by Lee Kilraine
It felt good to accomplish some work in spite of Sijan Cates’s demands. Her daily call with Tansy had her feeling even better since Tansy had reported that two days of sand and sea air had her feeling better. Things were looking up today.
Avery met Sijan in the lobby, ready for the first gauntlet of paparazzi in front of the hotel. Sijan’s eyebrows rose when he caught sight of her. What? She wore a gray dress that covered from her neck to her knees. Her hair peeked out from under a wide-brimmed hat, tilted to shadow her face, and she had an oversized pair of sunglasses in her hand ready to slip on.
“I couldn’t get the nun look to work without an ACE bandage, so I went with classy and understated instead. Does this work for you?” She knew she carried a few extra pounds, but she wasn’t about to let this arrogant Hollywood type judge her. Besides, her extra pounds were in the right places, even if it took a pair of Spanx and a well-made bra to make that happen.
“Oh, it works.” Sijan’s jaw clenched as his gaze ran a cursory look down from her modest neckline to her Nine West peep-toe pumps. “How is it you’re covered head to toe and it still looks racy?”
“It’s not my fault I’m not your usual size-zero underwear model. News flash: real women have curves. Well, women who like to eat, at least. And they don’t sell burlap bags at the mall.”
“What’s with the hat and glasses?” He gestured up to her hat. “This is free publicity for you. You wanted to boost your career. You’ll want to milk this opportunity for everything it’s worth.”
“So says the man having trouble with his own publicity.”
Sijan nodded once. “Good point. I’ll just let you handle your next career move. Obviously you’ve thought it through, hence the photo-bombing yesterday.”
“Technically it wasn’t a photobomb since we were together.” When he opened his mouth to say something, Avery stopped him with a finger against his lips. “Can we please just get this over with? I mean, on with this.”
Sijan frowned down at her. Darn it, she needed to pull herself together and do a better job playing a wannabe starlet. Now that she had work to keep her busy, one or two hours of pretending to be the fiancée of a famous movie star wasn’t going to kill her. Probably.
“Okay, sure.” He nodded slowly and offered his elbow. “Let’s go.”
“What do you have lined up? Meeting your mother? Doesn’t your mother need to approve of your fiancée?”
Sijan’s jaw clenched. “You are not going to meet my mother.”
Avery slipped on the sunglasses, took his elbow, and stepped through the front doors into a familiar madness. The paparazzi clicked away while reporters shouted questions at them. Sijan wrapped a protective arm around her and dazzled with his sexy smile. Avery peeked coyly up from under the brim of her stylish hat, and the press ate it up. At a small nod from Sijan, the hotel doorman stepped in front and, like a former linebacker, cleared a path from the door to Sijan’s waiting truck.
“I always hated that.” Avery shivered and buckled herself in. Sijan’s raised brow brought her faux pas to her attention. “That . . . that crowded feeling, you know? I’m slightly acrophobic.”
His eyebrow elevated another notch. “Pretty sure that’s fear of heights.”
“Oh, I have that too, but I meant I’m crowdphobic.”
“Crowdphobic? Is that the medical term?” Sijan gave her one sidelong glance, then put the truck in gear and pulled away from the hotel. “I think you mean agoraphobic.”
“Well, okay, Doctor Cates. Next time I’ll be sure to have my therapist consult you.”
Avery wasn’t sure what Sijan mumbled under his breath, but it sounded suspiciously like, “Call it anything you want, so long as there’s a therapist involved.” She let it pass since her behavior, even by her own admission, had been crazy ever since Tansy’s tentative diagnosis. The memory of Tansy’s suffering was enough to see the craziness through though.
“So, we’re saving meeting your mother for another occasion.” Avery stared out the tinted window, watching the small, sleepy town pass by her window before turning to look at Sijan. “Does your mother know we’re engaged?”
“We’re not engaged.” Sijan sliced a quick glance at her before refocusing forward. His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. “And you aren’t getting anywhere near my mother.”
“Then what do you have lined up for us? A meeting with the mayor? Accepting the key to the city?” Her head turned to examine the crowd gathered in the parking lot Sijan had turned into. “Oh, a photograph at the local bait and tackle shop. Sure. That was going to be my next guess, because nothing says scandal-free true love like a bucket of worms.”
“They don’t call me Mr. Romance for nothing.”
“Who calls you Mr. Romance?”
Sijan parked his truck and turned to her with a sad shake of his head. “Darlin’, I’m beginning to think you really aren’t my number-one fan.”
“Oh, please.” Avery made a face at him. “Like you were still buying that after yesterday’s train wreck.”
He grinned and exited the truck, walking around to help her out. “It’s show time. Think of this as your big acting audition since you skipped that rung on the ladder. Your paparazzi awaits.”
Oh boy, did they. The crowd of photographers was easily double the size of yesterday’s. What were they, rabbits? Okay, stay calm and remember to breathe. Tipping her head just so, she used the wide brim of the hat and the sunglasses like a partial shield to avoid a clear shot of her face. She smiled softly, trying to blend into the background like an elegant watch on his wrist.
At least the gazillion photos the paparazzi shot would do more than sell tabloids this time. Apparently, Lonnie’s Bait and Tackle held a big annual fishing contest to raise money to restock both the lake and the local food bank. Lonnie explained that Sijan’s photo usually tripled the number of participants, so Sijan’s paparazzi would make this year’s event even bigger.
Once Lonnie explained that, Avery could hardly say no when he asked her to hold a handful of slimy wiggling worms for the photo. She had to use all her willpower not to drop them as they oozed in her hands. How was it Sijan got to hold the fishing rod, and she got stuck with the worms? One glance over at Sijan and she knew. His grin explained everything.
“You set me up.” Fine. She got it. He was making her pay her dues. Even so, it took all her willpower not to toss the handful of worms in his face. “We’re even after today, right?”
“Not even close.” He had the nerve to wink at her, and the press ate it up like the sexy, romantic gesture it wasn’t. “Can you even imagine how my phone call with the studio execs went last night? Smile, it’s for a good cause.”
Oh, right. Like this Hollywood actor gave a darn about good causes. Lonnie thought Sijan was doing him a favor, but she knew the man’s real motives. No, that wink spoke volumes. This was all about payback. Payback and cleaning up his scandalous reputation.
She faced the cameras again. The worms slithering across her palms shot a shudder up her spine, but she held rock steady. No way she’d let Sijan win. But . . . ick! This was the role that should earn her an acting award: keeping a beaming smile plastered on her face as the worms squirmed and slimed around in her hands. She even held her sigh of relief when Sijan helped her tip the worms out of her hands and into a cup. His grin told her he felt her stiff hands tremble as the last cloying worm slipped off.
“Here you go.” Lonnie directed her to the bathroom at the back of the store, where she used a fat bar of strong pine soap to scrub off worm slime and two layers of skin.
“Thanks again, Avery. I thought I’d have you hold the fishing rod, but Sijan said you were a good sport and thought the photo would get more attention if the pretty woman was holding the worms. Shock value, you know?”
Her gaze narrowed and sliced over to Sijan. “Oh, I know. He was right about the shock value. But it’s a worthy cause and a good thing you’re doing. No one should go hungry.”
<
br /> “We are so totally even,” Avery said once they were back in Sijan’s truck and heading over to the hospital for the last photo op of the day.
“A handful of worms does not begin to cover the damage you did.”
“If you weren’t trying to get even, you would have let me hold the fishing rod.”
Sijan reached out his hand and traced his finger along her jawline, a sexy move from the paparazzi’s perspective. Her body was buying it too, if the fluttering in her chest and pulse meant anything.
“Sweetheart, a photo op is a photo op. You’d be surprised at the things some starlets are willing to do instead of pay their dues with hard work and honing their craft.”
“I told you I only wanted the one pic—”
“Well, your lips were moving, but your actions spoke louder.”
“Gah! Fine. You win this round. Can we be done now?” Avery needed to get away from this man. He was driving her crazy, because she had to be crazy to let herself feel attracted to another actor. She couldn’t hang out in his world and expect to keep her anonymity, which she and Pia had worked darn hard for. In the last five years, she’d found, if not healing, then peace from her painful past at the hands of Hollywood actors and producers. A week ago, she’d have sworn she was too smart to be vulnerable ever again. Yet today she felt about as strong as dandelion fluff in a windstorm.
“One more. You’re going to need to buck up if you want a career in Hollywood. There’s a lot more to being famous than smiling for the cameras.”
Do not roll your eyes. Do not roll your eyes. Instead, she gave Sijan a wide-eyed look of surprise, blinking a few times for effect. “But that’s why I got my photo with you. So I could be famous without all that hard work.”
He pulled his sunglasses down and looked at her over the edge. “Huh, you seem too smart to believe it works that way. Maybe you’re a better actor than I figured.”
They pulled up at the front entrance of the hospital, where the paparazzi again awaited them. Ten minutes of photos with the hospital administrator and the employee of the month, and then they were escorted inside. A few back slaps—Sijan’s back, not hers—visitor ID badges, and an elevator ride later and they were on the pediatric oncology ward.
The staff was happy to see Sijan but not surprised. From the greetings, it sounded like Sijan had visited before. Well, that made sense, since by his own admission he had other scandals to downplay, and what better way than to visit sick children? A few nurses tittered and fluttered around him, but most just treated him like a regular guy.
Avery had seen plenty of movie stars expect and even demand star treatment and plenty of people willing to cater to those demands. Some actors had genuine smiles for the cameras, but the minute the cameras disappeared, so did the smiles and the friendly attitudes. Sijan did change when they left the cameras behind, but to her surprise, his smile warmed and relaxed as he met with the staff.
“Nancy, this is Avery, my . . .”
“His friend.” Avery reached out to shake the nurse’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Nancy.”
“Sweet. Another movie star.” Nancy talked too fast for Avery to correct her. “The kids will be excited. And you’re pretty enough to counteract his ugly mug.”
Avery grinned and glanced at Sijan for his reaction, but he only laughed and wrapped an arm around Nancy.
“Nancy was the love of my life in sixth grade. And then Davey moved to town, and it was ‘good-bye, Sijan, hello, Davey.’ I blame it all on that spelling bee. Only a future doctor would get ‘osteochon-drous’ correct.” He turned to Nancy. “Is he around today?”
“Home sleeping after working the night shift in the ER. I’ll tell him you tried to have your wicked way with me.” She threw Avery a wink. “Now, go work your magic, Sijan.”
When he walked into the rooms of the patients, Christmas morning smiles popped onto the faces of children and parents alike. Yep, his presence did magical things to the pale, pain-filled faces. He hugged frail bodies, kissed bald heads, and handed out high fives while he asked about school, new crushes, favorite movies, sports teams, and chemo. He took time to talk to the parents too. He shook hands or wrapped someone up in a hug and pulled them off to the side, where he’d quietly tease out what they needed, nodding as they listed one or two favors for their children.
A little girl, too small and frail to be fighting this battle, whispered, “Sijan, I thought you wouldn’t make it.”
“You’re my best girl, Bethany.” Sijan leaned in and kissed the young girl on her cheek, and Bethany giggled, blushed, and beamed all at once. Magic.
Avery had to step out of the room when her eyes teared up. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Lord, it was heartbreaking to see those kids, babies practically, waging battles for their lives. But if these children and their parents could handle it, then so could she and Tansy. If the biopsy result and second opinion came back with the worst-case scenario, they would handle it.
That thought helped center her. Which was good, because now she another problem to deal with: trying to talk her heart out of going all gooey over this movie star, because seeing how much his visit meant to the children and their families, and to Sijan too, was doing just that.
Five years ago, she had easily stuffed all actors into the same “too selfish to deal with” box, and along comes this movie star pushing his way out of that box and messing with her life. She could withstand his drop-dead gorgeous sexiness. Sort of. Maybe. Okay, it was debatable, but she had so far. But throw nice into the mix, and holy cow!
Of all the movie actors, in all the towns, in all the world . . . Ugh. It was like asking her to resist a decadent fudge brownie after drizzling it with warm salted caramel. On a good day, she could avoid being tempted by the brownie. She could avoid being tempted by the salted caramel. But put them together and there would be carnage.
“Well, hello. I was just coming to introduce myself. You must be Avery. My son’s fiancée.”
Chapter Six
Avery opened her eyes to find a smiling woman holding out a welcoming hand to her.
“Oh, um, yes, that’s me. Your son’s fiancée. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Cates.” But so very awkward. The woman looked a little too closely at her face as they shook hands.
Just then, Sijan poked his head out, his face crunching into a grimace when he saw her standing with his mother. “Oh, hey, Ma. What are you doing here?”
“Henry Lee was rushed in, and I came to sit with him while they track down Hawk. A possible hot appendix, but one of the nurses took him for a scan to confirm, so I thought I’d come up and meet your fiancée.” She looked questioningly at Sijan. “The one I didn’t know you had.”
“Damn it. I forgot how fast the Grapevine works. Ma, can we talk about this later?” His eyes cut a warning look over to Avery.
Pfft. Don’t waste your time, Mr. Movie Star. There was one slimy handful of worms still wriggling around in her all-too-clear memory that had to be accounted for.
“Oh, we’ll definitely talk about it later, Sijan.”
“Mrs. Cates, I wouldn’t worry about me if I were you.” Avery linked her elbow through Sijan’s. “This engagement has been pretty rocky from the start. I honestly think your son is going to wise up and break it off. Any day now.”
“Please, call me Cecelia.” Her head tilted as she looked at Avery a little closer. “You think so?”
“Definitely.” Avery nodded, blinking up adoringly at Sijan. “Isn’t that right, sugarhoneybritches?”
“Maybe even today,” Sijan ground out.
Cecelia moved her gaze between the two of them. “Interesting. I know my son pretty well, and he sure doesn’t look at you as if he wants to break up.”
“What?” Avery frowned and shot Sijan a warning glance. “Oh, that. No—that’s just the weird attraction thing. That’s going to fizzle out any day, and then he’ll see I’m just a sad, shallow woman.”
“Most sad, shallow women don�
�t realize they’re sad, shallow women.”
“Oh, well, we Hollywood types are always in therapy. It’s very popular, you know, getting in touch with your inner child. Knowing what color your chakra is. The best actors are the most twisted.”
“Then plan on earning an Oscar, because you’re bent like a pretzel,” Sijan said.
Cecelia’s gaze ping-ponged between the two of them. “You two should come to dinner. It sounds like it would be entertaining and enlightening. Why don’t—”
Sijan shook his head before his mother even stopped talking. “Oh, hell no, I don’t think so.” He leaned in and kissed his mother on the cheek. “We’re going to head down and visit Henry Lee. I’ll call you later and explain.”
“It was nice meeting you, Cecelia. You’ll thank Sijan later for dumping me.” Avery had to raise her voice a bit since Sijan was firmly guiding her toward the open doors of the elevator. “Seriously, I may be a red-hot habanero chili pepper in bed, but I give your son heartburn everywhere else. Bye!”
Before the doors to the elevator had slid shut, Sijan had her backed up against a side wall and was kissing her silent. And kissing her stupid. Wow, the man packed some sexy into his kiss. She would have oozed onto the elevator floor if his hard, muscular body hadn’t been pressing hers against the wall. When he withdrew his lips, her neck refused to do its job and her head bumped against the wall behind her. “Ouch.”
“I can’t believe you said that to my mother.” Sijan blazed his lips on a wicked path up her exposed neck.
“I didn’t mean to, but the look on your face egged me on. Now we’re even for your slimy trick at Lonnie’s.” She tilted her head farther to the side, giving him better access.
“How about a temporary truce?” Sijan brushed his lips along her jawline up to her ear, leaving a tingling trail of nerve endings.