“How did they know you were at Bella Vita?” Josh asks.
Angel turns to him. “One of the staff probably tipped them off. It happens all the time. Paps pay good money to people who call in celebrity sightings. Before you know it, one pap turns into two, and two into three. Then there’s a whole swarm of them. They’re like piranhas. The merest smell of a famous face and they go into a frenzy.”
Josh studies her. “Unlike Quinn, you seem pretty calm about the whole thing.”
She shrugs. “I’m a senator’s daughter and my sister is America’s favorite journalist; I’ve been getting papped for most of my life. I’ve developed a more philosophic approach than Liam. I see the paps as a necessary evil. Like it or not, they help keep our profile high, which makes us more valuable commodities. They’re sort of like a barometer for our popularity. The day they stop foaming at the mouth to get our picture, I know our fairy-tale ride in Hollywood is over.”
Liam looks over at her. “Sometimes, don’t you wish for it to be over so we can live normal lives? Or is that just me?”
Angel stares at him for a second, and I feel like I’m intruding on a private moment between them. A wistful expression passes over her face, and Liam gives her the smallest of smiles.
Angel glances briefly at me and Josh, then looks out the window. “Sometimes.”
Liam’s quiet for a moment, then he turns to me and gestures to my hip. “Does it hurt?”
“A little.” When he presses his fingers against it, I wince.
“You’ll need to ice it. It’ll probably be stiff and sore for a few days.”
I nod. “So this is just a normal night for you guys, huh?”
Liam nods. “Unfortunately. We’re like exhibits in a zoo.”
“Yet another reason I’m glad I’m in theater and not movies. All that attention on a regular basis would freak me out.”
Liam doesn’t say anything to that, but he frowns and crosses his arms over his chest. He stays like that until we pull up outside my apartment building.
“I’m going to help Elissa upstairs, okay?” he says to Angel as he opens the door. “I’ll be right back.”
“Of course. Take your time.” Angel leans over and hugs me. “Take care of yourself, honey. I’ll see you on Monday. If you need anything, let me know.”
She says good-bye to Josh with a quick kiss on the cheek. He blushes and mumbles “Good night” as Liam helps me out of the car.
Liam holds my arm, and after some minor hobbling, I make it to the sidewalk.
Josh watches with concern. “Liam, I can help her upstairs if you want to go.”
Liam waves him away. “I got it.”
Without any more discussion, he scoops me into his arms and follows Josh into the building. Our apartment might only be on the third floor, but I still marvel at how Liam can carry me up all those stairs without breaking a sweat. It’s not normal.
“This really isn’t necessary,” I say, uncomfortable at how right it feels to be in his arms again.
“It is necessary. It’s my fault you got hurt.”
“Actually, the guy who pushed me over looked nothing like you, so—”
“I should have known they’d be there. Taken you out a different way. Protected you.” He shakes his head, angry with himself.
“Liam, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.”
“I’ve never seen you angry like that.”
He looks down at me, and his expression relaxes a little. “Those assholes have no right going after you. I signed up for this life. You didn’t. I never wanted you to be a part of it.”
We reach the door and Josh unlocks it, then holds it open for us. “You can put her on the couch. I’ll get an ice pack.”
Liam walks over and lays me gently on the couch, then sits beside me. When Josh hands him the ice pack, he presses it against my hip.
I lie back and watch as he frowns in concentration. “You know, I can do this myself.”
“Quiet. The doctor is working.”
“It takes a medical degree to apply an ice pack, does it?”
He raises an eyebrow. “If you want to do it right.”
“Are you guys okay for a second?” Josh asks as he tugs at his tie. “Because if I don’t get out of this monkey suit, stat, I’m going to lose it.”
I give him a smile. “Go. ‘Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman’ seems to have things under control.”
Liam nods at Josh. “Damn straight.”
Josh shakes his head and disappears into his room.
Once he’s gone, Liam turns back to me. “You should also elevate this.”
“It’s on my hip. How do you suggest I do that?”
He grabs a pillow from the end of the couch and then pushes a hand beneath my butt. I make a noise as he lifts up my pelvis with one hand and shoves the pillow under it with the other. “Like that.”