“Of course we were; except for that whole fidelity thing you couldn’t manage to take seriously.” Nicole pulled away from Hank, giving him a dirty look. Even though he continued to swear he would change if she’d give him another chance, she couldn’t bring herself to do it after she discovered dozens of scandalous emails with other women. “I told you if you kept showing up at my house and movie locations, I was going to file for a restraining order. I know your manager wouldn’t want that, so if I were you, I would leave, right now.”
“Butterfly, if you haven’t filed one by now, I know you’re never going to. Don’t make threats you can’t keep.”
“How about this, if you don’t leave now, I’m going to call hotel security.”
“Really? You’d be willing to do that when all I’ve done is come to see you to try to fix our relationship? You don’t want to cause a scene, do you? What do you think our fans would think of that?” The way Hank said it, she could tell he meant it as a threat. He knew his image as a playboy tough guy could withstand it, but her own America’s sweetheart image would take a crushing blow from any kind of public fight.
“Obviously, you know I don’t,” she whispered under her breath.
“What’s that? Speak up, Butterfly.”
“She said she doesn’t want you to cause a scene,” Britney stated firmly, stepping up from beside her friend and moving in between them. “And she might be too afraid to call security, but I’m not. No one cares what I do, so your threats won’t work with me. I suggest you hurry along back to Hollywood.” Britney gestured with both of her hands towards the exit of the hotel. “Shoo now.”
Hank didn’t look like he appreciated Britney getting involved, but he must have known she’d follow through on calling security. He turned around to leave, but over his shoulder he vowed, “This isn’t over, Butterfly. I’m not giving up on us.”
“Thank you for that,” Nicole said as they continued to head through the lobby. “I don’t know what it’s going to take to get Hank to leave me alone.”
“Nicole, you need to have your attorney file that restraining order. He’s not taking ‘no’ for an answer. And how creepy is that when he calls you Butterfly. I mean, I get that you co-starred in a movie about butterflies, and that’s how you met, but it’s just a little too much, you know.”
“I sure do. Just think how I feel having him call me that after finding out about all his affairs. Do you know, he had a pet name for all of the other women, too?”
“Ugh, the more you tell me about what he did, the worse it sounds. I can’t believe how much the paparazzi love to act like he’s the greatest gift to Hollywood since Al Pacino.”
“It’s because he has a great agent that lands him all the right roles,” Nicole pointed out.
“But not as good as yours,” Matt said as he came up to them. “No one is as good as Marcos Carpathy—and he just proved it for the twentieth time when he got you double the pay compared to Kutcher’s last co-star.”
“He did? That’s amazing,” Nicole gushed, temporarily forgetting that it meant she had to star in another rom-com.
“You can thank me now for landing Marcos as your agent,” Matt stated with a wide grin. “I told you to trust me that he was the shark you wanted.”
She nodded, excited and already planning what she could do with the money. “That means I can give even more to the orphanage I support in Thailand. They’ve really been needing a new dormitory. This is going to help so much.”
“And you can also take a much needed vacation,” Britney pointed out. “Of course, I’m sure you’ll need your stylist to come along to make sure you look on point the whole time,” she added with a wink.
“You know I don’t go anywhere without you, Britney,” Nicole promised. “We’re a team. All three of us are,” she said, wrapping her arm through Matt’s. “Thank you, both, for working so hard for me.”
“Nicole, Nicole, I just photographed you with Hank Cruise. Does that mean the two of you are back together?” a man with a camera asked as he barged through the lobby towards her. “Did he finally convince you to give him a second chance?”
Nicole forced herself not to react to the paparazzi’s intrusive questions. Instead, she politely smiled while her manager rebuffed the reporter. “Miss West is here filming her newest movie and would appreciate her privacy.”
“Speaking of your newest film, how have you handled the switch from comedy to drama?”
Nicole didn’t think the questions could get any worse. It was bad enough to be asked about her ongoing problems with Hank, but she had to also defend her choice to branch out and try new acting roles.
“Again, Miss West isn’t going to be able to comment,” Matt stated firmly, using his towering figure and penetrating glare to make it clear the other man should leave Nicole alone. “And this is a private resort, so if you don’t leave her alone right now, I’ll be alerting security.”
The man glanced around, as if debating what to do. He shrugged as he turned his attention back to Nicole. “This is a free country, and this resort is open to the public. I’m not breaking any rules.” He moved closer until he was only a few inches away from her, snapping photos the whole time.
Normally, she could handle being hounded by the press, but today was an off-day for her. She stumbled back, exhausted from Tayla’s constant barbs, and Hank showing up unannounced. Unable to handle it a moment longer, Nicole spun around and took off, rushing away as quickly as possible. She wasn’t sure where she was headed, but anywhere was better than here. After making it across the lobby and turning down a hallway, she found herself in the shopping area of the resort.
Just as she came around a corner, she smacked into the solid surface of another person. Her eyes flicked up until they rested on a handsome man with a strong face, dark eyes, and brown hair. What surprised her is that he didn’t instantly recognize her, or if he did, he didn’t seem to care about who she was. It was quite the opposite from the normal reaction she got, and it was made even more evident by the irritated frown on his face.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” she stammered out, stepping back with embarrassment.
“Obviously,” he retorted with a smug look. “I’m lucky you didn’t knock my bags right out of my hands the way you were bulldozing right through here.”
Her eyes darted to the floor, wanting to avoid the penetrating glare from the man in front of her. To her utter shock, for the first time she noticed a large white dog sitting next to him. From his gruff demeanor, she wouldn’t have expected the man to be a dog person. Her eyes shot back up to look at him with puzzlement.
The man tilted his head to the side as if he was analyzing her in return. A moment later, he asked, “What’s wrong? Was bumping into me too much for your delicate senses?”
She wasn’t sure what to make of his gruffness. He didn’t seem to care that his blunt nature was abrasive. Wanting to get as far away from him as possible, she sidestepped past him, saying as she moved around him, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to be getting to my room, and for the record, I’m not delicate.”