Hiding Out in Hollywood (Celebrity Love)

Chapter One

"Is that Raine Kingston? Are you kidding me?"

"I told you he was in this class about a million times, dummy."

"I know, but I thought you made that up to make Gillian stop going on and on about being an extra in one of his movies."

Emily Watts stretched her legs out in front of her on her yoga mat, listening to the chatter of the two women sitting behind her and trying to ignore the usual morning spectacle happening about five feet away. If today was like most other days, she gave it three minutes before the women joined the circus-in-the-making she was trying not to watch. That was what usually happened when someone brought a friend to class and they wanted to meet Raine Kingston, the A-list actor, Hollywood's perpetual it-guy, and, as she had recently discovered, a fixture of the morning Kundalini yoga class she had started coming to a couple of weeks ago. Given the size of the mostly-female crowd that often surrounded him before class, Emily was pretty sure she was the only class regular who hadn't met him, and that was more than okay by her. Celebrities were overrated, which was something she probably knew better than anyone.

"Who's the girl hugging him?" Emily heard one of the women behind her ask.

"Kami," the other woman replied. "She comes to class almost every day."

Emily glanced at the tall brunette she knew the women were talking about. She had seen Kami in class every morning she'd been here, but only because there was no missing her. In a class where most people wore loose-fitting tank tops and T-shirts paired with leggings, track pants, or sweatpants, or traditional white cotton Kundalini yoga clothing, Kami always showed up in tightly-fitting, barely-there shorts, which were sometimes high-cut enough to reveal the bottom of her backside and hugged every curve of what little they did cover. Her shorts were usually paired with what could have been a sports bra but appeared a size too small, which definitely called attention to Kami's assets and didn't leave much to the imagination. Her attire might have made sense if their class was hot yoga, but Kundalini was about as far from hot yoga as someone could get while still being in a yoga class. Kami also never failed to have a perfect spray tan and flawlessly-done makeup, complete with glittery eyeliner and what had to be false eyelashes. This was what intrigued Emily the most. She'd never seen someone come to a yoga class wearing false eyelashes before she had seen Kami. It seemed a little much for nine o'clock in the morning, even for L.A.

"Is she dating him?" she heard the woman ask her friend.

"Not last I checked."

"So how come she gets to hug him?"

"Everyone hugs him. He gives good hugs."

"Can I hug him?"

"Maybe you should start with saying hello."

I need to stop watching this, Emily told herself, ripping her hazel-eyed gaze away from Kami's eyelashes and perfectly-styled hair. It was the same scene every morning, with Kami leading the parade of females who began their day by fawning over Raine. There were always a swarm of others lined up behind her, with the hellos and hugs and cheek kisses going on until their teacher started the class. The women who didn't get a chance to say hello would head back to their mats with disappointment etched across their faces, and then they'd rush over to him once class ended until he managed to make his way out of his circle of admirers.

Emily leaned forward, trying to bring her nose down to touch her knees. Her long waves of blond hair fell in front of her face like a curtain, separating everyone around her from her own little world on her mat.

She was still getting used to not knowing anyone in this class, which was a big change from the evening yoga class she had gone to for years. Emily had known everyone there. Even though this one was at the same yoga center, Bountiful Sun Yoga, she didn't recognize a single face. It was what she had been hoping for when she'd switched to the morning session, and not having any friends here was entirely her doing. This was part of her fresh start now that the tabloids had moved on from following her every move since learning the truth about what had happened between her and Blistering Twilight singer Cory Sampson, and what hadn't happened between her and her former friend, Jesse Cinder.