Page 40 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

“Can you at least tell us her name?” one lady asked as he pulled open the door to his rental car.

“No.”

“Why not?” came the female voice again. “You plan to hide her for the rest of your time here?”

“Yeah,” another blurted.

Gage narrowed a gaze at the woman who’d asked the question. “You can count on it,” he said, and then climbed in behind the wheel.

With his jaw tight, lips in a hard line, Gage roared the engine to life. He gave it a few hard revs to warn the onlookers, inched away from the curb, then tore onto the open road once he was clear.

He glanced at his rearview to see the small crowd disperse. Some rushed to waiting vehicles nearby. Others continued to snap shots as he drove away. And what was this? Looked as if the utility van was already gaining on him.

He cursed under his breath. It might take a while to lose them, but he’d do it easily enough by getting onto the freeway and picking up speed. And who cared if he got pulled over? Maybe he’d ask the cop to shift their focus to the people stalking him instead.

It was promising that they’d only caught him once he left the resort. It told Gage that either they didn’t know which resort he was staying at, or that they didn’t dare breach The Royal Palm’s strict protection policy where clients were concerned. Butsomeonethere had seen them. They’d been spotted kissing on the beach. Christian would never leak info to the media, but perhaps that group of rich surf punks had done it—not that it mattered much now.

When the thought came in that his father would catch wind of it too, and soon, Gage could hardly get himself to worry over it. Carly was at the top of his list, and it felt good to acknowledge that with such an assurance.

Gage gripped the wheel as thoughts of Carly went through his head. It seemed he might have asked her for a commitment in the knick of time; he only hoped that now, the unwanted attention wouldn’t scare Carly away.

CHAPTER 14

Carly tipped her head to one side as she inspected her outfit. Was it too…dressy? No, she was wearing a sundress, not a formal gown. She’d purchased the pale blue dress because it brought out her eyes and complimented her skin. It was a solid choice. So why did she feel so nervous suddenly? Like her entire fate rested on this one outfit?

It was just that everything seemed to be so perfect. She couldn’t help but worry that something might come up to snatch it all away.

Stop, Carly. And step away from the mirror.

A familiar ring chimed on her phone, and she shuffled out of her room in her heels, trying to remember exactly where she’d left it. Carly looked on the counter and table and came up empty. She stepped further into the kitchen, following the chiming sound all the way to the front area of the home.

The coffee table! She hurried over to the glowing device, smiling when she saw that Jill was the one calling. She wouldn’t be able to talk long, since Gage would be there to get her soon, but Carly had discovered how fun it was to talk about the cute guy she was falling for. Of course, the truth ofwhothat guy actually was remained unconfirmed for now.

“Hi there, Jilly Billy.”

“Turn on your TV, quick. Star Chat is featuring him as soon as they get back from their break.

Him.Carly didn’t need more details than that.

At once the remote was in her hand and pointed at the big screen mounted in the corner. She pressed the button, pausing to see if she’d landed on the right channel before pressing it once more. How many channels would she have to scan past before she came to it? Would she miss the feature altogether?

“Wait, I don’t even know what channel it would be on here,” she grumbled as she scanned past newscasts, sitcoms, and game shows.

“They’re back on. Hurry, it’s on Tritsi Youngman right now.”

Carly shook her head, picturing the woman Jill was referring to—one of Star Chat’s popular hosts. And there she was.

“…famous Craven family has given us a whole lot tocravebetween star football player Beau and movie star hunk Mark. But it turns out they’ve been holding out on us. Meet Gage Craven: he majors in architecture, minors in theatre, and is about to make a realsplashon the big screen while playing the part of a pro surfer.”

A gorgeous photo of Gage in a tux popped onto the screen.

A sharp knot dug into Carly’s gut as she took in the rest of the image where a beautiful redhead in a flowing gown held onto his arm.

“He’s been spotted on more than one occasion with Hollywood’s favorite socialite, Diana McCarthy,” the cohost Brock Willis said. “Most of you know that Mark Craven, the man known for being one of Hollywood’s most committed husbands in real life, had quite the bad-boy image before marrying his sons’ mother Joan.” A photo of his brother Beau in uniform came onto the screen next. “Already we’ve seen that Beau Craven knows how toplay the fieldin football and women alike, butwhat women all around the world are dying to know is this: will Gage follow Mark and Beau’s footsteps by playing the field as well?”

“Maybe this recent photo can help answer that question,” Tristi said as the image changed once again. It took Carly a moment to identify the couple lying on the sandy beach, the blue sky in the distance.

A hand shot to her sputtering heart. “That’s me. That’s us.”