Part 17 (1/2)
”Yes,” Kate whispered.
”You two need to stay off the radar and let the story die down. In a couple of days, something else will happen and people will forget about this.”
”No, they won't. They'll never forget.”
”Hang in there. I'll call you as soon as I know anything else.”
”Okay.” Kate clicked off the phone and stood upright, still not sure if she was going to be sick or not. ”Someone filmed us. In the water.”
”G.o.d, Kate, I'm so sorry. That beach is totally secluded. No one even knows you're here.”
”That's not entirely true.”
”What do you mean?”
”People at the hotel know. Your friend Mari knows. My pilot knows, not that he would tell anyone. People know.”
”Mari would never tell anyone.”
”You're sure about that? She's rather p.i.s.sed at you at the moment and no doubt feeling vindictive toward me. Why wouldn't she tell people that the famous singer stole her man? It's right out of a bad country song. Maybe I should write that song.” Kate could feel herself descending toward hysteria but couldn't seem to pull out of the free fall. ”Wonder how much they made on their little movie. Millions probably.”
Reid tried to put his arms around her, but she turned away from him. ”Kate, honey...”
”Don't. Please don't. I can't right now.” When she was certain she wasn't going to vomit, she got back in the car.
”Where do you want to go?” he asked.
”Do you have a computer at your place?”
”Kate-”
”I want to see it. I want to see what the rest of the world is seeing. What my parents and sisters are seeing.”
”You're sure that's a good idea?”
”Yes, I'm sure.”
He sighed deeply but started the car and pulled onto the road. About twenty minutes later, he cut the engine in front of his house and got out of the car without another word to her.
Kate followed him inside.
”The computer is in there,” he said, pointing to a room off the main living area.
”Don't you want to see it?”
”I was there. I know what happened.”
Kate wished she could be so detached, but of course he wasn't the public figure facing a nightmare of bad publicity in the coming days and weeks.
On wooden legs that trembled beneath her, Kate found the computer and slid into the chair. Her hands shook when she fired up the browser and typed her name into the search bar. ”Oh my G.o.d,” she whispered when she scanned the first page of results, full of the words ”s.e.x Tape.”
She clicked on one of the links and watched Reid cajole her into swimming naked in broad daylight. Her face was easily recognizable as she watched herself glance around at the desolate stretch of beach, filled with trepidation while he talked her out of her bikini top and tugged her by the hand into the water.
If there was any silver lining, unlike the first time they'd skinny dipped in the dark, she'd left the suit bottoms on this time so the whole world didn't get to watch her bare a.s.s walking toward the water. At this point, he was still clothed, too, but that didn't last long once they were in the water and wrapped up in each other.
There'd be no doubt in anyone's mind what they were doing once they were in the water. At one point, she'd floated on her back to let him feast on b.r.e.a.s.t.s that bobbed above the surface of the water. If it hadn't been out there for the world to see, Kate would've found the video intensely erotic. Now, of course, it was intensely embarra.s.sing.
The camera had caught every nuance of their private interlude, right down to the explosive finish, and Kate had never felt more violated. All the allegations of drug abuse had nothing on this, she thought as she closed the browser and slumped down in the chair to stare out at the water.
All she could think about was her parents seeing that and how they would feel. That thought finally broke the dam, and she began to sob.
Reid stepped into the room and tugged her from the chair. ”Come here, honey.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight against him. ”Shh. Don't cry. I'm so sorry I put you in this position. I'm so sorry.”
She wanted to tell him she didn't blame him. No, she blamed herself. She was the famous one who'd taken an awful risk with a reputation that had already taken a beating. However, she couldn't find the energy to say the words. Rather, she closed her eyes and sank into his embrace, hungry for his comfort in the storm.
On the flight home, Jill worked the phone, calling in every favor she'd acc.u.mulated since she'd been Kate's attorney and manager. After an hour, though, it became clear that all the favors in the world couldn't put the genie back in the bottle.
Anxiety pooled in her chest, making her wonder if she was having a heart attack at twenty-five-thousand feet.
Ashton reached over to place his hand on top of hers. ”Take a break, baby. You've done all you can.”
”I've done nothing. That video is still out there for all the world to see.”
”That's not your fault. It's hers. It's theirs. They did this, not you.”
”My job is to protect her, and I can't protect her from this.”
”And that kills you. I know. But she took a foolish risk by cavorting in broad daylight, and by now she ought to know better.”
Jill pulled her hand free of his. ”If you're going to kick her when she's down, I don't want to hear it.”
”I'm not kicking her. I swear I'm not. I'm only stating the obvious. She should've known better. They both should've.”
”You're right,” Jill said. ”I'm sorry.”
”No need to apologize for being upset, darlin'. When I get my hands on my father, I may have to punch him for this.”
”Like you said, what's done is done. No point in coming to blows over it.”
”He should've protected her better than he did.”
”I'm sure he's beating himself up more than any of us ever could.”
”Probably,” Ashton conceded. ”Whatever I may think of the two of them together, he was wrecked by what happened with her.”
”For what it's worth, so was she.”
”So I suppose after all those years of yearning for each other, they weren't exactly thinking with their brains.”