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His voice remains calm even as his hand begins to shake against my back.
“Are you on a date or something?” Celia pushes, stepping in our path.
The shaking stops when Eli grips my dress. I can feel anger vibrating off his body in waves, and judging by the look in Celia’s eyes, she can tell she’s getting to him. Which was probably her goal.
Which pisses me off.
We were having a nice time before she showed up. I get that she’s interested in Eli—she’s made no attempt at hiding it—but he’s made no attempt at hiding the fact he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings. Which means she needs to step back. But she won’t.
That knowledge is what propels me forward.
Straight down the rabbit hole I didn’t want to fall down.
Because the second I say the words, nothing from here on out will be the same. It’s a commitment. Standing up for Eli. For us.
But my mind’s made up. I’m done bowing down to Celia. Cowering at her feet.
“Even if it were,” I say before Eli can respond, drawing Celia’s attention away from him, “it’s none of your business. Now, if you’ll kindly step aside …” I motion for her to move, and when she finally does, a shocked expression on her face she can’t hide, I brush past her quickly, pushing through the door and letting it softly close behind me.
Now my hands are shaking.
My feet stuttering to a stop in the middle of the hall. Eli bumps into the back of me, sending me flying forward, unprepared for the sudden push.
Wrapping his arm around my waist before I can get far, Eli pulls me back to him, spinning me in his arms so we’re facing each other.
“Someone put her big girl panties on tonight,” he jokes, lifting my chin with his hand. When our eyes meet, his are sparkling with pride. “Don’t let her get to you. Jealousy is the ugliest shade of green, Taylor.”
“I’m not jealous,” I protest.
His smile grows as he leans in close, his lips barely a breath away from mine when he says, “Yes you are. The same way I’d be jealous if you were going out with someone else tonight.”
His kiss is gentle, and far too short, leaving me breathless and wanting.
Is that what I felt? Jealousy? Over Celia?
Maybe.
Because I certainly don’t like the idea of her getting her claws in Eli. Even if he doesn’t belong to me.
“Your mom is Brenda Rush?”Eli asks, his mouth dropping open in shock.
“The one and only.” You can hear the detest in my voice, not that I was trying to hide it.
Instead of leaving the resort, Eli and I decided to commandeer a cabana near the private pool at his villa. Celia and her groupies were at the dinner, along with all the other occupants of the villas, affording us the serenity we both wanted.
“I never would have guessed. I mean, you look a lot like her now that I know, but you’re nothing like what I’ve heard about her.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I fire back quickly. “My mother is a special breed of actress. Old school. Her name is attached to so many movies and TV shows, she walks around with an air of entitlement all the time. She craves the spotlight. Can’t go more than a month without working. She’s always been that way.”
“Always?” he repeats, sitting up on his lounge chair.
When I don’t answer, he drinks the last of his vodka and soda, setting the glass on the table between us. It’s not until he relaxes back against his chair again that either of us say anything. Not surprisingly, it’s Eli that speak first.
“Is that why you seem to hate the spotlight? Why don’t you want to act? Because as far as I can tell, you have what it takes. You don’t need much direction, and the infliction in your voice …”
Yeah. I know I could do it. My mother thinks I’m wasting natural talent, but watching her all my life made me realize it’s not what I want.
“Acting has never appealed to me. Maybe because I saw how much dedication it required, how worn down my mom always was when she was home. More than anything, I remember all the headlines and how mean they were. My mom doesn’t know this, but when I was a teenager, I stumbled across some magazines she’d saved in her office. I was looking for my birth certificate for school. I knew she kept it in the lock box in her desk, but I didn’t realize she kept other things in that same box.
