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“What would those be?” Major asked, slipping his sneakers back on.
“Little things like using every dime her kid makes to buy things for herself. I watched that happen a lot. My mom only took ten percent of everything I made.”
A brow rose over Major’s eyes. “That sounds like a lot. Is that why you work so hard?”
So many people misunderstood her mom. “My mom took the other ninety percent I brought home and put it in the bank for me. The only thing she bought with my money was a halfway decent condo, and even that was in my name. She paid for everything else from her ten percent. She paid for my food and Ally’s school, all from what she had after my father died and what she made managing me and later on a couple of other actors. It always bugged me because we had to live in Hollywood while all my costars were in Beverly Hills or Malibu with big houses and every kind of luxury you could imagine. I didn’t even have a game console until Gavin bought me and Ally one for Christmas when I was thirteen. He also bought me my first iPad. Mom wouldn’t because we didn’t have the money. But we did have the money.”
“No, you had the money, and I respect her for that,” Major said with that slow drawl of his. “I suspect it would have been easy for her to take more.”
“Oh, yeah. She had control of all the money. She could have done whatever she wanted with it. Child actors are often preyed on by their parents. A lot of people thought she was insane to stick to ten percent. I often heard her talking to my fellow child actors’ parents. My friend Stephen’s dad bought a house in Malibu, cars, clothes, jewelry. Stephen had to emancipate himself at seventeen to keep anything at all. When I was eighteen and I could, I bought us a nice place in Calabasas.” Her mom had cried. It had taken Brynn ten minutes to realize her mom didn’t understand that she’d bought it for all of them to live in. Her mom had thought she was moving out and leaving her and Ally behind. “I’m hard on her, too. Sometimes we don’t realize the sacrifices our parents make until we’re adults.”
“So your sister is an actress, too?” Major seemed very curious this evening. “You mentioned something about her doing some commercials.”
Brynn opened the pantry door, and Major crowded in behind her. Warmth flooded her system as she felt him kiss the back of her neck. Maybe the night wasn’t over physically. “She’s trying. She’s done some modeling, but it was all catalog. She could make a good living off that, but it’s not what she wants.”
He shifted her hair to the side and ran kisses along her shoulder. “What does she want?”
“Five Oscars, a rapper boyfriend, and a makeup empire. Oh, and a reality show based around her life. Basically, she wants to be a Kardashian.” It wasn’t fair to make fun of her sister, but Ally wanted it all, and she wouldn’t accept anything less. She’d turned down decent jobs in the hopes of getting something better.
“What do you want, Brynn?” The question was whispered softly against her ear.
Wasn’t that the question? It was something she’d started to ponder more and more lately. There was one easy answer, though. “Right now, I’m pretty sure I want you.”
His arm wound around her waist. “Now, that is a coincidence because I was thinking the same thing. I told myself I wouldn’t let this go any further tonight.”
She turned, putting her back against the wall. He was about half a foot taller than she was. She had to tilt her chin up to look at him. “I think you can let it go a little further. Maybe a lot.”
“Don’t tempt me, baby.” But his head was lowering, eyes closing as he moved in.
That was the moment his cell rang.
She wished they’d stayed out of the reach of technology.
Major pulled the phone from his pocket and his eyes went tight when he looked at the screen.
And she knew their nice day was over.
chapter eight
Major pulled into the parking lot and thought about what a mistake it was to bring Brynn along. He should have insisted on dropping her off at the B and B, but Juan had said it was something of an emergency, and taking her to the other side of town would have cost him half an hour.
He’d already taken far too much time because he’d been out on the islands instead of at his place or the station house where he should have been. He’d wanted a day where he didn’t have to worry. Well, he’d been reminded vividly that his worries didn’t care if he needed a day off.
