“You really stole your sister's phone? To trick me here? God, you are such pond scum.”
Wendy spun around and headed to the open door. Colin ran and beat her to it. He didn't close the door but he stood in the doorway.
She looked at him, her stony eyes demanding that he move.
He edged out from in front of the door, but kept his eyes fixed on her. “Please listen to me. Please.”
Wendy took a step back. She kept her spine straight and her shoulders squared, but she gave a slight nod to let him know she'd listen.
“Wendy,” he said, more quietly now. “I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I wanted to get you alone before tomorrow to tell you that. And I knew I could get onto the lot with Lola's badge.” He looked right into her then. “I'm sorry.”
Wendy lifted her chin. “Sorry?” she challenged. “For what, exactly? Are you here because Lola read you the riot act and told you to play nice?”
Colin laughed. “Wendy, everyone read me the riot act. Separately. On their own. Every time I turned around, someone else was telling me what a jerk I am.”
“Well,” she said, folding her arms, “they told you to behave, so now you've tried to make amends. Bravo for you. Way to go, Coach. Is that it?”
“Wendy,” he said, his face creasing with something like confusion. “I'm not here because anyone told me to apologize. I'm here because I feel awful. I'm here because I made you feel awful. I can't ever remember feeling this bad before about how I've treated someone. I've never been such a dick to someone before.”
Wendy took a second to let all he was saying sink in. Then she lowered her eyes. “You had your reasons.”
His words came sharp and fast. “No, I didn't.” He shook his head. “I had a reason for calling you a whore in front of everyone? And telling you that you didn't belong? I don't think so. There is nothing to justify such nastiness.”
Wendy looked up at him then. “Colin, you don't owe me an apology. I owe you one. I've owed you one for months.”
No. He didn't want her to go there. Colin didn't want to talk about last fall. He wanted to forget about that night. He never again wanted to think about those few hours with Wendy. That amazing interlude that went nowhere, that could never go anywhere. “Wendy—”
“I was so mean to you,” she said, and he could see tears pooling in her eyes.
She sniffed, dabbing at her face with the back of her hand.
Colin almost suspected her of faking the crying act. But no. She probably wasn't. He was pretty sure that if Wendy Hunter meant to cry, she would make damn sure she looked cute while doing it and have a designer tissue at the ready.
Wendy took a deep, shaky breath. “You didn't deserve it.”
Colin's gut clenched. Seeing her so sad, so full of remorse, when he'd been such a creep to her. “I know why you said what you did, Wendy.”
Her eyes got wide.
“At least I can guess,” he said, remembering the pictures. Those God-forsaken pictures that had had everyone laughing, leering, judging her. “I play football. I know what it's like to want to hit first so you don't get hit.”
Wendy started nodding, ever so slightly. “Right. The whole world knows why I might want to hit first. Why The Great Wendy Hunter might freak out after getting all naked and intimate with a guy. Especially with a regular guy. But it still doesn't make it right. Or good. And it certainly doesn't make me the kind of person I want to be.”
Colin didn't reach out to touch her. He couldn't. Not now.
“From what Lola tells me,” he said, “You're not so bad.” He shook his head, then nodded. “A force to be reckoned with.”
Wendy's eyes lit up a bit, like a far off beacon in a storm. “Really? What did she tell you about me?”
“Not much. But it was huge. She said you're the reason they have the kids.”
Wendy didn't say anything.
“You didn't meet with Jon after the custody talks, did you?” Colin asked. “You didn't meet him after the adoption. You went to him and traded your endorsement for the kids, didn't you? You even got him to sign the adoption papers.”
Wendy backed away and sat down. “A few weeks after Lola and Arlen got married, we did an episode about adultery. My character's husband was a philanderer who'd abandoned her, and that part of her past comes up. Anyway, Arlen and I were going over lines and he was so quiet. I mean, he's always quiet, but this script got to him. We talked. When Arlen was married to Rachel … Rachel saw Jon sometimes.”
“Wait.” Colin felt his chest constrict. “Arlen's first wife cheated on him? With her ex?”
“Every few months. A few times a year.” She cleared her throat. “Arlen eventually found out. So he asked her to stop.”
Colin swallowed. “He gave her an ultimatum?”
Wendy shook her head. “No. I don't think Arlen ever would have threatened to leave the kids, no matter how much Rachel hurt him. No. He just asked her to stop hurting him.” Wendy met Colin's eyes. “So she did. She broke it off with Jon.”
“She chose Arlen.”
Wendy nodded. “I think that's when Jon really started hating Arlen.”
“The kids ...”
Wendy nodded again. “Jon had been a deadbeat dad from the beginning. But he swooped in to take the kids away from Arlen within days of Rachel dying. I began thinking that Jon took them in order to hurt Arlen, to get back at him. And I knew that if I was right, if it was about punishing Arlen and not about how much he loved the kids, I knew that I might have a shot at getting them back—for the right price.”
Colin's eyes got huge. “Wendy, could you get in trouble? I mean, real trouble? Go to jail?”
She shook her head. “I was careful. So careful. I never came right out and said anything. And neither did he. And there's sure as heck no paper trail.”
Colin covered his mouth and nose with his hands, then scrubbed his hands across his face. “God, Wendy. God. How did you manage it? That must have been one hell of a tight wire act.”
She shrugged, as if what she'd done had been easy peasy, no big deal. “He had a lot more to lose than I did. And a lot more to gain, at least the way he saw it.”
“Jon's 'landing you' for Palm Leaf got him the promotion to France.”
“In charge of the European division. King of the World, and a world away from the kids.”
Colin's heart beat fast as he took it all in. “And you did all that for Arlen and Lola?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I could. I had a chance to make six people incredibly happy, so I took it.”
Colin nodded. Then he smiled. “That's … wow. That's … wonderful.”
Wendy's face lit up, like they just called her name when she hadn't even bought a ticket. “So … you don't hate me anymore?”
Colin couldn't stop looking into those damn eyes of hers. “I don't hate you.”
“I don't hate you, either.”
Colin didn't say anything and didn't move.
Wendy stood up. “I … better get going.”
Colin should move. He should leave. He should at least get away from the door. But Wendy was here. And he wanted to be near her. He nodded but didn't move.
Wendy approached him, but he still didn't step away. So she walked right up to him. Then closer. Then closer.
When she brushed up against him, a whisper of a touch, Colin felt it like a blast from a taser. He jumped back and crashed into the doorjamb. “Wendy ...”
She was looking at him with such undisguised longing, the way she'd looked at him that night in the hotel.
“Wendy,” he said, trying to shake himself back to reality. “Think about this. You're a part of Arlen and Lola's family. An unshakable person they love. So am I. We're going to be seeing each other at major life events for years and years and years to come. We're family. If we do this … God. Do you know how messed up everything is going to get? Are you ready for that?”
Wendy felt it, the h
uge hole opening inside her and sucking up almost all the air. She could hardly breathe.
We're going to be seeing each other …
Clearly, they wouldn't be going to any major family events together. The spark between them that night had been nothing more than sex on fire. With no sweetness or affection at all. No feelings that could melt all over them and stick them together in one gooey mess.
“Wendy?”
She stepped away, showing that she was no sort of seductress threat. His words were still echoing in her hollowed-out chest.
Are you ready for that?
Colin Scott wasn't, that was clear as mirrors. Colin Scott had been with her. Colin Scott knew her. Colin Scott had stamps of approval about her from every person he loved. And he still didn't want her. He didn't even want to try.
“Good-night, Colin.” She backed away another step as she slid into her best serene smile. “See you tomorrow at the house.”
* * * * *
Gripping the steering wheel hard, Colin drove through the night back to Lola's house. His heart was hammering. Wendy Hunter was nice. Like, really nice. And brave. And strong. And cute. And hot. And she wanted him at least as much as he wanted her.
But it could never work. It was ridiculous to think of him in her world. It was impossible to think of her in his. Damn, he needed to get back to New Orleans. He'd have to pretend like nothing was going on—and nothing was. Wasn't that the Goddamn point?
Chapter 5
ELLA
Everyone's here, getting breakfast, except Uncle Colin. Mom said he's probably jet-lagged and sleeping in. I wish he'd wake up, already. I mean, I can tell everyone is all nervous about what happens when Uncle Colin finally makes an appearance. Matteo woke me up this morning to tell me Uncle Colin likes Wendy, but I'm not convinced. Guys who like you are not rude to you in front of your whole family.
I don't think so!
Guys who like you ask your friends about you and they do nice stuff for you and they ask you to go out with them. They don't go wherever you aren't and then get all mad when you show up. They don't try to make you go away.
I bet Uncle Colin thinks Wendy is after Dad, trying to wreck our home. But that's so stupid. Doesn't Uncle Colin realize that if Wendy were really after Dad, Mom could just kill her off the show? Or give Wendy's character chicken pox or a really bad haircut so that she'd have to look awful in front of all of America for an hour every week? And anyway, they only ever pretend kiss on the show, and it's nothing like when Dad kisses Mom for real. Matteo and Uncle Colin are both so nutso. Sometimes, I think I'm the only one who really gets how totally nice and cool Wendy is.
“You gonna eat that?” Mom breezes right by and snags the uneaten half bagel off my plate.
“Hey!”
“You snooze, you lose.” And she's laughing right before she takes a huge bite of my bagel!
“You can have half of mine,” Wendy offers, handing me a lightly toasted plain bagel with nothing on it.
God, I am never going to be an actress! “Thanks,” I say with a huge smile as I put a TON of cream cheese on it.
Wendy winks at me and bites into a green apple.
“Good morning!”
Everyone kind of freezes as Uncle Colin comes bounding into the kitchen like Tigger. His hair is still wet from a shower but at least Sleepyhead is dressed. And hallelujah, it's in normal jeans and a normal T-shirt, and not in those tight, clingy clothes that guys in L.A. are always wearing.
“Hi, Mom,” he says, going up to Nana Charlotte and kissing her on the cheek.
But I can tell everyone is nervously sneaking peeks at Wendy. Is Uncle Colin going to say something mean to her?
“Lola,” he says, moving across the sunny kitchen and kissing her, too.
“Wendy,” he says all casual-like, messing her hair as he breezes past her.
“Hey,” she says on a laugh, smoothing the strands back into place.
Uncle Colin messed her hair. Messed her hair!
I don't say anything as he kisses me on top of the head and then swipes the bagel Wendy just gave me. Uncle Colin just messed Wendy's hair like she's a little kid.
What's that supposed to mean?
I have to text Macy.
Chapter 6
ARLEN
Jesus Christ, Colin is so totally Lola's brother. Just like Lola, when Colin decides to do something, he goes all-out. I told him to back off Wendy, so what does he do? He heads straight for her, trying to mow her down with … what? Friendliness? Is that what he's going for? Mussing her hair at breakfast. Daring her to eat an entire grilled tuna steak at lunch when the most she usually eats at one sitting would fit into the Monopoly thimble. Knocking her into the pool. That one took the cake. Especially when she got all hysterical but was really faking it so she could pull him in, too. Then the two of them playing badminton to the death while they were both soaking wet.
My God.
It's like they've gotten hold of an old sitcom script—one that was shelved because it was so damn cheesy and cliché that no one would ever make it. All the two of them need now is a soundtrack of canned laughter. Seriously, it's weird. I don't know Colin, but I find it damn hard to believe he comes off as this fake all the time. And I know Wendy sure as hell doesn't usually come off as this phony.
What the fuck is going on?
Chapter 7
CHARLOTTE
Oh, my. Colin, Colin, Colin, Colin.
Chapter 8
LOLA
I look at my phone again. Still nothing. Colin's plane isn't due to land for another ten minutes, but I swear I've gotten all over-protective crazy since we got the kids. I flick off the bathroom light and head to bed.
“Arlen,” I yelp, not able to hide my surprise.
“Yes, Arlen.” He laughs from where he sits up in bed. “Who were you expecting?”
I hit him with a pillow as I climb in. “You're supposed to be asleep. You have to be in top form for the table read tomorrow.” I slide him my cat-ate-the-parrot smile. “And I mean Top. Form.”
“Jesus, are you making me get naked again? I swear this is the most bizarre job on the planet.”
“Hey, on the day we met, I asked if you minded partial nudity.”
“And as I recall, I freaked out when you asked me that.”
“Well, relax,” I say. “It's not that bad.” I settle back against the pillows. “Really, dude. You don't need to look so weirded out.”
“That's not why I'm weirded out. I'm weirded out about Colin. Why was he acting so bipolar all weekend? I think I get why he was attacking Wendy. But today? What the fuck?”
I scroll through the texts on my phone and show Arlen the screen.
Lola: Please meet me in my office. I know it's late, but we have to talk. Before you get here tomorrow.
Wendy: Okay. I'll be there in twenty.
Arlen looks at me. “You snuck out in the middle of the night last night? No way. I would've woken up.”
“I know. It wasn't me. Colin must have stolen my phone from the study. He must have met Wendy and formed some kind of truce. Or cease-fire, at least. I mean, all their happy-go-lucky interaction wasn't exactly real.”
“No shit.”
“So, they're not really friends. Maybe Colin grovelled and Wendy agreed to be civil?”
“But why would he do all that? I told him to back off Wendy, I didn't tell him he better go meet her at Appomattox.”
I bite my lip.
“Lola?” Arlen's eyes get huge and suspicious. “Lola … what's going on? Lola?”
I lean in close. “Don't worry,” I whisper. “It's okay. I told him that Wendy is the reason we have the kids so he better stop giving her a hard time. That's it.”
“Lola. They can never know.” His voice is as quiet as mine. “The kids can never know.”
“I know, Arlen.” I'm scarcely more than breathing into his ear, I'm whispering so softly. “I know. Colin won't tell anyone, ever. If anyone understands how mu
ch those kids can't be hurt again, it's him. Believe me.”
My phone pings.
“Believe me,” I say again to Arlen, and then I kiss him.
“I do,” he says, and he kisses me. Then he stretches out under the duvet, pulling me with him, holding on to me. I fold one arm across the one he's got tucked around my waist and I look at my phone.
Colin: Just landed safe and sound. Night, La-La.
I punch in a quick response with one hand.
Lola: Night.
I toss the phone onto the nightstand and nestle into Arlen. He pulls me in closer and I positively purr.
“He land okay?”
“Mmm.”
Arlen kisses my neck. “You know,” he says, “you're breaking house rules by bringing your phone to bed.”
“I know,” I sigh. “I better go take it to the study to plug in.”
Arlen's hold on me tightens. “No,” he says, sliding a hand under my shirt to glide his fingers along my ribcage. “Stay here. Definitely stay here.”
“Okay.”
Chapter 9
Two months later
THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN
The last day of school.
Colin lay in bed, smiling up at the ceiling, taking a few minutes to relax before his morning run. This year, he didn't feel quite the same last-day echoey feeling inside. Because this summer would be huge. If Colin could pull it off.
He leapt out of bed. Everything was already underway, and the next few months would be crucial. Wow. Just thinking about the project galvanized him for the rest of the day.
When all the kids were finally set free at the final bell, Colin went through the locker room, making sure that it had been emptied out for the summer. He usually felt damn wistful as he did the last check. Even though he'd see most of the guys at summer practices and trainings, some would graduate, some would have jobs and some would have … other stuff going on. Colin clenched his teeth. Sure, summer sessions allowed him to stretch into the community and get more guys involved in structure, discipline, and purpose. But the summer also meant some of the kids drifted back into the listless city, and that worried the hell out of him.
Catch a Falling Star (In Love in the Limelight Book 3) Page 4