“Stop talking,” Dani said, surprising Raina into brief silence.
“What? What did you just say?”
“I said, for the love of God, please stop talking. Your voice is grating on my nerves and I’m already on edge.”
“Fuck. You’re in a mood,” Raina said with a sulk in her voice. “Someone lost their sense of humor.”
She wasn’t even going to waste energy arguing with Raina. Her monstrosity of a house — too big to ever consider a home — jumped to mind and she realized what she needed to do. “Get my house cleaned up,” she ordered Raina, shocking the woman with her authoritarian tone. “And I’m not paying for the cleaning service either. You threw the party, you clean the mess.”
“Jesus, aren’t you getting laid?” Raina said. “I mean, damn. You’ve never gotten so butthurt before over a little gathering with friends. What’s the damage now?”
“The damage? I don’t even know where to start but I’m going to start with that house. Get it cleaned. And I mean sparkling. Were you raised by wolves? You don’t throw a party in someone else’s house and then leave a fucking mess, you social disease.”
“What the fuck did you just call me?”
She laughed. “A social disease. Listen, this isn’t the first time you’ve fucked me over but it will be the last. Raina, I’ve come to the realization that you’re no friend. I don’t know why it took this long to figure it out.”
“Excuse me? Who’s been introducing you to all the right people for the last six months? Yeah, that was me. Who held your hair when you barfed your guts out at Crimson? Yeah, me again. Sounds like a friend to me. Maybe you’re the one who hasn’t been a good friend.”
“Spare me, Raina. If you’re going to rewrite history, at least be creative about it. You’ve been introducing me to people who only want to drag me down. Directors with dubious reputations and people who are obvious users. And that time you held my hair? You took a Snapchat while I threw my guts up! And then, when the picture ended up in the tabloids? I actually believed your lie that someone must’ve screenshot the snap. I don’t doubt that you were the one who gave the pic to the tabloids, not some random person in your contact list like you suggested.”
“Well, well, aren’t we going all Nancy Drew with a splash of Goody Two Shoes. Bravo,” Raina shot back with enough acid fill a lake. “I can’t believe I wasted time worrying about your skank ass. Like I don’t have better things to do.”
“Let’s be honest, Raina, your care and concern for me is directly proportional to what I can do for you.”
Raina actually laughed and said, “Well, it was fun while it lasted. You should see half the pics I have on my phone of you when you were too trashed to notice. I held onto them for a rainy day and it seems to me that a storm is heading your way. I’m sure someone is willing to pay for these little gems. And for the record, bitch, you’re right it was me who called the paparazzi on your little love nest. Yeah, I know where you are and always do. I’ve made a pretty penny on your stupid ass. I get paid each time they snap a pic of your drunk face. How’s that feel, dumbass?”
Any other time Dani might’ve been devastated but instead, she felt a weight lift from her shoulders and she laughed. “Well, good for you but this meal ticket just expired. And if you’re stupid enough to sell those pics…I will slap a lawsuit on you so fast it’ll make your head spin. By the time my lawyers are finished with you, you won’t own the thoughts in your vapid little head.” Chew on that, you little bitch. Dani was done with being blackmailed, used, and treated like shit by anyone, least of all a gold-digger opportunist like Raina. “Later.”
Dani clicked off and started giggling. Unbelievable. How stupid had she been to think that Raina was a true friend? How blind? She grabbed her towel and headed for the beach. She had a few things to say to Miles — the biggest being an apology. She only hoped it wasn’t too late.
-11-
Miles was sitting in the sand watching the surf, his thoughts bouncing between morose and pissed off, when Dani plopped down beside him. “You lost?” he asked, not even bothering to sound less rude. He’d been a fool to let her into his heart again when he knew it wouldn’t work. He’d put himself in a craptastic spot and now he was screwed because he couldn’t live with her and certainly hated the idea of living without her.
“Can we talk?”
“About?”
She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll let you have that one; I deserve it. I was a jerk when you were trying to help and I’m sorry.” She took a risk and looped her arm around his, leaning against his shoulder. The sudden contact shocked him and although he wouldn’t push her away, he remained guarded. She sighed against him, the sound heavy with reflection. “Miles…I’ve been wrestling with the feeling that leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life and not knowing how to deal with it. I’ll tell you, being pushed and pulled by your own thoughts is enough to make a person crazy.”
Yeah, he could relate. He touched her hand lightly. “And what conclusion have you come to?”
“That I still love you,” she answered simply, before asking in earnest, “How do you feel about that?”
He exhaled a tight breath, wishing it were as simple as saying the words and traipsing into the sunset together. “I love you, too,” he said softly, grazing his knuckles against her tan skin. “But we’re both smart enough to know that love isn’t enough. Especially in a career like yours.”
She nodded. “I know. But I wanted you to hear it from me. I never should’ve pushed you away. I should’ve trusted that you would help me with Richard. But I didn’t and here we are. Raina is out of my life, by the way,” she added. “She trashed my house and she admitted that she’s the one whose been selling me out to the tabloids.”
“Worthless piece of crap,” he muttered. “I knew it.”
“Yeah. Sucks to admit that your judgment was so off but facts are facts. And if I’m going to take Lindy’s advice, I’ve gotta stop living with blinders on just because I don’t like what I see.”
He turned to regard her, surprised at the clear-headed statement. “You mean that?”
“Yeah. I want to be taken seriously. I want a career like Lindy’s, one that includes Broadway shows and Oscar-award winning parts. I won’t get that by running around in the clubs. I see that now. I think it was fear that made me listen to someone like Raina because now that I’m not afraid anymore…she seems like a lunatic.”
He laughed in spite of the gravity of the conversation. “Lunatic is a mild word for a woman like her but I agree and I’m glad to hear that you’re ready to grab onto your destiny. You deserve it, sweetheart. You really do.” He shifted in the sand to face Dani, gazing at her beautiful face, committing every nuance to memory because he felt a goodbye was coming. He’d done his part and helped her, just like Lindy had asked. Except he’d let his heart get involved – again. Whose fault was that? Only he could take responsibility for that one
. “You heading back to L.A.?”
She nodded. “I think it’s a good idea to tie up loose ends. I want to put my house on the market — I never liked that fucking house anyway. Too big. — and I want to start looking for a place away from L.A. sort of like Lindy. She lives in the Bay and only flies into L.A. when she has to. I think that’s smart. Trying to preserve your sense of self while living in Los Angeles is like setting up shop near a toxic waste dump and not expecting to get radiation poisoning at some point…it’s just unrealistic. The circles are too incestuous and closed off to reality. I don’t want to get to the point where I believe my own bullshit and that happens when you have too many people telling you how great you are. There’s no sense of grounding and I feel human beings as a species need that.”
“That’s a profound bit of wisdom,” he told her, very proud of her epiphany. “So where are you thinking of relocating? Maybe Big Bear Lake, up in the mountains or something,” he suggested.
“No, reminds me too much of home and that makes me miss my dad. I’m thinking somewhere warm…somewhere laid back where the humidity is a killer and the boiled bananas are to die for. A place where one of the local doctors is too cute for words and a genuinely good guy with a heart big enough to fit the world inside.”
He caught her gaze, unable to believe he’d heard correctly. “What do you mean? What are you saying?”
She grasped his hand and pulled it to her mouth, brushing a sweet kiss across his knuckles as she smiled up at him. “I’m saying, Dr. Miles Lassiter…would you consider marrying me so we could buy a house here, something cute and not overly large but big enough to house the kids we might have someday?”
The spit dried in his mouth and all he could do was stare. His heart beat faster and tears burned behind his eyes. “Please don’t toy with me, Dani,” he warned, hating that he sounded like a frightened little kid but hell, he couldn’t take a let down like this if she were joking. “Not about this.”
She sobered and leaned forward, sealing her mouth to his. They kissed long and hard, tongues twining in an urgent exploration that fired his blood immediately and sparked a wild hunger to taste and possess. When they broke apart, she met his hungry stare and asked in a husky tone, “Did that feel like I was playing around?” He shook his head slowly and she grinned. “Can I take that as a yes, you’ll marry me?”