needed was to give the tabloids anything to work with.
“Thanks, but no thanks.” He took Annie’s hand. “Let’s go back inside.” The two of them were almost to the door, but Tammy managed to scramble ahead to block the entrance.
“Are you Annie?” Tammy snapped her fingers at Jed, then motioned for him to redirect the camera. “The one who wrote Sam the letter?”
“What?” Annie squeaked. “What are you talking about?”
“Did you know that Sam came here to talk you out of breaking up with your boyfriend?”
It felt as if the room had been turned upside down.
Annie looked up at him. “You read my letter? But … how?” The accusation in her voice made him wince. “That’s why you came to Old Explorer’s Bay?”
“Annie, listen to me. Yeah, I read your letter but—”
She pulled her hand from his. “It all makes sense now. That whole scene at the café. How you knew all that stuff about me, and the … unfortunate incident. Oh my God. You came here because you felt sorry for me. But I don’t understand. You don’t want me to break up with Walter?”
“Not at first, but now, yeah. Hell yeah, I want you to break up with him.” He turned to give Tammy his most intimidating glare. “You have about three seconds to get out of here before I call the cops.”
“This is a free country,” she said. “Besides, read your contract. We can request post-show interviews for up to six months. Consider this one of them.”
“Consider your request denied. Haven’t you been notified about the restraining order yet?”
“What restraining order?” she asked with a confidence that told him she had no clue what he was talking about.
Shit. Tammy was right. There was no restraining order. He’d meant to call Stella this morning and get legal on board, but he’d been too busy thinking about what he was going to say to Annie tonight.
“Look,” he said to Annie, “don’t be mad at Bridget because she thought she was doing the right thing, but she mailed me your letter. I had no idea that it hadn’t come from you. I came to town to try to convince you not to break up with Walter, but not because I felt sorry for you. I just didn’t want to be responsible for you doing something you might regret later based on something I said on TV. And …” This was going to sound bad, but he wanted to be completely honest with her. “Becks and I made a trade. If she went to her college visits, then I’d come here to meet you.”
He could see her struggle to take it all in. “Your sister wanted you to meet me? But why? I don’t understand.”
“Because she loved your letter. So did my mom. They thought you were perfect for me.”
“This is fantastic stuff!” Tammy crowed. “It’s like something from one of those old rom-coms. You’re getting all this on film, aren’t you?” she asked Jed.
Enough, already. Maybe Jed had more sense than Tammy. “If you don’t want to get your ass sued, then I suggest you put that camera down now,” Sam growled.
Jed lowered his camera, giving Sam a long look before he turned to Tammy. “Let’s get out of here before this guy blows. We got enough film to put together a good five-minute clip.”
“Oh … fine,” she snapped.
The light came off. Sam blinked, readjusting his vision. Now that he could focus, he could see that a crowd of bar patrons, including Annie’s friends, had gathered onto the deck, forming a semicircle around them.
“What’s going on?” asked Sophie. “Someone said they were taping an interview for a network show out here.”
Reggie tapped Jed on the shoulder. “Excuse me, but did you get permission before you started filming?”
“We don’t need permission,” Tammy said. “We own this guy for the next six months.”
The crowd began whipping out their cell phones, snapping pictures and taking video.
“Hey!” said a female voice. “Isn’t that Gas Station Sam? What’s he doing here?”
“Sam!” someone yelled. “Can I take a selfie with you?”
“Please tell me this isn’t happening,” Annie muttered.
Sophie marched over and put her arm around Annie’s shoulder. “Break it up,” she told the crowd. “Show’s over.”
One of the servers who’d been gawking along with the rest of the onlookers took Sophie’s lead and began whisking people back inside the bar.
“Let me get this straight. You really don’t want another chance on the show?” Tammy asked incredulously.
Sam glared at her in response.
“Okay, okay. I get it. We’re