by Mora Early
Thank the lord, Clarice understood and a second later, the music began again. Now it would be harder for the guests to eavesdrop. And the photographer would have to be satisfied with a bunch of pictures of them eating, rather than a transcript of their conversation.
“You wanted to talk?” she asked Lolly.
“I don’t –” Josh began, but Emma covered his wrist and squeezed. The glance she shot him was pleading.
You ‘hired’ me to do a job. Let me do it!
If only Josh were telepathic. But he did seem to understand, because his shoulders slumped and he remained quiet. Lolly’s baby blues narrowed to slits as she stared at Emma and Josh’s touching hands. Great. The woman was a powder keg and the slightest thing could set her off and turn this into a tabloid sensation. An even bigger tabloid sensation that it already was. Emma removed her hand, lifted her silverware again, and cut into her medallion of premium Kobe beef with short, precise flicks of her knife.
“Go on, Lolly. You were about to tell me why I shouldn’t trust Josh, I presume?” She raised her brows as she lifted a small bite of the tender meat to her lips and chewed, eyes unblinkingly focused on the other woman. It was a tactic Aunt Margaret had used all the time when interrogating Emma about school at the dinner table. It had always made her squirm.
Lolly didn’t squirm. Her fingers clenched on the tablecloth. “I know.” Emma’s hands stilled in their cutting and her heart paused at Lolly’s words. What did the actress know? “I know how you’re feeling right now. On top of the world, right? No one and nothing can touch you. You’ve got Joshua fucking Owens in your bed.”
Josh growled. “This is ridiculous!” He shoved a hand through his hair, mussing his slick locks. “What did I ever do to you that was so terrible, Lol? Why the vendetta? When we ended things –”
“‘We’ didn’t end anything, Joshua. You did.” Lolly’s eyes were intent on his face. Emma had seen similar expressions on vipers just before they struck. “You discarded me like a used Kleenex when you were done with me.”
“That’s...” Josh realized his voice was carrying and lowered it quickly. “That’s bullshit. I didn’t discard you. I left you. There’s a difference.”
“I needed you!” the actress hissed.
Emma kept her hands on the silver to keep from wrapping them around Lolly Tate’s neck. Then again, maybe holding on to the knife wasn’t such a good idea. She set it aside and took a deep breath, forcing down the slush of anger and hurt rising in her throat.
If this had truly been her wedding day; if she really loved Josh, then the anger and hurt would make sense. But neither of those things were true. Her detachment from this situation was probably the only thing that had saved her. Lolly had been waiting for Emma to blow up so she too could explode in turn. She was dynamite looking for a spark. Emma just had to... not provide the flame.
“You made it pretty clear at the time that you didn’t want me around, Lolly. I had ‘no right to tell you how to live your life’, remember? I’ve still got the scar from the Critic’s Choice award you used to emphasize your point. You were adamant that all you needed was the coke. You probably wouldn’t even have realized I was gone at all if I hadn’t sent Dr. Perkins to your trailer.”
Josh’s voice was tired, resigned. These were things he’d come to terms with already. Emma could hear it in his voice. There was no ache of longing there. If he’d ever been in love with Lolly, he wasn’t anymore.
The fierce prickle in the back of her nose subsided. She sniffed and reached beneath the line of the table to set her hand on Josh’s knee. He jerked the slightest bit in surprise and then covered her hand with his.
“Lala?” William Ransler’s voice, thick with puzzlement, rose from Josh’s left. “Is that true?” The nickname, if that’s what it was, gave Emma pause. She’d gathered that William and Lolly were friends, given his reliance on her opinions of Josh. But the way he addressed her made them sound more familiar than that.
Emma glanced over at Maisie, whose wide mouth was pressed into a thin, white line. There was no way the older man was having an affair with the starlet. She’d seen the Ranslers together and there weren’t two people more in love in the world. And yet, his affection for Lolly was clear in his voice.
Lolly’s cheeks actually turned pink as she flicked a gaze at William. Her eyes slid down to the tabletop before she spoke. “I got myself into rehab. That wasn’t a lie.”
“But Josh sent Dr. Perkins to see you? You told me you went to see her.” William’s face was soft and slack with what looked like hurt. Lolly shrugged, avoiding his gaze. A muscle in Josh’s jaw jumped. He turned to Ransler, blue-green eyes bright with sincerity.
“She wouldn’t let me talk to her about rehab. Every time I tried, the argument got... volatile.” Josh rubbed a finger absently over his temple, tracing a thin white scar about two inches long. The ghosts of stitches marked the healed gash. His mouth turned down at the corners. “She used worse whenever I was around.”
“You wanted the perfect woman!” Lolly whined, lips trembling. Josh shook his head at her words, but kept his gaze on William.
“I’ll admit I couldn’t handle it. But I didn’t just throw her away. I hoped Doc Perkins would succeed where I failed.” He cut his eyes at Lolly. “Which I guess she did.”
William looked from Lolly, to Josh, and back. He grimaced at the woman. “Was anything you told me true?”
Her blue eyes flashed like a bug zapper at that. “Yes! He... the only time he’d ever come see me was if I offered him sex! I did everything I could to please him. And then when I needed him the most he walked away like I meant nothing!” She turned her electric gaze on Emma. “That’s what he’ll do to you too. Don’t doubt it for a second. He doesn’t love you. He doesn’t love anyone but himself!”
Emma couldn’t contain her snort at Lolly’s description of Josh. The woman was making no sense. She’d admitted that Josh had sent the doctor that had convinced her to go to rehab, but now he only ever wanted her as a bed buddy? Had she woven some sort of fantasy where Josh was the cause of all her problems? It seemed that way to Emma.
“I know exactly how Josh feels about me, Lolly. And I assure you; our relationship bears absolutely zero resemblance to yours. So, I thank you for your concern, but I think we’ve got this. There’s nothing newsworthy here.” She emphasized the word with a little curl of her lip, making it clear what she thought of Lolly libeling Josh in all the tabloids.
“Who do you think you are, you little tramp? Don’t you judge me. You really think you can keep him satisfied when I couldn’t? Please! He’ll be done with you in two weeks, tops.” Lolly let her gaze crawl from the top of Emma’s head down to her cleavage. “Make that one.” She smirked.
“That’s enough, Lolly.” Josh’s voice went cold and hard. His jaw was granite. Looking over the blonde’s shoulder, he gave a jerk of his head. Emma saw Clarice marching forward with four very large men in black suits. Her boss had mentioned she was hiring security for the event but these guys were... wow. Enormous and muscled and sporting four identical ‘Don’t fuck with me’ expressions.
Ransler cleared his throat and shook his head slowly. “It looks like I owe you an apology, Josh.” On William’s other side, Emma saw Maisie blink in surprise. Lolly gasped. Emma thought there might even be a slight sheen of tears in the actress’ eyes. Though how much of that was real and how much was the talent that had earned her the award she’d apparently lobbed at Josh’s head, Emma didn’t know.
Lolly’s eyes narrowed, tears trembling on her long lashes but not falling. “How could you say that, Will? After what he did to me?”
“It’s what he didn’t do that’s the real problem, isn’t it, Lolly?” Emma cocked her head, insight popping like a flashbulb in her head. When she’d been planning the press luncheon and looking in to all the reporters, she’d found out quite a lot about Lolly Tate and her relationship with the tabloids.
Josh turned to her, brows tang
led. “What are you talking about?” Emma squeezed his knee.
“She was selling stories long before you ever ended the relationship. The rumor that went around the rags just before Golden Promise wrapped filming? About you and Lolly being engaged? She leaked it to the National Tattler. I think she was expecting you to propose, and instead you walked away. Am I right, Lolly? That’s why you had to come here today, isn’t it? To wreck Josh’s wedding to another woman.”
“Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Lolly’s nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed at Emma. “He would have proposed eventually. I was just nudging him. Men need unsubtle hints when you want to take things to the next level.”
“The next level for us wouldn’t have been marriage, Lolly.” Josh shook his head, looking completely bewildered. Emma would have thought it was cute if the situation wasn’t so tense. “You wouldn’t even spend the night at my place, or let me spend the night at yours. We were a far cry from an engagement.”
Ironic, Emma thought, considering the story they were spinning now about their whirlwind romance.
“I needed rest! I was shooting a movie!” Lolly waved away his concern with a flick of her slender fingers.
Josh inclined his head, eyes intent. “And for the record? I went to see you every single time I was in town, whether you’d called me or not. And when you did call, you were usually so out of your gourd I could barely catch a word.”
“As if you cared!” Lolly spat. She grabbed Emma’s wine glass and took a gulp.
“I did care. For as long as I possibly could. But being together was bad for both of us.” Josh rubbed at his temple. Touching the scar again, or nursing a sudden headache? Emma wasn’t sure, but Lolly seemed to think it was the former. She rolled her eyes.
“It was just a stupid fight! That award barely grazed you!”
“Enough, Lala. You shouldn’t have come here. You need to go.” William’s voice was sad and stern. Emma recognized the tone. She’d used it on Todd a hundred thousand times when she was disheartened and disappointed. She didn’t know how William and Lolly had met or become friends, but the affection she’d heard earlier struck her as familial now.
Lolly sucked in a sharp breath. Her palms slammed against the edge of the table, rattling the plates and glasses as she shoved back her chair. Now there were definitely tears in her eyes, and two patches of bright color high on her cheeks. “Fine! Fine. I’m going!” Her eyes zeroed in on Emma’s face, blazingly blue. Her full, red lips trembled. “But I’m not lying. Not about this.” She stabbed her finger at Emma. “If you lay your heart at his feet, he’s just going to stomp on it. And it won’t phase him any more than if you were an ant under his heel.”
Emma bit her lip as Lolly whirled, long blonde hair flying out around her, and strode away. She pushed through the wall of security guards, who parted like the Red Sea before closing ranks again and blocking Emma’s view of the retreating starlet. Lolly’s voice drifted back faintly over the music.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
For a long moment everyone seemed to freeze, as if unsure what to do now that the potential disaster had been averted, like they were all huddled in a storm shelter and the tornado had just passed them buy without touching the house.
Now that it was over, she could take the time to assess what had just happened. Emma felt the fine tremors in her muscles as the adrenaline that had been coursing through her veins since Lolly’s dramatic entrance finally became too much.
“Emma.” Josh’s voice was soft. He covered her hand where it rested on his knee. Only now did Emma realize that she was digging her fingernails into his suit pants as if holding on for dear life. How long had she been squeezing him like that? He gently pried her fingers free.
She jerked to her feet, feeling a sudden, dizzying wave of nausea. Sweat prickled on her upper lip and the back of her neck. It felt like even her lungs were sweating. Her skin tingled.
“I... I need some air.” It was a ridiculous statement, considering they were seated under an open-sided tent. Josh tried to take her hand but she spun awkwardly, almost tripping over her billowing skirts, and lumbered gracelessly toward the house.
Behind her, Emma could hear the buzz of agitated conversation and the whirr of more camera shutters. She hurried more quickly toward the mansion. The last thing she wanted was photographic evidence of her puking on her gorgeous wedding dress.
She stumbled up the last few steps, catching herself with a hand on the knob of the terrace doors, and bolted inside.
Chapter 9 ~ Take Two, With Champagne
Three hours. It had been three hours and the reception was still going. Josh wondered if the guests were all waiting around to see if Lolly would show up once more. Or for something even more disastrous to happen. He still couldn’t believe the actress had crashed his wedding. Pseudo-wedding. She’d acted as if their brief, rocky relationship had been some sort of grand love affair.
He was still amazed at the aplomb with which Emma had handled the situation. Between her and, surprisingly, William Ransler, they’d avoided a major scene. There would still be some photos and whispers, he was sure, but it was more likely to reflect badly on Lolly than on them. On him.
Most women probably would have thrown a fit if their groom’s ex showed up at the reception and started spouting off the way Lolly had. Emma had only that brief moment of being overwhelmed once Lolly was safely dispatched. Josh had wanted to go after her, but both Ben and Todd had warned him to give her a little time. After ten long, awkward minutes of uneasy murmuring in Lolly’s wake, Emma returned from the house looking calm and collected.
“Everything okay?” Josh tilted his head to study her. There was still color in her cheeks but she looked calmer.
“I’m fine. A bit too much adrenaline and not enough food in my system, I’m afraid. I splashed some cool water on my face.” She tucked herself back into her chair. And just like that, she was back to normal. Or normal for her, anyway. Emma was definitely more than just your typical bride. She was a con artist, and she’d handled Lolly’s outburst like a pro.
And why shouldn’t she? There was no jealousy involved. It’s not as if Emma loved him. Which was a good thing, especially considering Lolly’s ridiculous claims.
Stomp on her heart! Ha! Lolly had never let him even get close to her heart. Not that Josh had tried. They had been attracted to each other, and had each found the arrangement convenient to their needs, that was all.
Kind of like me and Emma.
That made him pause. He had thought he and Lolly were on the same page as far as the nature of their relationship. But now she made it sound as if she’d been in love with him. Certainly, showing up at his wedding to ‘warn’ his new bride stank of lovesick jealousy. Maybe she really had cared more for him than he realized. Josh hadn’t seen it.
At first, he’d been impressed with Lolly’s dedication to her career and her savvy business choices. They didn’t have much in common besides the industry, but she was dynamic and sexy and had made it clear she was into him. They’d attended premieres and parties together, and enjoyed each other’s company in bed.
As he’d spent more time with her, he’d realized what she was doing to herself to stay on top, and he’d been unable to deal with her increasingly belligerent and erratic behavior. But he’d never born her any ill will. He’d been glad for her when he’d heard she’d cleaned up.
This was why he didn’t date much. He had never been very good at figuring out women. It had taken him nearly a year to figure out that his college girlfriend liked his best friend more than she liked him. And apparently Lolly’s capricious moods, often swinging from a coke-fueled tirade to a come-hither coo in the blink of an eye, were an expression of her love that he’d completely missed.
What about Emma? Was he setting himself up for another Lolly Tate situation? He wanted Emma badly. More than he’d ever wanted Lolly, he realized with a start. He’d noticed the emerald-eyed E
mma from the moment they’d first met in the hallway of Picture Perfect. The wanting had followed soon after, as he spent more time in her company and begun to appreciate not only her efficiency and expertise as a party planner, but the witty, intelligent woman she hid behind the mask of her shyness. Or so he’d thought at the time.
He’d lusted after Madame Butterfly the second he’d clapped eyes on her, a feeling that had only grown as they’d danced, flirted, and touched. Combining those two women into this package of dark brown hair, lovely curves, and bright green eyes made her twice as alluring. At least.
At this point, though Josh remembered well that it was all an act for her, he sometimes found himself not caring. What was wrong with enjoying it while it lasted?
He watched her from his seat as she twirled across the dance floor with her brother, laughing up into Todd’s grinning face. The long train of her dress was hooked to her wrist with a loop as she swayed and spun in Todd’s arms.
“Better watch it, someone might think you’re staring at your wife.” Ben sank into the chair beside Josh. Josh’s brow furrowed at the words.
“I am. Why?”
His best friend quirked a brow and his lips twitched with amusement. When Josh merely stared, unsure what Ben found so funny, the stockier man shook his head. “Never mind. At least we got through the Lolly Tate debacle!”
Ben flashed him a grin, but Josh’s eyes were completely focused on Emma as Todd dipped her low. The pair had clearly danced before. They moved well together. Todd braced her back as Emma bowed in his grasp, arching her back. Her left arm trailed gracefully above her head, fingers almost skimming the dance floor.
Emma’s leg, too, was extended, the tip of one crystal studded, peep-toe Christian Louboutin pointing in Josh’s direction. Held up by her brother, her body was a perfect curve of grace and beauty, her breasts heaving slightly, pressing against the heavy satin of her bodice. Her cheeks were flushed.