He regretted those words as soon as they were out of his mouth; they embarrassed him, made him feel too exposed. “About that thing I had to tell you...” he said, hoping to escape what had become an awkward moment.

Tia had a hard time shifting gears. The leap of attraction that had flared when Seth was holding her hand had caught her completely off guard. She’d never had a serious relationship last longer than a couple of months. She’d been too highly focused on her career, and she hadn’t met anyone she’d felt that strongly about. She’d assumed she’d pay a high price for that now and would probably be alone for years. Because of the accident, she couldn’t even imagine dating.

And then she’d touched Seth, and he’d turned his hand over, sending a lightning bolt of awareness through her that still left her feeling strange. “Right,” she said and folded her hands in her lap because she suddenly didn’t know what else to do with them. “What is it?”

“There’s a man in town.”

“A man?” Her mind still wasn’t fully engaged.

“A member of the paparazzi,” he clarified.

She felt her eyes widen. This definitely drew her back to reality. “How do you know?”

Seth looked uncomfortable. She got the impression he didn’t want to tell her. No one liked to be the bearer of bad news. But he obviously felt compelled. “Last night he was at The Blue Suede Shoe, a popular bar in town, asking if anyone had seen you.”

She covered her mouth. “No!”

“I’m afraid so.”

Her mind raced as she tried to figure out how the paparazzi could’ve tracked her down, especially so soon. “How could he have known already that I’m here?” She’d figured word would leak out eventually—if she ever worked up enough nerve to go into town, or to one of the wineries as Aiyana had suggested—but she hadn’t been spotted by anyone in Silver Springs yet, except Seth, his mother and his brother.

“I have no clue.”

“Did you speak to him?”

“Not at the bar,” he replied. “But he was passing out his business card to anyone who would take it, so Gavin grabbed me one, and I called him after I got home last night.”

“You didn’t!”

“I did. I wanted to be sure of who he was and what he wanted with you.”

“And? Did he admit to being part of the paparazzi?”

“Essentially. I did what I could to throw him off your trail by saying you’d be leaving in the next few days. But he wasn’t buying it.”

“Why not?”