‘No. If anything, I think more of you. You’ve been through so much on your own.’ His head shakes from side to side and he exhales a deep breath.
‘I wasn’t on my own, though. I had you. This thing between us saved me from spiralling. It gave me something so much bigger to occupy my thoughts.’ And inspired me to try portraits again.
‘I wish you had told me. I would have shut this thing down a lot sooner.’ His lips pepper tiny, gentle kisses across my cheekbones.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Stop apologising.’
‘Do you understand my shame now? Why I didn’t want to tell you my name? My entire family is horrified by me. I doubt I’ll ever get my job back at St. Jude’s. It’s an all-girl Catholic school, for fuck’s sake. I’m not exactly a glowing role model.’
A low growl rumbles in Nate’s throat. ‘Your family should have been offering support, not shunning you. And if you want your job back, I’ll make damn sure it happens.’ His palm brushes over my cheek as he tilts my face up to meet his. ‘But I don’t think that’s what you want, Holly. Do you think I don’t notice you slipping out of bed at night? Do you think I haven’t peeped over your shoulder while you’re so engrossed in the early hours of the morning and seen your amazing artwork? You are incredibly talented.’
‘You saw the portraits?’ My cheeks flush.
‘Yes. And I want to buy every single one of them. Especially the Santa hat one. That invokes special memories for me.’
My heart feels lighter with every passing second. The worst has come to pass. Nate hasn’t run for the hills. ‘Hmm, I’m not sure they’re for sale. I’m kind of fond of them. That one in particular.’
‘Maybe we can share them.’ Nate’s thick black eyebrows arch in question. ‘You know, people who live in Beverly Hills would pay a huge amount of cash to get a portrait like that done.’
Butterflies swirl in my stomach. ‘But I don’t live in Beverly Hills.’
‘But you could, if you wanted to…’ Nate swallows thickly. ‘Look, I know it’s early days between us, Holly, but I’m crazy about you. I have been from the second I laid eyes on you crucifying Mariah Carey in that indecent excuse for a nightie. This thing was supposed to be casual, but it turned into something so much more.’ A flash of vulnerability flickers in his pupils. ‘For me, at least.’
‘Oh Nate, it was always going to be more than a fling for me. It was inevitable. Did you forget the part where, while you were swanning around Hollywood, I was ogling your photos and pinning your poster to my bedroom furniture?’ My arms wrap around his neck, tugging his mouth closer to mine.
‘I wasn’t joking when I said I want you to come to the States. I’ll set you up in an art studio in the sunniest room in my house. You can paint until your heart’s content.’
‘Are you asking me to move in with you?’ My head is spinning.
A sheepish grin lights his lips. ‘I think I am, yeah.’
‘We’ve barely known each other a month,’ I remind him.
‘Yeah, but in case you didn’t notice, we’ve barely spent a night apart since we met. So, we’re kind of living together, anyway.’
‘What if you get bored with me? What if the novelty wears off? What if some super-hot actress steals you away from me and I’m made a bigger fool of than I already am?’
‘Not going to happen, sweetheart. My only concern is that you won’t be able to hack the press attention, and there will be a huge amount of it. Sally-Ann couldn’t hack it and I thought what we had was rock solid. She ended up marrying my best friend, Niall. He actually runs into burning buildings to save people, instead of pretending. And Sally never has to worry about the media printing shit about their relationship.’ The skin at the corners of his eyes crinkle into a wince.
‘The media can be so cruel. And I’d hate for it to destroy us, because when Sally-Anne ended things, it nearly ended me. If you were to do that, I don’t think I’d survive it. Even though those videos have been removed from TikTok, they’re on people’s devices. I wish I could delete every single one of them, but I can’t. And the chances are, if you come out as my girlfriend, that video will be resurrected.’
I pinch the corners of my eyes between my fingers.
‘But I can promise you something. I will handle it. Every comment. Every statement. Every damn thing. You won’t have to worry about any of it. And on the plus side, your artwork will sell like hot cakes, trust me. Apart from the fact it’s incredible, you’ll be in the spotlight and believe me when I say there is no such thing as bad publicity.’
This cannot be happening.
What about my house?
My friends?
Oh my God, Savannah will lose her shit completely.
My life as I know it will be transformed.
Admittedly, I’m at a crossroads, but this is like reaching the crossroads and hopping into a hot-air balloon instead of choosing a path.
