ADA

"Well, if it isn't my ex-man's new girlfriend." Mia Harlow's bright-red lips curl into a smile that doesn't match the icy gleam in her eyes as she stares down at me.

She's flanked by a pale, willowy girl who looks like she'd snap in half if the wind blew hard enough and a girl with rose-gold hair that shines in the soft lighting. I recognize both of them from previews I've seen for some new singing competition show.

I'd been so caught up in the media storm around Liam and me, I honestly hadn't thought much about Mia. Considering she's his very recent, very famous ex-girlfriend, that now seems like a major oversight.

I wonder if she still has feelings for him. I wonder if he still has feelings for her. The thought makes my stomach stiffen in a way that surprises me. I shouldn't care if Liam still has a thing for his ex. It's not like I'm interested in him or anyone else, not like that.

"What are you doing, Mia?" Ariani gives Mia a look filled with so much venom, I'm surprised she doesn't wither on the spot. Faye's expression isn't any warmer. Clearly, Liam's friends aren't members of the Mia Harlow fan club.

"I wanted to say hello to our new friend here." She nods at me. Her overly-bleached teeth flash as she tosses her hair over her shoulder.

She's obviously trying to intimidate me. She must expect me to cower, but I've never been the type to give in to bullies.

"How nice of you," I say so sweetly, I think I just gave myself a cavity.

Mia's smirk falters.

I glance over at her friends. The blond shoots me an almost comically cold glare, but neither of them says a word. It's like they're here as Mia's props.

"All right, you've said hello. You can go now." Ariani makes a shooing motion with her hand.

I try to smother a snort of laughter and fail.

Mia's eyes are scathing as she rounds on me. "You know Liam's only pretending to be into you to help his career, right? He'd never go for someone so basic." She looks me up and down.

Her words sting even though I'm very aware that Liam could never have real feelings for me. I'm not about to let her see me flinch though.

"You sure about that?" I cock my head to the side, not blinking as I match her stare.

Liam and Wesley reappear at the table, and Liam sets bright pink cocktails down in front of Elodie and me. I notice he didn't get anything for himself.

Wesley hands Faye and Ariani their drinks, but they're too busy staring Mia down to notice.

Liam sits next to me, sliding his chair over so he's pressed against me. Our eyes lock, and he runs his long fingers through my hair, letting them slide through the strands and down my back, leaving fire in their wake.

"Everything good over here?" The look in Liam's eyes is so concerned, everything inside me turns to goo.

I make a mental note to never pretend to date an actor again. My body doesn't seem capable of distinguishing real from fake no matter how hard my mind tries to keep it all straight.

But right now, I need to concentrate on selling this relationship to Mia and anyone else who happens to be watching. I'll have to worry about untangling my knotted up emotions later.

Reaching out a hand, I trail my fingers gently over the stubble across Liam's cheek. "I'm good."

I feel Liam's quick inhale of breath, and I'm certain he didn't fake it. Apparently, his body is as confused as mine. Letting my hand drop, I glance over at Mia. Something like pain flickers across her face, but then her expression transforms so completely, it's as though I imagined it.

She sneers at us. "Wow. That was almost an Oscar-worthy performance for once, Babe."

Liam's arm stiffens around me, whether in reaction to the pet name or the dig at his acting ability, I'm not sure. He doesn't miss a beat though, pulling me closer.

"Who's performing?"

I turn to him. He's so close, his face is little blurry. He leans in, pressing a kiss against the sensitive spot behind my ear. And, yeah, someone's going to have to mop my heart off the floor, because it just melted all over the place.

The kiss, the touching, the closeness, it's all too much. Too intimate. I have to fight to keep from losing my already-delicate grip on the reality of the situation.

This is pretend, Ada. It's not real. You don't like him like that.

I should say something to try and help Liam convince Mia this thing between us is genuine before she goes and blabs to the press. But my mind is caught in the war raging between my head and my heart.

"I know this whole thing is a sham," Mia hisses. "We broke up, like, five seconds ago, Liam. There's no way you're already into someone else, especially not a gross stalkerazzi." Her lip curls when she looks at me like I'm something someone spit into her cocktail. "We'll see how long this little game of yours lasts after I tell everyone you're lying."

"Tell them whatever you want." Liam's voice is cool, calling what I can only hope is her bluff. "It won't change the way I feel about Ada or the fact that I've moved on. You should too."

It's the first time I've heard him say my name, and it rocks me. I'm suddenly grateful we're still sitting down.

He turns to me. "It's a little crowded in here. You want to go?"

I nod numbly. I hate the idea of being driven out of this place by Mia, but I need to get out of here. Need to get away, not just from her but from Liam, so I can clear my head.

Standing, I tug at the hem of the dress I let Elodie talk me into wearing. It shows a lot more skin than I'm used to. I can't wait to get home and wash off the makeup she spent hours doing, put my hair in a ponytail, and get back in my yoga pants. Elodie is a hair and makeup wizard, but this isn't me.

I go to snatch my camera bag from beneath the table, but Mia grabs my arm. Her long, red fingernails nip at my skin.

She leans in close enough that only I can hear her. "I don't know if you're in on this scheme of his. But Liam hates people like you. He's going to wreck your heart and leave it in pieces all over the city."

She glances over at Liam, and the longing I see in her eyes makes me feel a stab of pity. I don't know how Liam feels about her, but it's obvious she isn't over him yet.

I jerk free of her grasp. "Thanks for your concern, but I'm not worried about my heart." I try for a calm, detached expression, which would be a lot easier if I totally believed the words I'm saying.

"Suit yourself," Mia snaps. "But you can't say I didn't warn you." She gives Liam one last loaded glance before storming away. Her friends trail after her.

"I'm sorry about that." Liam rests his hand on my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

The contact is more than I can take. I need some space so I can think. I step out of his reach. "It's fine. I'm fine."

His forehead knits and his hand falls back down to his side.

"Let's just focus on why we're here," I say, ignoring the shrill edge that's crept into my voice. "You promised I could get a picture of you guys. Let's get it done, so I can go home."

"We can do that. But are you sure you're—"

"I told you I'm fine." It comes out more harshly than I intended, and I immediately feel bad for snapping at him. I sigh. "Sorry. It's been a long night." I shove my hair out of my face and tuck it behind my ear.

"Don't worry about it." He reaches out like he's going to touch me again but thinks better of it, running his hand through his hair instead. "Let's get you that picture, huh?"

Liam is adamant that there not be any alcohol in the shot, so I help him scoot all the glasses to the opposite end of the table. Elodie sidles up next to Wesley as everyone poses for the photo. He puts an arm around her shoulders, and she glows like the star stickers we decorated my bedroom ceiling with when we were kids.

Crap. Crushing on Wesley is going to get her nothing but a broken heart. I can't let that happen.

My stomach twists. I also can't let her be in this picture. A shot of Cipher's four stars out together is worth big money—which means big points for me. But having Elodie, an unknown, in the photo would make it sell for a lot less.

Feeling like the biggest jerk ever, I say, "Hey, Els. Can I get a shot with just the actors?"

Her face falls so hard, I wish I could take it back. An embarrassed flush stains her cheeks.

"Oh, of course." She steps out of the frame and tries for a casual laugh that comes out sounding strained. "My bad."

I wince. I'm going to have to make this up to her later.

Liam and his friends smile for the camera as I take the shot. It's a great photo. At least something positive came out of tonight.

Snapping the cover on my lens, I pack my Nikon into my bag.

"Can I give you a ride home?" Liam walks over to me.

"I'm getting an Uber." I pull out my phone and open up the app.

"Well, let me walk you out, so we can get some photos together for the paps."

I'd gotten so swept up in the drama, I almost forgot why Liam invited me here in the first place. All I want to do is curl up in my bed and not think. But I'm sure Huntley's got an army of photogs out there waiting to get pictures of all the celebs here. Agnes would murder me if I didn't let them get shots of us.

"Right." I tug my fingers through my hair, which is starting to feel itchy against my neck. "Let's do it."

"You're leaving?" Faye grabs a little clutch off the table. It's silver and matches her dress. "Do you have room for us? We're over this place."

"Of course. I'll have Briggs get the car and security team ready." Liam taps at his cell phone.

"You good to go, Elodie?" I ask, glancing over at her. She's watching Wesley, a frown tugging at her flawlessly-painted, lips. He's chatting up a girl, who looks vaguely familiar and is most likely a celebrity of some sort.

"Yeah. Let's go." Elodie takes one last gulp of her cocktail before marching toward the door.

A pang of guilt hits me. I feel awful that this night didn't go how she wanted it to. But if it helped squash her crush on Wesley, then it's definitely for the best. She'll bounce right back like she always does.

"The car's here." Liam tucks his phone into the pocket of his dark-washed jeans. "Shall we?" He takes my hand, and we follow Faye and Ariani out into the hallway that leads to the elevators of Rockefeller Plaza.

Even though I know what to expect, it still rips the breath from my chest when we walk outside the building, and we're greeted by a blaze of flashing lights and the din of screaming voices.

Every muscle in my body tenses and my hand clenches around Liam's like a vice.

Chrissy and Tyler are in the front row of the waves of paparazzi. They must have stood out here all day to secure such prime positions. They raise their cameras as Faye goes to take a step forward. Their flashbulbs pop, obscuring my vision and apparently Faye's too, because she doesn't notice the uneven concrete in front of her. Her heel catches, and her ankle twists beneath her, sending her flying. She hits the ground hard.

It's like everything moves in slow motion. There's a collective groan from the crowd. The paparazzi swarm, eager to get shots of the fallen star. Before I can think about what I'm doing, I jump between Faye and the cameras, blocking her from view.

I tuck my skirt and bend to help her up, setting a hand against her arm. "Are you okay?"

One of the security guards walks toward me. "Ma'am, you need to back up."

Faye holds up a hand, waving him off as she sits up. "I'm fine," she says, a wobble in her voice. "But I don't know about my ankle."

I glance down and suppress a gasp. Her ankle's already swollen to twice the size it should be.

Ariani does her best to kneel in the tight dress she's wearing. "Boo, you all right?"

"I don't think I can stand." Tears glisten in Faye's eyes, but she's fighting not to let them fall.

"What happened?" Liam bends down next to me.

"She twisted her ankle." I point toward Faye's foot.

"God, they're all going to be saying I'm the new drunken child star tragedy." Faye looks past me at the wall of cameras battling to get at her. "I'm not even buzzed."

She's right. That story is going to be all over every gossip site in the world within minutes. My heart breaks for her.

I can hear the paps closing in behind us, despite the security team's best efforts. I scoot in closer to block them out.

"Ada, what the hell?" I glance over my shoulder. Chrissy is motioning wildly for me to move. "Get out of the way!"

I'm costing her and Tyler a lot of money by blocking this shot—costing Huntley a lot of money. Agnes is going to go ballistic over this, but I can't stand by and let them take pictures that I know are going to hurt Faye. I just can't.

I turn my back to Chrissy.

I can feel Liam's gaze on me. His eyes examine my face like I'm a piece in a puzzle he's trying to solve. He places a hand between my shoulder blades. I don't flinch away this time.

"Thank you," he whispers against my ear. The feel of his breath against my skin makes my stomach fill with heat.

Unable to speak, I nod as he turns back to Faye.

"I've got you." He scoops her to his chest, standing easily as though picking up damsels in distress is part of his daily routine. Which, considering his day job, it probably is. He gives me one last lingering look before striding toward the SUV waiting at the curb.

I stand, watching them go, a mob of angry photogs at my back.