Unravelled (Revealed #2) (7 page)

‘Get a SIM card?’ he asked, obviously completely unaware of my inner turmoil. Somehow I nodded and pretended that nothing was wrong, even managing to return his smile, albeit weakly, and deciding that I needed to test the water to see if this headline held any truth, or if it was just made up tat only worthy of the bin.

If I were less enthusiastic in my return to the car than he’d been expecting, Sean didn’t say anything, but he did pull me across the seat and tug me in for another breath-taking kiss. At first I was about to push away and question him about what I’d read in the paper, but his lips were like a magic balm and I found myself instantly dragged under his spell and helpless to resist.

Knowing that we had some serious issues to discuss I gave myself two minutes reprieve to soak up his delicious attention, just in case it would be the last time I ever got to do so. Caving to his persuasive mouth I parted my lips as his tongue massaged against mine, exploring leisurely as his hands dug through my hair.

‘You kept it long,’ he growled appreciatively as his fingers threaded through the long tresses he had always adored. He was right, I had deliberately avoided having it cut for six weeks just so it would be as he liked it, but with the headline still floating around my mind I had to wonder if it had been a wasted effort on my part.

If the newspaper article was true, then it made a complete mockery of his warm welcome – or perhaps that should be scorching welcome, because the car sex had been smoking hot and right up there on my list of top ten Sean shags. To be honest, all my best sexual experiences had been with Sean. Previous boyfriends just paled into non-existence in comparison.

As much as I wanted to dismiss what I’d just read and give myself over to his seduction, the photographs that accompanied the article seemed to be imprinted on my brain like a singed, smoking brand and were endlessly taunting me, making it impossible to fall completely under his spell.

I needed to find out the truth, and I needed to find it out now. Puffing out a sigh I untangled myself from his arms with some difficultly and sat up straighter, only to be met by Sean’s desire-flushed face and a questioning look. It was all so incredibly perplexing that I wanted to scowl at the confusing mess, but trying to keep my wits about me I faked a smile that hopefully looked convincing.

‘Sorry, I just needed to come up for air for a second.’ That lie should easily pass unquestioned, because we had both been getting well and truly carried away yet again. Sean smiled, licking his lips and nodding as he raised a hand to brush some stray hairs from my cheek.

Keeping myself alert I dodged his hand and swept my hair back myself, earning a small frown of disapproval from him. ‘So the film company are picky enough to stop you having any guests at the house? That seems a bit tight,’ I said lightly, scrutinising his reaction carefully and hoping that I would see nothing to make me doubt his honesty with me.

Unfortunately, I saw the complete opposite: his eyes widened at my words, brows dropping in concern, and he definitely shifted uncomfortably in his seat, all causing my heart to sink even lower in my chest.

We might not have been together very long, but I always had a sense for when someone was lying. I put it down to being a good reader of people – although Cait called it my ‘bullshit detector’ – and right now I was sensing some seriously fresh, steaming bullshit, because I could spot Sean’s nervous tics a mile off. He was shifting in the seat repeatedly, pursing his lips nervously, and had a twitch in his eye that was impossible to miss.

Any one of these alone made it screamingly obvious that Sean was anxious about something, but add all three together and it seemed to scream ‘guilty’. It definitely didn’t make me any more confident about the way this conversation was going to go.

‘Um … yeah … they are,’ he stuttered, completely avoiding eye contact, at which I nodded, deciding to just confront him head-on.

Pulling in a deep breath I tried my best to strengthen myself for what was coming as I tugged the newspaper out from under my handbag. ‘So it has nothing to do with this?’ I said blandly, a horrible suffocating feeling spreading in my chest as I opened the paper to show him the front page headline.

‘Sean Phillips and co-star Savannah Hilton turn fictional love into reality with their new engagement.’

Sean might be an actor capable of faking expressions to make a living, but as he ran his eyes over the paper there was no disguising that he looked as shocked as I felt. No, actually, shocked is the wrong word. Shock would indicate that he was unaware and had just found out, but it was clear that he knew all about the story. ‘Horrified’ would be a more accurate description. He was more horrified to be caught out.

Suddenly he was doing a very good impersonation of a puffer fish – eyes bulging, mouth opening and closing several times, and a vein popping up on his left temple as his wide eyes flicked to mine.

‘Fuck!’ His hand scraped through his hair so violently that he must surely have ripped several chunks out from the roots before he flung his arm back down onto the seat in defeat. ‘I didn’t want you to find out this way, Allie … I was going to tell you …’ His words petered off as he shook his head, shoulders practically deflating before my eyes, but all I could focus on was the fact that he hadn’t even attempted to deny it.

So it was true?

Shit. Even though I’d been worried, I hadn’t actually thought that Sean would really deceive me like this. I’d half expected him to laugh it off as a bluff of some kind. But no. What the hell did I do now? I was so stunned that I ended up just sitting there in silence as my heart quietly began to break apart inside my chest.

‘It’s not real,’ he blurted suddenly, snapping into the shell of my shocked thoughts. Blinking, I flailed the paper at him, pictures and all, just barely missing his head and then proceeded to have a complete meltdown.

‘It looks pretty bloody real to me, Sean!’ I snarled. Shocked at how aggressive I had sounded, I ran a shaky hand through my hair as I tried to get a grip on myself. I’m not sure I’d ever snarled before in my entire life, but my throat was so tight from the anger, hurt, and confusion roiling inside me that it had been the only tone I’d been capable of forming.

‘No! Allie, no. I swear to God, it’s just hype set up by the PR people to encourage the fans and get higher viewing figures.’

My breaths were shallow and wheezy as I felt on the verge of breaking down. If it was just a PR stunt, why hadn’t he told me about it? Staring at the face of the man I loved, the man I thought had loved me too, I tried to work out if I actually knew him at all.

Ignoring the anxiety in his voice and face, I squared off my glare with his eyes again. ‘It’s not real? So you and I can still be together?’ I questioned feebly, not knowing what else to say.

Cringing slightly, Sean winced and I felt another piece of my heart wither. ‘It’s not real, but it needs to appear genuine for the public. You and I will need to keep things quiet until I can straighten it all out.’

Straighten it all out? It seemed pretty straight to me – I’d travelled half way around the world to be told that my boyfriend was actually ‘engaged’ to someone else.

‘Look, let’s go to your hotel and I’ll explain,’ he murmured softly.

My world was practically shattering before my very eyes, but Sean somehow sounded calm and flat and almost dismissive of my shredded emotions, so much so that I could barely take it in, my frayed nerves immediately snapping again.

‘Ah yes, the nice hotel you mentioned earlier?’ I growled at him, feeling quite disgusted. ‘Like I’m some kind of mistress? Hidden away in a hotel so no one sees your bit on the side?’ Spinning on my seat I faced him fully, my eyes bulging and my heart racing to the point where it sounded like it was going to burst in my eardrums. I felt sick with shock, but utterly furious. He could have told me this yesterday before I flew half way around the frigging world!

Sean paled at my agitation, visibly panicking and fidgeting on his seat so repeatedly that it was like he had ants in his pants. Watching him squirm I briefly wished that he did have ants biting his arse. Really big fuckers that would itch for weeks. It would serve him right for putting me through this shit. His eyes darted around my face as he chewed on his lower lip so frantically I was surprised I couldn’t see any blood.

‘Of course not! Just let me explain, Allie, please.’

Glancing down at the article I felt my stomach turn sickeningly as I looked again at the pictures, all of Sean with some waif-like beauty clinging to him. Clearly the ‘Savannah’ that the article referred to.

There was no way I could ever compete with her; she was as skinny as a chopstick, with beautiful brown eyes like a deer, flawless skin, and sleek, shiny chestnut hair that fell all the way to her non-existent waist. Oh God … was that why he liked my hair long? Because it reminded him of her? Fuck. The very idea made me want to shave my head as I began to feel sick to my bones. Just looking at the pictures made me feel dowdy, fat, and distinctly snarky.

‘You want to explain, Sean? Fine. You say this is all fake, but you look pretty flipping friendly in this picture,’ I said, jabbing viciously at a photo in the newspaper. ‘You have your hand on her arse, for fuck’s sake.’

Sean visibly withered before my eyes. ‘I do … but that’s not a recent shot. It was taken last year, well before I’d even met you.’

Last year. Before he’d met me. When it was OK to put his hand on her arse? My lips pursed with instant displeasure – not from jealousy, although I was jealous – but because I distinctly remembered him telling me that he hadn’t slept with anyone for at least two years before meeting me, and yet here was some lovely pictorial evidence that distinctly suggested otherwise.

‘Have you ever dated her? Or do you make a habit of groping women’s arses in public?’ I demanded, my tone seething with barely contained pain.

Sean flinched and then fiddled with his sleeve, a reaction that spoke volumes. ‘Uh … yes … that photo was taken early last year during the last season. Filming lasted a few months and we went out once or twice. That was it, just a couple of dates.’

It seemed he’d lied to me at Christmas when he’d told me he hadn’t slept with anyone for two years. And when he’d said the rumours of him dating his co-stars was untrue.

Bloody bugger it. I was usually so good at spotting a liar that I couldn’t believe I’d missed all this bullshit. And to top it all off he was engaged to her, but apparently that was made up too?

Shaking my head, I blew out a long, trembling breath, desperate not to cry. It seemed that I’d been so swept up by the intensity of the connection between us that I’d fallen for everything he’d said hook, line, and sinker. God, how could I have been so stupid? I felt so naïve it was unbelievable.

Swallowing hard, I nodded as a bitter taste rose in my throat when my eyes fell to a different picture with a date of just over two weeks ago. ‘And have you “dated” her recently? Since you’ve been back in America?’ I asked bluntly, my emphasis on the word dated making it obvious that what I actually meant was fucked.

‘No, Allie, of course not. But Savannah can be quite … demonstrative. Her behaviour set a few rumours off again. I always set her straight through, Allie. Always.’ Apparently not in public, I thought bitterly as I stared at the pictures.

‘This photo was taken at an awards ceremony three weeks ago and you have your arm around her again,’ I murmured in stunned disbelief.

‘That’s just for the cameras. Besides, it’s not on her arse that time,’ Sean pointed out, which almost made me cackle with demented laughter and slap him around the face for his stupidity – as if that made it better! It didn’t matter where the fuck on her body his hand was, it was the fact that his hand was anywhere on Savannah Hilton that was irking me.

Shifting again, Sean looked like the epitome of discomfort; there was a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead and panic was contorting his usually handsome face. ‘Because having a beautiful woman draped all over you must be so tough to deal with,’ I spat. Blowing some loose hairs out of my face I shook my head again and stared at the article.

Before I could make further comment, I suddenly drew in a horrified breath. ‘Oh my God … she’s wearing an engagement ring …’ A huge, sparkly diamond took pride of place on her ring finger, clearly on display as she showed it off to its full potential.

My wide eyes flew to his and I saw Sean blanch of colour and then frown. ‘She is … but I didn’t buy it or give it to her, Allie. It’s fake.’ The glittery ring didn’t look particularly fake to me, and neither did their cosy embrace. ‘She looks gorgeous … and you look like you’re about to kiss her,’ I whispered faintly. As sick as my words made me, it was true. Leaning in closer to the picture I squinted as I took in the details of their stances. She had one arm around his waist, but it suddenly occurred to me that the other, the one with the ring, was practically tucked in the front of his flipping trousers. How had I not noticed that before?

‘Christ. Sean, she’s practically wanking you right there on the red carpet.’ Which was perhaps a small over-exaggeration, but seemed necessary. He was supposed to be dating me, didn’t he realise that that meant only I could touch him like that? Or did he simply not care?

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ he barked, but I could tell from his stormy expression that I had hit a nerve. Either that, or he was finally losing his patience with my freak-out.

‘I’m not being ridiculous, Sean, her fingers are below your fucking belt!’ OK, so perhaps I needed to rein in my voice a little, because I had definitely just yelled loud enough to rattle the window glass.

My shouting apparently snapped Sean’s composure too, because suddenly he was leaning forward, his eyes blazing and tendons stretching in his neck. ‘Fine, OK, you want to know the truth? Savannah did try to kiss me that night, Allie,’ he spat, his face reddening with growing anger. ‘Repeatedly, in fact. The whole fucking crowd was chanting for me to do it too, and yeah, she looked fucking hot so it would have been easy to give in.’