In the Heat of the Spotlight

She swallowed past the ache that had started in her throat, an ache of sympathy and remembrance. She’d never told anyone about her childhood. In the world of celebrity, it held a touch too much pathos to be interesting. ‘Well, my mother didn’t have much time for me. And my father wasn’t in the picture.’

‘Who raised you?’ That thoughtful crease appeared between his brows. ‘Your grandmother?’

‘I wish. I only stayed a summer with her, when I was eleven, but it was the happiest time of my life.’

‘Then where did you grow up?’

‘Nowhere. Everywhere. My mom never stayed in the same place for more than a few months, sometimes a few weeks. She’d get a job in a local diner or something, enrol me in school and find a deadbeat boyfriend. When he started stealing her money or knocking her around, she’d move on, dragging me with her.’

‘That’s terrible,’ Luke said quietly, and Aurelie shrugged.

‘I got over it.’

‘Julia Schmidt,’ he said after a moment. ‘Your mother. You bought the house from her, didn’t you?’

She nodded. ‘When my grandmother died she left it to my mom. I was only seventeen, and I think she hoped it would help my mom settle down.’

‘But?’

Aurelie sighed. ‘My mom didn’t want to settle down. So I bought the house from her for far more than it was worth. I was famous by then, so I had the money.’

‘And you finally had a home.’

She blinked hard, amazed at how quickly and easily he understood her. How in this moment it felt good and right and safe, rather than scary.

‘It must have been a huge loss when your grandmother died,’ he said after a moment, and she nodded.

‘I still miss her.’

‘And your mother?’

A shrug. ‘Around. Who knows? She used to appear every so often asking for money, but now that I’m not in the spotlight any more—at least not for any good reason—she’s disappeared.’ She sighed and stretched out her legs. ‘She’ll surface one day, I’m sure.’

‘So you really are alone.’

So alone. Although she didn’t feel alone right now. She wanted to tell him that, confess just a little of the happiness in her heart that he’d helped to create, but fear held her back. Rejection was still a distinct and awful possibility. There was still so much Luke didn’t know.

‘What about your parents? Are they around?’

He shook his head. ‘Both dead.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Aurelie gazed at him, saw how he’d carefully schooled his features into a completely neutral mask. ‘How did they die?’

‘My father of a heart attack when I’d just finished college.’ A pause, a telling hesitation. ‘My mother developed breast cancer when I was thirteen.’

‘I’m sorry. That’s terrible.’

He jerked his head in a semblance of a nod, his face still so very neutral. He was holding something back, Aurelie suspected, some pain that he didn’t want to share with her. She decided not to press.

‘So you’re alone too,’ she said quietly and after a taut moment of silence Luke reached for her hand.

‘Not right now,’ he said, and as Aurelie’s heart turned right over he tugged her to her feet. ‘Let’s swim.’

‘Swim?’ Aurelie eyed the deep, tranquil pool below the falls with a dubious wariness. ‘What about the giant barracudas?’

‘You mean the medium-sized ones? They’re friendly.’

‘I didn’t bring a swimsuit.’

‘I’m sure we can improvise.’ She hesitated and Luke added quietly, ‘Unless you don’t want to.’

Was this another trust exercise? she wondered. She was so used to men seeing her as an object. A trophy. She’d encouraged it, after all. And yet she knew Luke was different, knew he saw her differently.

‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Let’s do it.’

Luke led her down a narrow path to the pool. Aurelie tilted her head up to watch the waterfall cascade down the rock, churning foam that emptied into a surprisingly placid pool.

‘Good thing you’re not shy any more,’ she said as Luke tugged his shirt over his head. Then her mouth dried, for the sight of his bare chest was glorious enough to start her heart thumping. His shoulders were broad, his chest powerful and browned and perfectly taut. Washboard abs, trim hips. She was gaping like a fool, and realised it when Luke gave her a knowing grin and dropped his shorts.