Hold Me Until Morning

by Christina Phillips

  He tossed her a grin and raised his eyebrows. “Food?”

  “There’s no need to look so surprised. I do know how to find a good caterer.”

  He laughed and some of the tension that had been eating him up for most of the day eased. “Are you on the menu?” He pulled her close and gave her a kiss. She tasted as good as she looked, and when she dragged her fingers through his hair and sighed into his mouth he shoved the last of his doubts into the corner of his mind.

  “Only if you’re very good.” She pulled back. “Sit down. I’ll bring the asparagus salad over.”

  He had no idea what an asparagus salad might consist of, but he sure hoped there was more than rabbit food on offer. As she brought over a couple of dishes, he lit the candles.

  “I don’t recognize any of this stuff.” He sat down and watched her flip a thick napkin over her lap.

  “That’s because I bought all this stuff today.” She smiled at him, but for some reason that smile put him on edge. There was a bottle of wine in a fancy stand, but he picked up a glass jug filled with slices of citrus and poured them both some water.

  He tried not to wolf down the delicately arranged salad, but it was hard, because the portion was tiny and he was starving. Paris, on the other hand, picked at hers as though she wasn’t hungry at all.

  She whipped his dish away as soon as he finished. His mouth watered for a thick juicy steak. She brought over an oblong plate and placed it before him.

  “Lobster.”

  The artfully arranged lobster with baby vegetables and fragrant sauce looked like it was modeling for a food magazine. “That looks great.” He wasn’t lying. “Where’d you find this caterer?”

  She shrugged. “Around.”

  He watched her prod her lobster with her fork. Then she took a deep breath and looked up at him. “Cooper.”

  And he knew. She’d seen that article…and she was upset. He couldn’t quite figure out why she’d gone to all this trouble with the meal, but he was taking it as a good sign.

  “You probably haven’t seen it,” she said, which confirmed his suspicions. “But our photos are plastered all over the internet today.”

  “I did see it.” Once again he couldn’t help wondering about her previous bodyguard, but she was biting her lip and looked as though she was on the point of running from the room if he said the wrong thing. He reached over and took her hand. “You okay with everyone knowing about us?”

  The chances were he’d never have found out if Ella hadn’t texted him, but Paris lived in a different world, one that probably revolved around the gossip columns. It burned that she didn’t want her Hollywood circle knowing about him. Even if last week she had jokingly invited him to one of those parties. After all, he was hardly in her league.

  She frowned and looked confused. “What? Yes, of course.” She paused. “Are you?”

  Apart from Ella he doubted anyone he knew ever read those kinds of things, but that was hardly the point. “Why the hell would I care?”

  She didn’t look entirely relieved by his response. “Okay, right. Well, um. This isn’t easy…”

  Was she ending this thing between them? “What isn’t?” His voice was unnaturally harsh.

  She let out a long breath. “It’s just…nobody but you knows about me going to rehab…and I just wondered… how they found out.”

  He stared at her. What the fuck was she talking about? “How who found out?”

  She licked her lips. “You said you saw it, Cooper.”

  He wracked his brains, but for the life of him couldn’t remember reading anything about rehab. Then again he hadn’t read it all.

  And only then did the implication of what she was really saying hit him.

  “Christ, Paris.” In his life he’d been called everything from a useless piece of shit to no good Grayson scum. From his father to complete strangers who thought they had the right. None of it crushed his chest the way her unspoken accusation did. “You think I told that lowlife?”

  “No.” Her denial was too fast. “I mean, I don’t think you told him on purpose. I don’t think you sold me out.” She gazed at him with those big green eyes of hers. Did she have the first idea how much her words were killing him?

  “Good to know.” He couldn’t help the thread of bitterness in his voice.

  She didn’t appear to notice. “But I realized today, you don’t know what they’re like. They can worm bits of information out of you without you even knowing it. Don’t take this the wrong way, but when you speak to them you just have to be…careful.” She let out another long breath, as though she’d just finished a painful ordeal.

  He let go of her hand and flattened his palm on the table between them. “I haven’t spoken to the press, Paris. I’d remember if I had.”

  There was a silence. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears. She doesn’t believe me.

  “But I saw you. At Murphy’s. When I came back from the rest room.”

  “Yeah. I caught the bastard trying to sneak out. I told him if I saw him sniffing round you again I’d ram his fucking camera down his throat.”

  He’d meant it, too. He didn’t remember ever feeling so damn mad at anyone before.

  She swallowed and avoided looking at him. Instead she picked up her glass and stared at the sparkling water. “Who were you talking to before we left for Murphy’s?”

  This was just fucking great—and that asparagus must’ve been off because there was a hard knot in the pit of his stomach.

  “It was Alex.” His voice was flat.

  “Alex? But you looked really weird while you were on the phone to him.”

  He shrugged and ignored her efforts to try and make him lift his hand so she could hold him properly. “It was just some personal shit.”

  Another silence loomed between them. Part of him wanted to snatch his hand free from her, but the other half didn’t, because he was a fucking fool when it came to Paris.

  “Cooper.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. He might’ve ignored her, if not for the waver in her voice.

  “What?” He looked up at her, and then he couldn’t look away. He knew she was an actor, but no one could fake the tragic expression she had on her face. He battled the urge to pull her into his arms and forget this day had ever happened.

  “I’m so sorry.” She released his hand and wound her arms around her waist. “I—I have trust issues.” Briefly she squeezed her eyes shut. “I always knew deep down you wouldn’t betray me, but it’s just…I wasn’t joking when I said I’m a lousy judge of character. But that doesn’t include you.”

  The knot in his gut eased. “It’s okay.” It wasn’t, but he hated seeing her beat herself up like this. “Forget it.”

  She took a great shuddering breath. “No. I have to face it. I spoke to my mom yesterday. I might’ve let something slip to her. I can’t remember what I said now, but it’s just too much of a coincidence, isn’t it?”

  He frowned. That didn’t make a lot of sense. “Why would your mom do something like that?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t even care.” She gazed at him. Tears shimmered in her eyes, and in that moment he knew he was lost. It didn’t matter what she said or what she did. He’d do anything to keep her in his life. “The only thing I care about is that I doubted you. I’m so sorry…” She sniffled, and a tear trickled down her cheek.

  Something deep inside his chest twisted at the sight. He dragged her onto his lap and pushed her hair back from her face. “Paris, stop it. It’s over, all right?”

  She gave him a watery smile. “It’s good that we can talk about things, though, huh? Means we can sort out anything, doesn’t it?”

  “Sure.” He kissed her cheek and could taste her tears. “Let’s go to bed and sort out some more stuff.”

  She cupped his face with both of her hands. “I like the sound of that. Oh wait. We still have the grapefruit sorbet to eat first.”

  “Screw the sorbet.” He stood up and hauled her in
to his arms. “I’ve got a better idea.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Whoa.” Ella rounded on him as soon as he entered the office. It’d been three days since the scene with Paris, and tomorrow she was going back to Hollywood for a magazine promo shoot. She hadn’t mentioned college again.

  “Did you know what was going to happen?” Ella said. “Twitter’s gone crazy with it!”

  He’d grown up with Ella, but sometimes he had no idea what she was going on about. “What?”

  She gave a dramatic sigh. “The murder, of course. I don’t suppose even Paris knows who did it, does she? They’ll drag it out for the next year.”

  “Drag what out?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Sunset Heights. Lola was brutally murdered in last night’s episode. Talk about a grand exit. Paris never breathed a word about it the other night at your gran’s. I guess this leaves her well and truly free to follow a movie career now.”

  Paris hadn’t told him, either. Why would she keep that secret, when she’d told him about her college plans? She hadn’t even told him Sunset Heights was on last night.

  “Guess so.” Wasn’t much else he could say.

  Ella cupped her chin in her hand. “How’s married life treating you then?”

  It was the second time over the last couple of days she’d said something like that. She seemed to find it hilarious that he was living with a girl, when up until Paris he’d never even dated anyone.

  “Not what I expected.” Wasn’t that the truth—but living with Paris, even this strange temporary kind of living together, wasn’t what kept him awake at night.

  It was the thought of making it permanent. But he still hadn’t even asked her to move in with him properly. He had no idea where this relationship was heading. So why he kept thinking of doing something as fuck awful scary as Jackson was planning with Scarlett was beyond him.

  Except, the thought of not having Paris in his life, scared him a damn sight worse.

  “Wow. She’s really got you by the balls, hasn’t she?” Ella grinned. “Never thought I’d see the day. You and Jackson under the thumb within a month of each other.”

  “Hardly.”

  “So what’s going to happen when she goes into movies? You thinking of moving to Beverly Hills with her?”

  “Shut it, Ella. I’m not moving to Beverly Hills.”

  “So what’s Paris up to today? Reading scripts or something?”

  “No.” He frowned. “Kind of strange. Her mom arranged for her to have a spa day.” She’d said it was her mom’s way of apologizing. Neither of them had said it out loud, but he guessed they were both thinking it was an apology for spilling the shit about her rehab.

  Strangely, Ella hadn’t once mentioned that to him, and he knew she’d read the article. Then again, she read a lot of celebrity gossip so maybe she knew half of it was garbage in any case.

  The door buzzed, and Ella raised her eyebrows. “Not expecting anyone.” She checked the intercom video feed and frowned. “Some woman. Hang on.” She picked up the handset. “Can I help you?”

  Ella cocked her head and looked up at him. “One moment.” She muted the intercom. “You’ll never guess. It’s Cora O’Connell, and she wants a word with you. You here or in Mexico?”

  What the fuck? There wasn’t much that made him nervous, but the thought of Paris’s mom having a word with him came close.

  He let out a long breath. Mexico was preferable, but knowing Cora O’Connell, she wouldn’t give up until she’d seen him. He might as well get it over with.

  He gave Ella the nod, and she screwed up her face in sympathy before activating the lock. The door opened and Paris’s mom entered, looking like she’d just stepped off a catwalk.

  She swept her gaze around the office. “Hi, Ella,” she said, as if they’d seen each other just the other day instead of ten years ago. Then she turned to him. “Cooper.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s so good of you to see me. Is there somewhere we can talk?”

  “Sure.” Shit. Should he have greeted her first? Too late to worry about that now. He waved her through to his office, and as she passed by him he caught Ella’s eye. She crossed her fingers, which didn’t exactly boost his confidence.

  He shut his office door behind them. Cora sat and eyed him. Should he sit behind his desk? Or on the edge of it? In the end he opted for behind his desk. The more distance he had from her the better.

  “Paris doesn’t know I’m here,” she said. “I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

  He just bet she did. He steeled himself for a barrage of abuse.

  “May I count on your discretion?”

  He felt like a ten-year-old kid again on the receiving end of Cora O’Connell’s dignified disapproval. “She won’t hear anything from me.”

  “Thank you.” Cora crossed her ankles and leaned very slightly toward him. “The information I’m about to share is privileged.”

  “Okay.” He had no idea what else she expected him to say to that.

  “Did she tell you…” Cora hesitated for a second. “Why she left home so suddenly?”

  Because she wanted to sort out her future. He was sure Cora was leading him into a trap but couldn’t figure out how.

  “She just wanted some time out.”

  Cora’s smile didn’t budge. “Did she mention her previous bodyguard at all?”

  He hoped his expression was as unreadable as Cora’s. “Only that he was a jerk.”

  “Ah.” Cora gave a brief nod. “So she didn’t say anything about the unfortunate… incident involving him?”

  Although it looks like she can’t keep her hands off her gorgeous bodyguards!

  The words ground through his mind like a rusty saw. He never had asked her about that. She’d been so upset that night, he hadn’t wanted to make things worse—and afterwards the moment had passed.

  “It’s not important.” He knew there was a low note of warning in his voice, even though he tried to contain it. Not that it seemed to bother Cora.

  “You’re right of course,” Cora said, which caused his unease to magnify about a million times. There was no way he could see her agreeing with anything he might say. “It was just a silly fling but I’m afraid Paris took it rather badly. I just wanted her to have a little break to clear her head. I didn’t think she’d go quite this far with things.”

  She’s clearly over the ill-fated liaison that had her running back to her old neighborhood.

  Something hard lodged in his chest. Why hadn’t she told him the truth about her last bodyguard? Or was Cora just messing with him?

  “As far as I know she made the decision to leave Hollywood herself.”

  Cora waved her hand in a gesture that reminded him of Paris. “She did. But…” Cora paused and he couldn’t help feeling it was completely calculated. “You may not be aware that she’s been offered the role in a major movie.” Even he could hear the pride leaking out of every word. It took him a couple of seconds to actually process what she’d just told him.

  No, he hadn’t known that. All Paris had said was she’d had a couple of callbacks. Come to think of it, they hadn’t talked about this movie role at all. He’d just assumed she wasn’t going for it, since she was heading to college.

  He didn’t want Cora knowing that. So he gave a noncommittal kind of nod.

  “Has she told you anything about the part?”

  It’d be a great part to land. He remembered her saying that at his gran’s, but that was about the most she’d ever talked about it. “Not really.” He felt admitting that was going to cost him.

  Cora’s smile appeared to warm, as though his answer was a relief. “Well, once I told her the role was hers she was ecstatic, as you can imagine. But you know what Paris is like. Such a perfectionist. I tried to talk her out of it, but she does have a very stubborn streak.”

  What the fuck was she talking about? No way was he going to ask her, so he simply stared her out. After a few seconds s
he appeared to realize he wasn’t going to take the bait, and she gave a little sigh.

  “She wanted to live the part for a few days. The movie’s about a famous pop star who falls for a guy from the wrong side of town. She just wanted to get into the headspace for a while.”

  “Is that right?” For a creepy moment he sounded like Alex. “And you expect me to believe that?”

  Rich girl slummed it so she could be with her bad boy hero. He hadn’t taken a lot of notice while she had been talking about the movie at his gran’s. That didn’t mean he hadn’t heard what she was saying.

  He’d thought she was such a great actor. But when had she been acting? With his family at the tea—or with him?

  “No,” Cora said. “I don’t expect you to believe that. Whatever you might think, I don’t dislike you, Cooper. I never have.”

  She might be Paris’s mom, but that could only take her so far. He leaned into her space, his eyes never leaving hers. “What’s this really about, Cora?”

  For the first time she appeared genuinely uneasy. Then she took a deep breath and the mask was back on. “If she doesn’t take this role, her career’s over. No one’s going to touch her again if she’s flaky and unreliable. And here’s the thing. She’s wavering because of you, Cooper. You’ve gone from being her muse to her potential nemesis.”

  His chest ached. It reminded him of the time his father had put him into the hospital with broken ribs, only this pain was worse.

  “She wants to go to college.” His words sounded hollow. Cora’s gentle smile was a knife through his heart.

  “Whenever there’s a crisis she says she wants to give it all up and go to college. She never goes through with it. Do you know how many times she’s deferred taking up places?”

  How the hell would he know something like that?

  His silence gave Cora all the answer she needed. “Acting is her life. This movie is the big break she’s been hoping for. Do you think she should throw it all away…for you?”

  “I’d never ask her to give up anything.”