Free Curve Struck (A Celebrity Stepbrother Romance) by Christa Wick Page B

businessman," Cammie protested. "If you're worrying about him noticing someone's checking up on him, I bet it happens all the time."
    Melanie pulled her bags out of the backseat before answering. "You're probably right."
    It wasn't Roger finding out she was snooping on him that was the problem. She worried that anyone digging into the personal side of Roger's life would discover his relationship to Declan. A media shit storm would hit the proverbial fan if that information was then leaked.
    Declan would undoubtedly be furious. Paparazzi would camp on her mother's front lawn in Denver -- at least while her mom and Roger were still in the States. Hell, they'd probably even follow Melanie around until something juicier came up with another celebrity.
    So maybe she wasn't protecting Declan at all. Maybe it was her mom and her own quiet life she was trying to preserve.
    "So," Cammie said, unlocking the apartment door and holding it open for Melanie. "If I'm probably right, why don't you let me at least ask my guy?"
    "I don't want to do that to my mom." A real smile tugged at the top of her lip but she kept it concealed. It was easier to tell a truth out of context than a straight up lie. She'd have to remember that little trick later. "Besides, right now I just don't like the guy as a matter of principle -- the new stepdad smell isn't like a new car smell."
    Cammie giggled. "Honestly, new cars stink."
    Melanie rolled her eyes. "Coming from a woman whose car smells like tacos and patchouli."
    "You should be so lucky to have a car that smells like tacos and patchouli," Cammie swatted back before sticking her tongue out.
    "You're right." Melanie apologized with a tight hug. "Thank you for picking me up."
    "Ooh," Cammie squeed in the middle of the embrace. "You didn't give me one at the airport. You had me seriously worried until you said your mom got married on vacation. You looked so upset I thought maybe she called you up there to tell you she was terminally ill or something."
    Pulling back, Melanie studied her friend to see if she was joking. There was no hint of a tease in Cammie's features. She was absolutely serious.
    "I guess I'm just being a brat about it," Melanie offered, taking her rolling case into the bedroom they shared and putting away her clothes. "Everything just happened so suddenly."
    Another truth delivered out of context, she thought. Her mood at LAX was solely because of Declan -- what he'd done, what she had let him do and how her own body had betrayed her.
    "Well, if I know you," Cammie said, coming up behind Melanie and resting her chin on Melanie's shoulder. "Two weeks of work on the crazy paced set of some soap opera will leave you too happy and too busy to worry about ole Roger Dodger -- I mean Sir Roger Dodger!"
    "That," Melanie agreed. "And a little online snooping."
     

Chapter Twelve
    Phone vibrating at three a.m. Monday morning, Melanie reached under her pillow and turned her alarm off. Rolling onto her side, she stuck one leg over the edge of her mattress so she would have a harder time falling asleep.
    From the opposite side of the room, she heard Cammie yawn, the bedsprings creaking as she stretched. "You sure you don't want me to drive you?"
    "I'm sure," Melanie answered and sat up, her torso sagging forward. "Go back to sleep."
    Cammie didn't respond, but a few seconds later, a soft whistle blew from her side of the room before being absorbed by her pillow. Smiling, Melanie slipped on her house shoes and quietly shuffled into the living room, shutting the door behind her.
    Her workbag waited near the door and she'd left her clothes for the day neatly folded in the bathroom after she had showered the night before. Stretching and releasing a monster yawn, she plodded into the kitchen and grabbed the breakfast smoothie she had made before going to bed.
    She took it with her into the bathroom, swallowing mouthfuls in between washing her face, applying her foundation and a little color to her cheeks,