I shrugged. “I grew up in Malibu where everyone knew who my dad was. My first boyfriend, Montana, was cool. His dad was an actor so Montana didn’t give a shit who my dad was. We broke up because he went to college on the East Coast and I stayed behind to look out for Allegra. I guess I didn’t realize that a guy might use me because Montana was so sweet.” Feeling my skirt dig into my side, I unzipped it without thinking. “That’s better.”
North’s attention zeroed in on the area where my skirt had loosened, and I felt a shiver of insecurity. Could he see my belly rolls? Could he tell that I did not have a flat stomach and never would?
“Continue,” he forced out, his voice sounding hoarse to my ears.
“What is there to say?” I replied with a false insouciance. “My next boyfriend was a struggling actor who fucked me until he realized I would not get him an audition for my dad’s next movie. He said to my face when he broke up with me, ‘What is the point of sleeping with you if you won’t help me out?’”
“That motherfucker,” North fumed, leaning forward in his seat, his glass held so tight in his hand I could see his knuckles straining.
I smiled at him for taking umbrage on my behalf. “Yup. And he wasn’t the last. I dated Preston Holden for three years.”
North’s expression shifted. “I’ve met Preston. He seems like an all-right bloke.”
It didn’t surprise me they’d met. Preston won an Oscar two years ago for Best Supporting Actor. “Oh, yeah, he’s just dandy.” Preston had worked a lot during those three years, so we probably only saw each other for the equivalent of one. “He was talented, so I helped him get an audition for my dad’s movie andhe got the part. I surprised him by showing up to the set one day and found him fucking his costar in his trailer.”
“Jesus.”
“Oh, it gets worse. He dumped me while he was still inside her.” I raised my glass, hiding the pain that sliced through me at the memory. “Cheers to being told that you were no longer of use and that I was getting fat while he’s literally inside his beautiful costar.”
North stood slowly, visibly agitated. “Please tell me you are fucking kidding.”
I stared up at him owlishly. “Goodness, we haven’t even gotten to Lucas yet.”
“Lucas?” he seethed.
“My last boyfriend.” I nodded and gestured back to his chair. “Sit.”
“I’m too enraged to sit.” He enunciated each word as he paced. “So what the fuck did this Lucas do?”
I watched him pace, surprised he was this indignant on my behalf. “Uh … well, it was my fault, really. I promised myself no more actors after Preston, but Lucas Grant was all charming and cocky and sexy.” I waved a hand at North as if to saylike you, and he scowled even more ferociously. “He’d been in a few small movies, and he’d written a script that he wanted my dad to see. I explained I couldn’t get that in front of my dad, and he seemed to be understanding. At the time I was working as the hospitality manager for my friend’s new restaurant, Curiosity. We hired a girl named Caitlyn Branch to run the social media. And she was kind of overeager and sweet and seemed fascinated by me, so I took her under my wing. She changed her name to Ariella and started dressing like me and following me everywhere, and it became suffocating. I tried to distance myself from her a little, and I don’t know if that pissed her off, but she sent me a video of her fucking Lucas.”
North stopped pacing to stare at me, dumbfounded.
I nodded, the terrible ache I’d buried threatening to take hold. “When I confronted Lucas, do you know what he said?”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
I couldn’t hold North’s gaze any longer. “He said that I was fat and bad in bed, but he didn’t want to break up with me in case it hurt his future chances of working with my father.”
“Fuck.” North exhaled harshly. “Aria.” He sat in the chair across from me, and I forced my attention back to him. He seemed as if he was in pain. “Please don’t tell me you believe any of that shite.”
I gave him an exasperated look. “If people repeat a pattern with you, you kinda start to believe what they’re saying. Friends have tried to use me to get to my father. I’ve been used by different boyfriends to get to Dad, and all of them cheated on me and all of them made it clear that I wasn’t sexy to them, that they didn’t enjoy our time … in bed.”
Suddenly, North slammed his glass down on a side table and lowered himself to his knees in front of me. I gaped at him as he braced his hands on the arms of my chair and leaned right into me. The smell of his cologne mingled with the scent of whisky and heat. There was nowhere to look but straight into his beautiful eyes because our noses almost touched.
“They were callous, ruthless wee pricks who couldn’t admit that they were scummy, callous, ruthless wee pricks, so they laid the blame at your feet.”
“North.” I pressed a hand to his chest but didn’t exert pressure. “Don’t.”
“What? Tell you the truth? I could give a rat’s arse who your father is. You’re Aria. A woman so sexy and beautiful that I felt guilty for checking you out the first day we met because I wanted you. A lot. And I had a girlfriend who I cared about. I wouldn’t have done anything, but just wanting you that much made mefeel like a bit of a bastard.” His eyes lowered to my mouth, and my body tingled to life under his stare, at his proximity, at his words. “But she dumped me because I no longer made her look good.” His eyes returned to mine. “It’s not the same, but I understand a wee bit.”
“North … I have serious trust issues,” I warned him. “I can’t date anyone.”
Determination hardened his gaze. “Then at least let me show you how beautiful I think you are. Let me prove you’re dynamite in bed. Let me take away what the arseholes planted in you.”
“Why?” I whispered hoarsely.
“Because it’s a fucking travesty that a woman as charismatic and sexy as you would think otherwise.”
