The sun streamed in the windows waking Talia. Blinking her eyes, she groaned and put the pillow over her head. She'd have to remember to close the curtains next time. Giving up going back to sleep, Talia removed the pillow from her face.

Looking around she didn't recognize where she was. Then, in a flash, memories from the night before came back. Her body remembered with soreness from their three maybe four rounds of hot as hell sex. Sighing, she fell back into his pillows with a smile. Her smile soon faded when she realized she was alone. Where the hell did he go?

A clanking came from the hallway. With a tray full of delicious smells, Zeke entered the bedroom. Seeing she was awake a radiant smile crossed his face. Talia smiled back pulling the sheet up to cover her bare breasts.

"Morning, Lia. I brought us breakfast." Zeke sat the tray on the bed between them.

"Breakfast in bed?"

"Absolutely. I don't plan on us leaving this bed for the rest of the weekend. I even called Addie giving her the rest of the weekend off." Talia's jaw dropped.

"That was sweet of you."

He grinned. "It was purely for selfish reasons. I wanted us to be able to have sex anywhere in the house without being bothered."

Talia laughed loudly. "You're awfully sure I'd have sex with you again."

He leaned over kissing her neck then sucking her earlobe into his mouth. Talia shivered. "I'm pretty damn sure. Now, eat some breakfast. You're gonna need your strength."

Talia fixed a plate with eggs, bacon and toast. Whatever he had planned she was going to be up for it. Her phone beeped alerting her of an email. She grabbed it off the night stand and sighed.

To:   [email protected]

From:  [email protected]

Tubby Talia at it Again. This time....Assault!

Notorious Queen of Gossip, Talia Walker, is at it again. This time she assaulted the innocent megastar Max Hamilton. In an unknown backwoods watering hole, Talia took her frustrations out on an unsuspecting Max. In the attached picture you can see her luring him in only to assault him. What will she do next? She is a menace. How can we continue to let her get away with what she is doing to our beloved movie stars? Someone needs to do something!

Talia threw her phone on the bed. That was the fifth email she'd gotten from Mel in the last two weeks. Someone continued to publish slanderous articles smudging her reputation.

At first, when she got the articles they were devastating. Her reputation was all she had in the tabloid business. But, as the emails and pictures became more and more ridiculous she realized they didn't matter anymore. They were wrong. If people believed them and she lost her job over things this stupid, then she was meant to do so much more with her life.

"What?" Zeke asked shoving a piece of bacon in his mouth.

Picking up her phone she pulled up the article to show him. He paled when he read it. "This is horrible. Max is the guilty party here. How did anyone even get this picture?"

Talia shrugged and continued eating.

"Doesn't this upset you?"

"No. It's like the fifth one in the past two weeks. Hasn't anyone sent them to you?"

"No. Why would they?"

"Well there were a few really nasty ones insinuating I had a secret relationship with Jeremiah, then one with Chrissy, then I was pregnant with Jeremiah's baby and you were going to raise it as your own." Talia sighed.

Zeke blinked at her. "Uh...what?"

"It's fine, Zeke. I've dealt with it."

"How have you dealt with it?"

"I don't care anymore. They can write what they want about me, about us, about me being tubby. I don't care about any of it. I've even thought about giving up the gossip business."

"Wait a second, are you going to quit your job?" Zeke moved the tray out of the way and climbed up the bed next to her.

"Yeah. I have never really liked it. It paid the bills."

"You got so many scoops though. You were dubbed the Queen of Gossip."

Talia let out a little laugh. Zeke put his arm around her pulling her to him. She laid her head on his chest listening to his heart beat.

"You still want that secret?" Talia asked.

"You mean the one you owe me from the diner?" Talia nodded. "Of course, I want that secret. I've been dying for it."

"It was all a coincidence."

"What was?"

"The story that made my career. Gwyn and Gina just so happened to be at the restaurant I was supposed to meet someone at. Granted they really weren't hiding anything. But, I was there, had my phone out and took advantage of it."

"Really? Who were you meeting?"

Talia sat in silence. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go down that road. The only other person who knew the truth was Jeremiah.

"Lia? What is it? You can tell me anything." He squeezed her tighter.

"I was stood up."

"What?"

Talia felt her face burning. "I had a date that stood me up. I'd met him on that new dating site, Actual Amore dot com. We really hit it off. He seemed like a great guy, but when it came to meeting up..." Talia shrugged.

"What?"

"You're going to make me say it aren't you?"

"Please."

She cleared her throat. "He apparently took one look at me and didn't like what he saw. I was so nervous meeting him I didn't even notice he'd come in then walked right back out when the hostess pointed me out."

"Didn't you send him a picture?"

"Yeah. I had lots of pictures of myself on my profile. I guess the real deal was just too much to deal with."

Zeke sat up drawing Talia's attention to him. Leaning down her captured her lips with his in a tender kiss. Pulling back, he stared into her eyes.

"He was an idiot. I can't say I am sad though."

"Why?"

He smiled. "If he had actually been smart and claimed you for himself then I wouldn't have had my chance."

"Oh, you think you have a chance, do you?"

Zeke rolled Talia to her back. "You know damn well you want me again."

"Four times wasn't enough for you?"

"Anything short of forever with you will never be enough." He kissed her hard working his hand over her naked body. As his hand skimmed over her pelvis a banging came from downstairs.

"We can ignore that." He said continuing his exploration.

The banging continued only getting louder.

"I don't think they are going to quit. Let's go answer the door then you can have your way with me on the couch." Talia moved from under him grabbing one of his shirts and slipping it on. "Or on the counter." She winked and moved toward the door. "Or bent over a stool."

"Woman! Go get dressed before I drag you back to this bed and say to hell with whoever is knocking on that damn door."

Talia giggled and ran to her room to put more than Zeke's shirt on.

Running into her room, Talia threw on a pair of leggings under Zeke's shirt. She didn't want to take off the shirt because it still smelled like him. Bra and panties weren't needed with what they wanted to do after getting rid of the person interrupting their sexathon.

"Talia! Get your ass down here!" Jeremiah's voice echoed up to her room.

"Coming!"

Talia rushed down the stairs. Jeremiah was standing next to the barely dressed Zeke. Her eyes roamed over his bare chest and low-slung basketball shorts.

"Over here lady!" Jeremiah waved his arms.

"Hi, Jeremiah. So, uhm, why are you here?"

"Ouch! Did I interrupt you two finally getting it on?" He joked then sobered after seeing Talia's blush. "Oh shit, I did. Way to go, Tally! Finally rode the serpent? He put the hotdog in the bun? He laid some pipe? He-"

"Oh God! Please stop!" Talia covered her face with her hands.

Zeke cleared his throat and threw an arm around Talia's shoulders. "And yes, he did."

Jeremiah wore a know it all grin. "Alright! I will make this short. I have to head back today. Work called, and they need me at a meeting tomorrow."

"What?" Talia's heart dropped to her feet.

"I had to leave some time. We all can't shack up with a hottie and write a novel."

"That's not what I'm doing."

Jeremiah leaned toward her. "Oh yeah? What are you doing?" He grabbed her in a hug then planted a kiss on her forehead. "I will see you when you get back. I'll text you when I land. Enjoy everything, Tally."

With those final words, Jeremiah left the house. Tears sprung to her eyes. Zeke turned her toward him wrapping his arms around her. She silently cried missing her best friend already.

After a few minutes, Zeke said, "Come on, baby. It's ok. We aren't staying here forever. Hopefully when we get back things can go back to normal and you can move back in with Jeremiah...if you want."

Fresh tears pooled in the corner of her eyes. Why did that idea break her heart more than Jeremiah leaving?