“I know I am. And who are you?” But the dude was already heading deeper into the house.

Seth shut the front door and followed suit, his eyes widening at the marble entryway and grand staircase as he passed by them. The place seemed much more pretentious than the Heather he’d known and grown to, well, care for, but she’d also changed a lot in the several weeks since they’d met. This house was a hundred miles from the world she came from, the same world he’d come from. Like her, he’d also crawled out of the ditch, but he’d never felt the need to run as far as she did, to put so much distance between himself and his roots. Her ostentatious crib reminded him how full of self-loathing Heather had been. Had he been the sole reason for the change? He hoped what he had to tell her didn’t affect how much she’d grown.

He followed after the Seal wannabe through a great room and to an outdoor patio where a whole lot of hustle and bustle was occurring. Seal began helping a group place bright lights around the area, a boom operator appeared to be setting mic levels, a cameraman was cleaning his lenses—it was as if he’d walked onto a film set.

It took him a minute to find Heather in the midst of the hubbub. She sat in a director’s style chair, her eyes closed and her chin tilted up as a makeup artist powdered her face.

Damn. This was the interview crew. He hadn’t gotten there early enough.

Seth looked at his watch. It wasn’t even ten yet and he’d been under the impression the crew was arriving at eleven. There went his chance of talking to her before she went on-film. Damn, damn, damn.

Heather spotted him the minute she opened her eyes, as if she were drawn to him like a magnet. Her face brightened with a gorgeous smile. “Seth!”

He made his way to her. “I didn’t realize they’d be here already.”

“They got here early. Right after you texted. Which is fine. I was a mess waiting for them anyway. I did want to spend time with you beforehand. And we never got a chance to talk. I know you wanted to last night and now it’s crazy here.”

From her babble he could tell she was nervous. Or excited. Or both. It was adorable. His gut twisted again with the guilt of his lie.

She took his hand in hers. “Do you want to slip away for a few minutes?”

He paused. He needed to talk to her, but this was an important moment. He couldn’t upset her right before she went on film. “You can’t do that.”

“Actually, I can. They can’t do anything without me. Part of the perks of being the star.”

“I imagine that is.” He cherished that even though she’d become more grounded since they’d met, she still had a good amount of diva inside. He wouldn’t have it any other way—that was who she was, and a part of him longed to take her up on her offer to escape, not to tell her the truth, but to fool around before she had to be onscreen.

Probably not a good idea.

“No, don’t worry about me. We can talk later. You need to focus.”

Seth turned to find a much-too-skinny middle-aged brunette standing next to them and holding a clipboard, apparently waiting for their conversation to wrap up.

“Hi, I’m Myrna, Jenna’s assistant,” the skinny woman said. “Sorry to interrupt, but I need to prep Ms. Wainwright.” Her expression said that she was anything but sorry.

“I’ll join you for this.” Lexie appeared out of nowhere at his other side.

Seth looked to Heather, who nodded reassuringly. “I’m fine.”

“Then I’ll just be over there.” He pointed vaguely to the area behind them. “Out of the way. Call me if you need me.”

Finding an out of the way place proved harder than he’d thought. Everywhere Seth tried to stand, he was in the pathway of someone trying to hang a light or run an electric cord. Eventually, he secured a spot on a garden wall that was close enough to watch what was going on yet far enough away to not be a hindrance.

On the sidelines, time seemed to drag. Myrna “prepped” Heather for ages with Lexie at her side. It drove him crazy. His leg wouldn’t stop twitching and if he had long fingernails, he was certain he’d have chewed them all off by now, no matter how much it made him look like a little girl.

Man, what was his problem? He’d been on a thousand sets—this was no different.

Except that his job was always off camera, and even though his face wouldn’t be on camera this time either, his name would be. Then he’d be on cameras all the time, everywhere he went with Heather, whenever a fan held up his iPhone or a photographer wanted a “Day in the Life” pic.

The idea of instant stardom didn’t bother him that much. It would be different, definitely would take some getting used to. But no big deal. What bothered him was what he knew the media would find out about him. Thank God he didn’t have a bunch of secrets he was hiding. Just the one, but it was a big one. He was ready to spill it as soon as he was alone with Heather, which wouldn’t be until this whole circus was over. So if the prep time could hurry up and finish and the stupid interview could just start, then the sooner the whole thing would be over with and he and Heather could move on once and for all.

Funny how he’d lost Erica because of lying, and now he was worried about losing Heather for lying again. Somewhere, there should have been a lesson in that.

After about a lifetime, Myrna finally appeared satisfied with Heather and her answers. Then the makeup artist returned to freshen up the star. Then Lexie returned to lean over Heather, and from the looks of it, prep her in an entirely different way than Myrna had. Unable to make out what they were saying, Seth crept closer.

“I can still tell her it’s an off-limit subject,” he heard Lexie saying when he was near enough.

Heather shook her head. “She wouldn’t go for it. Jenna demands full access. Besides, I want to talk about it.”

He guessed they were talking about him, about coming out about their relationship. It made sense that Lexie would want to make sure Heather was okay with it. Hearing about Jenna’s full access demands, though, made him worry Heather had been pressured. Was she announcing he was her boyfriend simply because this snooty reporter expected it?

Lexie didn’t seem to think so—or if she did, it didn’t bother her. “I don’t know what you did with Heather Wainwright, but I’m starting to like this imposter.”

“Oh, don’t patronize me.”

“That’s my job.” Lexie adjusted Heather’s hair to fall gracefully on her shoulder. “Now, sit up straight. Don’t chew on your finger. Or say ‘um’ too much. And an occasional smile wouldn’t hurt.”