Falling From Grace (9 page)

He loved her smile but he wasn’t going to let her off so easily. “No,” he said firmly. “That was the problem last time and look where it got us.”

She withdrew her hand and shrugged. “Miles, I can’t go there right now. There’s too much in my life that I don’t have answers for much less what we have with each other. Let’s not ruin the day, okay?”

He frowned at her deflection and decided to just go for it. “What if I told you that I never stopped loving you?”

“Then I would say I feel the same but we come from different worlds and I don’t know that the two worlds can ever truly mesh.”

“We meshed just fine until you broke it off,” he reminded her.

A small smile at the memory curved her lips as she agreed softly. “Yeah, we did, huh?” But it faded too quickly as she followed with, “But too much has changed and trust me, you definitely wouldn’t like the world I live in now.”

“Such as?”

Dani shrugged and a bleak expression stole the joy from her eyes. “Miles, you caught a taste of my world back in L.A. and I could see your contempt quite easily. You’re no actor. What you feel is usually splayed all over your face. It’s what I love about you. There’s no subterfuge or deception. I don’t have to decipher your true meaning from what comes out of your mouth because you don’t play games like that.”

“So far I’m not seeing the problem,” he said.

She exhaled and shook her head with a groan. “Miles…I’m an actress. I’m gone three to four months out of the year and everyone is always trying to get a piece of my life. I’m always dodging the paparazzi and sometimes they tell terrible lies about me. What would you do if you saw a picture of me with a story blazed across the headline that I was screwing around? It happens. And it destroys relationships. I’ve done enough damage to you…I don’t want to hurt you again.”

As much as he didn’t want to admit that she might be right, he could see her point. He’d hate seeing her in the tabloids and it would be difficult to separate the lies from the truth. At a certain point, he would break. “So what you’re saying is we should just enjoy what we have right now and accept that when our time is over here, it’s over for good?”

She nodded sadly. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

He couldn’t accept that. Not ever. Not even if it meant that in the end, he’d get a heart full of misery for his trouble. He loved her — not in the fleeting kind of way that tickles as it passes — but in the kind of way that left a scar several layers deep and was always tender to the touch no matter how much time had passed. But she wasn’t ready to hear that. Not yet. So he’d pretend to go along with her reasoning for the time being if only to give her the space to accept that she couldn’t live without him just as much as he couldn’t live without her. And in the meantime, they’d enjoy boiled bananas.

-9-

Miles and Dani were just returning from The Lazy Donkey when Lindy Bell breezed into the lobby of L
arimar, looking impossibly fabulous in spite of the hours spent traveling. Dani tried not to act star-struck but it was hard not to be affected by the reality that she was standing in the foyer, breathing the same air as someone as famous as Lindy. And the fact that Lindy was personally lobbying for Dani in Falling From Grace? Well, Dani was having a hard time keeping it together.

“How is it that you look movie-star fresh after an eight hour flight and yet I look like mashed donkey dung after the same flight?” Miles grinned as he folded Lindy into a hug.

“I’m used to the humidity,” Lindy answered with a laugh. “It’s in my blood.” She pulled apart and her gaze settled on Dani with open speculation, going straight to the introductions. “You must be Danielle St. Claire. I’m—”

“Lindy Bell,” Dani cut in with rabid excitement. “I’m sorry! But…I’m a huge fan.”

Lindy smiled. “Nice to meet you, too. Your work in
Judgment
was good. I think it takes talent to give depth to a part that’s essentially eye candy in an action flick. Has Miles talked to you about my latest pet project?”

“I have,” Miles answered for her, adding, “But maybe you could fill her in on the details.”

“Sounds good. How about we meet in the family section of the resort and we’ll hash it out over dinner.”

Dani bobbed a nod, too excited to act cool or nonchalant or every other bit of bad advice Raina had ever given her because she was standing next to the woman who was her idol and she didn’t care if she babbled or came off as an amateur
rookie. Lindy waved and then she disappeared into the private section of the resort where the family lived. Dani whirled on Miles and planted a nice, long, deep and passionate kiss on him, breaking apart with a wild grin.

“What was that for?” Miles asked, his eyes hazed with sudden desire. “Not that I’m complaining…”

“Just because.” She left it at that. There was too much emotion swelling in her chest to think clearly and she didn’t
want
to think clearly. She wanted to roll around in all the lovely goodness permeating her soul and lifting her spirits because only God knew how long it would last and she was greedy for every blessed moment. Dani grasped Miles’ hand and practically dragged him to his bungalow, needing to feel his skin against hers to burn out some of this nervous energy or else she end up humping Lindy’s leg in adoration, effectively ruining any chance she might’ve had at looking cool in Lindy’s eyes. Unless by some strange quirk of fate, Lindy enjoyed leg humpers. Gahh! She was definitely babbling, even inside her head!

#

Miles, breathing hard and a little dizzy from the threat of dehydration after Dani had milked every last drop of fluid from his body, rose unsteadily to grab some bottled waters while Dani lounged, naked and dewy, like a Grecian goddess on the bed. “Do you think she’s going to like me?” she asked when Miles returned and handed her a water. “I mean, what if she believes the stories about me?”

“The stories where you are incredibly talented? I sure as hell hope she believes them.”

She frowned even though Miles was sweet to deflect. “You know that’s not what I mean. The past few months haven’t been kind to my reputation. I don’t want her to think of me that way. I want her to believe in me.”

“She does. Otherwise she wouldn’t be pushing for you on this project.”

“Technically, it’s the director who wants me, right? Not Lindy specifically.”

Ah, that’s true. He couldn’t lie about that. “But Lindy knows you’re talented otherwise she wouldn’t risk her pet project. She just wouldn’t.
Lindy would rather sit on the project than agree to hire someone who was going to ruin it.”

Dani nodded, chewing her lip in thought. “I haven’t felt this nervous in a long time. I want her to like me so bad.”

“She will. She already does,” he assured her, smoothing the hair from her eyes. “Stop worrying.”

“What do you know about the character Hattie? You said you’ve read the book?
Is there a bookstore here? I want to pick up a copy.”

“Slow down,” he laughed as he took
a seat beside her. “I have read the book. She’s young but strong. I think if played right, it could have Oscar potential.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened. “And you think I could pull it off? Why?”

“Hey…what happened to the woman who was going to conquer the world?” he asked softly. “That woman wouldn’t have been scared to grab an opportunity by the balls.”

She swallowed. “I don’t know. She got eaten by missed opportunities, bad press, and parasitic posses.”

He disagreed, brushing a kiss across her lips. “No. She’s still in there. Just waiting for you to bring her back out into the light.”

“What makes you so sure?”

A mischievous grin followed as he said in a husky tone that made her shiver, “Because she leaves behind scratches on my back when I fuck her.”

“
Oh, Miles!” she gasped and blushed even as a shy smile curved her lips. “You know how to sweet talk a woman.”

“Not really,” he said, grinning. “Only you.”
He pulled her from the bed and sent her toward the bathroom, saying, “Get the water started. We can’t go to dinner with Lindy smelling like sweaty sex and salt water…although…I kinda like that scent on you.”

“You’re
impossible,” Dani said over her shoulder with a coy smile knowing he was staring at her ass and loving the view. “But if you’re up for a quickie in the shower…”

Again? His poor cock would never recover. But then, there were worse problems, right? He hustled after her, gathering her in his arms
to walk them both into the spray.

#

They entered the private section of the resort and found Lindy and her twin sister chatting while the Lilah’s twins ran around like tan little monkeys. Their laughter was infectious and Dani couldn’t help the smile as she watched them play. Was it completely ludicrous that she wondered how well she and Miles’ DNA would turn out? Yeah, possibly dangerous, too. Why was she torturing herself that way? She couldn’t have babies any time soon, not when a less-than-svelte figure on a woman meant she was
persona non grata
in Hollywood’s casting circles. But even so…they were pretty cute. “They are so high energy,” she murmured to Miles and he chuckled.

“That’s one way to get your cardio…chase after a rambunctious set of twins all day.”

She laughed and Lindy noticed they’d come in, breaking into a wide, inviting smile and gesturing for them to join them. “Come on in. You’re just in time. We were about to break open the wine.”

“No wine for us,” Miles said, startling Dani when he made the choice for her.
Lindy’s gaze flew from Miles to Dani, instantly chagrined for making the offer and Dani wanted to fall through the floor. Miles had just made her feel like a leper in front of Lindy Bell. Off to a fabulous start.

“Well, maybe Miles doesn’t want any wine
,” she said, shooting Miles a quelling look “but I’ll certainly have some.”

“Are you sure? I know you’re still recovering,” Lindy said, worried. “You know what? Forget it, we don’t need alcohol. Let’s have pineapple juice. It’s better for us anyway.”

Dani smiled as if she didn’t mind but inside she was cringing. Lindy thought she was an alcoholic or something because of her recent past. “I’m really fine. You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the tabloids,” she added with a bit of censure.
Damn you, Miles
. If Raina were here she wouldn’t have humiliated her like that. No, in fact, Raina would’ve joined in for a glass or two because she understood how to network. However, she had to make do. “But pineapple juice is fine, too.”

Lindy
shrugged and said, “Well, I was going to wait and broach the subject after we’d gotten to know each other a little better but we might as well just offer the elephant in the room some peanuts and get it over with.”

“I suppose we could do that,” Dani said,
sagging with disappointment. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned her first meeting with someone of Lindy’s caliber but what could she do but grit her teeth and suffer through it? “What would you like to know?”

“Well, I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t heard the rumors and don’t get me wrong, I know half the time what those tabloids spread is pure fiction but as you know, perception is everything and right now…you’re a risk.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“I know that’s hard to hear but if you’re going to salvage your career, you’re going to have to own your part in what happened.”

“Wow…an intervention and a parenting sesh. How’d I get so lucky?” Dani muttered, really wishing she had some liquor to soften the sting of getting schooled by her idol. This sucked.

“Dani, Lindy is trying to help,” Miles reminded her and she shot him a look that said,
shut up, I didn’t ask for your input
and he scowled. “Careful…don’t burn the house down just because you don’t like the drapes.”

She wanted to do exactly that and she might’ve three days ago but somehow she reined in her unruly tongue and forced herself to apologize. “It’s hard to be gracious when you’re constantly being reminded that you screwed up,” she said, swallowing the bitterness of her own humiliation. “But I appreciate the opportunity to work with you. Even if it means listening to everyone count down my failures.”

“Nobody is trying to throw in your face where you went wrong,” Lindy assured her with a small, understanding smile. “If anyone can understand and empathize with what you’re going through, it’s me. In the beginning of my career, I didn’t always make the best choices. I started getting stereotyped as the eye candy and not a serious actress. Directors of quality stopped taking my calls and the only people interested in giving me work were people who thought they could sleep with me. It hurt my ego — a lot — but I was lucky enough to find someone who helped me to see that I was better than that. And then I was smart enough to marry him and move to San Francisco.”

“You moved away from L.A.? Why?” Dani asked, confounded. “How do you get jobs? You have to be seen in that town or else people forget you.”

“No, that’s a lie that someone told you to get you to do what they wanted. If you’re talented, they’ll come calling. You don’t have to go clubbing every night — in fact, I really advise against it. You’ll attract the wrong kind of attention. I’m sure we’re all aware of a certain starlet who fell apart and lost everything because she let her demons take control of her career. Don’t be that cliché. Be the person you were meant to be.”

“What if you don’t know who that is anymore?” Dani asked.

“Then it’s time to regroup. Like what you’re doing here with Miles. The best part about Hollywood is that they love a comeback. When you come back to L.A., do it with your head held high and then clean house. The people you’ve been hanging out with — ditch them because they’re not doing you any favors.”

She nodded, ashamed that she’d briefly thought of calling Raina and ditching Miles to go back to L.A. What was she thinking? All because Miles, who was thinking of her welfare, put the kibosh on the alcohol? Jesus, she was all manner of messed up in the head. “Thanks. I’ll do that.” She looked to Miles and the sweetness they’d shared earlier was hidden behind a wall she’d put there. They had so much baggage between them…baggage she’d put there. “So what do I need to do to prove that I’m a good investment?  I really would love the ch
ance to play the part of Hattie even though I really don’t know much about the character. The fact that it has your endorsement is good enough sign for me that it’s a good project.”

“I’m flattered, but for what it’s worth, you really ought to read the book, which is why….”
Lindy radiated happiness as she pulled a large hard cover book from a bag beside her. “I brought you something,” she said, handing Dani the book.

She looked to Miles. “Did you know she’d bought the book for me?”

He chuckled. “No, but I figured she would.”

“
I hope you don’t mind,” Lindy said.

Dani hugged the book to her chest and shook her head. “Oh no! Not at all. I was just telling Miles I wanted to buy a copy. Thank you!”

“Now, here’s your homework: I want you to pull up a chair, slather on the sunscreen and then take some time to read it. I hope I’m not exaggerating when I say it’ll change your life. The part of Hattie was written for you but you need to know how Hattie thinks and there’s no better way than to read the words the author crafted for the character.”

Dani
stared at the book, a little intimidated by the sheer number of pages of
Falling From Grace
but she realized if she wanted to change, she had to start somewhere. “I’ve never read a book in the hopes of understanding a character before,” she admitted. “It feels so legit. I mean, this is the real deal, you know?”

Lindy nodded. “Yeah, I know. But that’s how you’ll rise above this noise that’s surrounding you right now.
You’re young and your resume isn’t long but you’ve got talent and it’s time to start using it. Immerse yourself in this book and you’ll get what I mean.”