“That new superhero body should help with roles, shouldn’t it?”
He shrugged.
“Will you have any opportunity to flex your acting chops in the Ironis movie?”
He nodded. “Yeah, a bit. But it’s mostly action. I’ll be Serena Vox’s love interest, though.” He snorted. “Still can’t believe I’m going to be working with her. I used to watch her show.”
Marley too. In fact,Lily Lavenderhad been her favorite TV show when she was a kid. “What’s she like?”
“Don’t really know her much. She’sveryprofessional. Maybe we’ll get to know each other when we start rehearsals next week.”
“I have no question people will want you for romantic roles after this movie. I mean…” Marley smiled. “That look you gave me in the junket…”
He chuckled, running his hand over his glass. “It’s been really weird to see you again.”
“Good weird?”
He lowered his gaze and a tiny smile appeared on his lips. “Absolutely.”
Yeah, he was going to be a sex symbol. No question in Marley’s mind. A tiny little prehistoric part of her brain was screaming,I had him first!Because she had. That night, their chemistry had been crackling. She smiled. “Viewers aren’t going to have a problem seeing you as a romance hero.”
With his still-lowered gaze, he bit his lip. It was a little bashful, and very flirty. And not a ploy… this was all really him.Or he was an even better actor than Marley realized. “Are you telling me thatMahreen Kamalthinks I’m attractive?”
“It’s Marley now.” Marley was sure she was bright red. She cut her steak to break the spell of that moment.
“Why the new name, anyway?” he asked. Good. He was changing the subject.
But honestly, this wasn’t a topic she wanted to talk about, either. About how the nameMahreenalways reminded her of the person who’d named her. Who’d chosenMahreenbecause it was similar to her own name,Maryam. After high school, she started going by Marley all the time instead of it just being a nickname her cousins called her. It was easier not to be reminded of her aunt anytime someone said her name. She wanted to put Mahreen, and Maryam, behind her because the reminders hurt too much.
Of course, Marley hadn’t known that she’d inherited more than just a name similar to her aunt’s. They both had the same broken gene. One day, Marley could face the same fate as Maryam. As Marley’s mother.
But no. Her surgery was just days away. Marley’s breast cancer risk was about to be eliminated. She squeezed her wrist with her left hand until it hurt.
Nikhil’s hand reached close to hers on the table. He didn’t touch her, but he looked like he wanted to. “Mahreen—sorry;Marley—are you okay? You seem… sad all of a sudden.”
Marley exhaled. “Yeah. Dealing with some personal shit.”
“I’m sorry. Tell me what not to say and I won’t say it.”
“No, it’s fine. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know we don’t really know each other anymore, but I’m still a good listener. I’d even be willing to sign an NDA.”
Marley snorted. He looked so earnest. Maybe sheshouldtell him about her surgery. She remembered what Shayne had said, that keeping everything inside would make her explode. Besides, they were in their own little hotel bar bubble right now.
But tonight was supposed to be aboutescapingit all. And honestly, this was all too heavy to tell a random movie star she was having dinner with.
Marley gulped down the lump in her throat. “Nah, I’m absolutely fine. And anyway, you shouldn’t talk about name changes,Nikhil Shamdasani.”
He laughed at that. Deep and sensual. Yeah, he was going to be a superstar one day. He would belong to the whole world. But not right now… Right now he was just hers. “The studio requested I change it. They wanted me to go with Nik Sheffield, but I insisted on an Indian last name at least. My LA friends were already calling me Nik, so it doesn’t bother me.”
They talked more about his life in LA and about some of his favorite roles. It was all so easy… it had always been.
It felt like Marley had gone back in time to when she was eighteen. She had never admitted it to anyone, but shedidhave feelings for Nikhil before prom night. She’d always thought he was a wisecracking goofball. But getting to know him better in their last year of school changed things for her. He was a lot smarter than she realized. He was kind, and he listened better than anyone else. He was still scrawny back then, but he had the cutest smile. When they danced together on prom night, Marley felt tingles all over her body for the first time.
That night Marley discovered what sexual tension felt like. And here it was all over again, crackling between them. It was remarkable. Attraction was hard-won for Marley—it always had been. As an adult, she realized that she had to know the person well before she had any physical interest in them.Clearly, she had known Nikhil well enough on prom night… but that was a decade ago. Now? It seemed Nik Sharma was still the Nikhil Shamdasani she knew well.
He told her about some antics his old roommate and he had gotten into when he first moved to LA.
