The first? What did a guy do once he stood up to his mother for the first time in his life?
Apparently, he went home to Denver with his sham of a fiancée.
“Is Tanner still in the bathroom?” Irina asked, frowning at the bathroom door.
“Nope.” Tanner pushed open the bathroom door and strode to the living room. “I was just waiting for the scary lady to leave, so she didn’t eat my soul.”
“She won’t eat your soul,” Knox said. This was the absolute truth. That would be too messy. “She’ll just convince you to eat it yourself.”
“He’s not wrong.” Irina draped her arm across his back, giving him a squeeze.
“You don’t have to keep pretending. She’s gone,” Knox said.
“Au contraire.” Irina snuggled in deeper. “That little performance we gave illustrates exactly how much we need to rehearse.” She rolled up on her toes to press a quick kiss to his lips. Their noses didn’t crunch together this time and there were absolutely no teeth crashing.
“Better,” he said. “A solid five out of ten.”
Irina shook her head, and he couldn’t help the grin on his face.
Unfortunately, he had no idea what that meant for their future or their present.
Chapter Nine
IRINA
Runninglines at the TSA line was about as awesome as one would think. But they made it through. Knox went exploring, and she drenched herself in all things Persephone.
Gah, she wanted this role. Even for a little while, at least while Persephone number one recovered her voice. Then…maybe…no, she wouldn’t think about getting to work on a long-running show.
The self-doubt butterflies flitted in her stomach. Her agent said she wasn’t a slam dunk, and there were others in line for the roll. A-list others.
Which only meant she had to kick the audition’s ass.
“I never meant to hurt you, Sergio,” she spoke to herself, under her breath. “Sergio.” She said his name deeper.No, that doesn’t work.So much needed to be said in that one name. She had to project longing and hope, but understanding that, as Persephone, she’d mucked everything up. “I never meant to hurt you… Sergio.”
Yes, that worked better. Long pause before his name. Time to look deep in his eyes and wish she—Persephone—had made different choices.
“We hurt the ones we love most, not because we hate them, but because they are the ones who see what we can be.” That worked, the lines flowed smoothly. The problem remained the Sergio line. That’s the one she had to nail. The one word that held the emotion of two and a half hours of theater, if she did it right.
Perhaps she should choke up a little more? Yes. “More frog. This line needs more of a croak,” she murmured to herself.
“More frog?” Knox asked, cutting through her attempts at character creation.
“Mm-hmm.” Irina scribbled a note to herself before glancing up at Knox. “How was the airport?”
“It smells like feet and the bathrooms are disgusting.” Knox held out a Styrofoam takeaway container. “I brought a present. Something special to wish you good luck on your audition.”
Aw, that was sweet. Or, at least, it had the potential to be sweet. What was in the container would determine the sweetness level.
She took the box, holding it on her lap. She gave a little shake. Something thudded against the sides with crinkling.
Knox sat right beside her, arm draped over the back of her pleather chair in the airline VIP lounge, right up in her personal space.
Her heart thu-thunked in her chest.
This was part of the show for the world, she got that. Her body was a trained acting machine. She could pretend better than nearly anyone, that’s all the little heart hitch meant.
But she actuallydidlike how his cologne smelled a little like sawdust and the woods. She expected him to be all blond, ocean-scented surfer, salt and fresh air.
