Kyle’s eyes narrowed, confused by my direction.
“I’ve submitted the driving directions you wrote for me and the letter I found in Ryan’s hotel room to a handwriting expert,” I informed. “That along with the threat letters I got in the mail were all express-mailed this morning.” I was getting better at this “acting” thing. I almost believed myself!
“You still think I wrote them? Doesn’t matter; they won’t match up,” Kyle snidely remarked. His reply was too confident. It was as though he was prepared to have to answer this accusation eventually. “You can dust them for prints too. You won’t find mine.”
“Why? Is it because you charmed some unwitting girls to do your dirty work?” I probed.
“I had nothing to do with that love note or any letters for that matter!” he barked.
I had never told Kyle about the letter I found in Ryan’s hotel room until now. How did he know it was a love note?
I smiled. “You couldn’t find any dirt on him, could you? That week you were there poking your nose around – you came up empty-handed! Ryan has been completely faithful to me, and when you couldn’t find any evidence, you fabricated your own.”
Kyle scoffed. “Maybe if you’d bother to open your eyes for two seconds and look at reality, you’d see that actors never stay in relationships for very long. They trade up every chance they get. The way I see it, things couldn’t have happened at a better time. You needed a wake-up call to see how things really are.”
“You’re incorrigible!” I bellowed.
“You think that someone like Christensen is going to stay with you for the next forty years? I highly doubt it. There were so many hot women walking around down there on his movie set… he may be strong enough to resist now early on in this thing, but give it time and he’ll cave. You should be happy that you didn’t waste a lot of time on him - save yourself from further humiliation when he dumps you for one of his own kind.”
I stared blankly at him for a few minutes while I concocted my next plan.
“You’re right, Kyle. You’re absolutely right,” I sniffed, pretending to finally give up hope and faking sudden extreme sadness. I leaned up on the wall. “I’ve been deluding myself to think that I could have a future with Ryan. How could I be so naïve? Lauren is gorgeous. I can’t compete with her.”
I wiped my eyes, hoping my acting was Oscar-worthy. “I’m going to end it,” I murmured, nodding to confirm my decision. “Then I won’t be in Lauren’s way anymore and I won’t get my heart broken again.”
I took an embellished, stuttering breath. “I’m not even close to being in the same league. Lauren is so much more sophisticated and cultured than I am. She’s a famous celebrity and I’m… nothing,” I said sadly, playing up my self-deprecation. “A nobody from Seaport.”
I inconspicuously placed myself next to the security keypad as I continued my dramatic performance.
“I can’t blame any man for not being able to resist her. You’re right… Ryan will be better off with her. I realize that now. Lauren knows what it takes to have a high-profile relationship. She’s probably a much better lover than I am too,” I said, acting completely dejected.
Kyle scoffed. “I’ve had better,” he muttered.
As soon as the words slipped from his mouth, he realized he had made a fatal mistake. “Babe, you are so much more desirable than she is!
Don’t ever put yourself down like that,” he encouraged, approaching me slowly.
“Stop,” I breathed out, ordering him to stay where he was. “I know I’m better than she is, after all, you just confirmed that she’s nothing more than a manipulative whore. I’m surprised you two aren’t madly in love with each other, considering that you are so much alike!”
“Taryn!” he bellowed, taking another step.
“Don’t come any closer! All I have to do is tap it and the police will come immediately,” I informed confidently, my index finger hovered over the illuminated button on the security keypad.
“Forced entry, the bruise on my forehead from when you hit me with the door, a few tears and you’ll be handcuffed in no time. Can you still be a bodyguard with a police record?”
“Taryn, please, don’t! It was an accident! I’ll lose my job!” he pleaded.
“That didn’t seem to concern you while you were fucking Lauren in her trailer or conveniently waiting to rescue me in Miami!”