"I'm a singer who just happens to be acting in this particular project," Simone pointed out. "After this, maybe I'll move to New York with you guys and sing on Broadway."
"Two Reynolds sisters on Broadway?" Teagan laughed. "Get ready, world!"
"We could start our own show with all three of us sisters. Make a whole production of it all." Simone fluffed her fingers through her hair, letting the wavy curls fall around her face. "We could make bank."
Teagan shook her head. "Aria would never move to New York, especially now that Mom needs us here."
Sadness draped over the moment as Simone thought about how their family had fallen apart so recently. As much as she loved having Teagan and Piper here in Los Angeles for a while, she hated the reason they'd come.
"Is there anything else we need to plan for the memorial?" Simone asked, leaning down to pick a dandelion from the grass. She blew on it, watching the tiny buds float away with the wind. For a sliver of a second, she wished she could float away like that, carefree and off to build a new life in new grass. None of the pain and responsibility of her life now pulling at her.
Teagan shook her head. "No. Dad already had everything planned before he died. Everything is exactly the way he wanted it."
"He always was a planner," Simone replied.
After over a decade of being wheelchair bound from multiple sclerosis, their father had died two weeks ago from complications. It was sudden and not…expected and shocking. There was something about that dichotomy that seemed right for their family.
There'd been a small funeral two days after his passing for the immediate family, but his memorial would be on the one month anniversary of his passing and open to all. It was expected to draw a large crowd. Despite his lack of mobility, their father had headed up multiple charity boards and nonprofits, constantly working to leave the world a better place once he left. And that was exactly what he had done.
"Hey, Simmy?" Teagan pulled her down onto a bench as they continued to keep a mindful eye on the little girls. "Can I tell you a secret?"
"Obviously. I'm a vault." That was actually true. As the baby of the family, she was often overlooked while her more outgoing older sisters took the spotlight. While she hated that lack of attention, it did afford her the privilege of hearing a lot of secrets and always being in the background. She never shared, of course, but she loved knowing that people came to her when they needed their stories held close.
Teagan glanced sideways at her, visibly swallowing hard. "I…I’m pregnant."
"Teag!" Simone threw her arms around her sister, wrapping her in a hug. "That's amazing!"
"I know," Teagan replied, but she was sniffling and tears were beginning to line her lower lashes. "But…but I knew a month ago. I knew, and it was still early, so we waited."
Simone leaned back, that familiar heaviness settling on her chest. "You wished you'd told Dad."
The two women were quiet for a moment, looking forward and watching Piper dump sand on Tillie's sandcastle. Only a few weeks ago, those two little girls had been on their grandfather's lap as he read them bedtime stories. They'd been laughing and smiling, not a care in the world because no one knew what was about to happen.
Simone's heart squeezed as she thought of her father never knowing about his future granddaughter or grandson. Or how he'd never meet the children she'd one day have, or the man she'd one day marry. How he'd miss out on weddings and birthdays and graduations and everything that brought family together.
"I wasn't ready, Simmy," Teagan whispered, squeezing her hand. "I thought we had more time."
She nodded, trying hard to swallow the lump forming in her throat and push back the tears that wanted to spill. This wasn't who she was. She wasn't a crier, and she certainly wasn't the type to spill emotion everywhere. And yet, the last two weeks had been nothing but that.
Her father had been everything to her. Being the last daughter to move out of the house had given her a special relationship with their parents. She'd gotten more attention, more time, more one-on-one from both her mother and father, and it was a time she cherished. But it also meant that now that he was gone, one of the pillars in her life had suddenly vanished. One of the people who'd formed who she was…gone.
A flash suddenly caught the corner of her eye and Simone turned to find the source. A man with a camera was sticking out from behind a bush at the edge of the playground. "Fuck. Teag, look."
Her sister quickly spotted the man. "Paparazzi. I swear to God, sometimes I hate being famous."
"They could be here for me, you know," Simone teased, though she knew it was a lot more likely they were following her sister around after Teagan had starred in a series of dance films that had quickly become a cult classic and brought her and Reed together in front of adoring fans’ eyes.
Teagan laughed. "Let's get the girls and head home."
Simone glanced down at her watch. "Do you think Mom's up yet?"
"I doubt it," Teagan replied. "She's barely left her bed. Hell, I know I wouldn't if Reed died. You'd have to peel me off his grave."
"Yeah…" Simone agreed, though admittedly, she didn't know what that felt like. She'd watched her sisters fall in love, and she loved her brothers-in-laws, but she didn't even remotely understand what it was like to be so wrapped up in another person. "I don't know what that's like."
"What about Peter?" Teagan asked. "You were head over heels for him."
"That wasn't real love. That was a hit-and-run heartbreak." Simone shuddered at the memory of the first man she'd thought she truly loved. Instead, he'd used her to get close to her agent on his mission to become famous. Her agent had told him he couldn't sign him since it was a conflict of interest to work with them both. Peter decided the solution was to break up with her.
Thankfully, her agent still refused to sign him.
The entire experience had left a bad taste in her mouth. Trust seemed out of the question now—everyone she even considered dating seemed to have ulterior motives. She realized that she didn't truly understand what in love felt like, and she'd certainly never felt anything close with Peter or anyone else.
No one had ever made her feel that spark, that intensity that she'd seen in her sisters’ relationships or even in her parents’. No one ever made her feel like it was worth it to step out on the ledge and risk everything for someone who might be…nothing.
That fire was what she wanted more than anything.
A pair of deep green eyes suddenly crossed her mind, and she felt a small flicker of nerves in her stomach as her thoughts drifted to the man who'd caught her mid-fall yesterday. Despite how infuriating he'd been, she had to admit that she'd been a little taken with his saving-the-damsel-in-distress act, which really pissed her off because she was very I-am-woman-hear-me-roar. But he hadn't even hesitated to put himself into harm's way to catch a complete stranger…and then she'd gotten a look at him.
If the air hadn't already been knocked out of her, his face would have made her just as breathless. A strong, thick jaw with a hint of stubble and dark green irises that looked like they'd seen more than their fair share of heartbreak…he was somehow as transparent as he was mysterious. She couldn't pinpoint anything about him, and yet his face was so expressive, so giving that she felt like everyone knew him from just a look.
She couldn't even think about his accent, which she’d later found out was from New Zealand. The way he spoke made her skin tingle and her heart beat speed up, and she wasn't really sure she could handle an entire dinner listening to him.
"Piper! Don't pull Tillie's hair!" Teagan swung her daughter up into her arms, propping her on her hip. "Simmy, can you get Tillie?"
Simone quickly pushed away her thoughts of Grant, chiding herself on letting herself get carried away like that, even if for only a moment. She lifted Aria's daughter into her arms, and the sisters headed back toward the parking lot to find Teagan's car.
"So, what's the dress code for dinner tonight?" Simone asked as t
hey walked, trying to not sound very obvious.
Teagan gave her a funny look. "Same things we wear every week for the last twenty years?"
"I know." Simone shrugged as they reached the car. Teagan began buckling Piper into her car seat while Simone moved around to the other side and did the same with Tillie. "But, we don't normally have guests."
Okay, that wasn't entirely true. Her family loved to invite every newcomer to Los Angeles over for dinner. In fact, most family dinners had at least one or two non-related guests every week.
"Yeah, we do." Teagan finished with Piper and climbed into the driver's seat. Suddenly she paused and turned to look at Simone as she sat in the passenger side. "Oooh. Simmy!"
"What?" She could already feel her face turning bright red.
Teagan pulled the car into reverse and backed out of the space. "Are you crushing on this Grant guy?"
"No!" Simone quickly looked away, opting to watch the scenery out the window as they headed back home. "I was just asking what I should wear."
"Simmy, I love you, but you've never asked me what to wear before in your life. Your hair is a different color every few weeks, half of you is tattoos, and your wardrobe looks like a vintage clothing shop threw up on you."
"Tell me how you really feel," Simone replied sarcastically. "But I do not like Grant. He was a complete jerk yesterday. He told me I had no talent on the silk."
Her sister paused a moment. "Well, that is kind of rude. You've been practicing that for years."
"Thank you!" Simone put out her hands like that's exactly what she'd been saying all along. "I'm not a pro, but I'm still damn good."
"All right, then screw this guy." Teagan gave her a smile that said she still didn't believe her. "And then just wear whatever you want. Who cares what he thinks?"
Simone nodded. "Of course. Right. I will."
Except she hated that somewhere in the back corners of her mind, she did kind of care a little what the tall, handsome stranger with the gorgeous accent thought.
Chapter Three
"I'm trying to keep you out of jail, Grant," his lawyer, Andrew Wilson, said through the phone. "You've got to work with me here. The divorce is finalized, but your legal troubles are far from over."
"I'm not going to fucking jail," Grant seethed into the phone, though he knew that it was a very real possibility at this point. "Listen, you're my lawyer. I’m paying you a shit ton of money to fix this. So, fix it."
With that, he hung up the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. He didn't have time to deal with the giant mess he'd left behind in New Zealand right now. He had a job to do and a payday to collect. That's all this trip to Los Angeles was for him, honestly.
He sat back down at the keyboard and glanced up at the clock. He still had a little time before Ben would be here and they'd be heading back to his house for dinner. Grant still couldn't believe he'd even agreed to go, but when the boss asked…
That was a lie. It really had nothing to do with Ben asking at all.
If he was being honest, he wanted to see Simone again, and even more than that, he wanted to see where she came from. He wanted to see what she was really like in her home and around her family, because the woman he'd met had a million walls up around her. But on her turf? He was sure he'd see the real Simone there, and not only was that going to be good for their work together, but he was personally intrigued by the acrobatic singer.
Strange, since honestly, he was nowhere near ready to move on from the bitterness and resentment he'd been filled with since his divorce. Sure, he was over his marriage. He didn't love his ex-wife, Serena, anymore, and that part of his life was long behind him. But the betrayal of his best friend and the woman he'd loved? Not to mention the legal disaster they'd left in their wake?
He wasn't fucking over that. In fact, he was a little angry at the entire world for that.
His fingers danced over the keyboard piano keys angrily as he paused every few moments to write down a new note or chord on the sheet music beside him. He could get lost like this for hours. He could soothe those jagged edges in the melodies he composed, but the moment the song ended, so did his peace.
Another hour passed before Grant finally looked up from his work. Just as he did, there was a knock on the studio door behind him.
"Grant?"
He turned to see Simone standing in the doorway, her knuckles wrapping around the open door. She was wearing a short dress, black with pink polka dots, and she had a single pink streak in her short hair to match. The way her curls bobbed around her chin, her shoulders bare and showing off the dark lines of ink that circled half of her body, made him pause for a moment to take in how different she looked now compared to when she’d been wearing her spandex-tight outfit from a few days ago. Everything about the way she looked, the way she dressed, screamed her personality, and he loved how she put every part of who she was on display like that.
Finally, he cleared his throat and greeted her. "Hi."
A soft blush crept up her cheeks, though he could tell she was trying hard to hide it. "Ben asked me to give you a ride to dinner. He got caught up in a work emergency."
Grant nodded, putting down his pencil and standing. "Sure. I appreciate the ride."
"No point paying for a Lyft when we're all going to the same place," she mused, stepping out of his way so he could move into the hall beside her.
"Or Uber," he added. "We don't have Lyft where I live in New Zealand yet."
"Seriously? That's a shame."
He shrugged, not really caring one way or the other. "It's not that big a deal."
"For moral reasons, I only take Lyft. But also, I like my life and plan on staying alive. Lyft actually has driver standards." Simone walked outside with him and pointed toward her car. "I'm over there."
"You are very opinionated, you know that?" he told her as they walked the rest of the distance to her car and climbed inside.
She buckled herself into the driver's seat. "Is there something wrong with that?"
He shook his head. "No. I kind of like it, actually. You're not boring and vacant like a lot of Hollywood actresses can be. This town hasn't gotten to your head."
"What do you know about Hollywood? Some say this is where all the greatest social revolutions have started," she argued, pointing the car toward the freeway. "Hollywood may be glitz and glamor, but it has its substance."
"Sweetheart, I may be from another country, but I've been around this block enough times to know that it's a lot of silicone and hairspray."
Simone glanced sideways at him briefly, her eyes narrowed. "You are very opinionated, you know that?"
He laughed at the fact that she'd thrown his line back in his face. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Yes. It's annoying," she replied. "Everything out of your mouth is negative."
He couldn't argue with her on that one. Hell, his entire life right now was negative, so of course his attitude was going to lean that direction. "Not a lot to be positive about these days."
She seemed to soften a bit at his admission. "I…I heard about your divorce. I'm really sorry."
He shrugged off her words. "It's fine. It's over."
"Do you feel over it?" she asked. "Was it recent?"
This time he was the one who was annoyed. "It's really none of your business, don't you think?"
"Fine." She turned her attention back to the road. "Be all elusive and miserable. See if I care."
They sat in silence for another ten minutes or so and he watched California pass by his window, trying to puzzle together why he'd been so short with her. She was clearly just trying to be nice, but he really hadn't spoken to anyone about his divorce. Hell, he'd barely even explained it to his own parents. He'd just stated that they were over, and not shared any more details.
He certainly hadn't told anyone how she'd broken his heart, stolen his best friend, and left him on the brink of being arrested the moment he landed back in New Zealand.
&n
bsp; Grant turned to look at Simone. Her face was hard, her knuckles clenched tightly around the steering wheel.
"I am over it," he finally admitted to her.
She didn't respond or move a muscle.
"I am over her," he amended. "The marriage is done and I'm glad, but there's more to the situation than just broken vows, and I don't know if I'll ever get over that."
Her tongue slid across her lower lip. "Well, even though it's none of my business, I'm sorry you're going through it."
"Thanks."
"How long do you plan to stick around here?" she asked, turning down a long driveway at the top of a hill.
"I'll be here for a while. Maybe a month." He sighed. "Believe me, I'm not eager to go home anytime soon."
"I've never really understood that feeling," she told him, her hand smoothing over her dress, adjusting it to cover her knees as she drove. "I've always lived in Los Angeles, and never really ventured…anywhere. I haven't even traveled much."
That surprised him given how prominent her family was and the wealth she had at her fingertips. "Do you want to travel?"
She nodded quickly. "Definitely. I'd love it, but it just never seems to work out—timing-wise."
"You're so young—what, twenty-five?" he asked.
She nodded. "Twenty-six."
"So there's more than enough time to travel. Especially now when you have no commitments."
Simone laughed, her chin tilting upward as the sound bellowed dryly from her chest. It was hollow and empty, and something about the sound made him sad for her. "No commitments. I wish."
"I mean kids and a husband and all that. Those things will tie you down—believe me." He didn't have any kids of his own, but God knew they'd tried. The reminder sent a twinge of pain through his heart at the pregnancy they'd lost only two years ago—how different things had been then.
"There are more types of commitments than just those," she replied, her gaze trained straight ahead at the road. "First, my sister was injured and everything revolved around taking care of her. Then there was college and my father's illness progressively getting worse. I lived at home for that, taking care of them. Then I went on the American Voice—magical—but he got progressively sicker during that. He passed away a few weeks ago. Since then, it's been all about taking care of my mother. She won't even get out of bed. Life just slips away so fast while you're busy focusing on everyone else."
Sheer: A Hollywood Romance (Exposed Book 3) Page 2
