Few people had had the bravery to ask Max that question. He didn’t yet have an answer. He might say that he’d been taken in or he might say that he’d been idiot to let her go. Either or both might be correct.
Nodding his head, Albert signaled to the waiter. “Sorry to hear about that. Here’s your water, Mrs. Hayes. Let me know if there’s anything else we can do.”
Albert drifted over to another table and the server came to refill Karen’s glass. Just the mention of Carrie’s name was enough to set his parents on edge.
“I think you’re well rid of that girl,” Max’s mother sniffed. “She knew nothing about acting or the business. What you need is someone who understands your creative side. Someone who can be supportive of your career.”
Max knew exactly what his mother was talking about. She’d said it before in more vague terms but she wasn’t fooling anyone.
“What you mean is that I should be with a woman who can help my career.”
Shifting in his chair, Tim coughed. “That’s not what we’re saying, son. What I think your mother means is that someone outside of the business cannot possibly understand the time and dedication this career takes.”
Quirking a brow in question, Max took a hefty gulp of his wine. “Is that what you meant, Mum? That everyone outside of the industry is too stupid to learn about the movie business and too selfish to allow me to be an actor?”
“No,” his mother exclaimed. “Not at all. We just…want to see you with someone that is your equal. Not a glorified assistant. If they can help your career, all the better. There’s nothing wrong with using one’s connections to get roles. If your father and I hadn’t done that you would have grown up in a one-room cold water flat.”
Nothing wrong with it. Perhaps his parents were right. Carrie had only been using the time-honored Hollywood tradition of “who you knew”. It didn’t make her a horrible person. In fact, some might argue it made her smart.
“First of all,” he began, thoroughly fed up with their prattle about creatives and everyone else. He’d heard if before and he was tired of it. “Carrie has a Masters in Business Administration from a prestigious American university. She heads up Paige’s entire business and directs a staff. Her title is Chief Operating Officer, not Chief Gopher. She is a brilliant and savvy businesswoman, something she should be incredibly proud of. As for understanding my career, that was never an issue between us. She was supportive and always eager to learn about the business. Carrie Johnson is a wonderful woman and much too good for me. I was an idiot to let her go.”
Max hadn’t planned on the last two statements but he’d been on a roll and they’d come tumbling out. But they were true. He shouldn’t have pushed her out of his life. He should have held on for dear life. It was just a stupid little part in a movie. If he truly loved her – and he did – he ought to be fighting tooth and nail to give her what she wanted. Isn’t that what he’d told Nate almost a year ago?
Never take a woman’s dreams. Make them happen for her instead. He hadn’t followed his own advice.
“I’m sure she’s very accomplished,” Tim said, holding up his hands in surrender. “But when you’re gone for months on location is she going to understand? When rumors go around about you and your female co-star will she get upset? I think these are important questions.”
Max leaned forward, his palms flat on the table. He wanted to be sure his parents heard him clearly. “You mean how understanding you were when Mum went to Rome for six weeks to make that movie with that handsome Italian actor? Like that? Because I don’t think the two of spoke a civil word to one another for months.”
Karen gasped and raised the napkin to her mouth as if to hide. “You don’t know anything about that, Max.”
“I don’t? I heard you yelling at each other for weeks before you left and then the ominous silence and passive-aggressive bullshit when you returned. ‘Max, tell your father it’s time for dinner’ when he was sitting three feet away from you. Then Dad flirting with every female between here and Suffolk to make you jealous. I’ll say this for Carrie. If she was pissed at me she’d just tell me, we’d argue, and then settle it. Like adults.”
Karen suddenly found the tablecloth fascinating. “You weren’t meant to hear any of those arguments.”
“But I did. Now we’re going to have a nice dinner, but first I need you to understand that I will date and fall in love with whomever I choose. Next time I bring a girl to meet you I expect you to be nice and polite. You’re actors. Pretend.”
Silence fell over the table and Max dug back into his meal. His parents might be a pain but they’d helped him frame his issues.
He still loved Carrie.
He wanted Carrie back.
He didn’t care about the movie part anymore. Being without her was torture.
In fact, Max had a movie coming up as well. There might be a tiny part in it for Carrie. As soon as he returned home from dinner he’d pull out the script and give it a re-read. He’d prove to her that he could be supportive of her dreams. Then they could have a second chance.
There was only one small problem with that plan. She hated him, and he only had himself to blame.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
The London skies were gray the day Carrie’s plane touched down at Heathrow as if in sympathy for her heartbreak. Nate was done filming so he, Paige, and Carrie were coming back to the UK. She had spent three weeks in LA trying to get over Max and she wasn’t sure she’d done such a great job. She’d found herself thinking about him far more than she should. She’d tried to keep busy with business but at night when she was lying in bed all the memories would come rushing back and keep her awake until the wee hours of the morning. Now she was tired, cranky, and generally bitchy.
She had only been back a few days when Tyler Gaylord called and invited her to dinner. Sick of feeling sorry for herself, she’d immediately said yes and set about putting together the perfect outfit to wear to give her confidence a boost. The weather was much cooler than LA so she chose a suede pencil skirt in red, a white lace blouse, and black knee-high boots. Taking a little extra time with her hair and makeup, she finished off the look with a swipe of crimson lipstick that matched the polish on her nails. She felt confident and put together, a far cry from her usual attire.
She’d spent way too much time in LA wearing sweatpants and t-shirts while working at her laptop. Moping around wasn’t going to change anything. In fact it, was beginning to make it worse. She needed a desperate dose of get out of the damn house and live.
When she entered the swanky restaurant, the maitre’d greeted her politely but reservedly. The mere mention of Tyler’s name seemed to immediately perk him up though and she was quickly led to the corner table where her dinner companion was waiting. Tyler stood and grinned, pulling her in for a hug and a chaste kiss on the cheek. He’d become a good and undemanding friend.
“Thank you for having dinner with me.” Pulling out her chair, he handed her jacket off to the maitre’d for safekeeping and then returned to his own seat.
“Did you think I would cancel?”
“It was a possibility.”
Carrie was glad she’d said yes for many reasons. One of them was the view from their table. It was absolutely breathtaking. With an entire wall of windows, it appeared that London was laid out before them like a feast. Opening the menu, she nodded to a table behind Tyler about ten feet away.
“Is that the Prime Minister?”
Chuckling, Tyler shot a glance over his shoulder. “Even politicians have to eat and the food here is as spectacular as the view. I promise.”
Tyler’s word was as good as gold. The meal was superb, one of the best she’d ever had, and they spent the next few hours talking, laughing, and catching up. She told him about all the things she was learning about the movie business while in LA and he told her about the press tour for his latest picture. The one subject they avoided was Max but it was there like the proverbial elephant in the room
just waiting for one of them to bring it up. She swore it wouldn’t be her. She wanted just one night of peace.
One crème brûlée – to share – and two cappuccinos were placed in front of them by the efficient but unsmiling waiter. Carrie savored the first bite of her dessert with its smooth as silk custard and sweet, crunchy topping.
“I think we should have ordered two of these,” she groaned, her taste buds in heaven. “One for here and one to take home.”
“I’ll have the management pack you a doggy bag,” Tyler teased, clicking their spoons together. “So do you want to talk about it, Red? I’m a good listener.”
She didn’t have to ask what “it” was.
“Not particularly. I’m trying to forget the last four months ever happened.”
Tyler’s smile dimmed as he nodded toward the entrance to the bar area. “Sadly, sweetheart, today is not the day you’re going to be able to do that.”
Twisting in her seat, Carrie’s heart plummeted to her stomach and she had to fight for breath. Max, a drink in hand, was with two other men she didn’t recognize and being led to an empty table far too near the one she was currently seated at. Her broken and battered heart decided at that moment to come to life again and it raced so fast it made the room spin.
Running through a dozen curse words in her head, she turned back to her dessert, effectively shutting out Max. Knowing his stiff upper lip with a dash of stick-up-the-rear-end, he’d never in a million years come over here. Too conspicuous. Too rude. It would ruin his British gentleman ruse that he had going on the world.
“Over eight million people in London and he had to walk in here and be seated right next to us,” she marveled, taking another bite. “What were the odds? I must have the worst luck in the world.”
She wouldn’t allow herself to fidget in her chair no matter how much she felt Max staring at her back. It was like two lasers boring into her scapulas. His physical presence was palpable in the room. If she concentrated hard she could smell the citrus in his body wash.
“Do you want to leave? I can call the car service and we can be out of here in no time.”
Of course she wanted to leave. But that wasn’t the point. Max was friends with her friends. She couldn’t run for cover every time they were in the same room. There was no time like the present to get used to this.
“Maxwell Hayes isn’t going to ruin this amazing dessert. I’m going to sit here and eat every bite.”
Even if it was killing her inside. Max may have broken her heart but he wasn’t going to break her spirit. She still had some pride and she was going to cling to every shred of it like a life preserver in the days and weeks to come.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Nate’s expression was grim when he opened the front door to his home and saw his best friend Max. “I ought to punch you right in the face, mate. You broke our Carrie’s heart. We warned you.”
Still not completely sober, Max grabbed onto the door frame for support as the ground swelled underneath him. He had to convince Nate to let him in. He needed to talk to Carrie. Desperately. He wasn’t leaving until he did.
“It’s not like you think,” Max defended himself. Nate didn’t have all of the facts. “But I need to speak with Carrie. Please let me in.”
His friend’s brows flew up in surprise. “She’s not here. She has her own flat now. You didn’t know?”
Max wasn’t sure about anything anymore. All he knew is that he’d seen Carrie tonight having dinner with Tyler and it had been like taking a bullet to the heart. He was still bleeding from seeing her smile at a man that wasn’t him. Frankly he didn’t give a fuck what she’d done. She could shoot a man in the street and he wouldn’t care. He needed her back in his life.
“I haven’t seen or talked to her in awhile.”
Stepping back, Nate ushered Max into the house. “You’d better come in and tell me what’s going on. You look like hell. Are you…drunk?”
It was good to be out of the chilly rain. Max hung his wet jacket on one of the pegs next to the door and rubbed at his arms. Alcohol hadn’t kept him warm. Or perhaps it had but it was beginning to wear off. “I’m sobering up now. I don’t suppose I could trouble you for some coffee?”
“Sure, I’ll make a pot. Have a seat and relax.”
Nate disappeared into the kitchen leaving Max in the living room. He didn’t sit down though, instead studying the framed wedding photo above the fireplace. Nate and Paige looked so happy and in love. They were truly the lucky ones.
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to show your face here.”
Paige. It was time to face her wrath and he’d known it was coming. Might as well get it over with.
“I can explain.”
For a petite woman she packed a punch. She was right in his personal space, her finger poking at his chest and her expression fiery. “Explain? You want to explain why you broke Carrie’s heart? Because I don’t think you can justify that, you sniveling rat-faced git. I told her you were a good guy. I defended your pompous ass and then you go and do this. I can’t believe you, Max.”
She was the second person that said that he’d broken Carrie’s heart. In his eyes, she was the one that had broken his but clearly that message hadn’t been conveyed to his friends.
“Sniveling rat-faced git? I can tell you’ve been spending time with Nate.”
“Fuck you.”
Sighing, he lowered himself into a chair, exhausted and wrung out with all the emotions he’d been dealing with since seeing Carrie. “You don’t want to hear my side of the story then? Because I’m not the villain here.”
Nate returned to the living room, a coffee cup in hand. “If you’re saying Carrie is the villain then you can just get the fuck out, mate. She didn’t turn into the world’s biggest horse’s arse.”
“I am not saying anyone is at fault. Can I please have that coffee and explain? I could use a few paracetamols too if you have them. I have a splitting headache.”
“Suffer,” Paige replied with relish, sitting on the couch to his left and leaning against the arm. “Now start talking before I change my mind and throw your ass back on the London streets.”
With fits and starts and a second cup of coffee, Max told his story. How he and Carrie had a rough start but things had become good – very good – between them. He’d been happy and in love. When he’d mentioned the “L” word, Paige had rolled her eyes but he’d insisted that he was genuinely in love with Carrie. He’d been thinking about a future with her.
“If you love her so much then why did you act like a cold bastard when she returned from LA?” Paige asked in an exasperated tone. “Because I can tell you right now she didn’t sleep with Tyler.”
Maybe she hadn’t then, but now? They’d looked happy at dinner tonight and Tyler had held her hand across the table. Max had wanted to rip his friend’s arm from its socket.
“Because I was angry.” Max hopped up from his seat and paced the space in front of the fireplace. “Because she used me to get a role in Tyler’s movie. I’m tired of being used by women to get ahead in their careers, but I do love her.”
Paige and Nate glanced at each other and shook their heads. Nate’s brow was furrowed and he briefly dropped his head in his hands before replying.
“This is the first I’m hearing about Carrie taking a role in Tyler’s movie. Why on earth do you think she’s done that?”
“Because she was in LA when she was supposed to be in Florida. She told me she was going to her brother’s party but then she was seen at a movie studio with Tyler.”
Groaning, Paige’s expression turned anguished. “Max, she was in Florida. I’m the one that called her in the middle of her brother’s party and asked her to come to LA for a meeting with the studio. Me. Not Tyler. He just happened to be there—why I do not know. You’ll have to ask him. I think they had coffee or something. That’s it.”
Pausing, Max regarded Paige closely for any signs of deception. She looked li
ke she was telling the truth but he wouldn’t put it past her to cover for Carrie. “Why did you want her in LA?”
Nate stood and clapped a hand on Max’s shoulder. “We haven’t made a big, huge announcement yet but Carrie is going to be a producer for the Flynn movie. That’s why she needed to be at the studio. She’d been working on the production schedule and the budget and she was needed to make the presentation to the executives. Frankly, we thought you were already aware of this development.”
Producer? It would explain all the questions about moviemaking that she’d asked him.
“Wait…no.”
Max’s sluggish brain couldn’t seem to comprehend Nate’s words.
Paige nodded. “Carrie is a producer. As for a role in Tyler’s movie, I’ve talked to her every single day and she’s never mentioned it so I doubt that’s a real thing. I know he asked her but she was pretty adamant that she didn’t want it.” Throwing her arms wide in frustration, Paige gave him a pitying look. “Why did you think she’d taken a role? Did Tyler tell you?”
“Better yet,” Nate interjected. “Why would you be all upset thinking she was using you to get a part in a movie? If anything, she would be using me or Paige, not that we’d care. We’re the ones that introduced her to Tyler and everyone else. This didn’t have a goddamn thing to do with you.”
Fuck. Just…fuck.
It was beginning to dawn on Max exactly what he’d done. The consequences of his actions were horrific. He’d ruined his relationship with Carrie based on lies and innuendo. He’d been taken in. Again. But if Nate and Paige were telling the truth, not by her.
And he had no reason to think that his good friends were lying to him.
“Alana.”
Nate shook his head, his eyes wide with shock. “No, tell me no. You didn’t.”
“She said…” Max couldn’t speak through the lump in his throat. His stomach churned and he had an overwhelming urge to purge his very expensive dinner. This could not be happening. This could simply not be happening. “There were pictures of them together. Before. In London.”
Swinging On A Star Page 26
