Glitter on the Web by Ginger Voight Read Free Book Online Page A

point, I tapped on the privacy pane. “Drop me off first,” I instructed, before I gave the driver my address.
    Eli no longer hid behind his phone. Instead he watched me the entire drive to Hollywood; those blue eyes clear as fucking ice. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t good. In one afternoon he had made me a social media sensation, which I knew because I had about ten thousand new followers, many of whom were media outlets trying to get an exclusive.
    Even after they had sniffed me out in a New York minute, everyone still wanted to know: Who’s Carly? I was about ten seconds away from telling them. I was a prop. Just like every other fat chick in Eli Blake’s life.
    We pulled up to my apartment building, which looked even more run-down to me in comparison to Eli’s Malibu mansion. He surveyed it silently, and thankfully made no move to kiss me again.
    Of course, without anyone to witness it, there was no point.
    I said nothing as I opened the door. “See you tomorrow,” he called behind me, but I slammed the door right on his cheerful proclamation, which felt more like a threat.
    Ling signaled to one of his cooks to prepare my usual the second I walked in the door, but I shook my head. I didn’t want to eat. I just wanted to go upstairs to my dinky apartment and pretend that this whole afternoon didn’t happen.
    “You okay?” Ling asked as he boxed up some dumplings. He would make sure I ate something at least.
    “Fine,” I dismissed. “Long day.”
    He nodded. “You’re late tonight. Two nights in a row and I start to worry.”
    I smiled at my old friend. “You’re too sweet, Ling.”
    He shrugged off the compliment as he handed me a bag, again, free of charge.
    I was starting to worry what it all meant. Was he dying?
    He dismissed that, too.
    “We’ll discuss it on Saturday,” he promised. “Go. Eat. Take a long bubble bath. But not too long,” he cautioned, since he was the one who paid for the water bill.
    I had to laugh. That was the Ling I knew and loved. I took the bag and headed for the stairs. As soon as I made the turn, I realized that the limousine still sat right outside. It didn’t pull away until I had disappeared up the stairwell, away from the day, away from the drama…and away from that annoying, entitled, arrogant king of all asshats—Eli Blake.
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    Because I didn’t go to FFF, Clem came pounding on my door just after two o’clock in the morning. Fortunately for her, I had been tossing and turning anyway, so I was already wide awake. She held up her phone, opened to the PING website. That damnable was photo big as life, taking up most of the screen.
    “Explain,” she said at once.
    I opened the door wider so that she could come in. “It isn’t what it looks like.”
    “No shit, Sherlock,” she retorted before plopping onto my second-hand sofa. “Hence why I need you to explain.”
    I joined her on the couch. “Rhonda went public with the truth about Eli. It was PR, pure and simple.”
    “His idea, I hope,” she said and I gave her a side-eye glare as a reproach for even asking. “I’m honestly surprised you went along with it.”
    “I didn’t have a choice,” I muttered as I leaned back on the sofa. “He bought some lipstick and shamed me into wearing it, saying I should at least ‘look’ the part if I’m there to make him look good. Then next thing I know he’s kissing me. It didn’t hit me until afterwards that it was all for show. By then it was too late.”
    “Boy, he moves fast, doesn’t he?”
    “You have no idea,” I grumbled. “I’ve already seen him naked.” Her eyes widened. “I had to go to his house with him to pick up some of the older merchandise to sell. He strolled around naked like it was no big deal. Probably surprised I didn’t fall to the altar of his mighty penis, so that sent him into overdrive, I guess.”
    Clem held up her pinky finger. “So… is it…?”
    I