Midnight At Tiffany's (From Manhattan with Love 0.50)

Remembering the things she’d said about him made her want to die of embarrassment. “Right now I’d like to fall down a manhole, but these things never happen when I want them to, only when I don’t.”

“You pointed out that, despite the apparent benefits of my life, I was missing the most important elements.”

“What do you mean?”

“You asked me what I did in my spare time, and I realized I didn’t have any spare time. Work eats into all of it. I spend time with people I don’t particularly like, doing a job that wasn’t my first choice.” He took a deep breath. “Your mom wouldn’t have been proud of me. I had a dream, too, but I let other people kill it.”

“What was your dream?”

“I was always interested in construction, but I wanted to go down a different route. Eco-houses and sustainable technology. My father calls it progressive nonsense. I was all set to do that when he had his heart attack. I stepped in for a short time and that was when I discovered the business was in trouble. My father employs a lot of people. They were relying on him for jobs. I promised him I’d take over long enough to sort it out. And somehow a decade passed.”

“You loved your father. You were being supportive.”

“But I should have found a way to support his dream while still pursuing my own.” He drew her closer. “I told my brother he was selfish, but I see now that he was protecting his dream.”

“But he was only able to do that because you stepped up. He lived his dream while you let yours lie dormant.” She touched his arm, feeling the hard swell of muscle beneath her fingers. “Either way, I’m glad you and he have sorted things out.”

“So am I, but I don’t want to talk about my brother or my business. I want to talk about you.”

And this, of course, was the part she’d been dreading. There was no more hiding behind Lara. No more fiction. It was time for facts and truth.

Time to be herself.

She withdrew her hand. “I’m not who you think I am.”

“You think I care what your name is?”

“I’m not just talking about my name.” The truth lodged in her throat. It was the hardest thing she’d ever had to say. “You asked me what I was doing at the event the other night and I didn’t really answer you because I was—” She took a deep breath. “I was working.”

“Working?”

“Yes. For Star Events. I’m a waitress. Or I was a waitress until I had a catastrophic spill and tipped champagne over your guests.”

He stared at her. “That was you.”

“That was me. And I could tell you that I was having a bad night, that I was unlucky, or I could say that sort of thing has never happened to me before, but the truth is that it happens to me all the time. That was me in all my undisguised glory.”

“That explains why I couldn’t find your name on the guest list.”

“You checked the guest list?”

“Several times.” He closed his hands over her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She challenged him right back and he sucked in a breath.

“Because I didn’t want my name to get in the way. For one night I wanted to be myself.”

“Then that’s the difference between us, because for that one night I wanted to be someone different.”

“And you chose to be Lara.” He shook his head, a smile touching the corners of his mouth. “Your heroine.”

“How much did you read?”

“Every word. And I read the sex scenes twice. There were a couple of things in there we didn’t have time to try that night. We need to rectify that.”

Her stomach flipped. “I’m not Lara. She’s a product of my imagination. But after I was fired—”

“You were fired?”