“You’re not. You have nothing to worry about. I’ll make sure she plays nice.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t like that word, ‘fine.’ When we’re talking about you and me, you can wipe that word from your vocabulary. You’ll be more than fine, I promise. I’ll sit next to you and rub your back and ply you with champagne. You won’t even know Elizabeth’s there.”
She laughed. “You make it hard to refuse.”
“Seriously, Beth, I’ll be with you every step of the way. I want you to relax and have a fun time. I want you to come home dreaming about the next time you’ll visit. I want you to trust I’ll take care of you.”
She took a breath and held it. “You may not want a next time after spending a full weekend with me.”
“Woman.” The single word in his deep voice carried through the phone line, tickling her insides. “We’ll enjoy our time together. Trust me.”
Her heart fluttered like a butterfly taking flight. The thought of a next time with Hank was too incredible to believe. So she stopped herself from going there—from focusing on what couldn’t be. She thought of the wish she’d made under a falling star the night Hank hadn’t shown up for their dinner. How she had wished against her better judgment that he was the real thing, even though she’d known in her heart that her wish was foolish. But maybe she had been wrong.
“Still there?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You have a whole week to pack. Get to bed. You need your sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Hank?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for defending me today. . .with Desmond.”
There was a pause, and then finally, Hank’s voice. “Sweetheart?”
“Yes?”
“It was my pleasure.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“You can’t be serious.” Elizabeth took a breath.
Hank could hear her startled gasp through the line. It was Saturday morning, and he was in the gym at his rental. He put the phone on speaker and turned off the treadmill.
“This is an important audition. Blackie says Robin Hood is up for grabs, and you have a great shot at the role. Don’t you care? You have to be all in, Hank. You’re letting your infatuation with this restaurant owner distract you. You wouldn’t believe the flood of social media posts and reporter calls that kiss-cam generated. We have to be careful how we play this, or the press will have a field day.”
“Her name’s Bethany, and I’m not distracted, Elizabeth. I’m returning to LA, aren’t I?”
“The only reason you’re returning is becausesheagreed to come with you. It’s like you’ve totally forgotten how important your career is to you. To all of us.”
“I’ve not forgotten my career. I just took a temporary hiatus. It’s not like there was anything exciting happening until this audition and the awards ceremony.” He grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Hank, we’ve all worked far too long and far too hard to watch you throw your career away. You can’t take a hiatus when you don’t have a steady income. Now’s the time we have to maintain your heartthrob image and work really hard to land your next gig.”
Hank plopped onto the sofa and dragged a hand through his hair. He set the phone on the table in front of him and eyed it like it was a scorpion about to strike. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t know, so you can skip the lecture. I have something more important to discuss. Have you been meddling in Bethany’s personal life?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Elizabeth sounded exasperated.
Hank watched the waves crest the shoreline outside the window of the rental property he called his temporary home. “So you didn’t talk to her ex-fiancé?”
“I didn’t say that. I ran into him once in town. He’s got his own television show. It’s always wise to make connections with other celebrities. You never know when they’ll come in handy.”
Hank rubbed his chin and shook his head, although he knew Elizabeth couldn’t see him. “Did you tell him Bethany’s business was in financial trouble, and she’d entered a contest?”
