Waking Up to You Overexposed - By Leslie Kelly Page 0,61

away from him before he could offer to escort her. Smiling at a few people who offered friendly greetings, she didn’t pause but moved through the ballroom as quickly as she could, practically bursting out of it into the hotel corridor. She sniffed a couple of times and wiped away her tears with the tips of her fingers, looking around frantically for the nearest facilities.

She’d just spied a restroom across the hall and a few doors up when she heard something that made her freeze in utter shock.

“There she is! My gorgeous bride-to-be. Hey, honey, are you surprised?”

The walls seemed to spin around her as she slowly turned on her heel, knowing that voice, hearing the words, but not really able to process anything.

“Tommy?” she whispered, seeing her friend approaching from the main lobby.

He was here? Not just in San Francisco, but in this very hotel? More importantly—he was claiming her as his fiancée? Now, in public, when the man she loved was waiting for her in the next room?

Immobilized by shock, she watched him approach, seeing the familiar grin, the bright blond hair, the dazzling blue eyes glued to her face. As he drew closer, she noted a tiny frown appear between those eyes. Tommy always recognized her moods and realized she was not exactly overjoyed to see him.

Nor was she thrilled about who was following him.

A person holding a microphone. Another holding a very large camera.

No. Oh, please no.

But she knew it was true. He’d brought a camera crew here to “surprise” her. He’d gone public with their engagement.

“Didn’t I tell you she was gorgeous?” Tommy said as he slipped his arms around her waist and lowered his mouth to hers for a friendly kiss. Thank God he didn’t try to make it a passionate one or she might have instinctively shoved him away.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“Crisis mode, babe,” he said under his breath. Then he raised his voice, wanting others to overhear. “I’m surprising you because I’ve missed you so damn much. I couldn’t stay in L.A. one more day without you.”

Her smile pasted on, she managed to bite out a few words in a low, angry voice. “I’m going to kill you.”

His arm tightened around her waist as he leaned close, as if nuzzling her neck. “Hell’s breaking loose, babe. When I ran into these media types in the lobby—they’re here covering this event, I guess—I figured the time was right to let the world know our happy news.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t warn me.”

“I’ve been trying to call you for hours!”

She couldn’t argue that, realizing she’d turned her phone off, not wanting any interruptions to spoil their special night.

Glancing over his shoulder at their growing audience, Tommy went on, his voice a little louder, intentionally so. “You left town so quickly to come to your grandfather’s hospital bed that I hadn’t even had time to make our engagement official.”

With that, he reached into his pocket and drew out a ring with the most enormous, gaudy, ostentatious diamond she had ever seen. On either side of it were rows of tiny rubies—her birthstone.

Tommy must have seen her grimace because he chuckled. “Figured we might as well go all out with it.”

Her brain wasn’t functioning, and she couldn’t figure out what to say. Her hand lay limply in his as he lifted it and slid the ten-pound rock onto her ring finger.

“There, now you’re fully dressed,” he said, leaning down to rub noses with her.

She clenched her fists in his leather jacket—no black tie for the sexy movie star—and whispered, “Get me out of here. Now, Tommy, I mean it.”

“Five minutes. Then we split.”

But, she suddenly realized, she didn’t even have five minutes. Because word of the superstar’s arrival had apparently spread, and people were coming from all over the hotel to gawk at them. Sure, San Francisco had its share of celebrities, but Tommy was the “it” guy of Hollywood right now, having starred in two blockbusters in the past eighteen months. Directors courted him, women threw panties at him, men clapped him on the shoulder. Of course people would come and stare. Including a few from the ballroom.

Panic rose within her. She had to get out of here, had to escape and find a quiet place to sit down and figure out how to handle this nightmare. What on earth was she going to say to Oliver? Yes, of course he would someday find out she was marrying Tommy. But oh, God, she