Caught in the Spotlight (Hollywood 1)

How could anyone not love this woman? She was so caring, so take-charge, so motherly.

“I promise.”

Olivia moved around the side of the desk and came within a foot of Mia. “I have to tell you this because I’m a mother and because I love my son and have come to care about you like family. Don’t let Bronson’s attitude deter you if you want him in your life.”

“Pardon?” Olivia wasn’t really going to attempt her hand at cupid’s bow, was she?

Olivia laid a gold-ringed hand on Mia’s arm. “This baby has scared him more than he’ll ever admit. The last time…it didn’t end well. There are things you don’t know, and it’s his place to tell you if he chooses. I just don’t want you to think everything is as it seems with him.”

“I won’t pry into his past, Olivia.” Mia smiled, touched that this Hollywood icon valued her family more than anything else. “Right now we are getting along for the sake of the baby. What I want, what he wants, doesn’t matter.”

Olivia cupped Mia’s cheek. “Oh, my darling, you’re so wrong. You’re a unit whether you like it or not. Everyone’s happiness counts. Don’t shove your own desires aside, especially now when you need people in your life.”

Mia knew she needed people. She’d never wanted to need anyone, but she had to think realistically and see that she was out of her league here. She would need help and guidance with this child.

“I’ll let you know about that painter,” Mia said, hugging Olivia.

Mia left her office and walked out through Olivia’s as she always did. The summer evening breeze wasn’t quite so stifling tonight, and Mia lifted her face to the sky, feeling confident she was heading in the right direction with her life.

For now there was no turmoil, or not as much as there had been, and that suited Mia just fine. She hated drama—ironic since she loved working in Hollywood.

As she walked along the wide concrete path back to her house, she resisted the urge to call Anthony. She wanted to share her good news with him because they were friends, but she didn’t want to add any more issues to his home life.

She also wished she could talk to him about broaching the delicate subject with Olivia. The guilt she carried was pointless since she couldn’t say anything. How she wished she could go back to that day in Anthony’s office and not open that file he’d had on his desk. Why did she have to uncover a secret that had been buried for decades?

“Good evening.”

Mia squealed, jumping back with a hand to her heart. “Bronson! You scared me to death.”

If she hadn’t been so lost in thought, she would’ve noticed him sitting on her porch looking sexy as ever. Of course, he’d show up out of the blue. That’s what he did. Oh, he called every morning, but with his crazy work schedule, which changed from day to day, she never knew when he’d make a surprise visit.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He came to his feet and took her hand as she ascended the steps. “Were you lost in thought?”

Yeah, thinking about your brother.

“Something like that,” she told him as she fished out her key from her bag. “How long have you been waiting?”

“Just a few minutes.”

She led him inside, turned off the alarm and set her purse and keys on the foyer table. “I was just going to fix dinner. You hungry?”

A slow, cautious, sexy smile spread across his face. “Starving. I’d help, but the cook always kicked me out when I was a kid. So maybe I’ll just observe.”

Mia laughed as she toed off her heels and headed toward the kitchen. “I can turn on the TV if you’d like to watch something.”

She moved toward the flat screen on the wall between the breakfast nook and the kitchen.

“No, I’d rather have conversation or silence. My brain is on overload right now.”

Mia didn’t question what was wrong. He didn’t want to do personal and she could live with that…for now. But he was here, wanted to stay for dinner. Something drew him to her and she wasn’t going to question it.

She pulled one of her cooking magazines from her stack beside the fridge and turned to the earmarked page. As she bustled around the kitchen pulling out ingredients and double-checking the list, she was hyperaware of his presence. He didn’t say a word, but the shuffling of his rolling up the sleeves of his white dress shirt and the smell of his masculine aroma filled her kitchen.

“Feeling okay today?” he asked as she preheated the oven.

“I’m fine. I can’t wait until the ultrasound.” Mia pulled out a mixing bowl and stared across the island at Bronson. “I just want to see her.”

“Her?” he asked, raising a brow.

Mia laughed. “I go back and forth using her or him. I don’t care what we have.”

Bronson’s shoulders tensed.

“Sorry.” Mia cringed as she turned to get a pan. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Silence settled in once again as she mixed and poured everything into the baking stone. Once she had the dish in the oven, she wiped her hands on a towel and turned to Bronson.

“That has to bake for about an hour. Do you want some wine or a drink?”

“No, I’m good.”

Mia couldn’t take it another minute. She just had to uncover the truth Olivia spoke of.

“I know it’s not my place to pry, but I need to know about your ex-fiancée and the baby.”

Bronson’s eyes turned dark as he jerked his gaze to hers. “No, you don’t. There’s nothing that concerns you.”

Mia wet a rag and wiped off the counter. She needed a prop for her nervous hands. “Actually, it does involve me, considering you’re hesitant about everything because of your past. Your ex-fiancée is always in the room with us, whether you realize it or not.”

“Leave it alone, Mia.”

For once she was not going to back down. “You know all about my life. You know why this baby means so much to me. I want to know why this baby scares you to the point that you can’t even discuss it without tensing up.”

Bronson came to his feet, running a hand through his stylishly messy hair. “I don’t know why you think now is the time to rehash all this.”

“I’ve been wondering for a while, Bronson, and today your mother—”

He jerked around. “My mother? You’ve got to be kidding. Did she tell you I loved that child, that his name was chosen and that I could hardly work for all the anticipation surrounding my upcoming marriage and baby?”

Mia tossed the rag into the sink. “She just said that—”

“What?” He threw his arms out to the side. “She said what? That my ex-fiancée was sleeping around behind my back and the baby wasn’t mine? Oh, and did she tell you how I believed the baby belonged to Anthony?”

Breath caught in Mia’s throat. Anthony the father? That couldn’t be. He loved his wife more than anything and was fighting to save his marriage.

She placed her palms on the island and stared into his tormented eyes. “Oh, God, Bronson. I had no idea.”

“No, but you had to push and push until I gave in. Well, congratulations. Now you know my secret.” He muttered a curse. “I don’t know how that wasn’t leaked to the media. They all assumed we split over her losing the baby, that the stress was too much.”

Mia remembered reading that, hearing those rumors. Now she understood why this DNA test was so important…especially considering the rumors about her and Anthony and after he’d seen them talking in Cannes.

“That’s why you don’t believe me,” she whispered. “All of that in your past, added to my history with Anthony, has stacked the deck against me and instantly put you on guard. In Cannes, even, you probably thought I was working for the enemy. You slept with me with all these hateful thoughts in your head. I swear, Bronson, I never even entertained thoughts of sleeping with Anthony.”

Mia turned, holding a hand over her slightly rounded stomach. She didn’t want any of this ugliness to touch her baby.

“Maybe dinner was a bad idea.” She kept her gaze down, her body facing away from him. She couldn’t look him in the eye right now. Not when she knew so much hurt was swimming in hers. “I honestly didn’t meant to hurt you, to make you relive that nightmare. But I can’t be around someone who believes everything I say is a lie.”

Bronson’s hands came up to her shoulders. “Dinner isn’t a bad idea at all. I want to spend time with you, Mia. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I just wanted you to see where I’m coming from.”

Mia allowed those strong hands to turn her around, and she studied those eyes that showed so much emotion. It was probably a good thing he was on the other side of the camera. No way could he ever hide his true thoughts.

“I see a lot of pain,” she told him, smoothing the line between his brows. “I see a man who wants to hope and is afraid to. If you’ll look back at me, really look, you’ll see we aren’t so different.”

And then she did something she’d been dying to do—even with the accusations, the lies, the uncertainty.

Taking control of the situation, she rose on her bare toes and kissed him.

Ten

He was toast.

Bronson knew when he’d been waiting on her porch that if she so much as hinted that she wanted physical contact, he’d be all over her. He’d been wanting her for weeks. Not just a kiss, either.

And her pressing her lips, her body, against his was much more than a hint—it couldn’t get more obvious than that.

Bronson wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up, holding her body against his. She’d read into his feelings, his emotions too well, and that scared the hell out of him. He didn’t want to be under her scope—he didn’t want pity.

He wanted to know if she was trying to trap and destroy him.

But most of all he wanted to know what she wore beneath her simple black skirt and sleeveless pink top.

Mia framed his face with her palms and moaned as his mouth traveled from her lips down her neck. She arched into him, sending all kinds of jolts throughout his body.

“Bronson, we—”

“Need fewer clothes.”

He hated the loss of control he had as far as she was concerned. Hated that she had the power to ruin him.

But right now, Mia’s breathy sighs and pants in his ear clearly overrode common sense.

“Dinner…”

He nipped at her lips. “Still has a while and I need you now.”

Mia’s eyes widened, then softened as a smile spread across her face. “I didn’t think you liked me.”

Bronson palmed her br**sts through her silk top. “I like you, Mia. I still can’t trust that you’re telling me the whole truth, but right now, I don’t give a damn.”

She started to protest when his mouth settled over hers. He didn’t want to hear excuses or reasons they should not be together. He knew them already and chose to ignore them.

He slid his hands around to the waist of her skirt and moved the zipper down. She wiggled those mesmerizing h*ps until the unwanted garment fell to the floor with a whoosh. She pulled the silk top over her head and tossed it toward the breakfast area, leaving her in a sexy, pink, lacey bra-and-panty set. Her rounded belly wasn’t the only sign of pregnancy. Her br**sts nearly spilled over the top of the lace.

“You destroy me,” he muttered before pulling her body back against his. “Utterly destroy me.”

He devoured her mouth as her hands made quick work of his belt and pants. He kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his pants, then lifted her onto the kitchen island and stepped between her legs.

“Just to be clear, I’m going to have you again tonight on a bed.”

Mia smiled, tracing his lips with her fingertip. “Count on it.”

He pulled her bra cups aside and slid his hands over her bare br**sts, pleased when she moaned and arched into his touch. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he pulled her against the edge of the counter.

“Do we need a…” She trailed off, her eyes questioning.

“It’s a little late for that,” he told her. “Besides, I’ve always used one and I just had a routine physical. I’m clean.”

“Me, too. I had complete bloodwork for my prenatal appointment.”

He smiled, easing into her. “That settles it then.”

Mia’s arms came around his neck as her h*ps tilted against his. This woman was becoming a drug in his system that he couldn’t get enough of. Those little moans, the sighs and the way she fit against him only proved to him how much she wanted this. She wasn’t immune to their sexual chemistry.