“It’s not what it looks like. I was there, you just can’t see me.” As I whispered that to Denny, I felt irony wrapping around my throat, sealing it shut. Hadn’t I wanted to be invisible, to not let Kellan’s spotlight shine on me? Be careful what you wish for. I was now invisible. “I have to go, Denny. Bye,” I mumbled into the phone.
“Kiera, wait, are you okay?”
I disconnected the line without answering him. No, I didn’t think I was okay. As Kellan shut the car off, I stared in shocked silence at my phone. What the hell just happened? In the public eye, Sienna and Kellan were dating? Did this change anything for me? No, not really. It didn’t matter what the public thought was real; I knew what was going on. It still churned my stomach, though.
“Kiera, are you okay?”
Kellan’s concerned words matched Denny’s. Feeling light-headed, I looked up at him. “I’m fine,” I whispered.
He frowned. “Honestly, you’re fine?”
I groaned internally, really hating our honesty-at-all-cost pact at the moment. “I don’t know what I am.”
Kellan nodded. “Okay, can you tell me what that was about? Maybe we can figure out what you feel together.”
I bit my lip and held up a finger, so he knew I would speak when I could. Kellan grabbed my hand and patiently waited. As he rubbed his thumb over my wedding ring, the shock of Denny’s revelation passed through me, and I truly did feel okay. Not great, but okay.
As I turned to face him, his brow furrowed even deeper. He’d taken off his sunglasses, and the worry emanating from behind his midnight blue eyes was nearly palpable. “Talk to me,” he whispered.
Feeling a little silly, since I knew where his heart was firmly planted, I smiled and shook my head. “Denny was just concerned about me because there’s a photo of you and Sienna running rampant on the Internet. Everyone on the planet thinks you’re her new ‘unknown’ boyfriend. Apparently, the photo is convincing. Denny didn’t directly say so, but I think he thought you were stepping out on me.” I started to laugh, until the thought of Kellan actually cheating on me with her strangled the sound. I had to swallow three times to ease my throat.
Kellan’s eyes unfocused as he looked over my shoulder. “Photo?” His gaze immediately snapped to me again. “You know I’m not, right? I’m not interested in her . . . at all. You know that, don’t you?”
Nodding, I cupped his cheek; it was warm from the sun beating down on us. “I know,” I whispered. Snapping myself out of the dark mood that had settled over the car, I asked him, “Should we go get this photo shoot over with?” I forced a smile to my lips and humor to my voice. “Maybe you can request a duck for the background?”
Kellan was frowning at me as I got out of the car. “Kiera—”
I put my hand up to stop whatever it was he felt he needed to say. “I’m fine. Honestly. Can we just . . . not talk about this anymore? It doesn’t matter anyway. It’s not true.”
Kellan hesitated, then nodded and got out of the car.
We met up with the rest of the band in a large studio building. A huge backdrop of billowing white fabric covered the far wall floor to ceiling. People were buzzing around everywhere—adjusting lights, moving reflective panels, smoothing the backdrop, manning stations that were overflowing with hair and makeup supplies that rivaled my sister’s.
As the five of us watched the chaos in stunned silence, a tiny man in skinny jeans and a turtleneck pointed our way. “Ah, the talent arrives.” I couldn’t tell by his voice if he was being complimentary or condescending.
Loosely holding a camera in one hand, he snapped his fingers with the other; a buxom blonde was instantly at his side. Staring at our group through slim rectangle glasses, he waggled his fingers and told her, “Fix them.”
The blonde glanced over at a group of women hovering around the makeup stations. As if they were all silently being commanded by their queen, they instantly turned from their beauty supplies and started swarming our way. Kellan frowned. Griffin grinned.
As the busty blonde strode up to him, Kellan murmured, “I don’t think we need—”
She thrust out her hand, silencing him. “Name’s Bridgette. I’ll be taking care of you today.” Grabbing his hand, she yanked him toward the vanity.
“I really don’t think we need—” he tried again.
Shoving him into the seat, she had her fingers through his hair before he could finish his second objection. Even though a gorgeous woman tangling her fingers through his locks wasn’t my most favorite thing in the world, I had to smile at the look of petulance on his face. The photographer walked over to us while Bridgette debated how best to beautify my husband.
Running his finger and thumb along his goatee, the photographer told her, “Not too much on this one. He’s fine as he is.” His gray eyes traveled down Kellan’s body. “Have him see wardrobe first, though.”