Falling From Grace (3 page)

“I wasn’t acting with you.”

Her quiet statement slid like a sharpened razor across his heart and he hated that she still had that effect on him. “Yeah, well, whatever. Are you strong enough to shower?” At her slow nod, he was glad. He needed a moment to regroup. “Good. While you’re showering, I’m going to mix up a protein shake with plenty of electrolytes to replenish what you’ve lost.”

“I doubt I have what you need t
o make a power shake,” she retorted until she saw him grab a bag and start unloading it on the counter in the kitchen. “Oh. I see you came prepared.”

“I came for a purpose, not for fun times.”

Her expression dulled and she bit out, “Okay, stop rubbing it in, already. I get it” wincing a little as she changed position. He could only imagine what kind of abuse she’d put her body through — or the countless men she’d allowed to bend her over the nearest surface. His gaze dropped to the granite countertop and he swallowed the rush of bile as his imagination did cruel things to his mind. Hey, who cared? It wasn’t as if he’d been celibate since their break up so he couldn’t expect her to suddenly join a nunnery just because the thought of someone else touching that smooth skin was enough to make him want to die. Although, that would’ve been a nice stroke to his ego if she had. “Are you seeing anyone?” he asked, striving for a casual nonchalance — as if he could care less what her answer was and he was just making polite conversation — but he could feel the anxiety dogging the edges of his inquiry.

“No,” she answered, following up with, “You?”

“I was put off by dating for a while. You never know when someone’s telling the truth or just lying through their teeth and I really don’t have the time to deal with the bullshit.”

Yeah, honey that was directed at you
. And she knew it. “Passive aggressive much? Jesus, Miles, when did you turn into such a whiny bitch?”

He glowered at her for calling him out but he supposed he’d walked right into that one. He was being a whiny bitch. He had to move on and let go one of these days. Too much unresolved
crap in his head — and heart. Miles forced a chuckle and loosened up. “You’re right. I ought to just come out and say what I need to say and be done with it.”

“
You’d probably feel better. I know I always do,” she said but there was a reticence about her gaze that belied her false bravado. She was afraid to face the music and her body language was screaming it from the rooftops. “I mean, if you think it’ll help you, you know. I suppose I owe you that.”

He opened his mouth to unload —
 she’d asked for it, right? — but when it really came down to it, there was no point in dredging up the poison from the past. He wasn’t here to vent, he was here to help Lindy. Miles sighed and waved off Dani’s offer. “That’s not necessary. I’ll stop with the passive aggressive digs. I’m just here to help a friend. Let’s leave it at that.”

Dani nodded and slowly rose from the chair, saying, “I’m going to shower” and then left the room. And damn if he couldn’t help himself as he stared hard a
t that perfect heart-shaped ass before wrenching his gaze to focus on his task. Why did she have the power to turn him inside out and sidewise just by being in the same room together? He’d known staying impartial was going to be a struggle but he’d had no idea it was going to be this tough.

Don’t think about her smooth, porcelain skin and how they
’d loved foreplay in the shower
. That way lies madness and heartbreak
, he warned himself as he quickly cleaned and chopped vegetables and fruits for the blender. A few minutes later, Dani emerged, fresh-faced with her long red hair swept up in an easy ponytail and he was struck by the memory of when they’d first met.

He’d been working as the on-site physician for an up-and-coming action flick
directed by Michael Bay when he’d first seen Dani. She’d nabbed a bit part — possibly her first speaking role that’d enabled her to get her SAG card — but she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen in his entire life. Her laugh, her smile, the way her eyes sparkled and snapped with pure vitality, yeah, he’d been hooked from day one. He hadn’t known she was married but then she hadn’t been wearing a ring, nor had she advertised that she was taken. In fact, quite the opposite.

“So you’re the doc?” she’d said, popping into the chair beside him between takes. The assistant director was off yelling commands and all production had ground to a halt, which gave everyone a chance to regroup, go to the bathr
oom, or grub. “My name’s Dani.” He accepted her outstretched hand with a smile that matched hers. The minute their skin touched, an electrical current snapped and arced — literally. “Ouch!” she laughed, shaking her hand. “I forgot that these shoes catch a lot of static electricity.”

“It’s okay. You’re not the first person who’s shocked me today,” he said, rubbing his hand where the arc had zinged. “Nice to meet you, I’m Dr. Lassiter. But you can call me Miles.”

A honeyed smile curved her lips and he immediately thought of strawberry wine and sweet chocolate. “Doctor? Would it be totally cheesy if I admitted that there’s something about doctors that I find incredibly hot?”

“It would not be c
heesy because it’s true. I’m a totally hot doctor,” he confirmed with a cock-sure grin that she found delightful. Her giggle lit up his soul like a Disney parade and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. “So, Dani…are you a full-time actress or just doing this for fun?”

“Fulltime. This is my first real gig. I mean, I’ve been an extra a couple of times but this
is the first time I’ve actually gotten a speaking role. But,” she wagged her finger at him with excitement brimming in her gorgeous green eyes. “I just read for a bigger part on this new film and I think I might have a good shot at getting it. The director liked what he saw and I’ve already had a call-back. Now, I just have to do another reading with the other main actor to see if we gel. I have a good feeling about it,” she said with a confidence that made her shine.

“You do? Goo
d for you. I bet you’ll go far,” he said, taking in everything that was Dani in one glance and finding himself instantly drawn to her sparkling charisma. This woman was going to be someone, he just knew it.

“Thanks. I hope so.” The assistant director started bellowing names and Dani hopped from her chair. “Looks like we’re back to one, which means I
have to get back to my mark.”

“Nice meeting you,” he said.

“Yeah…nice meeting you, too,
Dr. Lassiter
.” She smiled and then she shocked him when she bounded up to him, getting right in his personal bubble — not that he minded, hell, he was ready to wrap his arms around her — and she said in a quick, sultry tone, “Wanna do something after we wrap?”

“Dinner?”

She gave him a flirty look from beneath the fringe of her lush lashes and countered with, “How about drinks? Your place?”

He stared at the beautiful vision with the sparkling eyes and smoking hot body, weighed the pros and cons in a nanosecond and then practically tripped on his own tongue to eagerly accept. “Yeah, sure,” he said, fighting the surge of testosterone when his
stare involuntarily dropped to her impressive rack as if pulled by magnets.
Argh! Damn it, stop being such a randy perv
, he chastised himself as gaze returned to her face but judging by the way her smile turned knowing she knew exactly where his thoughts had gone…and she didn’t mind in the least.

“Maybe we’ll turn drinks into a sleep-over,
Dr. Hottie.” And then she sauntered off, throwing him a coy glance over her shoulder to make sure he knew exactly how interested she was in whatever he had to offer. Jesus…he was only human. And she was a fucking goddess. How could he refuse?

Miles pulled himself from that memory
with a sharp groan and trained his attention on the smoothie, his mouth set in a hard line. Why’d he have to go there? The past wasn’t a vacation spot where he wanted to linger. But that memory…damn, it sizzled.

If only they’
d stuck with drinks.

-3-

Dani took a long shower, still unable to believe that Miles was here to rescue her. A momentary flush of pleasure
tickled her insides until she reminded herself that he wasn’t there for
her
, specifically, but for someone else. Lindy Bell…beautiful, talented, Lindy Bell. Lindy was married, wasn’t she? Oh, what did that matter in Hollywood? She’d been married when she’d started hooking up with Miles. An unhappy sigh rattled out of her chest and she wanted to cry. She was mentally unbalanced right now. Maybe Miles was right and she needed protein and electrolytes. Why’d she let Miles go in the first place?

A sweet memory surfaced —
 it was after their first night together and Dani had been riding high on the feeling that Miles was more than a one-night stand. She’d already been planning to dump her sleazeball husband and Miles popping up in her life felt like kismet — as if the universe was affirming that she was making the right move.

“
All right, tell me something about Dani St. Claire,” Miles had suggested, lounging in the bed after another epic romp between the sheets. “Something beyond the obvious. Do you have family here in L.A. or are you a transplant?”

“No family. My dad died about two years ago from a heart attack. I came to L.A. because there was nothing for me at home anymore and I knew I had to follow my dreams. Girls like me are expected to settle down, get pregnant, and work at the diner for the rest of their lives and I’d rather die than let that happen.”

“What do you mean,
girls like you
?”

She glanced up at him, then shrugged. “People
in my town sized me up and said, ‘Pretty girl with no real smarts. It’s not like she’s going to college’ but my daddy always wanted me to chase after my dreams. He said, ‘Dani…pretty girls in this town end up trading their dreams for a graveyard shift at the cannery or losing their looks after pushing out a passel of kids because they’re afraid of the unknown. Don’t let that happen to you. Not ever.’ When he died, he left me a little insurance money and I knew I’d never get another chance to leave so I packed up and put that town in my rear view mirror.”

“
So where was home?”

“A small nothing town called Miner’s Edge,
near Jamestown. If you blink you missed it.”

“Let me guess, gold rush town?”

“Yeah,” she answered, snuggling up to him. “It’s not even big enough for its own post office. Thank God for the Internet, right? I hated that town.”

It was also where she’d hooked up with Richard —
 an older guy whom she’d mistakenly thought had big world ideas when in fact, he’d just been looking for someone to bankroll his lifestyle and he’d recognized the meal ticket in Dani. He hadn’t wasted time in wooing a dumb nineteen-year-old girl and getting her to marry him. Dani squeezed her eyes shut, hating Richard and hating herself for being so stupid back then. “How about you? What’s your life story?”

“Nothing so exotic. I had a great childhood. Went to college. Became a doctor. Pretty cut and dry.”

She sighed. “You’re lucky. I would’ve given my right arm for an upbringing like that. My dad did the best he could and I know he loved me but we were really poor — as in
powdered milk poor
.”

“That’s pretty poor,” he agreed with chagrined amusement as he tightened his hold around her. “Well, those days are over. Pretty soon you’ll be able to afford organic milk and forget all about those powdered milk days.”

“You think so?” she asked, warmed by his confidence in her.

“Yep. You’re special. I can feel it —
 and no, I don’t just say that to every pretty starlet I’m having sex with.”

“Hey!” She straightened with a scowl. “How many are you sleeping with?”

At that he laughed and pulled her into his arms, flipping her so that she was on her back. He hovered with a devilish smile that made her melt as he said, “Only you, babe. You’re all I think about, Scout’s honor.”

And there was something so honest about Miles that she didn’t doubt him for a second. Unlike so many men she’d been around, his eye didn’t wander. Miles, for all his hotness, was serially monogamous. “I believe you,” she murmured, drawing him closer to brush a sweet kiss across his lips. “You’re one of a kind, Miles Lassiter.”
And worth keeping
.

Her sinuses tingled in warning and Dani pushed away the memory with force. Everything from that point forward had gone downhill rapidly. Her bright future with Miles had taken a terrible turn the moment she’d tried to officially break things off with Richard.
She hadn’t told Miles about Richard because frankly, she was embarrassed that she’d ever been that naïve but after Richard had played his Ace, she’d had no choice.

She closed her eyes, squeezing out the memory of having to suffer Richard’s mauling hands on her body as she gritted out the time left on her contract. Damn sex tape. Never again. The one good thing that’d come out of that dark time in her life was she’d managed to destroy the one copy —
 she hoped — of that fucking embarrassment. Of course, by the time she’d been freed, Miles had split and her career had taken off with dizzying speed. And the rest, as they say, was history.

But it wasn’t completely in the past because Miles was here now, reminding her of all the reasons why he’d been the best thing that’d ever happened to her. Including fame. Hell, that was a fucking mixed bag of funhouse terrors. She’d thought being famous was going to be far more…just more. Instead, it was a lot of
mortifying slip -ups documented for all posterity and as a result her reputation was sliding fast.  Sometimes she had to wonder if someone in her inner circle was deliberately leaking her whereabouts so that they could capitalize on the moment for their own financial gain.

Speaking of inner circle. Her cell buzzed and she picked it up. Raina…she was tempted to let it go to voicemail but in the end, she couldn’t help it and answered. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“
Oh my Gawwwd,
did you totally go home with Rafe Erickson?”

“That was that asshole’s name? Yeah, I guess, if Rafe is the same guy who tried to practically rape me this morning.”

“Awesome,” Raina giggled as if Dani were kidding. “Was he hung like a beast? I’ve heard stories but I’ve never had the pleasure.”

“Raina, I’m serious, you little psychopath. He totally tried to force me into having sex with him this morning even when I was screaming for him to stop.”

Raina stopped giggling and asked with a frown in her tone, “Really? Wow. I totally didn’t take him for the
rape-y
type. He seemed cool. Guess it’s my bad for sending him your way.”

“Yeah, thanks. If I was so trashed, why didn’t you bring me home?”

“Darling, because I finally managed to land that sweet piece of ass known as Patrick Saffanado, and I know you would’ve been cheering me on if you’d been less messed up. To answer your question, yes, it was
epic
and yes, I’m planning on doing him again sometime. He’s totally landing on my Topsies.”

Raina kept a list of guys —
 and girls — she’d had sex with and rated their skill levels on a scale of one to ten. The ones who were solid “tens” landed on the top of her list, otherwise known as her “Topsies” and she was fairly selective about who she perched at the top. But who fucking cared about that stupid shit? Jesus, had Raina totally blitzed out on the fact that a guy Raina had sent her home with had almost sexually assaulted her? Irritation scraped against her bruised feelings as she snapped, “Good for you, Raina. I’ve got bigger problems than who you’re sleeping with at the moment.” She dropped to her bed with a sigh. Should she tell Raina about Miles? She usually told Raina everything. Maybe that was part of the problem. No, Raina was chill. There was no way Raina would ever betray her, right? Ugh. Her head hurt. The mother of all hang-overs was taking up permanent residence in her brain. “Listen, I’m going to be out of commission for a few days,” she started, but Raina interrupted with a bored noise.

“
No bueno
, girlfriend. There is a party to end all parties tonight and you have to be there.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I just need a break. I think I need to sober up.” She laughed a little even though it wasn’t funny, mostly because she felt so miserable and didn’t know how to handle the fact that Miles was in her house making her smoothies. “I’ll call you later.”

“Peach…you’re overreacting. I’ve seen it before. Good girl goes a little wild and suddenly she needs to repent, or something like that. Honey, you haven’t done anything that can’t be explained away by a good publicist the next day. It’s all about damage control, right?”

No, not really. It was about losing your fucking dignity and looking like a loser in front of the one person who’d ever meant anything to you
. But she couldn’t admit that. Not to Raina — the woman lacked a sensitivity chip — and honestly, she didn’t want to say anything that would pique her interest in coming over. “Listen, I’ll call. I promise. I just need some downtime. Okay?”

“Party pooper,” Raina said, pouting. “Suit yourself. However, I’ll do
you a solid and make a round of excuses for you tonight. You owe me, girl.”

“Sure.”

“Later,” Raina chirped and then hung up.

Not for the first time Dani wondered if her relationship with Raina was an unhealthy one. But Raina was fun and unpredictable and she really did se
em to know all the right people so Dani often swallowed her misgivings. Maybe she’d been doing a little too much of that…her stomach growled and with a deep exhale, she shoved off the bed and headed for the kitchen to choke down what was likely something truly disgusting.

#

Miles poured the green power drink into a tall glass and pushed it toward Dani, ignoring her immediate grimace. “It’s filled with good stuff. Drink up.”

“It looks like gremlin poop.”

“And probably tastes as good,” he deadpanned, then gestured for her to drink. She lifted the glass to her lips and then closing her eyes, she took an exploratory sip, only to gag moments later.

“That’s disgusting! What did you grind up in that? Bugs and dirt?
”

“Worse. Now empty the glass.”

Dani glared. “Your bedside manner leaves much to be desired.”

“I save my congenial nature for my real patients.” He pointed
to the glass and made a drinking gesture. She made a small sound of frustration but finished the entire glass like a trooper. A grudging amount of admiration for her spunk threatened to soften the wall around his heart.
Can’t have that. Remember what a little snake she truly is
. And forget about how seeing her again made his teeth ache. “Good,” he said gruffly, accepting the empty glass and rinsing it out. His gaze strayed to tiny peek of bare skin showing from beneath her form fitting cami and jerked away as if scalded. “Would you mind putting on some clothes,” he said brusquely. “I’m here for one purpose — get you cleaned up and then I’m gone so don’t waste your time on seduction.”

“Seduction?” She barked a derisive laugh. “Like I would even try with you.”

“That’s right, I’m beneath your radar,” he shot back before he could rein in his mouth. Damn it, how did she manage to twist his screws so easily? He took a deep breath. There was no sense in acting like a bunch of teenagers when they were both grown adults. “Listen, how about we keep the personal attacks to a minimum. Try to look at this as a congenial intervention from a physician and leave our past out of it.”

“Do you think we can really do that?”

“Sure,” he said, though even as he nodded, an internal voice was laughing like a madman at the absurdity. Leave their past behind? Hell, they couldn’t be in the same room together without sparks flying — whether they were sparks of passion or anger, it didn’t matter. She was sexier than a Victoria Secret model and hotter than Georgia asphalt. He’d have to be blind to miss that and he certainly wasn’t blind. “Okay, I’ll admit it’s hard not to throw darts when an easy target is within reach but I will be on my best behavior if you will. Sound like a plan?”

Uncertainty
made her appear vulnerable and that familiar pull tugged at him again. Soft lips parted, tongue sliding gently along the seam of her bottom lip, she was a walking billboard for cozy days spent naked with nothing to do but each other. “Okay,” she finally agreed with a short nod. “So what’s next in this intervention?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never done an intervention before,” he admitted a bit sheepishly. “For the past year, I’ve mostly been delivering babies on a Caribbean island.”

A slow smile filled with curiosity brightened her mouth and she settled into one of the big chairs in the living room as she said, “Really? Babies? I thought you were a general practitioner?”

He followed her into the living room and took a seat opposite her. “I was but when I moved to St. John they needed help in the
OB clinic so I became a Jack of All Trades in the medical profession and along the way discovered an affinity for childbirth.”

“So you look at vaginas all day?” She arched a brow and he chuckled with a
n uncomfortable shrug, not denying it. She added, “I guess there are worse jobs, right?”