Hiding Out in Hollywood (Celebrity Love)

Chapter Sixteen

She threw on her big floppy hat and sunglasses, and then Emily didn't stop walking until she was outside of Bountiful Sun Yoga and safely at her car. When she'd unlocked the door and had slid into the passenger seat, she came to her senses enough to realize she was gulping for air.

It's okay, she told herself. Just get it together and drive.

Emily peered out the windshield, checking to see if anyone had followed her outside. The sidewalk in front of the yoga center was empty. She'd had a head start, but if Raine had been behind her, he would have made it to the doors by now.

He hadn't gone after her. She didn't know whether to be relieved about having the chance to collect herself, or devastated about what that could mean.

Go now. The thought bounced through her mind at the volume of a scream.

She willed herself to put the key in the ignition. A warning bell went off somewhere in her brain as she put together the scene inside with all she couldn't see out here. Cory was in class with Kami, and there was no telling how many paparazzi had been tipped off to that. For all she knew, there was an entire TV entertainment show crew staked out in the shiny Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van parked across the street. She needed to get out of here fast or risk being recognized. The thought of someone seeing her upset and linking it to Cory and Kami in a story or a headline made her stomach churn.

Emily buckled her seat belt and started the car. Just before she shifted out of park, she heard her phone's text alert.

Deal with it later, she commanded herself. Drive away. She checked her rearview mirror.

Her heart didn't listen to what her head told it to do. Emily kept the car in park and reached into her bag instead. She pulled out her phone and read the message on the screen.

Class is starting. Can't leave with Olivia here. Can I come by later?

Olivia. So that was her name.

She read Raine's message again, this time trying to understand what it really meant. If he wanted to talk to her but couldn't leave now because he had Olivia with him in class, then Olivia was clearly important to him and he didn't want to leave her there on her own. Or maybe they'd driven to class together. Or both. She didn't want to think about the possibility that Olivia had spent the night at Raine's, and that this was their morning after.

Emily closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. It wasn't enough to ease the knot forming in her stomach.

There were only two reasons Raine could want to come by later that her mind didn't immediately reject. Either he was going to explain something about why he'd been photographed with Olivia in New York and why she was here in L.A. and at yoga with him now that defied any rational explanation Emily could come up with on her own, or he was going to tell her he didn't want to see her anymore.

The knot doubled in size when she considered option two.

No matter which one it was, though, she and Raine needed to talk. She just hoped what he had to say wouldn't leave her with more regrets than she already had for how they'd left things on Sunday night.

She read his message again, then started to type. Yes. I'll be home. She sent the text.

Emily waited, staring at her phone's screen, but there was no reply. She had a feeling there wouldn't be until class was over, which gave her at least ninety minutes to stop falling apart.

* * *

The time between Emily leaving her yoga class and Raine showing up at her apartment felt as though it was an eternity. After making it home in record time, she hadn't been able to sit still. So she'd cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the living room and her bedroom, and changed her clothes four times.