Page 19 of Hollywood Humbug (The Naughty List)

“Or something,” I ground out. The next words put a bitter taste in my mouth. “She was wearing a coat and when I answered the door, she opened it.”

“No,” Scarlett gasped, smacking both of her hands over her face.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to unsee that.” I cringed. “So much plastic.She looked like a fucking Barbie doll.”

Scarlett was quiet for so long that when I glanced at her, I expected to see her fuming. Instead, her eyes were squeezed shut, her hands still covering her mouth, and her shoulders were shaking with silent laughter.

“It wasn’t funny, red,” I grunted. “I’m scarred for life.”

She glared at me and snapped, “Don’t call me red.” But her irritation was overshadowed when she burst into laughter again.

“I’m so happy you are amused by this,” I said dryly. “Anyway, getting back on topic. Once I thought about it, I realized there was a pattern, but I never truly put it together until now.”

“A pattern?”

“I don’t know how I missed it. I truly feel like an idiot. Most of my relationships—and I use that word loosely—ended when news broke about something they’d done. Cheated, lied, whatever, I often found out via the paps. After I talked to the PI, I realized Mandi seemed to be around a lot more often after those “breakups”.” I used air quotes because I didn’t think three or fewer dates qualified for the term breakup, and I couldn’t think of anyone I’d gone on over three dates with in the last decade. I didn’t date much at all, actually.

“Finley found out that Mandi paid Janice five grand for the information on where we went and anything she could dig up that Mandi could use to stop our relationship from progressing. After that, Finley kept looking and found trails to every woman she outed to me. She’d paid for the leak. She wasn’t just getting tips, she was hunting them down.”

“Well, shit,” Scarlett breathed. “Mandi is quite the psycho, isn’t she?”

“Agreed. But, don't worry, she’ll get what’s coming to her.”

“Oh?” Scarlett looked way too eager, and it made me laugh.

“Finley found some shit on her, and I’m working on a plan. When I’m done, she’ll be leaving town with her devil tail between her legs. No one will even speak to her, much less give her information or hire her.”

“It’s not enough,” Scarlett grumped, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I like this bloodthirsty side of you,” I teased…not completely joking.

Scarlett shrugged. “Not much phases me, but I can be a ruthless bitch if you hurt someone I care about.”

I wanted to jump on her comment and ask if that included me, but it could wait. I owed her to lay out my feelings first, to show her I was willing to risk it.

“Are you ready to talk about us?” I raised a challenging brow.

Rather than take the bait, she simply narrowed her eyes and took her time thinking it over. “Yes,” she answered after a couple of tense minutes. “You were saying something about knowing it wasn’t me?”

“I held on to my anger for a long time,” I admitted softly, taking her hand in mine and playing with her fingers. “I used it to convince myself that I’d done the right thing. But what you said the other day…it forced me to look back and see what really happened.”

Scarlett turned in her seat a little so that she could look at me without twisting her neck. “What do you mean?”

“Baby, everything I said on set was true. I was so afraid to trust you, I grasped onto the moment of doubt I had and blew it up to epic proportions. We were so new…we hadn’t really even started,” I shook my head and looked at the ceiling. “I’d like to think that if we’d been together longer, things would have been different.” I returned my gaze to her face and admitted, “But the truth is, it probably would have gone down the same way.”

Scarlett tried to pull her hand away, but I wouldn’t let her. “Let me finish before the crazy in you gets a hold of my words and starts twisting them.”

She gasped, but there was a slight lift to the corners of her mouth. “I don’t have any crazy.”

Leaning in until my lips were at her ear, I whispered, “I really hope that’s not true. I have all kinds of crazy ideas I was hoping to try out with you.” She shivered, and I licked up the shell of her ear. “Most of them should really be done naked.”

Her quick inhale made me grin, but I put it away before sitting back. “Anyway, I’ve been in this business since I was five years old. Twenty-seven years is a long fucking time in this industry, so I don’t think it will surprise you that I’ve had some terrible experiences with social climbers, coat-tail riders, and gold diggers.”

Scarlett’s features softened with sympathy, and she nodded. “I suppose that would make it difficult to trust anyone.”

“That doesn’t excuse how I treated you,” I told her as I ran the tip of one finger along her jawline. “Scarlett, I knew from the moment I met you that you could become my entire world.”

Her perfect mouth curved up and the glimmer in her turquoise orbs got stronger.

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