by Trisha Grace
His eyes widened. “Was it bad? Are they at the hospital?” Why hadn’t anyone informed him? Was his apparent cheating more important than someone getting blown up?
“Besides his hangover, I think he’s fine. They’re in his dressing room.”
“Really? I thought Elena hated him.”
Gina rolled her eyes. “She didn’t like you either. And here you are.”
“Okay. Fine.” He glanced toward his door. “Do you think you could stay with Sarah for a while?”
“Why? What did you do? Or what are you going to do?” The words came shooting out of her mouth so quickly that he didn’t have a chance to answer until she was done.
“I didn’t do anything.” He raised his hand, palm out, when her jaw dropped, clearly ready to rebut him. “I know. I saw the photos, too. I didn’t cheat on her.” He shook his head. “It’s a long story, which I’m sure Sarah will tell you if you head over and join her now.”
Gina narrowed her eyes.
“Please?”
She nodded then. “Fine.” She trotted out of the room and entered his dressing room after knocking on the door.
Now that Sarah had someone with her, he could set out to do what he’d started. Since the explosive hadn’t done too much damage to Spencer, he figured he could rectify that.
He was about to turn the corner toward Spencer’s dressing room when Elena walked right into him.
“Why do I keep bumping into people today?” Elena said as she stepped back and looked up at him. “You.”
“I didn’t cheat on her.”
Elena’s lips curled into a small smile. “Yeah. I know Spencer’s behind it.”
He arched his brow. “He told you? The explosion must have knocked him on his head.”
“I think so, too.” She cocked her head to the side. “He’s inside. Still has his hangover, but he’s already taken two aspirin, so you’ve probably got a couple more minutes to torture him before the painkillers kick in.”
“Got it.” He headed to Spencer’s room and opened the door. “Hey!”
Spencer jumped, bouncing upright from the couch while his hand cupped against the side of his head. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Spencer’s blonde hair was all tousled, and he still had black soot on his face.
“How close were you to the blast?”
“Why?”
Keith jerked his chin toward the mirror on the dressing table.
“What the …” Spencer rubbed the back of his hand against the soot, only to smudge it across his face. “I’ve been talking to Elena looking like this?”
Keith frowned. “Why would you care?” He shook his head. He wasn’t here to chat with his friend. “You lied to get me down to the club.” He cracked his knuckles, and Spencer glanced up at him.
“Whoa. Wait.” He raised his hand in peace. “Do you really want to delay filming because I got punched in the face?”
“Makeup will cover it.”
“Not the swelling.” He ran his hand through his hair while Keith stepped forward. “I’m sorry.”
Keith stopped. “You’re sorry?”
“I’ll explain everything to Sarah. I just wanted to have some fun.”
“You wanted Sarah to be done with me.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Wow. That explosion really did some damage to your head.”
Spencer waved him off and lay back on the couch.
“Sarah means a lot to me. I won’t let you ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Best thing that’s ever happened,” Spencer repeated. “Is it worth it? Giving up all the women in the world for one?”
“Absolutely.”
“You’ll get bored of her.”
Keith grinned. He hadn’t gotten bored with Sarah, and he doubted he ever would. Each time Sarah laughed, he would too. Each time she smiled, he did too. Sometimes it was the jokes they shared, the way they teased each other. At times, it was simply because Sarah was happy—which was all he wanted. “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
“What?”
He nodded. “I am. I want her in my life.”
“Forever?”
He nodded again. “If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you.” He needed to get a ring and plan the surprise. How should he surprise her?
“Gosh, you’re serious.” Spencer pushed up off the couch. “Will she take you back after last night?”
“We’re fine.”
“Really?” Spencer shook his head when Keith frowned. “I was just surprised she hadn’t made a big deal out of it. Are all Christians like that?”
“What’s your deal with Christians?”
“Aren’t they supposed to look down on people like us? Like they’d get a Bible and throw it at us once we confessed we did something wrong.”
“What happened to you?”
Spencer rolled his eyes after shooting him a glare. “Elena always looked as if she’d like to slap us across the face with a Bible.”
“She probably has every right to.” He would be mortified if Sarah ever heard the things he’d said. “She’s a good friend, though. She didn’t repeat whatever we said to Sarah.”
Spencer’s brows rose while his head bobbed up and down.
“And if you—”
“I get it,” Spencer said and fell silent for a moment. “What is it about Sarah that changed you?”
“Something.” He laughed once. “Something about her.” Something about her just made him want to be better. He shrugged. “You’ll know when you fall in love.”
Spencer shook his head. “Not that kind of guy.”
“Don’t speak too soon.”
Sarah smiled at Keith when he came back to his dressing room, and Elena and Gina stood. “You guys don’t have to go.”
Keith looked at Elena and Gina. “I haven’t had much time with Sarah. So, get out of here.”
“Keith.”
Elena waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. I’d rather get blown up than stay and chat with him.”
Gina laughed, and they strolled out of the dressing room.
“You make them stay with me while you’re gone, then you chase them away once you’re back.”
“Because now I’m here to keep you company.”
Sarah rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be angry.” He sat next to her on the couch and draped his arm over her shoulders.
She studied Keith’s face for a moment. “And you seem to be in a particularly good mood.” A spark of excitement twinkled in his eyes. “Were you so excited about giving Spencer a piece of your mind?”
“Piece of my mind.” He grinned. “I went there to punch him in the face.”
Sarah gasped. “What?”
“I didn’t.”
“Oh,” she said and curtailed her smile. “I guess you’re choosing your friend over your girlfriend.”
“There’s no way I’d fall for that.”
She laughed then. “And I thought I could guilt another present out of you.”
“I’ll buy you whatever you want.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. “Because Spencer screwed up, we have a couple of hours before it’s my scene. Let’s go shopping.”
She pulled her hand from his. “I’m joking, Keith. I don’t need anything.”
He reached for her hand and grabbed her purse. “Then let’s just walk around. Come on.” He tugged her forward, and she fell right into his arms. “Let’s go on a short date.”
Sarah laughed softly and looked up at him. “What happened with Spencer? Why are you so excited?”
“Excited?” His pupils flicked to the side. “I don’t know. I’m just glad you’re here.”
She nodded slowly. She couldn’t help thinking they were ditching work to go out and have fun, and the elementary school teacher in her squirmed. But she’d missed Keith so much over that last month, and she wanted to spend more time with him anyway. “Yeah, let’s
go on a short date.”
“Great.” He leaned down and kissed her. A simple peck on the lips. When he lifted his lips from hers, there was a change in his eyes. The light brown streaks in his green eyes seemed to swirl, and her heart pounded harder at the mere intensity of his stare.
She closed her eyes when the warmth of his hand caressed the nape of her neck and cheek.
His soft lips returned to hers, parting her lips and deepening the kiss as the pressure of his hand against her neck increased. He pulled her closer as he kneaded her neck. “I love you,” he said in the short moment he broke the kiss.
She didn’t have time to reply that she loved him too and he was a great kisser.
His arms went around her waist, or perhaps they had been there all along, and he pulled her against himself.
She reached up and rested her hands on his chest before curling her fists into his shirt. There wasn’t any space between them, but still she tugged at his shirt. She couldn’t think. Not with his hand kneading her neck and weaving into her hair; not with the heat of his body permeating hers.
She’d never felt this way before, but she wanted more.
She tightened the grip on his shirt when he pulled away from her, but he was too strong for her to hold on to.
His lips curled, and he took a deep breath. “We should go on our date before I can’t stop myself.”
Sarah swallowed. “Right.” She certainly had no self-control. “We should go.”
“Somewhere public.”
She laughed. “Yeah.”
Keith had a cup of coffee in his hand while Sarah sipped on her chocolate milkshake. He glanced at the jewelry store that occupied two stories at the corner of the mall and tried to come up with an excuse to get her in there.
He needed a ring size, and he could get that if she would try on a couple of rings in the store.
Except Sarah would probably refuse to go in. Even if he did get her in there, she would probably refuse to try anything.
“Oh, my God!”
He glanced over at where the shrill scream came from. Not now.
A teenager ran up to him with a phone in her hand, shoving Sarah aside as she got closer. “Keith Sutton! I love you!”
He tightened his hold on Sarah’s hand when she took a step back. “Are you all right?” She nodded, and he pulled her behind him and over to his other side, away from the over-enthusiastic teenager.
“Can we take a photo?” The teenager shoved the phone toward Sarah and grabbed his arm.
His jaw loosened, and he ran his tongue under his teeth.
Sarah smiled and nodded, but he reached over and took the phone from her while pulling his arm away from the teenager.
“Thanks for supporting me, but I don’t appreciate you pushing my girlfriend aside or treating her as if she’s your personal photographer.” He handed the phone back to the young girl. “I’m out on a date, so please excuse us.”
With his hand on Sarah’s back, he led her forward while remaining half a step behind her. “Are you all right?”
Sarah nodded again and opened her mouth.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Try and persuade me to take a photo with that girl.” He draped his arm over her shoulders. “I’m not going to allow anyone to treat you as if you’re invisible or as if you’re my assistant.”
“But I am.”
“You’re way more than that.” He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the girl hadn’t followed them.
Sarah wrapped her arm around his waist. “Don’t be frustrated. We’re together. We’re out, so let’s enjoy ourselves.”
“I think we should get ourselves couple rings.”
“Couple rings? We’re not fourteen. Besides, I seriously doubt that will stop your fans from barging in on our dates.”
He shrugged. “Let’s go try some on.”
Her brows drew closer, and he could tell she was about to turn him down, so he quickly added, “It’d make me feel so much better after almost having our date ruined.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You knew I wouldn’t say no to you if you said that.”
Yup. He thanked God for the teenage girl and returned Sarah’s grin with one of his own. “There’s a store over there.”
He stopped when Sarah did, and he followed her gaze to the television screen playing in the electronics store across from where they stood. He couldn’t hear what the two young hosts on the screen were saying, but the words plastered across the screen were big enough for him to read: Miriam Ricci Pregnant with Keith Sutton’s Child.
Chapter Nine
“Pregnant,” Sarah mumbled under her breath as she stood frozen in the mall.
“It isn’t true. Miriam’s just drumming up news, hoping it will get her another role.”
Sarah pulled her lower lip in as she thought about what Keith had said. “Wouldn’t an unexpected pregnancy just make it more difficult for her to get another role?”
Keith remained silent.
“Hollywood is crazy.” She’d only been here for two days and already there were photos of Keith apparently cheating on her, and now this.
“Sarah.”
She turned back to Keith when he took her hand.
“I didn’t cheat on you, I swear.”
She nodded slowly. “You have slept with Miriam. When?”
He winced, and his chest rose sharply.
Sarah pursed and released her lips. “When your brother got into trouble, you said you missed his call because you were out partying. She was the warm thing you woke up to the next morning.”
He ran his hand through his hair.
“That’s a yes,” she said. “So there’s a chance—”
“That was over six months ago. She doesn’t look six months pregnant to me.”
Sarah turned back to the television screen. “You’re right.” Miriam didn’t look six months pregnant. There was no need for her to jump to the worst conclusion just as she had when she saw the gray sedan outside Keith’s place.
Miriam doesn’t look six months pregnant. She nodded. She would just have to hold on to that thought instead of letting such news get to her.
“Let’s head back to the studio.”
That was the last place she wanted to go. She’d had enough of the sympathetic looks sent her way, but Keith had to work. And it wasn’t as if she could hide at Elena’s place for the rest of her stay here. “Yeah. Let’s go back.”
“Sarah.”
She stopped and turned back to Keith.
“I’m sorry about all of this. I’m sure Miriam has an end game.”
Sarah nodded. But she couldn’t help thinking that the end game included Keith, included Keith and her splitting up.
The whole drive back to the studio was filled with silence. Sarah wasn’t sure what Keith was thinking about. She was too busy trying to pretend her phone wasn’t vibrating away in her purse.
She didn’t have to look at it to know who was calling. It was probably her mother, calling her to tell her that she was right about Keith. Sarah wasn’t interested in arguing now, nor was she interested in receiving another lecture.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Keith asked after they drove past the security gantry. “It must be urgent for the person to keep calling.”
She pulled out her phone, glanced at its screen, then dropped it back into her purse. “It’s just my mom.”
“She doesn’t approve of us.”
She cracked a small smile and nodded slowly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it wasn’t about you.” She tipped her head back against the headrest. “She just never got over my biological father leaving her.”
“But she found someone else. She got married, and you said your stepfather was a great person.”
“He was, but I don’t think she loved my stepfather the way she did my biological father.” She sighed softly. She’d never told anyone this before, n
ever even spoken those thoughts aloud. “I think she married my stepfather because he was safe and responsible.”
Her stepfather worshipped her mother, but she didn’t think her mother felt the same, not even close. She had spotted it in the tiny gestures. The way her mother turned away when her stepfather reached out to touch her face. The way she couldn’t wait to step away from his embrace.
“And I think that love she had for my biological father made her bitter.” She exhaled through her mouth.
Keith thumped his loose fist against the steering wheel twice. Besides that, he didn’t show any other reaction. He stopped the car and turned to her. “Do you want me to drop you off at Elena’s instead?”
She squared her shoulders. “I’m fine.” She got out of the car and kept her head down as they strode forward with Keith one step ahead of her, and she realized then that he wasn’t holding her hand.
It wasn’t a big deal. Couples didn’t have to hold each other’s hands all the time. But as she gazed up at his back, a sudden urge to cry came over her.
She felt so alone, caught up in the craziness of what was going on. Selfish, perhaps. She should consider what Keith was going through as well.
But right now, all she wanted was to leave. Could she? Could she head back to New York and pretend that these two days didn’t happen? Could they just go back to how they had been in New York?
She looked up when they passed his dressing room. Seemed like she would be deposited with Elena.
He knocked on Elena’s door and opened it without waiting for a reply. “Elena.”
Sarah couldn’t hear Elena’s reply, but Keith turned to her with a forced small smile. “I’ll stay here with her.”
He nodded.
“Where are you going?” she asked when he turned.
“I need to talk to Spencer.”
She nodded slowly, then stepped into Elena’s room without another glance at him.
“Are you all right?”
Sarah looked up at Gina, who had come over and placed her hand on her back to lead her to the couch as if she was a patient at risk of fainting. “I’m fine.”
“I’m done.”
She glanced over at the unfamiliar voice and found an unfamiliar face next to Elena.
