Darcy in Hollywood

It would be an evening of no-strings fun. She’d probably never been to a glitzy premiere; her father’s movies would never have had that kind of budget. It would be a treat for her. Then back to his place for some fun in the sack and maybe breakfast the next morning. No harm, no foul.

An added bonus was that being seen with him would do wonders for her career. Yeah, he’d be doing her a favor. Not that she didn’t deserve it. She worked damn hard on In the Shadows—and for the charity project. She had earned a little fun. And if it provided a boost to her career, all the better. Principal filming was almost over; now was the perfect time. If things got awkward afterward, well, Hollywood was a big town.

Problem solved, Darcy shrugged off his shirt and whistled his way to the shower.

***

Later that day, Elizabeth and Charlotte were sitting at one of the picnic tables behind the soundstage. Neither had grabbed lunch earlier, and they were eagerly wolfing down sandwiches.

Shortly after they’d arrived, Charlie had sauntered out of the building, followed by his sister. He had given them a friendly smile and seemed inclined to join them, but Caroline had yanked him down to the far end of the table, where they were now engrossed in a conversation. Elizabeth exchanged a knowing look with Charlotte. Caroline wasn’t especially friendly to anyone on the set, but for some reason she seemed to bear particular animosity toward Elizabeth.

Elizabeth had just finished the first half of her sandwich when she saw a cab pull up in front of the building. Jane hopped out, pulling a wheeled suitcase behind her, and hurried over to their table. Elizabeth jumped up to hug her sister, who had been on a five-day trip to Japan to promote her previous movie. Of course, Jane being Jane, she could have come from a week at the spa. If Elizabeth had just disembarked from a multi-hour transcontinental flight, she would have resembled a used dishrag.

Charlie hurried to join them; Jane gave him a kiss before squashing on the bench between him and Elizabeth. Caroline grudgingly moved to their end of the table as well.

“It’s good to be home,” Jane said with a little laugh.

“I can’t believe you’re planning to shoot a scene after an eleven-hour flight,” Elizabeth said.

Jane shrugged. “Roberta offered to reschedule, but I’ll be okay. Mostly I’m hungry.”

“Here.” Elizabeth slid half of her turkey sandwich across the table. “I’m not going to eat it.”

“Thank you!” Jane took a big bite.

“What was Japan like?” Elizabeth asked her.

Jane hastily swallowed. “It was cool, but I didn’t get to see a lot of it. Mostly a lot of hotel rooms and television studios. I’d like to go back when I can be a tourist.”

“I’ll go with you!” Charlie said with an expansive smile. “I’ve always wanted to see Japan.”

Caroline’s mouth puckered like she had sucked on a lemon. “Charlie, you haven’t been together very long. Do you really want to make plans like that?”

Charlie turned red but didn’t say anything—which didn’t endear him to Elizabeth. Jane kept her eyes fixed on her plate. Good grief! What could she possibly have against Jane? Everyone loved Jane.

After a brief silence, Jane managed a smile. “How have things been while I’ve been gone?”

“We finished filming the scenes in the post office,” Elizabeth said. “At night I’ve been working on my applications. The excitement has been almost too much to bear.”

Jane swallowed another bite of sandwich and turned to Charlie. “What have you been doing besides pining away for me?” she asked with a smile.

He shrugged. “Not much. On Monday I had dinner with Darcy. Wednesday I tried out that new club, Shiver. They have a great dance floor! We should go there. But nothing much otherwise.”

Caroline gave her brother a languid smile. “You forget that Tuesday you had dinner with Tiffany.”

Jane’s smile froze on her face. “Who’s Tiffany?”

Charlie regarded his sister with murder in his eyes. “Nobody,” he said quickly.

“A friend of mine,” Caroline said.

Jane set the sandwich down. “You had dinner with a friend of Caroline’s—just the two of you?”

Charlie was looking everywhere but at Jane.

“Was this like a blind date?” she asked, her eyes fixed on him.

“No,” Charlie said quickly.