“You hurt yourself doing stunts?”Lex asked.
Jillian opened her mouth to say yes and remembered who she was talking to.“No.My bike at home.You could call it a wheelie-gone-wrong.”Time to distract him.She gave him a beatific smile.“Could I see your car collection?Douglas was raving about it on our drive here.”
Lex chuckled, a boyish smile transforming his features.“Sure.You can choose the one we take for a test drive if you like.”
He had her at “choose.”“Can we make an appearance at the party first?”
“Why?”
“I need to talk to Greg and Chris.Then there’s your mother.”
He groaned and reluctantly led her toward the main part of the house after she picked up her shawl.She noticed how he was careful not to touch her bruised arm.As soon as they reached the main hallway running from the foyer to the back of the house, a server appeared and offered them champagne.
“Take an unopened bottle, two glasses, and some food to the gazebo,” Lex instructed the young man, plucking a glass of champagne and handing it to Jillian, and then taking a second one for himself.He raised it and smiled smugly.“To a fruitful relationship.”
“Three hundred and sixty-five days of it,” Jillian said, reminding him their future was temporary, and took a tiny sip.Alcohol was not her thing.For some reason, she had zero tolerance.
The party was in full swing when they joined the people by the pool.A jazz band played in the background and voices of agents chatting up possible new clients or kissing up to producers—a few from the studio were in attendance—mingled with rising stars.
Margo Jenkins held court to the right, young men and women drawn to her.Aussie Wonder Boy Keith was holding court a few feet away.Jillian wondered if the studio would couple them up for publicity.Margo always slept with her leading men, and Keith was single.
Once again, Jillian and Lex’s appearances drew attention, including Margo’s adoring fans.Margo noticed, and her eyes narrowed in a hateful glare.The actress didn’t smile or nod, but then again, she never “saw” Jillian or any of the support staff.Jillian ignored her.She had enough on her plate without worrying about Margo.
Funny how the attention she was receiving tonight was so different from last night and earlier today.Being in the limelight didn’t bother her when she performed with her brothers.Partly because her performance couldn’t be duplicated by just anyone and the circus goers knew it.They were awed watching her.And her family always took pride in her performance, however insignificant.
The Hollywood crowd was different.Judgmental.They couldn’t wait to see you fail.She’d learned how easy it was to be seduced by fame and crave adoration from fans to a point where you hurt yourself to get it.Then there was the ease with which the media and fans could turn against you.Made her hate publicity.Even now, when she rode as the Phantom Rider, she liked the thrill of anonymity.No one knew who she was and, therefore, no one judged her.Out here, she felt exposed and vulnerable.
As though he sensed her discomfort, Lex reached for her hand.Her body angled toward his, the two of them continued moving around the pool to where Chris and Greg were talking to Lex’s mother.Hopefully it wasn’t about her.She introduced Lex to a few people she considered friends.Most of them were support staff and young actors with minor roles.Shay Donahue, a supporting actress with a larger role, joined them.
Shay was about the sweetest actress Jillian had ever worked with.Ten years ago, she was a household name and a pin-up girl from a hit TV series calledSurfside—a show about lifeguards at a beach in Miami.They’d film them running in slow motion, the women in their skimpiest bikinis with boobs threatening to spill out.Her brothers and cousins never missed an episode or reruns.They’d even renamed the women according to their boob sizes.Shay was D-two for her double D cups.Jillian could smile now, but she used to suffer from serious boob-envy when it came to Shay.But that was then.She’d learned to appreciate her modest C-cups.
Jillian introduced Shay to Lex.
“You were inSurfside,” he said.
Shay blushed.“Yes.How did you recognize me?I was a lot younger and skinnier.”
Shay had packed on some pounds and had a few corrective surgeries.She looked nothing like the woman of ten years ago.
“You haven’t changed one bit,” Lex said smoothly, impressing Jillian and winning Shay over.Rusty with women, he’d said.What a crock.He charmed Shay with such ease and had her laughing in no time.When she left, Jillian cut Lex a look.
“What?”he asked.
“Did you really remember her fromSurfside?”she asked.
Lex made a face.“Never watched it.”
“Yeah, right.Every red-blooded American male loved that show.”
He grinned.“Watching TV was a luxury I couldn’t afford.”He let go of her hand and gripped her arm.“Come on.”
Jillian threw a glance at the group with Chris and Greg.Whatever they were discussing appeared engrossing.Just as well.It was going to take more than an evening to convince Chris she knew what she was doing.Chris still treated her like a child.She was twenty-nine for Christ’s sake, old enough to make her own decisions without him switching to Mama Bear mode.
As Lex led her toward the gazebo, the conversations the two of them had a few days ago flashed through her head.He must have been in his late twenties whenSurfsidewas a huge hit.Surely, he wasn’t always working.
“Didn’t you ever have down time?You know, kickback with your brothers and cousins?”
He chuckled.“I did, but we spent it watching or playing ball.”
