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“Sorry.” Piper stepped back.

Jo turned around and searched for something over Piper’s head.

“Where are they?”

“What?” Piper asked, looking around at Jo and seeing the empty table. “Well, maybe we don’t have to focus on love after all.”

“What do you mean?” Jo looked at Piper, a vertical line appearing between her eyebrows as confusion covered her face.

“Maybe they realized they were sparking for each other and went off to have a quickie in the dressing room.”

Jo laughed boisterously as she shook her head. “Definitely not. Bea is not a one-night stand kind of person.”

“Oh.” Piper’s hope deflated. Jo’s plan would never work then, because Bunny didn’t do love. She didn’t do relationships. She didn’t do anything except love them and leave them.

“No, it’s going to have to be love.”

“Great.” Piper forced some enthusiasm in her voice. “Who doesn’t love love?”

What she wouldn’t give for another drink right now.

FIVE

bea

“I worry about her.” Bea finished her drink and sighed, looking out at her sister on the dance floor.

“It’s good to worry about your business partner.”

Bea shook her head, looking back to Bunny. “Not about that. I worry about her ability to hold up against the demands on the industry.”

“I’m not sure I understand.” Bunny looked around the room, as if scouting to see if someone was there.

“I’m worried she’ll be eaten alive because she wants everyone to like her.”

Bunny frowned, a deep line forming in the center of her forehead. She seemed like she was going to say something, paused, and then leaned forward, lowering her voice. “If that’s the case, she needs to get out. Now. Don’t look back.”

Bea froze. She hadn’t expected that kind of response. She’d thought Bunny would give her advice, not tell her to run in the opposite direction. “You think we should quit?”

“Being a celebrity isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s brutal. It will tear you apart in seconds. And if Jo is sensitive to those kinds of things, she’s not built for this world.”

“And I suppose you are?” Indignation rose up in Bea’s chest. How dare Bunny be so judgmental about anyone? But especially Jo? Bunny didn’t even know them. Thank God Siena had left, because Bea had a few choice words for Bunny, and she was about to let them fly.

“I’m not exactly soft.” Bunny gave Bea a hard stare, almost a glare.

Bea swallowed, her gaze dropping to Bunny’s arms, the strength in her muscles, the sharpness of her jawline. Bunny was anything but soft. Her body screamed an intensity and hardness that Bea had no hope of ever attaining. Where Bunny was toned, Bea was squishy, some would even call her fluffy. Though she hated that term. It always sent a rush of shame through her.

“No. I guess you’re not. You’re too arrogant to ever consider that someone else might have feelings of doubt.”

“What?” Bunny jerked with a start, as if surprised by Bea’s sudden change of tone.

“I see who you are now. I thought you were different, based on how you’re presented in the media, but I was so very wrong.” Bea pushed back her chair, prepared to stand up. “You’re a jerk.”

Without waiting for a response, Bea stood up and started for the back of Julianna’s. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Screw Bunny. Screw Siena for forcing Bunny on her. Screw the whole industry. She’d be over it by morning—hopefully—but for now, she was just pissed off. No one talked bad about her sister and got away with it.

Bea slammed her palm against the back door, shoving it open with a loud swing. It banged into the wall, a loud crack echoing through the small dressing room that shouldn’t even be called that. Who was she kidding? It was a converted janitor closet, something that was supposed to make them feel good, like they were on the up and up.

But fuck that.