‘Thought I might find you here,’ he replied with faux sincerity. He cast a glance toward the step where Ward stood, frozen in place. His right arm had since dropped from Shelley’s waist and she too seemed to be trying to make sense of the sudden change in mood. Her eyes flittered nervously from him to the press line and then back to the calling photographers.

Rob narrowed his eyes at Ward as if sensing the challenge. ‘Looks like lover-boy is a little jealous … ’

Hannah felt confusion flood her brain. But Ward had no idea that she and Rob were even connected. Her ex hadn’t introduced himself that morning on the phone and Hannah had never mentioned it either. Had she?

What in the world … ?

She snapped to attention as she felt the eyeballs of others move in their direction. The press had also seemed to realize the subject of Ward McKenzie’s ire was none other than another celebrity attendee, pro golfer, Rob Kendrick. And wait … wasn’t McKenzie’s publicist the same one Kendrick had kissed on camera at that golf tournament earlier this year?

The flashing cameras suddenly began to zero in on them too, as if sensing that something was going down.

‘Rob,’ Hannah hissed at him, trying to keep her face calm, ‘this is not appropriate, you know that. You can’t possibly want press so badly that—’

But he closed what little space there was between them and rested his hand on her lower back, non-too-gently pulling her closer.

‘It’s not polite to avoid my messages,’ he spat through gritted teeth, and seeing the dark glint in his eyes, Hannah felt very afraid.

She felt the heat of the flashing lights on her and her vision blurred as her composure slipped. She instinctively stood back from Rob, trying to extricate herself from his grip, but to no avail. The clutch she was holding for Shelley slipped down her arm and the motion also dislodged the pile of one-sheets from her hand, which scattered to the carpet beneath her feet. Far from releasing his hold on her, he roughly jerked her back.

‘Rob, please—’ But before Hannah could utter another word, she was swiftly released from her ex’s tight grip.

‘Get your hands off her.’ As if out of nowhere, Ward was there grabbing Rob’s arm and yanking it off her.

Her ex flew backwards and momentarily stumbled, before righting himself and looking around, trying to assess who in the crowd might have seen him being manhandled. He quickly got his answer as a wave of cameras flashed in unison – lenses suddenly trained away from the red carpet and right in his direction.