by Alexa Aston
“If I’m paying her, she’ll follow through on what I ask her to do. That means getting you a new phone.” He paused. “Do you know I don’t even know your phone number? I have no way of sexting you.”
Her eyes shone with mischief. “Then you better be nice to me or you may never get it.”
He gave her a long, deep kiss. “See. I know how to make nice.”
“You sure do.” She dialed the number and put it on speaker.
“Hello.”
Dash heard impatience in the voice that answered and wondered if Brenda was as great as Sydney claimed.
“It’s Sydney, Brenda.”
“Sydney! How are you? I didn’t recognize the number. I almost didn’t answer except I’d given mine out at some crappy speed dating session last night and thought it might be someone from there. Not that any guy deserved my number. The whole thing was a bust. Where are the good men hiding?”
“Are you at work?”
“Do I ever leave? Every time I’ve tried to get out the door tonight, it’s ‘Brenda, type this deposition. Brenda, I need fourteen collated copies of this by tomorrow.’ At this rate, I should buy a sleeping bag and roll it out because I may never escape.”
“Were you serious when you offered to leave there and come with me?”
“Yes. Wait. Are you offering me a job? You mean I could march in and turn in my notice? Where are you? What would I be doing? Oh, who cares? Anything is better than this. I’ve been miserable since you left. I’ve missed you like crazy.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be working for me. It would be for a friend of mine.”
Dash mouthed, “Friend?” at her.
“A really close friend,” Sydney amended. “Here, talk to him and decide for yourself.”
“Hello, Brenda,” Dash said.
Silence. Then, “Say that again, please.”
“Hello, Brenda,” he repeated.
“Do you know who you sound like?” she asked.
“Dash DeLauria?”
“Exactly. I’ve seen his last movie three times. You could easily pass for him.”
“Well, Brenda, I am Dash DeLauria.”
“You mean . . . you . . . you’re friends with Sydney? My Sydney? Close friends? Are you sleeping with Sydney?” Brenda demanded. “Does she know how many women you’re involved with?”
Dash liked Brenda already.
Sydney piped up, “You’re on speaker, Brenda.”
“I am? Well, okay then. Pulling myself together. Putting on my professional hat.” Brenda cleared her throat. “So, Mr. DeLauria, what would this job entail?”
“It’s Dash. I need a personal assistant. Someone to manage my appointments. My schedule. Pay my bills. Make sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and that I get to where I’m supposed to be on time. It’s not strictly nine to five, Brenda. You’d have to pull some nights and weekends, depending upon what I have going on.”
“What does it pay?”
“What do make now?”
She told him.
“California’s pretty expensive. I could double that.”
An ear piercing squeal sounded. Then professional Brenda said, “I will consider your job offer but I need to talk to Sydney. Not on speaker.”
Sydney punched a button and held the phone up to her ear. “What do you need to say to me that Dash couldn’t hear?”
“It would be a dream for me to move to California and do something incredibly fun and interesting like work for Dash DeLauria but, Sydney, the man is a flirt of the first degree. Are you seeing him? Do you know his reputation? I’m not sure this is a good move on your part.”
Dash grinned. Brenda was loud enough that he’d heard every word. He liked that she was looking out for Sydney.
“What you read in the tabloids and what’s true in real life are two very different things, Brenda. I grew up in Hollywood. I know what I’m talking about. Dash is a good guy. He’s good for me and he’d make a good boss for you.”
“Put me back on speaker then,” Brenda ordered.
“You’re on,” Sydney told her.
“Dash, I will accept your generous job offer. Not only because I’m ready to do something totally different with my life but because I need to see with my own eyes that you’re treating Sydney right. If you hurt her? That’s like hurting me. And then I would have to hurt you. I guarantee—that would not be pretty.”
“I love that Sydney has such a loyal friend, Brenda. I’m happy you’ll be working for me.”
“I’ll turn in my notice now so HR will see it first thing in the morning. I can be there in a week. Wherever there is.”
“Brenda,” Sydney said, “I can arrange to find you an apartment if you trust my judgment.”
“I’d trust you with my life, Sydney. You know that.”
“Same here.”
Dash felt Sydney tense against him. He wondered what was up since the conversation had gone so well with her former assistant.
“Bren, do me a favor. Don’t tell anyone at work that you’re coming to California. Or that you’re going to work for a friend of mine. Don’t even mention that we’ve talked, okay?”
“Got it.”
“I’ll call you later so we can catch up. I’ll give you more details then.”
“Thanks, Sydney. I mean it. Really. Thank you. You’ve saved my life. And my sanity.”
“Talk to you tomorrow. Bye.” Sydney hung up and beamed at him. “You’ve got yourself an A+ assistant. I might have to steal her away if I get busy myself.”
Dash pushed her to the mattress and began kissing his way down her body. As he did so, he wondered why Sydney wanted everything kept on the down low. He’d trust that she’d tell him.
When she was ready.
CHAPTER 14
Dash wanted to walk the beach. Sydney pointed him in the direction of the leftovers, a bin where people had left everything from flip flops to T-shirts to sunglasses. She changed into shorts and a tank top. By the time she found Dash, he had on board shorts and a T-shirt that was way too small for him. He shook his head and barely got it off.
“Going shirtless for the walk. Nothing in there fit me,” he said.
She ran a hand along his bicep. “Your guns are too big and your chest is too broad.” Her hand glided along the smooth skin and smiled. “Shirtless is a great look for you.”
“Topless would be a nice look for you,” he said hopefully.
“Maybe later,” she teased.
Sydney couldn’t believe how easy conversation was with Dash. She felt like a new person—or maybe he’d dug deeply and reached the person she was all along. The one who’d vanished years ago and hadn’t been out to play. Until now.
Dash slipped an arm around her waist and she did the same to him. They strolled along the edge of the sand, where the water would come up and lap their ankles as each wave rolled in.
“You’ve surprised me,” she told him. “When you said celebrate, I didn’t quite have this in mind.”
He tugged her closer. “Did you think I meant slugging down margaritas and dancing on tabletops?”
“Maybe.” She thought about his reputation. The pictures she’d seen on the internet. Then she thought of what she’d told Brenda. Sydney knew Hollywood reputations weren’t always a true picture of a person. She was a poster child example of that logic.
“I’m really not like that. Sure, I get out for publicity’s sake. I won’t lie to you. I haven’t wanted to be tied down in the past. I’ve been out with more women than I could keep track of. Models. Actresses. Wannabes. I make sure I’m seen in all the right places and that each woman was better looking than the last. Trying to live up to the stud image.”
Dash stopped and cupped her cheeks in his hands. “That’s never been me. I’m pretty much a homebody. I like to watch sports on TV. Work out. Cook.”
“You cook?”
“I do. I’ll cook for you. Soon. But Sydney? I’m done with all that. I don’t need my name in
magazines or my pictures splashed across the internet. I mastered the art of the one-night stand and it left me empty inside.” He gave her a long, searching look. “I meant what I said before. I want to see you. Only you. I want to be with you. I probably shouldn’t say this because I don’t want to scare you away but I’m already crazy about you. I can’t stop thinking about you. That’s never been me. I don’t recognize myself.”
He pressed his lips to hers gently. “But I like it. I like me with you.”
Sydney took a deep breath. “Same here. Except I’m the opposite of you before. An introvert. I didn’t date. I’ve only slept with two men my entire life. Three now, counting you.”
Dash pulled her down to the sand. They sat, their legs splayed in front of them.
“Tell me about it. About you. Before now.”
“I had it great for eight years. Mom and Dad were the most loving parents a kid could want. Then Mom got breast cancer and went downhill fast until poof—she was gone. Dad didn’t know how to handle it. Neither did my brother. He OD’d a year later. By then, Dad had already moved on. He barely acknowledged me. Diamond told me it was because I looked so much like Mom that his heart broke every time he saw me.”
He put an arm around her. Sydney leaned into him for support.
“Diamond is his housekeeper. She’s Jayla’s mom.”
“I met the crotchety Diamond this morning.”
Sydney chuckled. “She’s not a fan of actors. Or anything to do with the movie business. She pretty much raised me, though she’s always come only three days a week. The rest of the time I was left on my own. I did everything to gain Dad’s attention. Made the best grades. Won whatever competition I entered. Nothing worked. I resorted to getting attention anyway I knew how.”
“By acting out.”
“Yeah. My grades plummeted. I talked back in class. Got in a fight at school—with a guy—and was expelled. I dyed my hair purple. Started wearing next to nothing. Ran with the wrong people, an older crowd who was up to no good.”
“The Wild Child,” Dash said.
Sydney frowned at the moniker she’d been saddled with. “That was so not me. True, I did hang with a crazy, older group. Sneaked into the clubs. Did my fair share of dancing on tabletops though I never drank. Never took drugs. I was the one holding their hair out of the way when they vomited in the bathroom stalls. The paparazzi would capture shots of me with them but I never really did what they did.”
“Did your dad notice you then?”
She sniffed. “Nope. He was jetting around Europe and Asia with a different woman each week when he wasn’t filming. Every now and then he brought a new wife or live-in girlfriend home, who wasn’t pleased to find a needy kid and later a rebellious teenager hanging around. I got shipped off to boarding school twice—and returned just as fast. I got into some trouble with the law. Shoplifting. That kind of thing. Craig got me out of it.”
“Craig Thompson?”
“Yeah. Craig had played a cop so many times, cops adored him. Claimed him as one of their own. When I had no one else to call, I turned to Craig. He made sure the charges got dropped. I think he paid to make things go away.”
“You married him.”
“I know, crazy, right? He’d been around all my life. Did a few pictures with Dad. Another one as Mom’s co-star. He didn’t have any family and was a bit of a loner so he usually came to holiday dinners like Thanksgiving and Christmas. My parents always brought home stragglers. The last time I got into trouble, Craig told me he knew what I wanted was attention. He said he’d be happy to give me some. He offered to take care of me.”
“That’s why you married him.”
Sydney shrugged. “I didn’t love him but he was a decent guy. I think he was gay and just never came out. We were married almost four months and we had half-hearted sex ten or twelve times. Craig was great to hang out with. He loved to read and talk about current events. He was interesting. And he listened to me. No one really had for years.”
Dash took her hand. “I guess it was hard to lose him.”
Sydney grew quiet. Being with Dash was a new start for her so she wanted to be honest. “It was harder than I would’ve expected. He was gone so quickly. I missed him. My mom. My brother.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Dad was vacationing in France and didn’t bother coming home for Craig’s funeral. I called to ask him if he would. He told me he was busy.”
“It seems really different now between the two of you. Seeing you interact, I would never have guessed you’d been estranged.”
She brushed a hand across her face to wipe away the spilled tears. “That’s the really weird thing. I left home. Married Craig. After that one call asking Dad to come to the funeral, I didn’t talk to him until last week. He acted as if no time had passed and that everything was fine between us. He welcomed me back like I was the Prodigal Son and offered me a job and has seemed so . . . . normal. So . . . Dad-like. Part of me celebrates this new phase in our relationship but the rest of me can’t figure it out.”
“What if you’re not meant to? Maybe Monty was searching for something like you were. Either he found it or he didn’t but he’s accepted what his life is now, without your mom in it. He probably was thrilled that you got in touch with him and doesn’t want to push you too hard and drive you away again.”
“Even though we didn’t speak for all those years, he told me he’d hired a PI who kept tabs on me. He knew where I went to college and law school. He knew where I worked and the city I lived in. In his own way, I guess he cared.”
Sydney knew she’d left out a huge chunk of her life but she wasn’t ready yet to talk about her second marriage and Wake. They sat in companionable silence. Dash didn’t press her about the second guy she slept with. She’d tell him eventually.
“Okay, I’ve spilled enough of my past. Quid pro quo, DeLauria.”
Dash stood and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s walk.”
◆◆◆
Dash liked that Sydney had filled in some of the blanks for him. He knew there were still huge gaps remaining but she didn’t need to tell him everything right away. She already seemed emotionally drained. He’d have to tamp down his curiosity about her second lover. For now.
As they strolled along the beach, he said, “I didn’t have the greatest childhood. Mom walked out on us when I was six. Dad never got over her leaving and drank to cope with it. It took him fifteen years but all the alcohol he consumed finally killed him. I’d just turned twenty-one.”
“I’m sorry, Dash. That had to be hard.”
“It was. Sports saved me. I played football and basketball. Worked year-round at a local grocery store from the time I was fourteen. And you know I sang in the choir.”
“That’s why you don’t drink,” Sydney said. “You didn’t when you met with my dad. Or at the cookout.”
“My father’s drinking was part of that decision.” He hesitated. “This is hard to talk about. I’ve never mentioned it to anyone.”
“Then don’t.” Her hand rubbed his back soothingly.
“No, I want to talk about it with you.” He thought back to that night that had given him nightmares for years. “After senior prom, my best friend and I took our dates to make out and drink. We did a lot of both. Eric was driving. How he made it back to town to drop off the girls, I don’t even remember. We were headed to his house when I fell asleep. The next thing I knew, I woke up two days later in a hospital. Eric had lost control of the car and was killed instantly.”
Sydney’s hand stopped. She wrapped him in her arms. Her warmth radiated through him.
“I had broken my leg, arm, and jaw. They wired my mouth shut so my jaw could heal. I lived on liquids for weeks. I missed Eric’s funeral. Dropped a ton of weight. Lost my football scholarship to Kansas State. I felt as worthless as a human being could. That’s when I decided to chuck it all and move to California. Reinvent myself. Not have to be Dash DeLauria. As an actor, I could disappear into a role and be anyon
e but me.
“I never took a drink after that night, Sydney. I probably never will.”
She captured his face in her hands. “I never have either, despite my past reputation. We can be sober buddies together. Besides, there are lots of things more productive than drinking. Like this.”
Sydney pulled his head down until their lips met.
Dash fell in love with her at that moment.
CHAPTER 15
Dash knew he needed to do something he’d never done before—introduce a female companion to Herc. That would be the true test. He couldn’t be in love with any woman unless she had met and welcomed his little brother. He prayed Sydney would be up to the challenge.
He broke the kiss and said, “You’ve got to come with me. Now.” He grabbed her hand and began hustling her down the beach.
“Hey, slow down,” Sydney said. “I have long legs but you’re almost running. Or should I say Dash-ing?”
“Sorry.” He slowed his pace.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to my place.”
“Yes!” Her face lit up. “You’re going to cook for me. I like a man who knows his way around a kitchen because I don’t.”
Dash came to a halt. “Seriously?”
Sydney yanked on his arm so they’d keep walking. “Seriously. If I made the effort, I’m sure I could master a few dishes. I told you—I’ve been really busy for a long time.”
“You were a lawyer?” She’d mentioned law school so he stirred the waters a bit.
“An incredibly busy lawyer. First, I was a nose to the grindstone student in college. I took my GED after Craig died and used money he left me to get my bachelor’s degree. Along the way, I had a wild hare idea that law school would be the smart route to take.”
They reached her house and showered the sand off their feet.
“Was it?”
“It was three really tough years. I’m smart, but there were some true brainiacs there.”
“Where?”
“Yale.”
“Ah. Yale Law School. Let me guess. You graduated at the top of your class.”