A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts 1)

The video switched back to Emily. “We’ve recently found the little boy that she saved and we were surprised to find out she still has a close relationship with him." The show switched to a video of a young man.

“Sebastian, what do you remember about that day?”

The young man looked very uncomfortable. “I remember my mom crying when my father shot her and my brother’s begging for their lives. Then I remember running and the pain when I hit the ground. I was so scared until Dana ran to me.” The boy smiled. “She saved me.”

“What would you like to say to her today if you could talk to her?”

He laughed. “I talk to her several times a week and fly out to spend school vacations with her. She’s part of my family. I love her and her two kids. She’s great.” The show switched to a commercial.

“Oh my god,” Amy said. “I had no idea.”

“Damn, that girl is bad ass,” Seth said.

“Edward, you’re shaking. Are you okay?” his mother asked.

“I’m fine, just everyone leave me alone, okay?” He'd watched her get shot. Even though logic told him she was alright, it still scared the hell out of him.

“We’re back. Dana soon moved on to work with children. Her relationship with ex-husband Jeff Mathews was in full bloom.” Several pictures of Dana and a much thinner and handsomer Jeff came on screen. They looked happy. In every picture he was kissing or touching her. He couldn’t blame him, but that didn't mean he was happy seeing it.

“The relationship turned sour after the wedding. Unable to contact her ex-husband we’ve been unable to find the reason for this. We will continue our investigation and get back to you.”

“An interest in her books has brought attention to this young woman, but nothing could have prepared us for this new development. A cameraman from Life Magazine was sent to several beaches to catch unsuspecting stars in their natural state, without makeup to see if the perfection we see on screen was real or an illusion brought on by a talented makeup artist. During this hunt he accidentally came upon Dana Mathews and snapped this photo.” A large photo of Dana in a small black bikini popped on the screen.

“Holy-,” Edward started.

“Shit.” Seth finished.

"Wow," Amy gasped.

In the photo Dana knelt with slicked wet hair draped in a sexy as hell way around her head and shoulders. Her back was slightly arched, showing off a perfect figure. The tops of her large round br**sts glistened under the sun and she had the sexiest playful smile he'd ever seen. It was the sexiest picture he’d ever seen and to his intense surprise he was instantly aroused. He saw Seth from the corner of his eye pulling a throw pillow self-consciously over his lap. He decided it was a good idea and quickly followed suit.

“This picture showed up on stands yesterday and is already causing a bit of a debate. The magazine is claiming this picture has not been altered in any way. They allowed our people to look at it and we have found out,” she paused for theatrical purposes, “it has not been altered. People are claiming Dana has the most perfect body in the world. Some are claiming she is easily the sexiest woman on earth.”

“I’d agree to that, shit,” Seth said, sighing dreamily. Amy reached around Edward and slapped Seth upside his head. “Ow!”

“We’ve found out that Maxim Magazine, Playboy and others are lining up to ask her to pose for them. Will she? We’ll keep you updated.” Emily said, winking at the camera.

“Oh no,” Edward mumbled.

“What? Damn, she’s hot!” Seth said. “I’ll buy every issue if she does it!”

Edward turned to look at his friend. “Exactly, everyone is going to be after her now. Do you know how many perverts are going to harass her now?”

All signs of humor left Seth’s face. “Shit.”

Edward stood up, dropping his pillow to the floor. There was nothing to worry about since all the stress killed his erection. He picked up his phone and dialed Dana’s number only to find it was busy. “Damn it.” He called Deana to find her phone busy as well.

He tried again and this time Dana answered. “Hello?” she answered. He could tell she’d been crying.

“Dana, are you okay?”

“Hey, Edward, yeah I’m fine,” she answered quietly.

“I want to come over and see you.”

“That’s not a good idea tonight. I….I have to go. I’ll see you Monday.”

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Can we talk Monday?” she asked softly.

“Of course,” he said reluctantly and hung up.

********

The weekend dragged. He spent the entire weekend inside his house watching television, reading and cleaning. His cell phone and house phone went with him everywhere in case she called. It was pretty pathetic.

He drove to the beach anxiously this morning. Thankfully it was closed down for public use because of production. Most of the day would be spent waiting for everything to be set up. Most of his day would be spent waiting for the sun to hit the beach at a perfect angle.

He made a bee line for Dana’s trailer only to find it empty. After a few minutes he managed for find Amy. She was by the food trailer, speaking with the director. “Where is she?” he asked Amy.

“She’s not here yet,” Amy said.

“Who? Dana?” one of the cameramen asked. “Damn, did you see that photo spread of her? I knew she was hot before, but damn!”

Edward ignored him and walked back to the trailer in time to see the door close. He opened the door and stepped inside to find Dana sitting on the couch with her head in her hands.

He sat down next to her and put an arm around her. “I missed you,” he said softly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you this weekend. It’s been pretty bad,” she said.

“What happened?”

She sighed heavily and looked at him. She looked tired, he noted. “Well, first that lovely television show rocked my world, exposed things about me I wanted kept personal. Then the calls began. That was soon followed by people coming to my house and snapping pictures from the sidewalk, followed by a na**d man trying to break into my bedroom window at three in the morning.” Every muscle in Edward’s body tightened. “The cops took him away. The next morning I received calls from Playboy, Hustler and several  p**n  companies. Oh, and to top it off Jeff called and begged me to take him back.” She turned to look at him with faux bright smile. “So, how was your weekend?”