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She was looking at him curiously now and he knew he needed to end this moment. People always wanted a secret in return for their own. And he had no intention of giving up any of his.
‘You think I’m beautiful?’ she asked, her eyes wide and vulnerable, and Noah swore silently in his head.
Because she meant it. He could tell that much straight away. This wasn’t the usual coyness of a Hollywood actress, or the ‘I’m a model but still don’t believe I’m pretty’ type of false insecurity. She was honestly surprised.
‘I can’t be the only person to tell you that,’ he said, searching for a way out. Because that lack of self-awareness, that would be his undoing. He’d only known one other person so artlessly unaware of her own beauty.
Sally.
And he really wasn’t thinking about her any more this weekend. It had been seven years, for goodness’ sake.
‘No, but you’re the first movie star to say it,’ Eloise said, and the moment was broken. Because he’d never been a movie star to Sally. He’d just been her best friend.
But to Eloise he was Noah Cross, the brand—and that was all he needed to be. She didn’t need to see any deeper, and he didn’t need to worry about having to let her in too far. He just had to keep his eye on the prize—his name in that little golden envelope when they announced the coveted award for Best Actor, once Eight Days After came out.
And all he had to do to achieve that was not sleep with Eloise, and knock his audition out of the park.
At least one of those should be no trouble at all. He just wished he could be entirely sure which one.
* * *
Eloise let herself back into the hotel, her dizziness faded but replaced by a strange confusion after the unexpected interlude with Noah on the terrace. At least he’d retreated up to his room to let her recover her wits in peace. She couldn’t cope with any more of that intense conversation and gaze right now.
What had all that been about? She’d expected to get hit on by sex-crazed or drunk actors looking for a fling at the wedding—it happened often enough while working at the hotel, however much she tried to fade into the background. The rich and famous, in her experience, seemed to expect to be able to seduce anyone they wanted. And actors were the worst—they were all about the quick, meaningless fling. Which was still better than the times they pretended it was something more, that they’d fallen for her charms at first sight and couldn’t live without her in their beds.
She knew better than to believe them. Her mother had been the queen of that game, and look how that had ended up.
No, she knew actors, knew the entitled clientele of Morwen Hall, and she knew how they behaved.
Noah Cross was not living up to the stereotype and it bothered her.
Of course there were probably some actors and actresses who managed to stay happily married and faithful, or who were looking for long-term love. She’d just never met any of them. Or seen them in the celebrity magazines in the staffroom. And she’d never expect Noah Cross, famed ladies’ man, to be one of them.
In fairness, she had no evidence that he was. He’d admitted he was flirting with her—even if he didn’t seem inclined to take it any further.
Either way, he hadn’t gone about it the way she’d expected. She’d expected the flattery, the lusty looks, the charm. She hadn’t expected him to ask questions about her history with Melissa, or to show such concern for her well-being.
Actually, he’d seemed pretty surprised by that too, so maybe this was a new thing for him.
The main doors opened again and Laurel burst through, followed closely by a guy who looked a lot like Riley.
Very closely.
Eloise narrowed her eyes as the man rested a hand on Laurel’s waist, and Laurel jumped with surprise. There was definitely something weird going on here.
Pushing thoughts of Noah’s weirdness out of her head, Eloise covered the lobby in long strides, ready to decipher Laurel’s weirdness instead.
‘Hey. You’re back!’
Laurel’s smile seemed a little forced. ‘I am.’
‘And you brought company.’ Eloise’s gaze flicked up to the man with his hand on Laurel. He really did look an awful lot like Riley. Which probably meant...
‘Eloise, this is Dan. Riley’s brother.’ Of course. But that didn’t explain his and Laurel’s closeness. ‘Dan, this is Eloise. She’s the manager of Morwen Hall.’
‘Pleased to meet you,’ Dan said, placing the shopping bag he was carrying on the ground and holding out his hand.
‘Acting Manager,’ Eloise corrected automatically, as she took it and shook. The title wasn’t hers yet—and wouldn’t be unless this wedding went off without a hitch.
‘Not for long,’ Laurel said, and this time her smile seemed real. ‘So, what’s been happening here?’
‘Cassidy, the maid of honour, has taken a fall while skiing and broken her leg, so her husband is bringing his mistress to the wedding instead.’
Also, I seem to have an odd connection with the best man that makes me want to tear his clothes off, even though he’s the sort of man I despise, and he seems more interested in getting to know me.
Maybe she’d save that information for later, when she and Laurel were able to grab a moment alone. She needed to talk to someone about it.
Laurel’s mouth fell into an open O shape, her eyes almost as wide. ‘So Melissa doesn’t have a maid of honour?’
Eloise winced. ‘Not exactly. She’s making me do it.’
She hadn’t thought Laurel’s eyes could get any wider but her response to this information proved her wrong. ‘You poor, poor thing.’
At least she didn’t have to worry about Melissa’s half-sister being o
ffended she hadn’t been chosen. That was something, Eloise supposed. ‘Yeah. I’m thrilled, as you can imagine. And it means I’ll have to call in my deputy to cover for me at the hotel this week. He will not be thrilled. I can probably keep on top of the wedding events at least, so he only has to deal with the guests.’ She sighed. ‘What about you? How did the favours go?’
And what’s the deal with you and your future half-brother-in-law?
‘Fine, they’re all sorted.’ Laurel waved her hand towards the large glossy shopping bag that Dan had picked up again. ‘Then I got Dan’s car to pick me up on the way back.’
‘That was...convenient.’ Eloise stared rather pointedly at where Dan’s hand was still resting on Laurel’s waist, and the petite wedding planner blushed.
‘Um, yes. Actually, I meant to tell you... Dan and I...’
‘So I see,’ Eloise said when Laurel appeared at a loss for how to finish that statement.
‘We had sort of been keeping it under wraps,’ Dan said, pulling Laurel closer to his side. Laurel stiffened for a moment then relaxed against him, her cheeks a little pink. ‘What with the wedding and everything. Didn’t want to steal Melissa’s thunder, you know? But now the secret’s out anyway...’
‘This is brilliant!’ Eloise burst out, the answer to at least one of her problems coming to her in a flash. Laurel looked a little startled at Eloise’s sudden enthusiasm, at least until she explained. ‘Melissa has insisted on Riley staying in a separate room until the wedding night, so I had to give him Dan’s—sorry, Dan.’ She gave Riley’s brother a quick smile. ‘But if you two are together, then that’s fine because you’ll be sharing anyway!’
‘Sharing...right.’ Laurel’s smile had frozen into that sort of rictus again.
Eloise frowned. ‘As long as that’s okay...?’
‘Of course!’ Laurel said, too brightly. ‘I mean, why wouldn’t we?’
‘Exactly,’ Dan said, not looking quite as certain as Eloise might have expected either. ‘Why wouldn’t we?’
They were looking at each other now, not Eloise, staring into each other’s eyes. Eloise definitely got the feeling she was intruding on a moment.
