Malibu Betrayals Read Online Free

revert to their former selves, but he hasn’t been home long enough. I think you need to fight settling in too soon.” She glanced from Martin to Gage to the producer. “Does that make sense?”
    Gage nodded his head slowly. “Brilliant catch.” He turned and walked back to his place on the set. “Let’s run through this again.”
    The command for silence was delivered, Martin whispered in Sam’s ear. “I agree. Brilliant.”
    Relief washed over her, and she repeated her new mantra over and over again in her head. I can do this, I can do this.
    Her phone vibrated and she slipped outside to answer it, needing to shade her eyes with her hand. “Hello?”
    “Oh, good. You’re alive.”
    “Mom?” She lowered the phone from her ear and confirmed the incoming number. Shit. She should have checked first.
    “Hey, Mom. I’m at work.”
    “Finally.”
    Sam smiled. “Tell me how you really feel.”
    “Are you coming to dinner Sunday? You’ve missed the last dozen, I swear.”
    Sam rubbed the sudden tension between her brows. “Mom, it’s just not a good time. I’ll try soon.”
    “Sam.”
    She hated disappointing them. “I gotta go. Break’s over. I love you. Dad, too.”
    “Sam—”
    Sam disconnected the line, then dropped her phone in her pocket. They were always good to her. Supportive. Even when Ethan hadn’t come to dinner with her for the umpteenth time because of work, they’d just nodded and smiled.
    She walked to the edge of a rocky slope and looked out over the valley, a spotting of trees and cactus, large rocks, and a colorful burst of wildflowers. A burst, the only way she could describe the effect.
    She was on a mission to take back her life, and she’d do it, too. But she was scared. She might not be good enough for a job like this. Ethan might have been right all along. For a second, she’d thought Gage might reject her idea and Martin might agree with him. It could have all been over just like that. “I’m an idiot.”
    “Now I know you’re talking to me.”
    Sam whirled around. Off balance, she flailed her arms to keep from teetering down the slope.
    Gage grabbed for her, pulling her onto even ground.
    Unable to catch her footing, she landed against the hard planes of his well-built chest, and the impact emptied the air from her lungs. Her hands grabbed onto his unyielding biceps, the result of a personal trainer and dietician, no doubt. No wonder celebrities were so beautiful.
    Pulling back, she put her hand out and pulled in a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Thank you. You scared me,” she stammered.
    He tried to steady her, but she took another step back.
    Gage studied her, and she wanted to fidget under his gaze. “I didn’t mean to, but I can’t say I’m displeased with the outcome.”
    She stared at him.
    “Your call was spot-on.”
    Her cheeks warmed. “Thanks, but the talent is yours.”
    His strong, capable hands played across his chest and rubbed. Mesmerized, Sam couldn’t force her eyes back to his face. Her mouth suddenly dry, she tried to swallow. What is wrong with me ? She moved to step around him.
    He blocked her way. “Do you still hate me?”
    Shocked, she stilled. “Hate you? I don’t—”
    “You won’t even look at me.”
    Guilt tightened along her shoulder blades, and she turned around. “I don’t hate you.” She gripped her hands together at her waist. “Everything fell apart, and Ethan took his own life.” But not until he made sure Sam suffered, too. She shoved the thoughts away. “I took it out on you, and then the paparazzi, the tabloids, they hounded me for almost a year.”
    Gage held her with an intense gaze. “I wanted to help. I tried to call but you shut me out.”
    She wished it could have been that easy, but she’d been so angry, and whether he’d been to blame or not, he was reckless; if it wasn’t his driving, it was the women. Two women had actually come to blows in public, each thinking she was dating him exclusively. Everyone