Somehow he’d thought that The Everlastings was going to be his one show, the project he and Kelley and Liam would work on until…well, he hadn’t been able to fathom a future that didn’t have the three of them working together. His best friend and his girlfriend. His team.
Now, though, he was having the first inklings that there could be a different future for him. He could create a new series, and with more experience under his belt, it might even be better than the first. There was no reason to think he couldn’t do it again, especially while he still had major network support. He crushed the paper coffee cup in his palm, feet tapping on the sidewalk like they did when he was excited about an idea and couldn’t keep still. He’d write to Anderson and ask what was up with The Everlastings. He wouldn’t talk about any other projects. But he’d keep his mind open, waiting for whatever new things might come.
He walked quickly, checking his watch. When he popped his head into the café Julia was still fixated on the computer, typing furiously and stopping every now and then to click through something on the screen. So he left, walked around the block in the other direction, and when he came back in, she finally looked up.
“I’m done,” she said, closing out the browser and getting up so he could take her seat.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to rush you.”
“Nope, that was perfect. I got in an email to my parents letting them know I haven’t been eaten by sharks and told Danny I was safe, and then Liz was online so we chatted for a little while she was at work.”
Blake nodded like these names meant something to him. Who the hell was Danny? If she had a boyfriend back home, he’d be damned… There was nothing in their undiscussed arrangement that said they were available, but the thought that she might not be as free as she appeared sent daggers into his gut.
Julia seemed to read something on his face and laughed. “Sorry, you have no idea who I’m talking about. My best friend, Liz, her brother Danny. She constantly wants to have fun; he’s the one worrying all the time. They’re the ones who’ll come peel my body off the floor of my apartment if I choke on a pretzel and die alone.”
“That’s a pleasant thought.”
“What else are friends for? All right, I’ll leave you to it. Do you want me to pay for some more time for you, since I took up so much of it?”
Blake shook his head, sure he wouldn’t need more than a few minutes to bring himself up to date on the news from the other side of the globe and share some quick thoughts with Anderson. He watched her wave to the kid behind the counter and step out of the café. Then he brought his eyes back to the screen before him, trying to shake off the mental image of her long legs in her sundress as she strode out the door. Her best friend and her best friend’s brother? That didn’t sound like a boyfriend. He permitted himself one small exhale of relief and then berated himself for being so paranoid. She hadn’t said she wanted anything from him. So he should stop acting like he had something to give.
Blake fired up his email, scrolled through a few messages from work, and sent back a quick note to a group of friends wondering where on earth he was since his last message, from before he’d arrived at the falls. He checked the news and looked up TV ratings in Sydney and any major headlines about his show. Then he scanned through a few articles with the expected smattering of fluff on Australia’s new “it” couple, gorgeous co-stars in love on screen and then in real life—and quickly clicked back to his email before he could torture himself anymore. He wanted to let his mom know he was in Rio until the first, even if he wouldn’t tell her why.
But when he started asking how the dogs were doing, it occurred to him that he hadn’t finished reading one of the previous articles to make sure there was no mention of him. He knew it was narcissistic to check, but actually the thought that he might have faded into silence while Kelley and Liam took center stage in the tabloids came as a welcome relief. If he wasn’t being talked about anymore as the jilted sidekick, then maybe he could get back to his life, get back to his work, and finally leave the whole mess behind.
He clicked on the history button to find the article. That was when his hand stopped cold.
Under his email and the websites he’d checked since logging on, there was a whole slew of websites about him. One after another: Joshua Blake Williams. The Everlastings. She’d even searched his full name.
His passport.
He’d taken hers and then she’d grabbed his in return. His name wasn’t that unusual but if she put in the whole thing and then something about Sydney and TV, it wouldn’t be hard for the search to reward her. J.B. Williams. His old life splashed across the screen.
He had no privacy on the net. Everything about him was known. She’d seen it all—the shit town where he’d grown up, the factory where his mom had worked until he could afford for her to quit. Jesus, there was even stuff about the writing scholarships he’d won. Why couldn’t she have just asked?
No talking about home. He didn’t even know the names of her best friends, and now she knew every single thing about him. He closed the browser quickly, his heart hammering in his chest, palms sweaty on the keyboard despite the AC. He sat there for a minute, watching the clock run down, and then he got up and left.
He stormed across the street, fists deep in his pockets, his mind churning. What the hell had she been looking for? Did she want to know what was wrong with him, why he’d left everything behind to go hang out in a hostel in the middle of nowhere for as long as he possibly could? Had she not believed him about the show? Did she want proof that he was famous? What must she have thought when she discovered everything he was famous for?
Because it wasn’t only the show that had made him a household name in his homeland. It was the screw-up. And she had seen that, too. It was impossible to Google him and not find out. His name was permanently aligned with Kelley Fielding, for better or worse. Until the internet exploded.
Blake stopped suddenly in the middle of the street, heart racing, and realized he had no idea where he was going. She was probably back at the café waiting for him. A cab slammed on its horn, and he jumped out of the way, jogging to the other side of the street. Think. He had to think.
He’d gone into the café and seen her after she’d looked up that stuff about him, and she hadn’t been weird. Or else he’d been missing the signs because he hadn’t known to look.
He ran a hand through his hair. No, she hadn’t been weird at all. He felt his breathing start to slow. He looked up at the buildings, at the mountains behind. Down the street. Out toward the water.
What was he afraid of—that she’d leave him? They weren’t even together.
He bought a bottle of water, drank it quickly, and walked back to the café, his heart slowly returning to normal even though he still had no idea what to think.
She was standing outside, leaning against the side of the building, when he approached. All long limbs and flowing hair, red dress and dark sunglasses, her face lighting up as soon as she saw he was there.
“You do everything you needed to get done?” she asked, hooking her arm through his as they took off down the street.
“Yeah,” he said. And then some. “I had a little extra time so I went to get some water.”
“It was good to check in with everyone, but it’s not like I want to spend all day in there. It’s so beautiful outside, don’t you think?”
He nodded, on autopilot, and let her slip her hand in his as they walked back toward their hotel. If she was thinking anything behind that smile and those dark eyes, he had no idea. If he hadn’t unintentionally found out what she’d really been doing online, he’d have had no clue that she now knew so much more about him.