“Just...keep your guard up, babe,” she said, her voice gentle. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “I will,” I said. “I promise.”
Chapter Eleven
Henry
“Breathe,” I whispered as we walked up the pink carpeted path leading to the Maxwell’s sprawling back veranda, which at the moment looked like a cotton candy accident gone horribly wrong.
Everywhere I looked there were different shades of pink. Roses, streamers, balloons and crystal chandeliers adorned the normally elegant Tuscan style home. And were those ponies actually wearing unicorn horns? The only thing missing was…nope, never mind, the giant pink castle bounce house was accounted for. I’d missed it at first because it was blocked by the popup rosé truck.
To me, the place looked like a bad carnival nightmare, but from the look on Izzy’s face I could tell she was thoroughly impressed. Or maybe she just really liked unicorns, because she was gawking at them like her roommates had stared at me when I’d waltzed into their living room.
I leaned in, pressing my lips close enough to her ear to smell her floral perfume. “They’re not real.”
“I know,” Izzy said defensively, snapping her mouth shut as she tried to appear less awestruck.
It was kind of adorable. It was like watching a kitten trying to resist a ball of yarn.
“So,” I said, hoping to ease some of her tension. “What do you want to do first? Introductions or dessert?”
She laughed. “Dessert. Always dessert.”
I offered her my arm and started to lead her toward the towering display of cupcakes and cotton candy, but as luck would have it my mother intercepted us.
“Henry, darling!” she called waving us over. “Come join us.”
Great. I gave Izzy an apologetic look. “Sorry but dealing with my mother on an empty stomach might be best.”
Before Izzy could ask what I meant, my mother and her vultures descended upon us.
After a flurry of double cheek kisses with my mother and the five botoxed Barbies at her side, the questioning started.
“So, Henry, is it true that you’re not dating Elena anymore?”
“Such a shame, you two would have the cutest kids.”
“You know your mother is just dying for grandchildren.”
“Why did you two break up?”
“Does this fetching mystery woman have anything to do with it?”
“Oh, isn’t this the blonde you were spotted lunching with on LA-Buzz?”
“Ladies, ladies, one at a time,” my father said, interrupting the firing squad as he joined the semi-circle that had formed around me and Izzy.
I sighed, equal parts grateful and annoyed at his assistance and cast a quick look at Izzy to see how she was reacting to the sudden arrival of the Lars Landon. I’d seen everything from wide-eyed awe to outright fainting from past dates when they met my parents, particularly my legendary father, and I watched Izzy’s response with interest.
She blinked a few times as she regarded my father and the rest of this crowd, but she didn’t look unduly impressed, thankfully. After the heartbreak with Elena, the last thing I wanted was to date a girl who adored my father and his power more than me.
Not that Isabelle and I were dating.
Not yet, at least.
The thought had me fighting an idiotic grin as I made the much-awaited introductions. “Everyone, this is Isabelle Ellis. She works at Polarizing Pictures.”
“Hello,” Izzy said, extending her hand to each of them. “So nice to meet you.”
“Polarizing Pictures?” My father raised his considerable eyebrows as he went into networking mode. “You must know Bob Wentworth then. He and I go way back.”
Izzy blinked again, her eyes wide as saucers.
Crap. Bob Wentworth was the president of Polarizing Pictures and likely just a mythical figure to an intern like Izzy, sort of like the Santa Claus of production companies. But the fact that he’d just impressed the heck out of my date by being buddies with her boss’s boss’s boss’s boss wasn’t what freaked me out right now.
It was the fact that I hadn’t planned for this. I’d been so caught up in my excitement at seeing Izzy today, so psyched she’d even agreed to come along to this party with me…I hadn’t prepared for the inevitable questions.
I was only half aware of Izzy’s stammering response as I tried to figure out how to shut this down.
Did I want to tell my father about my script?
Yes. Of course. But not like this. And not in front of Izzy. I wasn’t about to spill my secret identity as Leo Lang in front of this crowd of eavesdropping gossips.
I cut Izzy off before she could utter the word ‘intern.’
“Dad, she’s not here on business,” I said. “Could we save work talk for another time?” I arched my brows and gave him a pleading look that had him smirking.
There was little my dad liked more than being in a position of power—especially over me.
“Ah,” he drawled, his tone irritatingly smug as my mom and her friends exchanged knowing looks and whispers. “So you’re here as his date then.”
He’d addressed this to Izzy and she looked up at me. I was probably the only one who noticed the crinkle of confusion between her brows.
“Uh…” she started. “Actually we’re working together on a—”
“Yes,” I said, slipping my arm around her slender waist as I rudely spoke over her. “She’s my date.”
Izzy’s surprise was as palpable as the looks on my parents’ faces.
“I hope it’s okay that I brought a date,” I added.
“Of course, darling,” my mother said, recovering quickly. “Variety is the spice of life, am I right?”
Her gaggle of friends giggled.
I huffed a bitter laugh. Thanks for that, Mom.
Sometimes I wondered if my mother even knew how degrading she sounded or if talking down to people was just second nature to her.
On that note, I decided it was time to rescue Izzy from any further family awkwardness and insults. Plus, it was getting harder to ignore the bewildered looks she was shooting me, and I needed to get her away from my parents before she blew my cover. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, I promised Izzy we’d take a unicorn selfie.”
I threaded my fingers through Izzy’s and quickly led her away.
She at least had the good sense to wait until we were away from prying eyes before dropping my hand, crossing her arms and meeting me with that intense look of hers that inspired too much honesty.
I had to look away.
“So, I’m your date now? Henry…I thought this was a business meeting.”
“It is. Or it will be, I just…I’m sorry, my parents and I have a…” I frowned searching for the right words to sum up a lifetime of being ignored and misunderstood by them, “Difficult relationship.”
“I can see why.” She smirked and knocked her shoulder into mine as we took a seat on a stone bench under a massive tree dripping in pink chandeliers and rose garland. “It’s okay, Henry. I get it, everyone goes through ups and downs with their family. Even Hollywood heartthrobs,” she teased.
“It’s a bit more than ups and downs when it comes to me and my father.”
“So I’ve noticed,” she said, placing a gentle hand on my bouncing knee.
I hadn’t even realized I was doing it, but then again it wasn’t a surprise. My father always managed to get under my skin. But not in the same delightful way Izzy now was. Her touch sent unexpected sparks through me. As though she felt them too, she quickly pulled her hand back and bit her lip.
Not wanting her to feel awkward I quickly filled the silence between us. “We were supposed to meet earlier today, but he blew me off. I guess I’m more pissed about it than I thought.”
“What were you meeting about?”
I studied her warm brown eyes. They were so open, so accepting. My guard dissolved and I was
answering truthfully before I even realized it. “I was going to tell him about Beyond Sunset.”
She nodded, waiting for me to go on. I took a deep breath. I was walking a dangerous line here and needed to choose my words carefully. “I’m just excited about it. Playing Heath O'Brien…it means something to me. It’s a role of a lifetime and I…I want my dad to…I don’t know.” I trailed off, running a hand over my face in frustration.
“You want him to take you seriously,” Izzy finished for me.
Startled that she understood, I nodded. “Yeah. I guess I do. I don’t think he ever really has. I mean, he gave me Hermosa Beach and he wants to give me a part in one of his big spy movies next, which I feel stupid complaining about, but that’s not me. I want to do something that means something more.”
“Something like Beyond Sunset?”
I nodded again.
“Why don’t you go talk to your father now?”
“Nah, this isn’t the right place. Plus, that would make me a pretty bad date if I left you all alone at a kid’s birthday party,” I teased.
Izzy looked back over her shoulder toward the ponies. “There’s unicorns. I’m pretty sure I could find a way to entertain myself.”
I laughed, feeling the tension melt away with Izzy by my side.
The easy way she just accepted my life and all the baggage that came with it made me feel even worse about the stunt I’d just pulled. The truth was, I did kind of wish she was my date today. But thanks to a big fat lie, by the name of Leo Lang, that couldn’t happen.
I looked at her, taking in those understanding brown eyes as she smiled softly at me. Maybe I should just tell her the truth right now. I’d promised myself I’d come clean today, but I hadn’t planned to do it at an eight-year-old’s birthday party.
“Honestly, Henry. If you want to talk to your dad, I don’t mind.”
I shook my head, frowning again.
“Then what is it? You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
Crap. This was it. I had to tell her the truth. “Izzy, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Henry!”
We both looked up as an adorable little girl in a pink princess costume flung herself at me. I caught her, completely startled and bewildered. “Um, hello. Who are you?”
“The birthday girl, duh! I can’t believe you’re really here! My mommy said you were coming but I didn’t believe her. You’re my big sister’s favorite actor in the whole world. Her head is going to fall off when I tell her I met you!”
Ah, so this was Blythe. “Well how about we do one better? We can go take some pictures with your sister and your friends. How does that sound?”
The little girl frowned. “My sister couldn’t come to my party. She’s on a very important go-see in New York. She’s a model.”
Izzy blinked. “How old is your sister?”
“Thirteen.” Blythe sunk down between me and Izzy on the bench, looking utterly defeated. “I can’t wait until I’m thirteen and can go to important meetings in New York.”
My heart broke for the little girl. I remembered all the lonely birthday parties I’d had as a child; my parents more concerned with impressing their friends than inviting mine. As I looked around the party, I suddenly realized what was missing.
There were no kids running around laughing.
Well, at least I could do one thing right today.
“Do you want to know a secret?” I asked Blythe. “I had a very important meeting today too.”
She looked up at me with big green eyes. “You did?”
“Yep, but I wanted to be here instead.”
“Really?” Her voice was so full of disbelief it was barely a whisper. “You skipped your important meeting to come to my party?”
“I did, but only because the person I was meeting is super understanding.” I caught Izzy watching and threw her a wink. “And do you know what that means?”
“What?” Blythe asked.
“It means I’ll race you to the bouncy castle!”
Blythe jumped to her feet and was off and running, squeals of laughter trailing behind her.
I stood too, jogging backwards as I beckoned Izzy to follow. She stood, shrugged, kicked off her shoes and jogged after me.
Her radiant smile tore at my heart, and once again I found myself looking for excuses to delay the inevitable. As we crawled into the bouncy castle, Izzy taking my hands, I battled my warring emotions.
I should be ecstatic. My script was about to get picked up and I was spending the day with the kind of girl I thought only existed in movies. But the fear of telling Izzy the truth and disappointing her was killing me.
Especially since I knew I needed this girl in my life, not just for my sanity, but for my movie to have a chance to be the best it could be.
I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up.
If I didn’t tell her the truth soon, I’d have to give something up.
A few weeks ago, that would’ve been a no-brainer. But now, with Izzy’s hands in mine, the choice wasn’t so easy.
Chapter Twelve
Izzy
Hours later I was laughing so hard my stomach muscles hurt.
“Hey,” Henry said, grinning down at me with his hands on his hips. “It’s not as easy as it looks.”
I shook my head as I reached for the darts so I could show this heartthrob how it was done. Pop, pop, pop. Balloon after balloon bit the dust.
“Okay, this is clearly rigged.” Henry’s growl had me giggling all over again as I was once again declared the winner by the poor college-aged kid who’d been hired to spend his afternoon pretending to be a carnie.
“Yes,” I said, my eyes wide with innocence as I used my best patronizing tone. “Definitely rigged.” I patted his perfectly sculpted biceps. “I’m sure that’s why you couldn’t hit a target to save your life.”
He gave a huff of a laugh as we moved on to the next game, waving to Blythe and one of her friends who’d finally showed up and relieved Henry of BFF duty.
After our lunch meeting the other day, I thought I’d gotten past the butterflies in my stomach around Henry. I’d thought maybe I’d become somewhat immune to his good looks and charm.
But then this.
I mean, who wouldn’t swoon over the sight of a Hollywood celebrity playing Prince Charming to an eight-year-old princess?
No one would believe it. Not even Fallon, and she was convinced that the sun rose and set with Henry Landon’s smile.
But even Fallon would fall over in a faint if I told her that Henry wasn’t just smooth, and charming, and ridiculously sexy.
He was...nice.
Kind, even.
He’d been so thoughtful about playing with the lonely birthday girl, and then taking pictures with her and her friend while ignoring the older crowd who were eyeing him like he was prey.
We’d gotten cornered a handful of times by people who he’d introduced to me as friends of his parents, but it was clear they weren’t approaching Henry as friends. They were coming to him with requests. They were asking for favors. A few requested selfies, which seemed rather gauche even to me.
But when he wasn’t making nice with his parents’ friends, he was doting on me. Entertaining me, making me laugh, making sure I was fed and comfortable…
I glanced back at the latest game he’d played with me when I’d told him it was my favorite part of our local fair. He’d even humiliated himself to make me happy.
I let out a little sigh as he took my hand and led me back toward the party. The crowd had only grown these past two hours, and I wasn’t sure if I was becoming more worldly or if Henry was just taking up all of my attention, but I’d barely even blinked at all the celebrities I’d spotted.
I’d only stuttered once when Henry had introduced me to Martina Maxwell. So, really...I was pretty impressed with myself.
He tugged my hand so I was walking closer to his side. “What are you smi
ling about?”
I looked up at him. How had I ever thought he was an egotistical jerk? It was hard to remember why right now when his eyes were all warm with affection and his lips were curved up in a sweet, boyish grin.
“I’m just having fun, that’s all,” I said. I laughed out loud as his chest swelled with pride and his walk turned to a swagger.
“Of course you are,” he said. “You’re with me.”
I rolled my eyes but I knew he was teasing. In all honesty, though, I was pretty sure he was why I felt so comfortable with this A-list crowd. Not only was he the most attentive non-date I’d ever had...he was also the most charismatic man I’d ever met. He had this energy about him that was overwhelming.
It was hard to be blinded by the stars around me when I was standing next to the sun.
“What do you say?” Henry asked as we drew close to a crowd who was talking loudly by the outside bar. “Do you want to head back into the frey and network some more or head out of here?”
I took a deep breath. I probably should stay but it was a Sunday and I still had a mountain of laundry to do, some chores to knock out, a few scripts to finish before a meeting tomorrow morning, and a FaceTime call with my parents to get through before I could call it a day.
“I think I’d better get home,” I said.
He nodded. “Then I’ll drive you.”
“No, you don’t have to—”
“Izzy, what kind of date would I be if I didn’t walk you to your door?” His smile was charming and sweet, and…
Confusion had me taking a step away from him. He’d been making comments like that for hours now. Referring to me as his date—once he’d even joked that I was his girlfriend. It was all part of this act we had going on...but try telling that to my heart.
I might be having a mini-panic attack over my warring emotions, but Henry seemed perfectly at ease as he gave me another award-winning smile. “Plus, we still have script notes to go over. I haven’t forgotten I owe you a meeting. Want to grab a coffee and go over your pitch plan before I bring you home?”
“The script is at my place.”
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