough, I couldn’t close my eyes at night without seeing his face in front of me.I would wake up and swear I caught the whiff of his cologne, that I felt his touch against my skin, lingering, tingling.

But he would be here tonight, along with his wretched father and the entire team of investors.And they’d look me in the eye and try to be buddy-buddy for the sake of the press.And I would have to play along with the charade or risk making myself into a pariah in front of the entire free world.

The door swung open, and a group of women came in, gossiping, making comments about themselves and pretty much everybody else around them.Who wore this, who said what, who looked like shit.We ducked out, cut across the lobby, and sidestepped photographers.All I had to do was get through this.

We were some of the first people in the theater, but it filled up quickly.Taking a seat this early meant watching people as they walked in.“Oh, there’s that guy that owns the hotels and restaurants,” Claudia whispered, nodding toward a tall, handsome guy with dark hair and piercing eyes.“Clayton, something.He helped throw the party on the first day of shooting.”

“I know who he is,” I whispered.He’d let us stay in his hotel before it opened.A full-body shudder ran through me when I recalled standing on the roof, staring down at a city that would never be mine.It had been a nice fantasy while it lasted.

So Lex had invited his friends.How nice for him.How nice for Eric, who walked in with that bastard, Clyde Harris.They didn’t see me, too busy waving and shaking hands.I even recognized a couple of the investors who watched the finished movie with us.

“There he is.”Claudia covered a hand over my cold and clammy hand.She was kind and didn’t remark on it while staring down at the stage in front of the screen where Lex stepped out.

A wave of red-hot emotion swept over me and left me biting my tongue hard to hold back a cry of pure longing.Oh God, I loved him.I still loved him.I couldn’t lie to myself anymore.Setting eyes on him was all it took to know for sure that I’d never, ever get over that man.What we found together, what I thought I found with him, made what I thought I had with Eric look like child’s play.Compared to Lex, Eric was a child.

But it wasn’t right.It was not meant to be.I would have to continue watching him from a distance.He was the epitome of casual cool, wearing a dark tailored suit with no tie, the top two buttons popped.

Was he wearing that cologne I loved?

“Ladies and gentlemen.”His rich voice rang out as he worked the microphone out of its stand.“Thank you so much for being here tonight.”

The energy in the room practically crackled as the last few stragglers took their seats.I focused harder on my breathing, keeping myself calm.

Lex smiled in the light of so many beams trained on him.Claudia gave me the gossip about Alexander naming his son as head of the studio.Yet one more thing Lex had lied about—all of his posturing and bullshit.All it took was Daddy handing him the key for him to forget everything he told me about what he really wanted to do with his life.What really mattered.

Once the room went close to silent, he continued, “What you’re about to see tonight represents my first executive producer credit.I can’t tell you what a gratifying journey this has been.”Warm, gentle applause rose while I fought back the bile rising in my throat.The pretentious prick.It was very gratifying for him, wasn’t it?I had made it too easy.

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