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Hollywood Ever After (Red Carpet 1)

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“Is Mom there?” I knew she would be. She’d never leave the kids alone with him.

“She and Mrs. Witt are here making cookies for Will’s class. I’ve been sitting at the kitchen table with Nat doing her math.” He sounded calm. “Why? Is there a problem?”

I kept my voice as neutral as possible. “No, no problem. Thanks for helping.”

“Hold on, I’m going into the office so we can talk.” There was silence for a moment, followed by the sound of a closing door. “I’ll be in India through the kids’ Spring Break. Not that it messes up any family vacation plans. But I thought you should know.”

“Okay.”

“So you’re meeting celebrities? Did you see the article? I don’t want to sound like a jerk, and I know that it’s just tabloid stuff, but…”

“What article?”

“About this Wiley kid. And there’s this photo of you with him.” His laughter sounded forced. “I know it’s BS, but you need to be more aware of potential situations, for the kids’ sake at least.” He bit out the last few words.

Anxiety surged through me. “What did the article say?”

His tone was sharp. “It implied you were sleeping with him.”

“Everyone will get a good laugh over that.”

“Natalie seems to think it’s cool that you’re being linked to this…boy. I don’t know what to say to that.” He let out his breath suddenly, sighing. “But I don’t want her to get any grief over this.”

“Why would she?”

“Because it looks like you’re throwing yourself at someone who’s closer to our daughter’s age, Claire. It looks pathetic. Come on, you know the way people talk—about everything. Don’t play dumb.”

I spoke softly. “It was a party…and he was there.” A breeze caught my curls, blowing them forward. I reached up, pushing them behind my shoulders, when the scar on my wrist caught my eye. A scar he’d caused. It ran from my elbow to my wrist. I’d had to endure six months of therapy in the hopes that there wouldn’t be any permanent nerve damage to my hand. I was lucky. It had healed just fine.

Even when the scars on my heart completely healed and faded, the scars on my body would remain.

“Sure. I guess it’s only fair. I mean, you want me to get jealous? It worked. But not because you’re sleeping with him.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You forget I know you, Claire. You’re not the fling type. Don’t take this the wrong way, but why would he be interested in you? I mean it’s Hollywood.” He sounded confident. “If you’re out to make me jealous, then set your sights a little lower. And with a little less publicity, okay?”

I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t about to tell him I’d had the best sex I’d ever had, no matter how tempting it might be. He did have a point. Josh being interested in me was kind of ridiculous.

“It’s time to get back to normal, Claire. You’ve punished me long enough. I’m ready to come home. You know that’s what I want. I haven’t kept it a secret or anything. Things will be good again.”

“Daniel…” I started. My head popped up and I stared blindly into the dark night.

“I miss you.” He sighed. “When I saw you in that picture, it blew me away. I was jealous because of the look on your face. You looked so happy. I miss you being happy.”

“We can’t make each other happy. And this isn’t a conversation we need to have anymore.”

At least he was predictable. If I did something unfamiliar, made a change, he tried to reel me back in. As long as I was alone and miserable, he was happy. If it looked like I was moving on, he couldn’t handle it. I’d learned that shutting him down firmly was the only option.

“We’ll have dinner when I get back from India.” It was as if I hadn’t spoken. “I still love you, Claire. And I want you.”

“I…I have to go.” I turned off my phone, welcoming the air conditioning that greeted me as I slipped back inside the house. I dropped the phone in the chair, the tremor in my hand surprising me. My stomach twisted and my hands were clammy.

I gulped down the rest of my wine, relaxing a little as it warmed me from the inside. Shannon and Josh were both waiting, both looking at me. I forced a smile onto my face.

“This is what has him all worked up, Claire.” Shannon handed me her laptop.

Staring back at me was a picture of us on the red carpet. It was mostly my bare back, my face in profile. Josh had just caught me and was in the process of releasing me. If you didn’t know I’d been falling mere seconds before, it did look like we were in a casual embrace.



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