"Because I wanted to tell you something." Scarlett paused and gazed into his eyes. "I love you. And I'm so sorry about our fight."

Liam's expression softened. "I love you, too, Scarlett. I really, really love you. And I'm sorry, too." He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her.

Scarlett leaned into the kiss. She was in love with Liam. And he was in love with her. How awesome was that?

But she had to tell him the rest of it. She broke away from the kiss and added, "There's something else."

"Hmm?" Liam caressed her hair.

"I'm leaving L.A."

"Wait, what?"

"You know I've never been totally happy at USC, right?" Scarlett explained. "Well, I sent in a bunch of applications in March, to Yale and Columbia and Harvard and a lot of other schools. I wasn't sure I wanted to transfer, but I wanted to keep my options open for this fall. Anyway . . . I got into all of them."

"Seriously?"

Scarlett nodded. "Yeah. So I've been thinking a lot about it, and I've finally made my decision. I want to leave the show. And I definitely want to transfer to one of these schools. I'm just not sure which one yet."

"Wow." Liam looked stunned.

"USC's fine, but you have to understand . . . I never considered going anywhere else because I wanted to live in L.A. with Jane. But I realize now that I can't plan my life around other people. Which is why I have to go." Scarlett laced her fingers through his. "I hope you're okay with this."

Liam was silent for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly.

"I'm totally okay with this," he said finally. "No, not just okay. I'm really proud of you. You got into some of the best schools in the country. Congratulations!"

Scarlett beamed. "Thanks!"

"And listen, Scarlett . . . I'll support whatever choice you make about school. If you decide to go to Yale or Columbia or wherever . . . well, we'll make it work out."

"Really?"

"Really."

Scarlett wrapped her arms around his neck, and they kissed some more. She had never believed in happy endings, but at that moment, she had one of her very own. She and Liam were in love. She was leaving L.A. Candy. And she was going to start a whole new chapter in her life. She wasn't sure where or when or how-but it was definitely going to be amazing.

Chapter 33.

Real Life

The PopTV offices were nearly deserted when Jane walked into the lobby on Monday night. The receptionist was putting on her jacket and packing up her bag, and a cleaning woman was vacuuming noisily in the corner.

"Hey, Maria. Is Trevor still here?" Jane asked the receptionist. She noticed that the flower arrangement on the front desk looked a little wilted.

Maria grinned. "Trevor's always here. Go on back, I'll let him know you're coming."

"Thanks."

Jane went through the double doors and headed down the hall. She was surprised at how calm she felt, especially since she had tossed and turned all night, playing this encounter out in her mind over and over. Now, she wasn't nervous at all. In fact, she was almost looking forward to it.

Did this mean she was doing the right thing?

Trevor was waiting in the doorway when Jane reached his office. "Jane. Good to see you. Come on in."

"Thanks, Trevor."

He sat down and indicated for her to do the same. "Have you eaten? There's a new sushi place around the corner."

"No, thanks. I've already got dinner plans. I just needed to tell you something."

"Of course. What's on your mind?"

Jane reached into her bag, pulled out the brown Smythson notebook, and set it down on Trevor's desk. "I quit," she said simply. "This will be my last season."

"You're not serious." Trevor didn't even glance down at the notebook.

"I'm totally serious."

"Why?"

Jane pointed to the notebook. "This. I'm tired of being a character in your story. I'm tired of having you arrange my life into scenes. And Sat.u.r.day night? Caleb and Gaby? That was pretty low."

"I didn't force your boyfriend to kiss another girl. I can't make anyone do anything they don't want to do. I'm just there to record stuff as it happens."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's what you tell yourself every day."

Trevor frowned. "Look. I get it. I'd be p.i.s.sed, too. But Caleb wasn't good enough for you, anyway. This frees you up to find another boyfriend, a better boyfriend."

"You mean, it frees me up so you can find me a boyfriend? Like you did for Hannah?"

"Jane, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Trevor. And I'm done."

Trevor leaned back in his chair and stared out the window. The first wisps of pink and purple and yellow streaked the evening sky, and the lights of Los Angeles glittered like jewels. Jane knew he had a lot on his mind already, especially with the big revelation about Madison. "I have to admit, I didn't see this one coming," he said finally. "I knew you had some issues with the show. But quitting?"

"Yeah, well, every once in a while I do something that you didn't write down in your little notebook," Jane said drily.

"Funny. You know that Scarlett wants to leave, too?"

Jane nodded. Scarlett had told Jane her news last night, including the fact that she had decided to transfer to another college in the fall. Talk about mixed emotions; Jane couldn't bear the idea of her best friend leaving L.A., but at the same time, she absolutely wanted Scar to follow her dreams.

"My decision has nothing to do with hers, though," she explained to Trevor. "I have enough reasons of my own. I've been thinking about this for a while-ever since I found your notebook at Coco de Ville."

"My notebook. G.o.d, I should burn the d.a.m.ned thing."

"Yeah, you should. But you won't." Jane stood up to go.

Trevor stood up, too, and walked over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. "Jane, you're at the top of your game," he said, his voice full of fatherly concern. "You don't want to quit now. Is it about the money? Because you know that the network will pay you more to stay. It's a bit irregular mid-season, but I can pull some strings. I'll talk to your agent."

Jane met his gaze squarely. "No, it's not about the money. R.J. already knows, and he supports my decision a hundred percent." She added, "Don't worry about the rest of the season. I'll show up for all my shoots, as always, and I'll fulfill my media obligations. After that, well . . ." She paused. "I'm going back to my real life."

"Do you really want to go back to the way things were? Before I discovered you at Les Deux?"

"More than anything," Jane said, meaning it. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for my dinner date."

Trevor regarded her, his jaw clenching and unclenching. "You're going to change your mind. You know that, right?"

Jane shrugged. And said nothing. She knew Trevor would not give up easily. She also knew there was nothing he could say or do to make her change her mind.

Jane blinked into the morning light and glanced over at her nightstand, expecting to see her goldfish, Penny, demanding breakfast. But instead of her fishbowl, there was a stack of scripts, a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf travel mug, and a framed, faded photo of a blond boy dressed in a SpongeBob T-shirt and holding a puppy.

Oh, right. Jane rolled over and smiled at Braden, who was curled up on his side, fast asleep. The photo must be Braden at age nine or ten. So cute. She inched closer to him and snuggled against his back. His T-shirt had a warm, beachy smell that she had always a.s.sociated with him.

She couldn't believe she was here, now, in his bed. They had met for dinner last night at a hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant (to avoid paparazzi), after which Braden had suggested that they go back to his apartment for a Monopoly rematch, which had turned out to be code for something else, which had been just fine with Jane. As soon as they walked through his front door, they fell into each other's arms and kissed. Their chemistry had been amazing-better than ever. Was it because they had come to realize their true feelings for each other during their time apart?

At dinner, Jane hadn't said a word to Braden about Caleb (whose calls and texts she hadn't returned-and had no plan to return). She hadn't said a word about her conversation with Trevor, either. She was waiting for the perfect moment. Because among other things, quitting the show meant that she and Braden could finally try to have a real relationship. Away from the cameras, away from the spotlight, no more hiding in their apartments or meeting in dive bars and out-of-the-way restaurants. They could date openly, publicly, like a real couple. Finally.

"Morning." Braden stretched, then sat up against the pillows. His dirty blond hair was tousled, and his hazel-green eyes looked sleepy.

"Hey. How are you?"

"Tired. What time did we go to bed?"

"Two or three?"

"G.o.d. Sorry. When do you have to be at work?"

"Not till this afternoon. So I'm all yours this morning."

"Cool." Braden kissed Jane on the forehead, then rolled out of bed and headed into the hallway. She heard a door closing, then water running, then a door opening, then footsteps, then a coffee grinder buzzing loudly. Guess that means we're getting up, Jane thought. She got to her feet, found her dress lying on the floor, and pulled it on over her camisole.

By the time she walked into the kitchen, Braden was pouring two mugs of coffee. "Do you take anything?" he asked her.

"Just some milk, if you have it." Jane sat down at the small wooden table. "Soooo. I have some news."

"Yeah? What's going on?" Braden set the mugs down on the table and sat across from her. He picked up his BlackBerry and glanced at it briefly.

Jane took a deep breath and began playing with her hair. She tried to antic.i.p.ate Braden's reaction. Would he be happy? Of course he was going to be happy, right? Even though he had always been 100 percent supportive of her career, he had never held back on his negative opinions about L.A. Candy, reality TV, and the whole Hollywood scene. Not to mention the problems these things had caused for the two of them.

"I wanted to tell you last night, but . . . well . . . it's kinda big."

Braden grinned. "What? You're killing me with the suspense."

"Okay. So here it is. I quit the show."

Braden stared at her. "You . . . quit the show?"

"Yep. I told Trevor last night. This is gonna be my last season."

"Wow. What brought that on?"

Jane told him about Trevor's notebook and the Caleb-Gaby incident in Las Vegas. "I'm sick of Trevor controlling me," she finished. "I want my life back. I want to be able to do what I want . . . and date who I want."

She paused and glanced at him expectantly.

Braden took a sip of his coffee and looked thoughtful. "Yeah, well, this is huge," he said after a moment. "I'm really proud of you, Jane. That took a lot of guts."

"Thanks!"

"Are you going to quit your other job, too? With, uh, Fiona Chen, right?"

"Right. I definitely want to keep working in event planning. I'm not sure about Fiona's, though. PopTV's pretty much taken over her offices."

"That's nuts." Braden reached for his BlackBerry and started scrolling. "You know, my friend Amanda works at some fancy event-planning firm in New York. I could email her for you, see if they're hiring?"

Jane blinked.

"Yeah, here she is. She works at Four Star Events. Ever heard of them?"

Jane began twisting a lock of her hair around her finger. Did Braden just tell her that he would try to help her find a new job . . . across the country? She had misheard him, right? But he kept on talking . . .

"Amanda Miller. Yeah, I think she really likes it there."

Wait. Had Braden suddenly lost interest in her because she had basically told him she was interested in him?

As Braden talked, Jane's mind flashed back to the conversation she had with Scarlett on the ride home from the Playground party. Scar had asked her if Braden was the kind of guy who avoided relationships until he really and truly fell in love-or if he was the kind who avoided relationships altogether. Had Braden ever been in a relationship? Jane knew he'd been on-again off-again with Willow for three years, which should have been a warning sign. She also thought about the first time she and Braden hooked up, back in December. Braden had made the overture, not her, and she had been too vulnerable and mixed-up to resist. Should the fact that he came on to her while she was dating his best friend have been a warning sign, too? And what about his late-night phone call from Banff, after he'd heard that she was dating Caleb? Did Braden only want her when she was with another guy, or he was with another girl, or they were otherwise unable to be together? The answer seemed suddenly obvious.

Here she had been thinking that he might be the one. Not Jesse, not Caleb . . . Braden.

G.o.d. She was such an idiot.

"Amanda's really cool. I'm sure she'd be happy to talk to you," Braden was saying.

Jane stood up and put her coffee mug in the sink. Then she went to the living room and picked up her shoes and her purse.