Shelby burst on to the veranda and made a beeline for Aiden, who was still sitting where she had left him. He took one look at her and was on his feet.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, hurrying to her side.

"I don't know." She handed him her phone. "Emily just sent this to me. She got a text from Wally Hood."

"The celebrity gossip blogger?" Aiden took the phone from her.

"They're friends. She wrote a fashion column for his blog for a little while. I know him, too, since he came to our apartment a few times to meet with Em."

Aiden scanned Emily's text, and then the message from Wally.

Is Shelby in London? I saw this in a chat group for entertainment journalists I'm part of and the photo looks like her. The reporter who posted it is kind of shady and has burned me and some others in the industry before, so I haven't said anything. If there's a story here, you know I want the scoop.

Below that was a screen capture of a post written by Seraphine O'Dell. It included a photo of Shelby outside the courthouse, which Seraphine must have snapped before she'd walked up to her.

Looking for a source I met yesterday in London, Seraphine's post read. I had her contact details but my phone had a meltdown and I lost everything. We agreed to speak for a story I'm working on and it's vital I track her down. Her name is Shelby, she's American, and she said she's media but I didn't catch what outlet she's with. Her last name has also slipped my mind, unfortunately. Has anyone here worked with her or do you recognize her? Grateful for info or if you can put me in touch.

"I can't believe she's still looking for me, or that she's flat-out lying and telling people she had my contact info." Shelby's voice rose to a higher pitch than normal as she spoke.

"I can," Aiden muttered. "She must have figured out you aren't at the hotel anymore."

"This is bad."

"It might not be," he disagreed.

Shelby stared at him. "You read the entire thing, right? She's using other tabloid reporters to hunt me down."

"I think it's okay. It doesn't sound like Wally plans to say anything to Seraphine. If you don't know any other reporters in that chat group, chances are good no one can identify you. I'm just thankful we got you away from the hotel and she isn't stalking you around London right now."

"Me too." She rubbed her arm, feeling the goosebumps on her skin. "I should talk to Emily. She'll have to reply with something to Wally, or he'll get suspicious that there actually is a story here."

"There's a phone in the kitchen, or I can connect your phone to WiFi if you want to use that to call her."

"Thanks. I'll video chat from my phone."

Once her phone was connected to WiFi, Shelby went inside to call Emily.

"Hi!" Emily's concerned face appeared on her screen. From the heavier-than-normal makeup she wore and her carefully-styled hair, Shelby guessed her best friend was on set for the Poppy Azure shoot.

"I got your text," Shelby told her.

"I wasn't sure if your phone was off so I just tried calling the hotel number you gave me, but the front desk said you'd checked out. Where are you?"

"I'm with Aiden. We're at the house where he's staying."

"Does that mean everything is okay with you guys?" Emily squinted at the screen. "Actually, never mind. You're glowing right now, so I think that's my answer."

Shelby rolled her eyes at Emily's sly smile, but she couldn't help the laugh that crossed her own lips. "I know you're you, and you know I adore you, but this is so not the time to be talking about my love life. That post Wally sent you is unreal."

"What's going on?" Emily asked. "You must be okay with whatever Aiden has told you if you're with him, and Raine still hasn't told me anything else. Then there's this post from Seraphine, and I'm completely lost. Who is she, and why does she want to talk to you?"

"I think she's trying to find dirt on Aiden. Well, on Tristan, since she doesn't know he's Aiden. Or I hope she doesn't, since that would be my fault."

"I'm still not following this."

"I'll tell you more about what happened with Aiden when I get back to L.A., assuming the whole world doesn't find out about him first because of my slip-up." Shelby started pacing the living room. "I went to the courthouse yesterday morning and called out to him when he was going inside, but I called him Aiden instead of Tristan. Seraphine heard and came up to me to ask about it. I claimed I'd been trying to get the attention of a press colleague who was in the crowd, but then she must have followed me around London all day since we bumped into each other again when I was getting dinner down the street from my hotel. Now it looks like she's trying to find out who I am."

"I doubt Wally will tell her anything, based on what he texted me," Emily assured her. "I do have to answer him with something, though. If I say that isn't a photo of you, he'll know I'm lying."

"I know." Shelby flopped onto the sofa. "You can tell him I'm in London on vacation and that I was sightseeing downtown yesterday. That part is true. Then say I saw a bunch of reporters and was curious what the commotion was about, which was when Seraphine approached me. Tell him I'm as baffled as anyone, and that I'm avoiding her because she followed me around the city all day and she creeps me out."

Shelby saw Emily's shoulders shake as a shudder ran through her.

"I hope you're far away from where she can find you," she said. "I'll talk to Wally."

A muffled knock came from Emily's end of the video chat. Shelby saw her best friend's gaze shift to something she couldn't see.

"I'll be out in just a sec," Emily told someone off-screen. She waited a moment, then turned her attention back to Shelby.

"They need me on the set now. I'll text you later, though."

"Thank you. I owe you."

Shelby ended the chat and set her phone on the coffee table. She was about to get up from the sofa to find Aiden, when he came into the living room.

"Em is going to handle Wally," she announced. "I'm so sorry for all of this."

"Hey." He took a seat next to her on the sofa and cupped her chin in his hand. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for."

"I'm the one who got on Seraphine's radar when she heard me call you Aiden."

"And I'm the one who should have told you everything before I left L.A. and who put you in that situation. Let me take the blame for this." He stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"So what do we do now?" Shelby brought her hand up to her neck and rubbed at a tight muscle there.

"Nothing. She won't find you here, and she'll eventually realize she's hit a dead end." Aiden's fingers brushed against hers as he took over massaging her neck.

"You're really not upset?"

"I'm only upset that you're upset, and that you're worried about this. I don't ever want you to have to be worried about something caused by my choices." Aiden's hands moved to her shoulders, and he began kneading the muscles there.

Shelby felt the tension in her shoulders begin to slip away. "You're good at this. You might even be making me relax."

"Then my plan is working. Want to hear the rest of it?"

"I'm all ears," she declared.

"I read there's a meteor shower that's supposed to peak tonight. Once it gets dark, there's a hill out back that's a perfect spot for looking at the night sky. We could make a late dinner, open the bottle of wine that's in the fridge, then go watch the stars."

Shelby pretended to ponder what he'd said. "There's only one thing missing from your plan," she concluded.

"What's that?"

"What we do between now and making dinner. I think you skipped over the part where you kiss me until I can't think."

"Until both of us can't think." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, then cradled her face in his hand. "I could never skip over that."

Aiden traced over her bottom lip with his finger. Shelby kissed his fingertip, then gazed into his eyes.

He moved in closer to her, letting his hand fall away from her mouth. As her lips met his and she laid back on the sofa, Aiden above her, the world outside of the house in Woldingham momentarily ceased to exist for either of them.