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“Thanks.” I’m only asking for trouble by accepting the drink. “But no thanks.”
Should I be more grateful? Many would kill to be where I am. To have the life I have. The career I have. But many hadn’t given up the man they loved to come back to this… this prison. They hadn’t had the only man they’d ever loved tell them that he loved her. And that he was leaving his wife for her. And then, on the very same day as he made those promises, they hadn’t been forced to choose to protect someone they loved by sacrificing their own heart. I had!
Many hadn’t fought with their that man for seven more torturous years because his sister’s then-husband, now ex, had fueled his hurt and anger that I left him. But Julia’s ex-husband had claimed I was bitter and twisted enough to lie about the mental abuse and the gaslighting he inflicted on my best friend. I wasn’t. It was true.
But he successfully turned everyone against me. So no one believed a word I said. It didn’t stop me from calling him out on his abusive behavior. And that’s when he started doing exactly abusing me. Who could I tell? Who would believe me that a third dan judo sensei like me was terrified of defending myself against him? Self-defense wouldn’t matter in Julia’s eyes. If I hurt him, I’d lose Julia and I was the only one protecting her.
When the truth came out, Sean Anderson who believed me before anyone else. Sean told me he’d rather have a hole in his head than live another day without me. He asked me to marry him. So why did he walk away?
I needed him. I almost died. I was in a coma for three months and the only person I wanted to see, the only voice I wanted to hear, the only arms I wanted to feel wrapped around me, were his. He wasn’t there.
I’ve been waiting twelve months for an explanation. Why did he leave me? Why wouldn’t he answer my calls? What the hell had I done that was so hideous that he’d cut me out of his life without a word… after everything we’d already been through… and in the middle of that television interview it became crystal clear.
My two lives collided. Krystal Valentina was dating Justin Ramirez. Mimi was dating Justin. And no one had thought to tell Sean. Did he even know what happened in Switzerland? If not, then he thought I’d done it again. He thought I’d left him!
“You think I don’t know…”
A familiar flirty voice growls close to my ear. Unlucky Lee’s slender fingers slip over my shoulders. I expect his thumbs to work at the base of my neck, but they remain still. For a moment, the rich dark chocolate eyes of the Sean Anderson look-a-like possess my attention, and I miss whatever Lee was saying.
“You were foolish to wear heels tonight, Ash.”
I gasp and turn to look at the set medic who’s worked on a couple of my projects in the past. He now works on Tristan’s show. “What?”
“C’mon Ash.” Lee leans in closer. “You’re not partying, and you’re pretending to be drinking. The other guys asked me to see if I can convince you that you and Justin will work it out. And get you to come dance with us.”
“I’m fine.” I sigh. My attention going back to the look-a-like but finding the space filled by a young Krystal Valentina wannabe. Why am I disappointed? I don’t want to end up in a situation I can’t get out of.
“But this thing won’t blow over, will it?” Lee turns my bar stool. The twirling motion causing havoc with my lower back. It screams in protest. “Are you okay? You’ve gone a funny shade of white.”
I reach for the nearest potential pain relief, the drink in Lee’s hand, and drain the bright blue liquid in reply. The spicy taste of an adult version of childhood bubblegum bursts on my tongue as the warm burning on my throat dulls the agony just enough to take the edge away. “Uh-huh.”
Or was it just the distraction that worked?
“You know,” Lee flashes a gorgeous smile at the waitress behind the bar, she notices and serves him immediately. “The accident on your movie set last year was a big thing in my world.”
My heartrate gallops. He can’t know. The medics on set were silenced by the man with the Super-Dad emblazoned on his imaginary hero costume. Everyone involved in the film and my accident was silenced by my dad.
“So, I think I’ve figured it out.” He leans a little closer. The scent of the tobacco mingles with his aftershave.
It’s a familiar aftershave, my fingers know how it feels to tap the woodsy scent against clean shaven skin... it’s the same one Sean uses... I blink the memory away.
“You were the one seriously injured on set in Switzerland fifteen months ago and Mimi’s been in LA pretending to be you.”
My mouth drops open. Was it that obvious?
“Yeah.” Lee shrugs. “Your overprotective big brother gave me the same response.”
My brows burrow in my forehead as Lee accepts two glasses from the waitress. “You should know, by the way, Ryder’s rubbish at keeping secrets.” He hands a glass to me. “Relax, drink in moderation, and only dance with me because I can protect you in ways no one else can.”
A laugh, deep from inside my belly, bursts from my lips.
God! That felt good.
It’s a really long time since I’ve laughed properly. Certainly not since I’d opened my eyes and found out I was in the hospital, unable to feel my legs, several new ugly scars on my back, on my head, and a patch of missing hair because I’d needed brain surgery. My nose was quite literally bent out of shape and had to be rebroken and reset.
“Is that so?” I grin at Lee, forcing myself to be happy. “I can’t believe that you, my medic in shining armor”— I climb down from the bar stool—“would get a girl on pain medication drunk to get her into bed, that’s despicable!”
“Don’t worry.” A hint of pink lights up his cheeks as he wraps a protective arm around my waist. “I know what we have is harmless flirting.” He guides me toward the dancefloor and the circle of men cheering that Lee actually got lucky. “You date people like Justin Ramirez and Dex Leighton. You know, actual freaking movie stars. You don’t go to bed with average joes like me.”
