Girl Trouble by Miranda Baker Page B

business so you could move to Hollywood and permanently hook up with the hottest movie star on the planet.”
    “I think I’m going to throw up.”
    “Trust me, I know how you feel. Uncertainty sucks. Rejection sucks. Being told no sucks—”
    “I hate being told no,” Bonita broke in as another truth hit home. Kat was right about her parents, too. “I heard that word so often growing up I quit asking.”
    “What’s the alternative to asking for what you want?”
    Living a lie, coloring between the lines, never having the one thing she wanted more than anything else…
    All or nothing.
    “Tell Ryan to make me an offer.”
    Exhilaration soared through her, the rush of endorphins making her dizzy.
    “Atta girl,” Crystal cheered. “How did that feel?”
    “Like freedom.” Bonita felt sweat trickle down her side. The fear was still there, but she wasn’t going to let it control her anymore. “Kat might not want me back…but I won’t know unless I ask.” Risk,as she had recently learned, had its own reward, at least in the best-possible-case scenario. In the worst-possible-case scenarios, she’d be living without Kat either way.
    “I think Kat sounds perfect for you. She’s wild in all the ways you’re restrained, but I bet she needs your stability every bit as much as you need her to push you out of your comfort zone. Do you trust her? Really trust her? With your heart, your life, with everything?” There was no laughter in Crystal’s voice now. “Her coming out of the closet would be a big deal, so don’t tease her unless you are dead certain it’s what you want too. She’ll be counting on you.”
    “I trust her.” With a sense of wonderment, she realized it was true. Kat’s ultimatum had scared the hell out of her. Kat never said anything she didn’t mean. She might be moody, hotheaded and stubborn, but she was also clear-sighted, intuitive and honest. If she said she was coming out of the closet, she meant it. Oh God.
    “I’ve got to go,” Bonita gasped.
    “Go get her, sweetie.” Crystal blew a kiss and hung up.
    Tucking her phone in her pocket, Bonita turned and raced back toward the street.

Chapter Six
    When Herb barreled through her front door, Kat was lying on her back in the hall. She hadn’t moved since Bonita left except to call the guards to tell them to let Herb through the gates. She looked up at him, too tired to be anything but honest. “I get that this is way out of your realm, Herbie, and I don’t expect you to give a shit. But I was happy. Really happy. And those fake pictures fucked it up for me. Bonita left.”
    “Kat, you told me to spin it. I did the best I could.”
    “I said spin it, not fabricate reality. That was way over the line—”
    He eased down beside her on the floor. “No, it wasn’t. All’s fair in love and Hollywood. You know that. The pictures would have been fine before your little girlfriend showed up. In fact, they probably would have been your idea. So don’t act like I’m nuts for trying to do you a favor.”
    “Favor? Anything that makes me want to commit homicide is not a favor.”
    “Oh, shut up. My cell has been buzzing constantly since you two lovebirds raced out of the awards ceremony. At least now nobody wants to know when you started doing girls.”
    “Herb, I don’t care anymore—got it? No more fake publicity. If you do anything like that again, I’ll sue you. You will spend every penny you ever made on legal fees. Do you understand me?”
    “Yeah, I get you. We have a problem, though.”
    “No, Herbie, you have a problem. I haven’t done anything wrong or illegal, at least not in this state, and my fucking heart is broken. You deal with it.”
    “It was Cindy in the pictures.”
    “Of course it was. So what?”
    “She’s going around town trying to sell the details of your hookup at the wrap party. Apparently your blond boyfriend and his girlfriend sold their story to her, and Jenna Parker just called to tell me