“I will follow through on my commitment to shoot this commercial with you, but after that, I never want to see you again.”
The doors closed behind her.
After awkward silence had stretched out between them for several seconds, Assante cleared his throat.
“There is always fireworks between you two if I do say so.”
Robert ran his hand over his whole face and sighed. From the top of the world to the bottom of the ocean in less than three minutes. That had to be a record-worthy feat.
Chapter 6
“Did Assante not get the memo?” Robert roared at the trio before him the next morning at breakfast.
Joe, Anna, and Emilio exchanged glances with each other.
Joe said, “He is the designer, Robert. We didn’t think it appropriate to involve him in all the cloak and dagger.” He added in a small voice, “Besides what does it matter that she knows? She’s still going through with it, isn’t she?”
Robert looked at the ceiling and silently counted to ten. This guy had no idea how huge it was that Dana Dickson now hated his guts. It was as if his world had come crashing down around his ears. He ground his teeth and decided to stop talking altogether. He might say the wrong thing.
For that whole day, Dana said nothing to him. True, they spent the day separately shooting scenes. But that night, as the crew dined together, her absence was glaringly obvious. Assante asked after her. He was given the message that she was tired and had retired early. Retire at 6:00 p.m.? Likely story. The more plausible reason, Robert thought, was that she didn’t even want to sit at the same table with him.
He wanted so desperately to brush it off. He couldn’t. He felt as though there was a gaping hole in his chest where his heart used to be.
On the second day, they shot a beach scene. He emerged from the ocean bare-chested and she lay in the distance on the sand in a swimsuit. Despite the physical space between them, he could still feel her searing anger. This was a contradiction of sorts since between shots she looked everywhere but at him as though he didn’t exist.
On the last day of the shoot – the day when they would finally have to make physical contact – his stomach was in such knots he barely touched breakfast.
In the limo on their way to the castle, Anna commented, “You need to stay focused, Robert. This isn’t a game. You didn’t come here to get a girlfriend. Assante is paying you a million to shoot this commercial. You have to prove to him it was worth it. Forget about Dana Dickson and concentrate on acting like a professional.”
He continued to stare through the car window but didn’t offer a response. His clenched jaw was probably a giveaway that he was bristling at Anna’s words. Act like a professional indeed. He could do the dumb commercial in his sleep. That wasn’t the issue at all and she knew it. The issue was that she felt he was overreacting over some girl when there were thousands of other girls out there who would be happy if he even glanced in their direction. She couldn’t fathom that Dana Dickson was not just any girl. She was a very special girl; a very special girl who from the looks of it wanted nothing to do with him. Ever. Again. And he only had himself to blame.
The stage was set for the final scene. It was evening and the sun was setting. Robert drove the little sports car across the causeway to the castle while the cameras recorded him from the moving camera platform. He parked the car and emerged looking like a spy in a slim-fit Assante tuxedo, very similar to the one he’d worn on the catwalk for L.A. Fashion Week. The camera filmed him as he ran up the stairs to reach the top of the castle.
Then the penultimate scene is set. His character doesn’t see the mystery woman at the castle wall where they are scheduled to meet. Disappointment floods his soul. But wait…what’s this he sees in the distance? Can it be? Yes, it’s her, standing in a boat in the ocean on her way to him.
The final scene was upon him. Dana was there at the castle. She looked amazing in a slinky off the shoulder black dress that emphasized every curve.
He had spent the last half hour psyching himself for this encounter. He had told himself it was just a role and she was just a model and she wasn’t the only woman in the world and if she wanted to stay mad at him for the rest of her life that was fine by him. But as he looked at her in the darkening evening sky, as she stood there watching him through long lashes with those incredible eyes, all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and beg for forgiveness. And that was exactly what he did.
He closed the gap between them quickly and in an instant gathered her to him. He lowered his face to hers.
“Dana,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted to deceive you. I just didn’t think you’d come if you knew I was the actor involved.”
She gulped at the same time Testino screamed, “Cut! Guys, what is this? Robert your lips are moving. That’s not supposed to happen. Just long looks, okay? And, Dana, you stare dreamily at him. You should not look flabbergasted. That’s not the look we’re going for. This is not a soap opera, people. Let’s try that again. Take two.”
It took more takes than that to get it right. Each time Robert drew close to Dana they exchanged words.
“You shouldn’t have lied to me, Robert. I can’t trust a man who lies to me when it suits his purposes.”
“Cut!”
Take three:
“I know. I was wrong. I was planning to tell you everything but Assante beat me to it. Please, please forgive me. I promise you that from now on I’ll only speak the truth.”
“Cut!”
Take four:
“How do I know you’re even speaking the truth now?”
“Cut!”
Take five:
“Let me prove it to you. Give me the opportunity to regain your trust.”
“Cut! For heaven’s sake you two! Cut! Cut! Cut! We’re taking a break. Deal with your issues and then I expect professionalism. Got it?”
“That’s risky business.”
“How so?”
“I may end up falling for you and by the time I realize I can’t trust you it may be too late.”
“Oh, baby, I promise you that’s not going to happen. I made a mistake. You have to forgive me, isn’t forgiveness one of the pillars of the Christian faith.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t try to use my faith to make me bend to your will.”
“I just keep messing up, don’t I?”
She shook her head. “Don’t do that either.”
“What have I done now?”
“You look so crestfallen you’re breaking my heart. You’re making it so hard to resist you.”
“Give in to me then.”
“Tempting…”
“Are you guys about ready to start now? We don’t have all night and time is money,” Emilio cut in.
“You have to say you’ll forgive me or Testino will have a heart attack and you’ll be responsible.”
“How many times am I going to have to forgive you?”
“The Lord told Peter seventy times seven. I can live with that.”
A laugh escaped her lips. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”
“I can think of a couple of things but begin by forgiving me.”
She sighed. “Fine…I forgive you.”
“Music to my ears.”
Robert called to the director, “Emilio, we’re ready to go. Sorry about that one. We just had to get something out of the way first. This will be the last shoot, I promise you.”
And it was. It was perfect. And while their lips didn’t meet then, they met immediately afterward when they retreated to speak in the little trailer behind the scene.
“So, is this considered a date then,” Robert asked against her lips after they drew apart.
Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“You let me get to first base so I assume this must be our second date.”
She giggled. “Sure we can call it that. I
t may not be a conventional date, but we’re together at a castle of all places.”
~*~*~*~
Robert convinced Dana to delay her return to Paris and spend the next day with him in Naples where he took her to meet his grandparents, his aunts, uncles and the rest of his extended family. Of course, they all loved her as much as he did. And yes, he loved her. He finally admitted to himself what his heart had known all along. He was in love with Dana Dickson.
When they returned to their separate cities, it became patently obvious that they could no longer be apart. The distance was too much for the both of them.
“What am I going to do? I’m based in Paris,” Dana said three weeks later as she lay in bed close to midnight with the phone pressed to her ears.
Robert sat in an Italian coffee shop in Santa Monica. It was three o’clock in the afternoon his time. He shifted the phone to his left ear so that he could lift the cup of espresso with his right hand.
“You’re a model, baby, you can be based anywhere.”
“And you can’t?”
There was a beat of silence as Robert took a sip of the hot liquid and contemplated the question.
“It would be a little difficult for me to pack up and move to Paris. My whole family lives here, my friends, my industry contacts…the major studios are based here…”
“So what do we do?”
You can move here. “We’ve just got to think about it some more and come up with some sort of solution.”
She sighed. “I really miss you.”
“I miss you too, baby. So much. I’d always heard that long distance romance was tough and I can see why.”
“I hope that you’re not finding it too tough. You’re not going to throw in the towel are you?”
“Are you kidding? It might be frustrating being apart from you, but the alternative, not having you in my life at all, would be so much worse. Just knowing that I’m going to hear your voice on the phone every single day is what keeps me sane. I just want us to be together that’s all. I want to be able to take you out on a date, take you to meet my parents, show you off to my friends.” He sighed. “When are you coming to visit?”
“I’m free next weekend. I can visit then.”
“Baby, you just made my week.”
~*~*~*~
“You can stay at my place,” Robert suggested. He sat beside Dana in the limousine with his arm draped around her shoulders.
He instantly knew he’d said the wrong thing when he felt her stiffen. She pushed herself away from him.
“Stay at your house? Are you out of your mind? I thought I made it clear to you that I am not having sex outside of marriage. What are you trying to pull?”
He found himself babbling.
“I’m not trying to pull anything. I know your position and I’m fully prepared to honor that, Dana. That’s not what I meant. What do you take me for? I’ve got a vast, empty house there with six spare bedrooms. You can have one of them. You can sleep downstairs and I’ll sleep upstairs or vice versa. I just meant that you didn’t need to pay to stay at a hotel when I had the room. That was all. Sheesh.”
After silence had stretched out between them for a few minutes, she reached for his hand again. He moved it away and directed his gaze to a fixed point on the screen that separated them from his chauffeur.
She sighed. “Bobby, I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve had a few bad experiences with men before. I guess, I responded instinctively.”
“What types of experiences?” he asked carefully.
She was silent for so long he almost thought she wasn’t going to answer. “So many people envy me. They think my life is perfect because of my looks. They have no idea the torment that comes with that. I’ve been the target of lust and sexual harassment so often it’s hard to count.”
Robert felt his face burn with shame at her confession. Wasn’t that what he had done the first night they’d met? Grabbed her and kissed her like she was some piece of merchandise. He finally realized how truly wrong he had been. Nothing justified what he’d done. The overwhelming desire to do it had been no excuse. After all, wasn’t that the same argument all those other men would have used? That they had been blinded by desire?
“I’m so sorry, Dana,” he muttered. “My poor baby.”
Unexpectedly, she grinned. “Don’t pity me too much. I learned to defend myself early on. For my sake and my sisters. My minister’s son, George Fulbright, was an amateur boxer. He taught me how to fight…” Robert remembered the strength of that slap and didn’t doubt that she was a fighter. “…Thanks to those lessons, I have never been a push over. Anyone who laid an unwelcomed hand on me soon regretted it,” she said.
Robert wondered for the first time why her response to his kiss had been so delayed. Wouldn’t a woman so used to defending herself from unwelcomed advances not have hit him immediately after the kiss, and not several minutes later behind the scenes? Could it be that, even then, his touch had not been entirely unwelcomed? He was drawn away from his musings when he saw her smile disappear as quickly as it had come.
“I’ll admit, though, that there have been some close calls. Like the one I had with Max Maitland.”
Instantly, Robert tensed. “Max Maitland?”
He knew the actor very well and had heard with his own ears his less than flattering view of women. “What are you talking about? What did he do to you?”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You don’t know? It was all over the tabloids almost a year ago.”
When he shook his head, she continued. “We had been dating for a few months before I started to see him for who he really was. I guess I was blind before. That’s what happens when you’re walking in darkness. You are blind to a lot of lies of the enemy. Anyway, one night we went to a party at one of his friends’ house. Soon after we got there I realized that it was not where I wanted to be. It was horrible. There were half naked girls, people guzzling alcohol, having sex, doing drugs. I went to find him to tell him to take me home and I found him in a room, snorting cocaine. That was it for me. I told him it was over between us. He went crazy. Grabbed me by the hair, hit me in my face, and then attempted to rape me.”
She looked down at her hands, and Robert knew that if he were to set eyes on Max Maitland at that moment, he would beat him senseless. How dare that misogynistic brute lay hands on Dana?
He placed a comforting arm around her shoulders and drew her close as he struggled to contain his rage.
“What happened next?” he asked softy.
“I became enraged. I fought back, hit him with anything I could get my hands on. The last thing I did was broke a lamp over his head. He passed out. I looked like crap the next day but he got the worse of it. He wound up in hospital with a concussion and a broken nose. He had the nerve to get a restraining order against me. Can you believe it? He even claimed that I went crazy because I caught him with another woman and that he feared for his life.”
Robert shook his head as his jaw tightened. He wondered how he had missed all that drama, but then he had never been in tune with the latest showbiz gossip.
“After that incident men thought twice about harassing me. But the best thing that came out of it was that it made me realize that I had been living a meaningless life. I had been making all types of foolish decisions. Keeping the wrong company. Dating the wrong men. That realization eventually led me to church with Heather and into God’s arms. I’ve been very cautious since then about decisions that could lead me away from God. Know what I mean?”
Robert nodded in understanding.
“So, I’m really sorry for questioning your motives. I know that you are nothing like Max Maitland or those other men. But there are other reasons why I still can’t stay with you. First, the temptation would be too great if I stay there. Have you looked in the mirror lately?” she teased, playfully pinching his cheek. “I’m not made of stone, you know. Second, the Bible says that we should abstain from all appearance of evil. If I stay w
ith you it would give the impression that we are sleeping together and that would surely sully my Christian testimony.”
Robert watched her lovingly. She was such an amazing woman. So wonderful and so wise. The more he thought about it, the more he knew she was right. The absences from her just made him want her more physically. They had locked lips when he had collected her at LAX, much to the delight of the paparazzo lingering around hoping to catch a glimpse of any stars, but that kiss had not been nearly enough. He wanted so much more. Just thinking of it now made his body respond in a way that caused him to shift uncomfortably in his seat. No, she was right, they did need that distance if he was going to be able to keep his hands to himself.
“You’re right, baby. What a bonehead I am for even suggesting such a thing in the first place.”
“You’re not a bonehead. You’re the man I love and I’m looking forward to spending every waking moment with you this weekend. My hotel isn’t too far from where you live so it won’t take you long to come pick me up on mornings.”
Robert grinned and said a silent prayer thanking God for sending this woman his way.
~*~*~*~
Dana met Michael and Reba Cortelli with some trepidation in her heart. They were Hollywood royalty after all, and she was as far from royalty as one could get. Added to that, while she was not usually impressed by stardom and all its trappings, it was hard not be in awe of a man who you’d grown up watching on the big screen.
The dark-haired actor was still very handsome at age sixty-five. Although his last major role had been about six years prior, he had recently finished up filming a major action drama in which he’d played the lead character. Dana looked at him and could immediately see where Robert got his good looks. Robert was like a younger version of his father, right down to the strong jaw and cleft chin.
Reba Cortelli was a beautiful red-haired woman with wise green eyes. Robert had nothing of her looks but he certainly seemed to have much of her spirit.
Michael wasn’t a big talker. He asked her a few questions about where she was from and who her people were but Reba was the one who gave her the Spanish Inquisition. After it looked like she’d passed the test, Reba then regaled her with tales of Robert and his brothers and brought out the baby pictures and home videos. As Robert told her when they were alone afterward, that was a sure sign his mother liked her because she’d never shared that information with any of his previous girlfriends.
Second Chance: A Christian Romance (Royals Book 2) Page 6