His Leading Lady

by Maggie Dallen

  Alice found herself torn between amusement and disbelief. Amusement won out and for the first time in the twenty-four hours since that disastrous encounter, she found herself laughing. “You don’t really believe that, do you? You can’t possibly think that real life resembles old musicals in any way.”

  Ena was laughing too, but she wagged a finger in Alice’s direction. “Don’t discount happy endings, my dear. They happen all the time. Oh, they’re usually a bit messier, and they’re not the final ending, life goes on after the big kiss—but happy endings aren’t complete fiction.”

  Alice rolled her eyes but she couldn’t deny that she was feeling a bit more heartened. Maybe it was just the laughter or maybe it was the dance sequence that was currently playing, but a bit of optimism seemed to have crept its way into her heart, easing some of the pain.

  Maybe all hope wasn’t lost. Maybe she still stood a chance.

  They still had to work on the fundraiser together, which meant he wasn’t completely out of her life. Not yet, at least. She still had a shot—and she would take it.

  * * * *

  She made her move the very next day. Monday morning she asked her assistant to set an urgent meeting with Dixon, Jamison, and Nicholas. He couldn’t refuse if the meeting was work related and came from her bosses. He’d made it clear that he was still determined to make a success of this fundraiser and she would use that to her advantage.

  Her heart was racing as her boss and his boss entered the conference room, cheerful and chatting, and apparently unaware that she was a trembling wreck of nerves. She must have been a better actress than she knew because neither of them seemed suspicious of her behavior as they all sat and waited for Nicholas.

  What if he didn’t come? Surely he had to. She’d made sure his schedule was clear, she knew he had no patients that morning. He would come, if for no other reason than to make sure the clinic’s fundraiser was a success.

  And he did show, albeit five nerve-wracking minutes late. He strode into the conference room looking dashing as ever, confident as usual…but disheveled. Well, disheveled for Nicholas, which wasn’t really all that disheveled. He sported a light five-o’clock shadow and his eyes looked shadowed, tired. Like he too hadn’t slept all weekend.

  Alice clasped her hands in front of her on the conference room table and ordered herself to slow down. Do not let yourself get too hopeful. This could still fail. But she wouldn’t let this go without at least trying. Because Meg was right, she wasn’t like their mother. She was brave, dammit, and she would fight for what she wanted. And what she wanted was Nicholas.

  “Thank you for coming, gentlemen,” she started, her voice shockingly calm and cool considering her rapid heart rate. “This won’t take long. I just wanted to keep you all up to date on the progress of the children’s clinic fundraiser.”

  Her bosses were watching her with mild curiosity but Nicholas, she noted, was staring at her with narrowed eyes, as if he were suspicious…or angry. Neither of which would be unwarranted, really. She hadn’t expected him to come in here with a smile, but still the lack of his typical kindness and warmth left her cold. She shivered slightly beneath his stare before flipping open the notebook she’d set on the table. It was filled with random notes and to-do lists, but she focused on it as if it held the secrets of the universe. If she wasn’t looking directly at him, perhaps she could get through this without losing her nerve.

  She started with the basics, reading a list of the donors who’d confirmed their attendance, giving them an update on the logistics that she, the catering company, and Tamara had worked out. Once that was done, there was no more procrastinating. She risked one quick glance up and met Nicholas’s shuttered, unreadable expression.

  “And one more thing,” she said. “There’s been a change to the agenda for the bachelor auction.”

  There was a silence in the room, and Alice couldn’t bring herself to look up again, though she could feel Nicholas’s eyes on her.

  She swallowed thickly. “Nicholas is no longer our star bachelor. Gregory Blanchard has agreed to participate.”

  Dixon’s and Jamison’s reactions were instantaneous and delighted. “What a coup!” “How did you ever convince him?” “Great work, Alice.” But all the praise and questions went straight past her. She’d lifted her eyes and met Nicholas’s stare. She could practically see his brain working, making connections. She saw confusion and…and hope.

  Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. Maybe she wasn’t too late after all. Please, God, say I’m not too late.

  She licked her dry lips and kept eye contact. “Nicholas, I know you never loved the idea of being part of this auction. So this means you no longer have to participate…if you don’t want to.”

  Understanding dawned in his eyes then, and the blaze of emotions she saw there left her breathless.

  “Gentlemen, would you mind giving us a minute?” Nicholas asked, his eyes never leaving hers. “Alice and I still have some details to hash out.”

  Dixon and Jamison agreed, getting up hastily and parting with words of congratulations on landing the bachelor of the year.

  When the door shut behind them, the silence was deafening.

  Nicholas stood and came around to her side of the table. She stood too, but her knees were so wobbly she had to keep one hand on the back of her chair for support. She could do this, she could. She was strong like Meg.

  Nicholas stopped in front of her, so close she could smell his familiar scent and feel his warmth. She wanted to collapse into his arms, have him tell her he loved her, and then she could say it, too.

  But he deserved better. She had to be the one to say it this time. She had to show him that she could be brave…that she could trust. That she did trust him.

  “What does this mean, Alice?” he said, his voice so low and gruff she nearly didn’t hear him.

  She swallowed the last of her fear. “I don’t want to lose you.” It wasn’t the speech she’d intended to make but the truth came out of its own volition. Tears sprang to her eyes as she continued. “You were right the other night. You deserve someone better than me. Someone who doesn’t have trust issues….” She paused to catch her breath, the emotions in his eyes making it difficult to breathe. “But I’m selfish. I want a chance.” She reached out for him then, gripping his sweater in her hands. “I’m not giving you up without a fight, and I’m certainly not going to just hand you over to some—”

  His lips crushed hers, cutting off her speech as he kissed her as if their lives depended on it. She met his kiss eagerly, her lips clinging to his, parting for his tongue, which claimed her mouth with a possessiveness that made her knees go weak.

  He held her to him, holding her up. She tore her lips away only briefly. She wasn’t done. She had to say it. “I love you, Nicholas.”

  He groaned, kissing her once more, but this time murmuring words of love between kisses. His words and touch erasing the last of her fear. When he pulled back briefly to look at her, that beautiful kindness and warmth once again back in his gaze and focused on her, she tried to speak again. “I’m sorry, Nicholas. I’m so sorry.” He shushed her, one arm holding her close by the waist while he used his free hand to tangle in her hair and tilt her head up so her eyes met his.

  “Don’t apologize,” he said. “Do you trust me?”

  She didn’t hesitate. “I do.”

  He grinned then, and the force of it made her insides melt into a puddle. “Then we’ll be all right,” he said. “We’ll figure it out as we go, and we’ll figure it out together.”

  Alice nodded, believing him and believing in herself for the first time in forever. “I may not be very good at this relationship stuff.” She felt compelled to warn him.

  His laugh was low and husky and warmed her to her core. “I think you’ll be better at it than you expect.”

  His words warmed her, giving her more confidence. “And why is that?”

 
He dipped his head to nuzzle the sensitive skin beneath her ear, making her gasp for air. “Because you’ve already conquered the biggest hurdle,” he said. He paused to trail kisses along her neck. “You’re trusting me with your heart, just like I’m trusting you with mine.”

  She couldn’t tell if it was his words, the kisses, or the sheer relief that her plan had worked that had her breathless and light-headed. “So what do we do now?”

  He pulled back so he could meet her gaze, his eyes dark with desire. “I suggest you concoct another ‘family emergency’ so we can head back to my place. There is no way I can let you out of my arms today. Or tomorrow. We may both need to take a leave of absence from work from the foreseeable future.”

  She was laughing as his lips claimed hers once more. When they parted for air, she said, “I am all for playing hooky, Nicholas, but I meant in general. Like, what do we do now?”

  Some of the terror was still there, making the butterflies in her stomach flutter at the scary unknown that lay before them. But this fear was no longer debilitating, and it sure as hell wouldn’t hold her back. And for all the fear, there was an equal amount of excitement that had her pulse racing, eager to see what lay in store for them next.

  Nicholas’s eyes met hers, and she watched his lips twitching with amusement. “What do we do now?” he echoed before shaking his head. “You know, Alice, for the first time in my life, I have no idea what comes next.”

  She grinned up at him and looped her arms around his neck. “Kinda scary, right?”

  He nodded. “Oh, it’s terrifying.”

  Laughter bubbled up inside of her, breaking down the last remnants of those walls she’d always held so dear. The ones that had once kept the world at bay. She tugged his head down to place a quick, hard kiss on his lips. “Well, whatever happens next, at least we’re in it together.”

  That earned her another long, thorough kiss that had her flushed and feverish. Which really worked in her favor when she went to tell her bosses that she was so sick she just had to work from home—for the rest of the week.

  Epilogue

  The bachelor auction was a smashing success by anyone’s standards. For Alice, the highlight was being able to watch all the fun with her new boyfriend at her side. As the last of the bachelors were snapped up by the crowd of zealous women, Nicholas leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Now, aren’t you glad you didn’t sell me off to the highest bidder?”

  The feel of his warm breath on her bare neck sent shivers through her and she linked her hand through his, eager for physical contact, even if it could only be hand holding since they were in public.

  Nicholas seemed to read her mind. “When does the dancing start up?”

  She grinned up at him. “Soon. Why? Are you so eager to show off our new moves?” He’d surprised her the week before with an early birthday present—ballroom dance lessons for the two of them. They’d only had one lesson so far, but the sheer thoughtfulness of the gift still made her heart leap for joy whenever she thought about it.

  He was laughing as he pulled her into his arms, apparently not caring that they were in public. “I’m excited to show you off,” he said. “My new girlfriend.”

  She couldn’t stop the giddy smile at the simple words.

  He leaned in close and whispered, “My new girlfriend, and my last.”

  Tears pricked the back of her eyes. But then, why should she be surprised? It seemed that after nearly two decades of not shedding any tears, her tear ducts were trying to make up for it. She seemed to forever be losing her composure around this guy—her boyfriend—though luckily the tears were usually ones of happiness, like right now. “The last girlfriend, huh?” she teased. “That sounds ominous.”

  He let out a long, melodramatic sigh. “It’s true, I’m afraid. My bachelor days are rapidly coming to an end. You’re it…. You’re the one.”

  She was too choked up to speak, and he drew back to look at her expression. “Uh oh. I promised myself I wouldn’t move too quickly and scare you off. I didn’t, did I?”

  She shook her head quickly. No, she wasn’t scared. His words struck her heart and resonated. “Not scared,” she said. “Just happy.”

  As if on cue, the band struck up a song and dancers started to make their way onto the makeshift dance floor in the lobby. Alice took Nicholas by the hand and tugged him toward the other dancers. “Come on, Hot Doc. Let’s show them what we’ve got.”

  He was laughing as he fell into his place in front of her, pulling her into his arms so they could move together in time to the music. She let her eyes shut briefly as she lost herself in the melody, and the movement, and the feel of his strong arms around her.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked, his voice soft and gentle and kind—just like Nicholas.

  She opened her eyes and smiled up at him. “I was just thinking about something that Ena said once.”

  He raised one brow in question.

  “She said that happy endings weren’t just for the movies. And right now? Well, now I know that she was right.”

  His arms tightened around her, and he leaned down until his lips crushed hers. She met the urgency of his kiss and held on tight, heedless of the other dancers or the fact that they were no longer in time with the music. But it didn’t matter because they were holding on to each other and neither of them would ever let go.

  Don’t miss Maggie Dallen’s A Chance Romance series.

  The Accidental Engagement

  Oops . . .

  It started as a regular night for New York City restaurant hostess Ivy Sinclair, until a rowdy customer turned out to be world famous playboy Jack Everett. Thanks to the paparazzi, now the world thinks they’re a couple—which couldn’t be farther from the truth. But when a brooding, sexy businessman offers her a simply irresistible proposition…

  Uh oh . . .

  Just when cutthroat venture capitalist Daniel Gladwell thought he’d never close the deal with an Italian conglomerate, a simple mistake becomes the perfect opportunity. All he has to do is convince Ivy to pretend to be Jack’s fiancée while on a business trip to Italy to offset Jack’s bad boy reputation. As long as Daniel doesn’t sabotage the plan by claiming the tempting waitress for himself . . .

  Oh yes!

  It was supposed to be a business only arrangement. But in the magic of the Tuscan countryside, neither Ivy nor Daniel can fight the attraction building between them. In the world’s most romantic setting, the line between business and pleasure is one that begs to be crossed . . .

  Chapter 1

  Ivy Sinclair thought she’d seen it all as a hostess at a hotel bar—but when a young man came running up to her with a look of panic before diving behind her hostess stand—well, now she’d really seen everything.

  “Excuse me, can I help you?” she asked, looking down at the top of his head as he crouched beside her.

  The young man barely looked at her. He was too busy peering around the edge of the stand toward the door. He muttered a curse as a large, brutish man wearing an intimidating scowl walked in.

  “I’m not here,” the young man at her feet whispered.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Please,” he added. His eyes widened and filled with panic. Ivy couldn’t help but take pity.

  The large man who looked ready to kill zeroed in on her. “Where is he?”

  She swallowed a lump of fear at the aggressive tone. “Where is who?” Ivy tried to keep her voice innocent but it came out as a squeak.

  She cleared her throat and tried again. “I’m afraid I don’t know to whom you’re referring.”

  He leaned in closer and Ivy fought the impulse to run. “Where is Everett?” he growled.

  Ivy stared down the oversized thug who was leaning over the hostess stand. She tried not to flinch even as his hot, rancid breath hit her square in the face.

  “As I said before, sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

>   Several guests had paused in the hotel lobby, en route to the restaurant to watch the drama unfold. The giant didn’t seem to mind the attention but this job was Ivy’s only source of income and she could repeat the manager’s lecture on courtesy and service verbatim. But above all else, her job was to be discreet.

  Ivy had to believe that meant covering for the well-dressed, albeit rumpled young man who was currently crouching behind the hostess stand, uncomfortably close to her legs. She didn’t know what the hidden man had done but she couldn’t blame him for hiding from the heavyset giant who loomed over her—he looked like a man who was capable of causing serious pain.

  And at this particular moment he looked like he would throttle her given the slightest provocation. Ivy was a good foot shorter than the brute, with a petite frame—not exactly an even match. She tried to keep her voice soft but stern—the same tone she used to cajole Otis, her parents’ German Shepherd, into his cage when it was time to visit the vet.

  “I don’t know what this Mr.—uh—”

  “Everett. Jack Everett,” the man sneered.

  The name caused even more passersby to stop in their tracks. Why did that name sound familiar?

  “I don’t know what Mr. Everett has done, but I assure you I have not seen the man you described come into this restaurant.”

  His frown deepened into a menacing glare and she added, “If Mr. Everett comes looking for you, I’d be happy to pass along a message, Mr.—”

  He leaned in even closer. “You tell Jack that if I see him with my wife again, he’s a dead man.”

  Ivy’s hands clenched at her side. That was it. She couldn’t have people making death threats in her restaurant. She drew a deep breath and mustered her courage. “If you don’t leave immediately, I’m afraid I’ll be forced to call the police.”