by Unknown
“Sounds like it was a disaster.”
She nodded. “It was, at first. I know Scott from work, right? I should’ve been able to think of something to say but I got really nervous and couldn’t think of anything to talk about. Then once I started gabbing, I didn’t shut up the whole ride over to Margeaux’s.”
“Margeaux’s is a great choice. I love their food.”
Claire traced a finger along the windowpane. “Me, too. I especially enjoyed their striped sea bass. Back to the story, though. By the time we got to the restaurant I’d actually stopped talking like an idiot and everything started going smoothly. Then he got poisoned.”
My eyes went wide. “I’m sorry, did you just say he got poisoned?”
Claire threw up her arms. “Yeah, that’s what I said. Turns out he’s allergic to garlic. He ordered his dinner without it but then his meal arrived loaded with garlic.”
I was astonished and immediately sympathetic. “The poor guy!”
“Not so fast.” Claire raised her index finger and wiggled it back and forth. “It turns out he was dating a woman who worked there. It was supposed to be her night off, but she got called in because someone was sick. She must’ve rewritten the order. I’m convinced of it because I’ve never seen anyone so happy to watch a man break out in hives.”
I didn’t want to laugh. I tried really hard not to. “So, the office rumors about Scott were true?”
Claire nodded. “Apparently so. The woman at the restaurant told me they were dating right in front of him. ‘Were’ being the operative word because she was done. Also, she called his wife, who showed up right around then to claim her man.”
“No way.” I fought for something helpful to say since my sister had taken a chance on this guy and he turned out to be married with a girlfriend, too. I couldn’t find anything that sounded right so I just hugged her. “Well, you deserve better.”
“I know. But it’s still a bummer.”
A flurry of beeps came from my phone.
Claire gave me a hard look. “Just talk to the poor guy, Charlie. Honestly, I just don’t know what’s wrong with you. If I had a great guy like that calling and texting me I’d probably pay his phone bill every month.”
I looked over at my phone. “Maybe you’re right. It couldn’t hurt to just talk to him and tell him why we can’t see each other, right?”
The doorbell rang and Claire beelined toward the front door. “I’ll get it.”
Wondering who could’ve gotten past the security gate, I headed for my phone and picked it up. But before I could even touch the screen, Claire called out, “Hey, Charlie, look who’s here?”
I turned around, and came face to face with Luke.
Chapter Sixteen
Claire looked positively gleeful as she brought Luke further into the living room. “I’m Charlie’s sister, Claire. We met at Over the Moon when my sister wore that ridiculous scarf? I also saw one of your scenes here on set. You make a divine Derek Bishop. We’re all fans at my office, and one of the gals even signed up for the contest to have lunch with you.”
“Nice to see you again, Claire.” Luke nodded, but his expression seemed tense.
“Well, I have to be going. Good to see you, Luke.”
I gave her the stink-eye. “You don’t have to go yet. Finish your coffee.”
“Nah, it will just keep me up late.” She came over to me, gave me a hug, and whispered, “He’s not married and he doesn’t have a girlfriend. You’re already light years ahead of me. If you let him get away, you’ll probably end up dating my bad date’s creepy cousin. Keep that in mind, sis.”
She had a point. Judging by how amazing my sister and Megan both were, and the way their love lives were going, it was really clear that there was a shortage of decent datable men.
I turned to Luke. “I know I shouldn’t have jumped out of Carl’s car like that. I swear I’m not crazy. At least, not usually. I can be very sane. And I should’ve answered your texts—”
Then he walked over and kissed me.
He kissed me.
I went breathless. His warm mouth invited mine to kiss his back and I so obliged him. That kiss was perfect, long and drawn out. Shivers ran down my body and made every thought in my head come to a screeching halt. Then he pulled away.
I was still breathless. I was also tempted to just go ahead and kiss him again.
Luke tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I wanted to give you a goodnight kiss after our date, but you jumped out of the car and ran so fast I wasn’t sure if you had some kind of dire medical emergency or if you’d decided I stunk. That wasn’t me, by the way. There was a fish on the floorboard.”
“I know. I mean, I know that smell was the fish.” My brow wrinkled. “I wanted to kiss you last night, too. It’s just that . . .”
He drew me back into his arms where I could feel the steady and reassuring beat of his heart. His cologne, decidedly un-fishy, wafted up my nose. I put my face in his neck and breathed in that delicious aroma. I spoke, my words muffled by the warm flesh of his neck. “I can’t see you anymore, Luke.”
“Why not?”
I looked up, giving him a wary glance. “People are saying that I’m only dating you so I can get a bigger part on Just One Love.”
His brow crinkled. “Who said that?”
“Just Adele,” I admitted.
“Well there you go. I’m going to be straight with you, okay? Adele is a star. But since you stepped on the set, she’s a star living in a shadow.”
“It’s not just the rumors. I need my privacy.”
He leaned in closer. “I need mine, too. I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, Charlie, but you’re going to be big. You have a huge acting career ahead of you. Maybe you don’t realize it yet, but I do. Everyone does. You shine. You’ve got that special quality that sets some actors apart from others.”
His words made my heart throb painfully. Rex had never believed I could act at all. He’d always said that doing a few plays in high school and at the local theatre didn’t make someone an actress. I’d never had anyone who believed in me.
Until now.
I shook my head. “I just had a really bad divorce.”
“That means you’re single.”
I nodded and stepped back. “Yes, I’m single. I’m also really confused. I haven’t dated in a long time. I don’t know what I’m doing either. I mean, what if I mess this all up?”
Luke stepped closer. His eyes held mine. “What if you don’t?”
I held my hands up and he took them. He got closer still. “I want to see you again. I would do almost anything to see you again. You’re different from anyone I’ve ever met. I feel a connection with you and I think that, deep down, we’re a lot alike.”
“I’m a mess!”
He chuckled. “Well, those pajamas are a little unique but I don’t know that you’re a mess.”
I looked down. Then my face heated. I’d rushed home, changed into my pajamas and called Claire. I hadn’t expected company outside of Claire and it showed. My pajamas consisted of a top and pants in a wildly patterned Egyptian cotton, with cows hanging off of half-moons.
“Yeah, Claire gave these to me for Christmas and I knew she’d ask if I’d worn them so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.”
“You look adorable, sweetheart.” He cupped my face in his hands. Then he pressed his lips to my cheek. “Who isn’t a mess in one way, or another? We all are.”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I can’t afford to get hurt again. I really can’t.”
“I would never hurt you, Charlie.”
I looked into his eyes and saw that he was serious but misgivings filled me anyway. My heart felt nearly as bankrupt as my bank account. I already felt so much for Luke. If he hurt me, I’d never heal again no matter how many times I read Greta von Strand’s Men: Who Needs Them? I was afraid, no—terrified, of taking that risk.
He drew me closer. I nestled against hi
s chest. His fingers lifted my face and I gazed up at him. “Would you like to go out with me tomorrow evening?”
“I would. But I don’t know if I can.”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “That’s okay, we can talk about it on Monday after you’ve had time to think. I’ll let you have the space you need.”
He let me go and I led him to the front door. I didn’t want him to go. The house, which had always been so warm and comforting, seemed to be too big and empty—and lonely.
I opened the door and we stepped out onto the front step. The stillness and darkness were suddenly shattered by headlights and the sound of a powerful engine roaring to a halt in my circular drive.
My heart lurched in my chest as I saw paparazzi with cameras running toward the house like lemmings heading for a cliff edge. My eyes widened as I recognized the car that had zoomed in, that sporty fire-engine red Ferrari.
The driver’s side door slid up and open and a man got out, turning for a moment to wave at the paparazzi. That is, if one considers using a single finger on each hand waving.
My heart dropped all the way to my belly as he turned back around and lowered the dark sunglasses to take in me, my dorky pajamas, and Luke.
Luke’s arm tightened around me. “Hey, isn’t that . . .?”
“Yes,” I said through numb lips. “That’s my ex-husband, Rex Rockwell.”
Chapter Seventeen
I’d thought my greatest nightmare was the paparazzi invading my privacy. Now they had elevated to a whole new level. The paparazzi, Rex, Luke, and me. The fact that I was wearing cow-pattered pajamas must’ve been thrown in for good measure.
I was so out of here!
I turned and beat a hasty retreat toward my front door. Luke and Rex followed. The paparazzi shouted questions and flashbulbs exploded. There was no way I was going to turn around and give them a clear photo op. Not after they had just caught me at my house with both Luke and Rex. I so did not want to see the headlines tomorrow.
I grabbed the door, wrenched it open and would’ve slammed it shut on Rex, but Luke was right behind him. So I let them all in, then shut the door, and locked it. We all stood there, in my foyer, staring at each other.
Rex looked confused.
Luke looked worried.
My mouth opened and closed like a guppy.
I mean how crazy had my life just gotten? I had a soap opera set in my house and a situation any soap opera would’ve been proud to have playing out on its set. My ex-husband and my almost-boyfriend with me at the same time. Not my dream scenario.
Rex’s dark brows came together as he looked Luke up and down, and blinked a few times. Finally, he said, “Oh, wait. I know you. You’re an actor.”
“Yes, and you’re a singer.”
“That’s right.” Rex nodded. “You working with Charlie?”
“Yes,” I said, chiming in. “And why are you here, Rex?”
He gave me his best attempt at a disarming smile. It was a really good attempt too. If I didn’t know him so well I would have bought right into it.
“Well, my agent heard that you’d been offered a—”
“Just leave, Rex!” I shouted, before he mentioned the part I was offered in Cherries Jubilee. I wanted to tell Luke about that opportunity, but now was definitely not that moment.
“She said to leave, Rex.” Luke’s voice quiet, but firm. “I think she meant it, too.”
Rex pulled off the dark sunglasses he’d been wearing. How he managed to drive at night with those things on was anyone’s guess. Most people just assumed he put them on before leaving the car but I could vouch, from personal experience, that he wore them while driving.
“Now look, actor, I’m not here to start a fight. Is there a reason for me to start a fight?”
My face burned. He was asking if Luke and I were dating. I knew it, he knew it, and Luke knew it. I stepped forward and my foot hit a patch of slick floor. I slid forward, careening wildly, and almost fell right into the wall. Luke grabbed me, his arm snaking around my waist.
I regained my footing and offered him a distracted smile.
“I see no reason to fight,” Luke said, while still holding onto me.
I wriggled free in order to defuse Rex’s tendency to pop his fists into people. “Rex, what are you doing here? Why did you bring the paparazzi with you? Don’t you know this is going to be in all the papers? And have you forgotten that we’re divorced?”
“I didn’t bring them,” he complained, gesturing toward the door dramatically. “They were already beyond the gate, hiding on the hill. I guess because he’s here. They must’ve seen my car and followed me.”
“No, they’re not here for Luke.” I grabbed the sides of my head, trying to piece everything together. “At least not solely. The soap is filming here.”
Rex looked even more confused. “Soap? Like, dish soap?”
“Like daytime drama,” Luke corrected, in an impatient tone.
“Oh, right.” Rex snapped his fingers. “That’s why I recognized you. Charlie used to glue herself to the television every time that soap came on. You love that show, don’t you, Charlie?”
“I don’t recall.” I crossed my arms. Way to blow my cover, dude.
“Sure you do. You were mad as a hornet when that one character, what was her name? Blanche? Yeah, Blanche. When Blanche fell off the roof and everyone thought she was dead but then she came back and you were happy again.” He turned to Luke. “How’s Blanche doing anyway?”
“She has amnesia. And a new baby.”
“That’s sad. She won’t remember the baby’s hers. So, they’re really filming here? I mean I heard you’d joined the cast but I didn’t hear they were filming in my house.”
“My house,” I shot back. “I got it in the divorce, remember? Apparently I forgot to change the gate code, though.”
“I should’ve called you first,” he began and looked as flummoxed as I felt. He scratched his head, messing up his rock star black hair. “Look, can we have a conversation? In private?”
“No,” I said, firmly. “Your lawyer can call my lawyer if you have anything you need to say. Now, I’m going to get myself some coffee. And when I return, you’d better not be here.”
I hurried to the kitchen, called the cops on the paparazzi, and was pouring the last drops of coffee into a mug when it hit me.
I’d left Rex and Luke in my foyer together. Not good!
Chapter Eighteen
Rex and Luke had moved to my living room. They were looking at each other, too, obviously sizing each other up. I had the craziest notion that at any minute the camera crew would burst out of a room and Roger would shout, “Cut!”
Only that didn’t happen.
Luke looked over at me. I glanced down at my watch, wondering just how long it would be before the cops got there. Although I did want Rex to leave, it would’ve been mean to kick him out while the paparazzi were still here.
Rex gave me a confused look. “The coffee . . .?”
“Oh right. I need to make a new pot.”
“I’ll make you a pot, Charlie,” Rex quipped, heading for the kitchen.
“No, I’ll make it,” Luke said, shoving in front of him.
Naturally they got stuck in the doorway to the kitchen and a little jostling started. Panicked, and still hoping the cops would show up, I headed toward them just as Rex broke loose and slid through the doorway. Luke was hot on his heels and I followed them because there was nothing else I could do and my fears were starting to escalate.
Rex looked at the counters and then began moving stuff aside. “Don’t you usually keep the beans next to the grinder?”
“Yes, but Claire made coffee last and I don’t know where she put them.”
My attention diverted for a moment from the bright beam of a flashlight from outside. I glanced back down at my watch. Was that the cops or the paparazzi?
“I’ll find the beans.” Luke started opening cabinets.
Rex gru
nted. “No, I’ll find them. I know my sister-in-law’s weird filing system better than you do.”
“Ex-sister-in-law,” Luke corrected, as he opened another cabinet.
Rex stopped rummaging around in a cabinet and said, “I beg your pardon?”
Luke turned to look at him. Testosterone filled the air. “I said she’s your ex-sister-in-law. You know, because you and Charlie are divorced.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything about my marriage, or my wife.” Rex’s chest puffed up and out as he spoke.
“Ex-wife and I think I do. I’ve read articles about how you treated Charlie, and you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Rex’s face went red just as I spotted the coffee beans next to a potted plant for some reason only Claire would be able to explain. I grabbed them, crying out, “Aha! The coffee beans!”
If either of them noticed my attempt at impersonating a second-rate magician they didn’t say anything. Luke shook his head. “You messed up her life once already. Why would you want to come here and do it again?”
My heart melted. Luke had read about me. That was so sweet.
I waved the beans over my head. “Guys? Coffee!”
Luke seized the beans. “I’ll make the pot.”
“No, I’ll make it. She’s my wife. I know how she likes her beans ground.”
“Ex-wife.” Luke glared at him. “Do you even know anything about her? It seems to me like you were too busy spending time with your production assistants and groupies to spend any real time with Charlie.”
It was sordid and sad. I didn’t want Luke to know all of my baggage. I had been content with thinking he had known about it in a peripheral way but it was obvious he knew many of the details. What else did he know?
I checked my watch again. Where were those cops? They’d better show up soon or they were going to be solving a whole different kind of crime. It was entirely possible that Luke and Rex were going to kill each other.