Hollywood Princess (Hollywood Royalty 2)
“I’m going to go back and work in your room.” Cori gets up. “I think Brian needs some alone time.” I just watch her walk away, and the door to the bus opens.
“We are good to go,” he says to the driver, and the bus starts up. “Where is everyone?” he asks me, sitting on the couch next to me.
“Resting,” I answer him, and he lays his head back and rubs his face with both hands. I know I shouldn’t ask. If he wanted to share, he would, but it’s too much for me not to know. “How do you know them?”
He looks up at the ceiling, and his voice comes out soft. “Before I started working for Hunter, I was a Navy SEAL. Johnny and I, we were on the same team.” I tuck my feet under me, laying one arm across the back of the couch to prop my head up. “We got ambushed.” His eyes stay on the ceiling, his voice soft. “We stayed undercover until the cavalry came in, but while we were running to the chopper, he stepped on a land mine.” I blink the tears away. “It took three minutes for me to come to and realize what had happened, and by that point, we were being shot at. I can still hear my name being called. The guys in the chopper just yelled my name to get on, but I couldn’t go. So I covered his body with mine and dragged him with me. I finally got him to the chopper, and by that time, another team arrived, and they helped me put him into the chopper. He was barely breathing.” He looks at me with tears pooling in his eyes. “He wished for death when he woke up and saw his missing leg. He even tried to take his life a couple of times. His mother, Gail, keeps me in the loop on how he is doing. It’s been tough.”
“I am so sorry,” I say. Leaning into him, I put my hand on his face. “I’m so, so sorry,” I whisper, my fingers tingling from his scruff on his cheek. “I’m sorry that happened to you.” I blink away the stinging of tears. “I’m sorry that he struggles with this whole thing.” I swallow now. “But I’m not sorry that it wasn’t you.”
I look into his eyes and can see the memories of the past shading over them. “You are one of the best guys I know.” My heart hammers in my chest because this is the first time I’ve ever touched him or that he’s let me in to see this side of him.
“Thank you,” he whispers and then turns his head back to face front. My hand slips off his cheek, and he closes his eyes to rest. I sit in the same spot, my fingers itching to touch his face again. He opens his eyes again, and just like that, the moment has passed, and I see that Brian is back. “Are we going to watch Judge Judy?” he asks, and I just nod, knowing the moment is over.
Chapter Fourteen
Brian
“How crazy is it that there is an actual gym in this hotel room?” I hear from the side while I run on the treadmill. Watching Kellie lean over and stretch her ass right in front of me, I suppress a groan and increase the speed. If I have to focus on not killing myself on the treadmill, then I can’t focus on her ass right in front of me.
I never expected to share my biggest secret with her. I never expected to lay it out for her. Besides my commander, I haven’t told anyone that story—not my team, not anyone. But after seeing him again, thinking it could be me, I just couldn’t breathe. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. Her hands on my face might have been my breaking point until my brain woke up and told me not to cross that line. She was unattainable. She was my job. End of the story.
“I’m so happy the biggest bus trips are behind us,” she huffs out. “Five hours is going to go so fast I might not even fall asleep.” I just nod at her as I focus on running. The last two bus rides have been a killer. Eighteen hours on a bus makes anyone stir-crazy. “We have dinner with the crew tonight before the show.” I slow down the pace to a brisk walk to get my heart rate down to normal. “Have you ever been to Chicago?”
“A long time ago,” I pant out, looking over at her. She’s sitting in the middle of the gym with her legs stretched out in front of her.
“We should sightsee.” A smile fills her lips. “The bean, the deep-dish pizza.”