A Case of Extreme Mistaken Identity - Victorine E. Lieske Page 0,61

the media’s attention, but if she really cared for him, she wouldn’t let that stop her.

Which meant Dani didn’t feel the same way about him. He swallowed back the hurt. Dani didn’t love him.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do it. I can’t live with my life on display anymore. You said so yourself. If I start living a normal life, people will get bored and go find someone else to look at.”

Yes, he’d said those words. But he hadn’t been in love with her at the time. He didn’t realize his own words would come back to haunt him. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Is that what you really want?”

An expression came over her face that he couldn’t quite read, but it was gone before he could really take it in. She nodded. “Yes.”

“Then, I support you.” He said the words, but he didn’t mean them. He didn’t want her to say good-bye. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted to kiss her again and make her forget that the paparazzi even existed.

But that wasn’t fair. If she wanted to live in obscurity, that was her choice. A lump in his throat caused him to swallow and step back. He needed to get away from Dani before he did something totally embarrassing, like beg her to give him more of a chance.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. He thought maybe she was blinking back tears, but she turned from him, and he couldn’t quite tell.

He waited until she turned back toward the resort before trailing after her. He didn’t want to be the one to pick up his shoes first and destroy the illusion of a family that he’d imagined.

Chapter 29

Dani clicked the computer keys, her essay almost done, which was good because the school library was going to close soon. It had been six months since the Grand Cayman incident. No, the video wasn’t gone from the internet, but she’d managed to blend into a new life, attending UCLA and working at a mom-and-pop coffee place. At first, the paparazzi was in her face, but Austin had been right. As she settled into her new life, the public lost interest.

Her father hadn’t been too happy with her decision not to do the publicity tour with him, but he’d mellowed out since she enrolled in school. It helped that UCLA was his alma mater. He seemed pretty happy that she had chosen that school.

Her phone chimed and she fished it out of her bag. It was her father, which made her happy. But even though she liked hearing from her father, a tiny part of her was disappointed it wasn’t Austin.

Not that Austin had texted her since she left Grand Cayman. No, he’d kept his word to her that they were going to say good-bye. She hadn’t gotten anything from him. Not that she was bitter. She was trying not to be. But if she were being honest, she missed him.

She unlocked her phone and looked at her father’s text.

Do you want to go out to dinner with me this weekend? Just the two of us?

That was a surprise. Since when did her father have enough time to do something like that? He must be between movies. She replied.

Sure.

After she sent the message, she opened a new text window and typed in Austin’s name. She sat there, staring at the screen. What was she doing? Was she thinking of texting Austin?

That was ridiculous. She hadn’t heard from him. Why would she text him? She closed the window and put her phone away. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking of Austin anyway. She had to get her essay done.

She stared at the words on the screen for another ten minutes before half of the library lights clicked off, signaling it was about to close. She saved her document and pulled out her thumb drive. She’d just have to get her head on straight tomorrow and finish.

She packed up her belongings and headed outside. Her apartment was a fifteen-minute walk, but she enjoyed the time to think. It was definitely jacket weather in mid-March, but Dani didn’t care. It wasn’t too cold.

As she walked, she popped in her earbuds and turned on her favorite K-pop playlist. When “Wish You Were Here” came on, she couldn’t help but think of Austin once again. He had been a rock for her in a time in her life when she needed a rock so badly. He had given her