Page 88 of The Movie Star and the Spy
“No.” The word was a whisper, borne of anguish and pain. “That can’t be. Why didn’t he say anything?”
“He didn’t want to disparage your mom, so he kept his efforts a secret.” Despite her distress, he had to continue. She deserved the entire truth. “Your mother turned him down, however she agreed to send letters and share pictures of your life. He read each one at least a dozen times, and he even carries a picture of you in his wallet. He’s always been so proud of you.”
“It can’t be.” Her eyes glittered glossy sorrow. “It still doesn’t make sense. He could’ve seen me on his own, especially when I was older. I’ve been an adult for years.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Only he can answer that, but I think he began to believe what she said. He worried he would hurt you, and the more time that passed the harder it became. Yet he recently looked back and decided the chance for a relationship was worth the risk. He told me he was going to reach out again to you.”
“He has.” She closed her eyes. “I just wish...” She breathed out, ticking the seconds. When she lifted her lashes, her expression was grim. “This doesn’t change anything. Not with him, and not with you. I am so sorry.”
Frustration threatened his control, but he suppressed it. Arguing wouldn’t stop the fear driving her decisions. He needed toshowher the truth. “That’s it, then.”
She opened her mouth as if to argue, closed it. “I should go.” Yet she made no move to depart, staring at him instead. Just as her eyes turned glassy, she turned away. “Thank you for everything.” She started to walk away, stopped and turned. For a second she hesitated, then…
She jumped into his arms.
He held her tightly, like a perfectly molded piece. Warm and soft and beautiful, so perfect inside and out. For a moment, it seemed she’d changed her mind, but then she stiffened. He stifled his regret. Soon she would be his.
She pulled back, and this time the tears were apparent. “I’ll be seeing you… I mean… well on the screen, that is.”
He nodded, but didn’t move as she walked out the door but not out of his life. She didn’t need his arguments, his lecturing, his logic. She needed time. Time to figure out what she meant to him, what he meant to her. Time to realize their love was worth fighting for. Time to discover the truth.
She belonged to him.
She just didn’t know it yet.
CHAPTER 19
Cheyenne plucked a soft red petal. She rubbed it between her fingers before letting it drift to the ground. “I love him.”
She plucked another, held it for just a moment. “I still love him.”
She gathered another velvety petal… without hesitation, it joined the others. “Continuing to love him.”
Another petal, and this time, “I love him, damn it.”
Cheyenne tossed the entire flower on the ground. “I love him. I love him. I love him. This is ridiculous. I’m so far gone, I can’t even say the word not.”
A throat cleared, and she lifted her head. The man stood across the small park clearing, with a sad smile and a fathomless gaze. “Aren’t some of those supposed to be I love himnot?”
Cheyenne blushed. She hadn’t meant to share something so personal with him. Not even if he was technically her father. He’d asked if they could meet, and she had agreed. Only this time they were outside, under a sun that didn’t seem nearly as bright, amidst flowers that somehow seemed duller. Even the air tasted stale and lifeless.
Charles edged forward. “It’s all right, sweetheart. You were both gone a long time ago. The sparks are pretty obvious.”
“I never denied the chemistry,” Cheyenne admitted. “And if that’s all there were, I’d be over it by now. But it’s more than attraction. It’s… it’s…”
“Love.”
Love.One simple word, four little letters, and yet such meaning. But it was true, and she couldn’t deny it any longer. For some reason she had the strangest urge to confide in the man who’d forged her fears. “I thought I could just forget it. Forgethim. Only two months have gone by, two months without contact, and I feel no different. Even my job seems dull and boring, which is ironic since that’s the excuse I gave him for leaving.”
Charles’s expression was kind. “Are you sure that’s why you gave him up?”
“Yes… no.”Cheyenne averted her gaze. “Work had nothing to do with it. How could I be with a man like that? A man whose job involves kissing other women, pretending to make love to them? How could I ever feel secure?”
Charles sighed. “Because he isn’t me. Because my leaving doesn’t mean he will. I did this to you, and I’m trying my best to undo it. You and your mother scared the hell out of me, and I ruined my life because of it. I lost the only people who truly mattered. Please don’t make the same mistake I did.”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s not the same.”
“Close enough.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, and this time she welcomed it. “Don’t sabotage your life for fear. Has Julian given you any reason to believe he’d be unfaithful?”
