Carly frowned, but by the time we got out of the car, she was smiling. I tugged her up against me, determined I wasn’t going to be the reason behind her next frown. I’d do whatever it took to make her smile.
She came to me and curled her arms around my waist. “Smile pretty, handsome,” she said, her voice almost inaudible.
I knew I couldn’t, but in my head, I heard the clicks of a hundred, a thousand cameras as the shutters clicked. I brushed a kiss across her lips instead and she pressed her hand to my cheek. It felt like a lover’s caress, but I followed the gentle pressure she applied.
Angling my head for the cameras, I assumed. Then she pulled back slightly to smile up at me, I returned her smile, mechanically at first, but it didn’t take long for the warmth she always filled me with to spread through me. Without thinking about it, I reached up and brushed a flyaway curl from her face. I forgot about everyone watching us and thought only of her. I cupped her cheek, wondering again what I’d done to deserve her.
She covered my hand with hers and said quietly, “Nobody has ever looked at me like you do.”
“Yeah?” I rubbed my thumb across her skin. She was so soft. “And how’s that?”
“Like all you see is me. Like I’m all that matters to you.”
I frowned. Didn’t she understand? She was all that mattered. But I didn’t ask her that. “What else am I supposed to see?”
She sank against my chest. “Maybe that’s why it’s so special, Bobby. Because that’s the only way you’ve ever thought to look at me.”
Dave’s voice cut into our personal moment. “Head’s up, folks. Cameo’s almost here with the Range Rover.”
I’d almost forgotten that we were doing this on purpose. As one, Carly and I looked up, watching the big SUV eating up the distance left between us. When the car came to a stop, Carly glanced over at Dave.
“Give the keys to Ridley. He can take the car back and make sure it gets fixed.”
Ridley opened his mouth, an expression of shock on his face. Carly gave him a cool look.
“You heard me. Go.”
“I’m assigned to escort you today,” Ridley said, the pulse of fury in his voice undeniable.
“Dave can cover for you,” Carly said smoothly. “Since you obviously don’t want to be a part of the team today, you can stay here.”
I caught a glimpse of the hurt on his face, and then it was gone, hidden behind his usual mask of hostility. I had a fleeting moment where I thought I might want to talk to Ryan about it, and then Carly was leading me over to the Range Rover and all I could think about was getting into that backseat and getting my arms around her.
***
We didn’t even make it to the restaurant before some of the pictures hit the internet. Carly laughed as she regaled me with some of the headlines.
“Check it out! The PRINCEss has found herself a new boy-toy!” She wagged her eyebrows at me. “Are you my boy-toy, Bobby?”
Blood rushed to my cheeks. “That’s not funny,” I muttered.
“It’s just people being stupid,” she said, her voice soft.
“I don’t care what they say about me,” I said. “I’ve been called worse.”
She gave me a confused look.
“I don’t like them thinking it about you.”
She leaned up and kissed my cheek before snuggling back down against me. “You should take a look. A lot of them are really quite amusing.”
Curious now, I tugged out my phone with my free hand and started to search.
“Oh, please,” Carly said, her voice scathing. “Seriously? Listen to what Hollywood Steam is going with: ‘Like Mother, Like Daughter. The Scion of Music Legend Phoenix isn’t following her father’s footsteps like many had hoped. Instead, she’s taking a page from her mother’s book and playing fast and loose with any man she can get her hands on, including her sexy, but shadowy bodyguard, former inmate Bobby Cantrell.’”
“Carly...” I looked up at her, swallowing around the shame in my throat.
She shot me a look, her eyes spitting fire. “My mom only wishes she could get her hands on a man like you. Her last boyfriend tried to take her for everything she had, and I warned her it would happen.”
I started to shake my head, but she reached up and caught me behind the neck, pulling me down to press a kiss to my lips, fast and hard.
“Stop it,” she whispered, her voice fierce. “This is going to get ugly, we knew that. But they don’t matter. We do.”
From the other side of the limo, Cameo snorted. Dave was driving, so she was in the back with us. We both looked at her.
“Man, some of these people aren’t pulling any punches.”
“What, someone else comparing me to my mother?” Carly asked, her voice thick with scorn.
Cameo glanced up, wincing as her gaze slid to me for the briefest moment. “Not...exactly. This is from the 360: A Hollywood Princess has Fallen to an All-Time Low Carousing with a Con.”
Carly wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes. “You’re right. Dating a guy who served his time is the absolute worst thing a woman can do. Never mind that A-list movie star from last week who started dating the producer who’s a known child molester. And the woman has a kid, for the love of all things decent!”
“Yeah.” Cameo sighed, toying with a pendant on her blazer. “I saw that too. The crazy chick keeps saying he wasn’t found guilty, so people should give him a chance, even if everyone knew it was just because his lawyer had gotten evidence thrown out on a technicality.”
I stared down at the carpet. I was guilty. And not just because a jury said so. I’d done the crime I’d gone to jail for. Was there really a difference between that other guy and me?
Carly took my hand. “It’s not the same thing, you know.”
I looked up at her, startled. “You read minds now?”
“Just faces. Especially yours.” She laced our fingers together and brought our hands up so she could kiss the back of mine. “I know your face almost as well as my own sometimes. And it’s not the same. You admitted to what you did, and you served your time. You didn’t do it for some selfish reason, or because you wanted to hurt someone. You’re trying to change your life. And I think you’re doing a damn fine job of it or you wouldn’t be here. It’s not the same thing.”
“I agree.”
I looked up at Cameo, surprised by the defense. She gave me a shrug and went back to flipping through whatever sites she’d found on her tablet.
“I’m not even into your pretty bedroom eyes or broody good looks.” She flashed a quick look at Carly and winked. “If I was going to be into anybody, it would be the Hollywood princess, but she’s not quite my type, either.”
Carly had been in the middle of taking a drink from her juice and she choked, mid-swallow.
“Nice,” I said, glaring at Cameo.
“Sorry.” She grinned, and then shrugged. “It’s the truth. Carly knows. Ryan knows. I play both sides, and I don’t lie about who’s my type and who isn’t. So know I’m not saying this because I’m attracted to you. You did your time, Bobby. I read your case. If I hadn’t known you before, I think I probably would have been predisposed to dislike you on the spot, because you sound like you were a thug. But you’re not.”
“I was, and some part of that guy still lives in me, too.”
“Good,” Cameo said firmly. “That dangerous part of you is what makes it possible for you to protect her and still be...” She waved a hand between us. “Like that. I’ve known too many people who tried to have a relationship like this, and it never worked. I think you two have a chance, but it’s because you still have that edge to you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
I was still mulling over it when we arrived at the restaurant to meet Max.
“The two of you have something you need to tell me?” Max asked as we approached his table.