Never Say Never (The Price of Fame Series) by Aimée Duffy

asked you out.”
    She squirmed in her chair and nodded. He made sure to order the most expensive bottle of champagne on the menu, and when her eyes popped open he wondered again why some things about this lifestyle surprised her, and not others. He bit his tongue though, remembering the hurt that shone from her eyes earlier, and steered the conversation toward a safer topic.
    “Did they call you today?” he asked, meaning Studio Four.
    Her grin confirmed it before she answered. “They want me to start in two weeks, in time for a new show they’re airing.”
    He sipped at the champagne in the glass. Heat spread through his chest at the look on her face. She was happy, and he’d helped make her that way. Sander knew then he didn’t want to think about what would happen after he left for the Do You Have What It Takes? tour. Didn’t want to think about anything but being with Chloe, real or not.
    His heart dipped and he sighed as he realized he’d have to be practical. He was leaving, and he had to remember that. For the first time in his life, he didn’t want the responsibility of everything he’d taken on. Maybe it wasn’t Chloe, maybe it was the band re-forming. Whatever it was, he wasn’t feeling the old drive and ambition which had kept him going since he hit puberty and decided there was no way in hell he’d end up like either of his parents.
    “Are you okay?” she asked.
    He looked up to see her eyes clouded with worry. The tie around his neck felt too tight and he loosened it, his gaze falling to the table.
    “Yeah. It’s hot in here.” The explanation was lame, but hell if he knew what was up. Not that he’d share with Chloe.
    “Sander…”
    “Tell me about your time in LA.”
    His shirt collar felt like it was choking him, so he unbuttoned it, wondering what the hell he was getting so uptight about. Was it her? When she didn’t answer, he met her weary gaze.
    “I don’t mean with the ex. Did you have friends? What movies did you work on?” Silence buffers, anything to take the discomfort away. Distraction.
    Her whole face lit up. “A few that didn’t quite make it as blockbusters, but then I started working on Crime Busters and met Rachel, the girl who works with me in the coffee shop. She was a regular extra on the show. We went to all the parties together. At one we bumped into an actor who got me a job on Flaming Thrones .”
    She pressed her lips together and Sander put two and two together. “The ex was in the movie?” At her nod, his mind whirred.
    Chloe sipped at her champagne. Curiosity burned through him, but he kept his mouth shut. If an actor from Flaming Thrones had dated her, there was no way the world wouldn’t have known about it. But he didn’t think she was lying. Her gaze fell to the folded hands in her lap. And Sander realized he’d been a fucking idiot. How did he miss it before?
    “He wanted to keep you a secret.”
    Why else would she have the pretty dress, but when he took her to places like this acted like she’d never seen this world before? Then the shock in her eyes when he told her he wanted to be pictured with her on his arm, the panic at the club when the photographer had snapped a picture of them kissing.
    “Yes,” she whispered.
    His whole body heated with rage, and his hands clenched beneath the table. He wished the bastard was there in front of him so he could deck him. Chloe was beautiful, caring, and loyal. He was proud to have her on his arm, even if it was just for a short time.
    “Who was it, Chloe?”
    Her gaze snapped back to his. “It doesn’t matter. Need to know—”
    “Fuck need to know. Who was it?”
    Her eyes widened, and her mouth popped open.
    He tried to control the rage burning through his body, tried to see through the screen of red mist tinting his vision, but it was hard. He inhaled and closed his eyes, the shock in her face working quicker to dissolve his anger than his feeble attempts.
    “I’m sorry. Thinking someone