Page 54 of Undeniable Temptation

“Can you please point me in the right direction for Bites and Beverages?” she asked the concierge.

He followed her to the door, held it open, and pointed to the left. “You won’t miss it. I’m sure there’ll be a crowd out the front.”

She’d thought he’d been referring to the popularity of the food. She’d been wrong. As soon as she reached the corner, she found the mob of hungry paparazzi creating a barrier around Ryan, Felicity, and Hannah. The trio were snuggled close, the women framing Ryan as they all smiled for the cameras, lapping up the attention.

She continued forward, her feet carrying her to the edge of the crowd before she could contemplate the need to leave. It was stupid of her to think Ryan’s invitation meant a quiet breakfast set for two. Instead, she’d been dragged into a publicity stunt, shoving what she couldn’t have right in her face.

“Kiss her,” a man shouted, raising his camera. “Give us something to put on the front page.”

Her chest restricted as Ryan and Felicity chuckled. Hannah didn’t hold their enthusiasm, but she stood tall, her smile waning. More calls erupted. A chant formed. “Kiss her. Kiss her. Kiss her.”

Panic seeped into Ryan’s eyes, the same way Leah could feel it seep into hers. Felicity turned into him and blinked up at the man destined to place his mouth over hers.

Oh, no. Oh, no.

Leah dropped her head, unable to witness the carnage.Shit.She’d gone over this in her mind. Over and over. The kiss was inevitable. A forgone conclusion. The dedicated fans would take the relationship on face value. The highly intuitive would never believe. But those in the middle, the ones sitting on the fence, would need this push to send them into fanatic territory.

“Leah?”

Her chest restricted at his guttural call. She licked the dryness from her lips, pasted on a grin, and lifted her gaze to witness relief wash over him. He told her a myriad of messages in that look. She could see his pain, his guilt, and he hadn’t even kissed the other woman yet.

“Have breakfast with us.” His arm remained around Felicity, their bodies close.

The crowd parted, the vultures turning to capture her indecision with the snap, snap, snap of their cameras.

“No.” She smiled, the expression awkward. “I only came to get a coffee to go.”

“Don’t be such a suit.” This came from Hannah, her sure stride gliding forward. “Stay and have breakfast with us.” She stopped at Leah’s side and leaned in close. “We can get through this together.”

Leah chuckled, pretending the whispered words in her ear were a sordid secret instead of mimicked heartache. “OK. But only for a few minutes.”

The paparazzi repositioned their cameras, the click, click, click moving back to the happy couple. Questions were shouted as the four of them made their way inside, the non-stop flash following them to the counter manned by a wide-eyed waitress.

“Let the girls organize the seats.” Ryan murmured over her shoulder. “I need to speak to you.”

She frowned at the hand he placed on her arm and the assumptions it would bring from the people gawking at them. “Can’t it wait?”

“No.” He led her forward, his attention straying to the waitress. “We’ve got band issues we need to discuss. Do you have anywhere private we could talk?”

The young blonde looked between them, her words taking seconds to come out. “There’s the bathrooms… Or the storage room, but staff will be coming in and out. Otherwise, there’s only the covered parking lot out back. It’s not entirely private but it’s fenced in and you can’t access it from the front of the building.”

“Can you show us where it is?”

“No problem.” The woman walked out from behind the counter, rubbing her hands on the apron tied around her waist.

“Are you sure this isn’t something that can wait?” Leah slid her arm from his grip, well aware that even the kitchen staff were watching them.

“All I want is five minutes.”

And all she wanted was to maintain a charade that was now harder to manage after witnessing his lips so close to another woman.

“Please,” he added.

The fight left her shoulders and she sighed with defeat. Denying him was impossible, even when her career was in the firing line. She walked by him, following the waitress through a swinging staff-only entry into an empty hall.

“It’s through here.” The woman unlocked the deadbolt to the back door, exposing a carport filled with shaded vehicles. “You’ll have to knock to get back in.”

Leah nodded as she passed, descending the two steps to the asphalt.

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