Luxe Glamour (The Glamour Series Book 5) (25 page)

I settled my hands on my hips. “Right now I don’t feel like one of the good ones.” I slipped my phone from my pocket. “Right now I feel like a giant piece of that dog poo I spend my days scooping.” I started to type a text. “Gonna see if Luis is still close to town.”

“Sounds good.” Tabitha turned toward the kitchen. “And I’m going to make both of us some coffee.”

Coffee was more than I deserved from Tabitha. I texted Luis and he guaranteed me he’d be round to get me in twenty minutes. “Anything I can do to help?” I turned the corner and stood beside the kitchen counter. She pulled two mugs from a cabinet and flashed me a smile.

“Trick, we’ve been friends a while. Why don’t you have a seat, wait for the coffee, and tell me about this girl? The one that you wanted to forget by kissing me.”

I looked down and stared at my boots. I would really prefer just waiting outside in the cool night air to sitting in here and discussing Sophia.

“Come on, Trick.” Tabitha put her hands on her hips. “We’ve been flirting with each other going on five years. I finally get you over here only to find out you’re in love? At least tell me about this girl. She must be special if she managed to crack open your heart.”

“What’s that mean?”

“You know exactly what that means. You’re closed off, all business, and you don’t have the time or the patience for a relationship.” Tabitha took a plate from the kitchen cabinet and pulled open a Tupperware container filled with cookies. She placed four on the plate and slid it across the counter. “At least, you never have before.”

I sat on one of the tall chairs at the counter. The thick rich scent of freshly brewed coffee filled the room. I picked up a chocolate chip cookie and took a bite. Rich, moist, and chewy. “Damn, Tabitha, these are good.”

“Baking is kind of my thing.” She poured coffee into the two cups.

“It should be your thing full time.” I finished the cookie with one more bite and reached for a second.

“From your lips to God’s ears.” Tabitha set my mug of coffee in front of me. “So,” she said, blowing a stream of breath over the surface of her coffee. “About this girl. Do you love her?”

I shook my head. “Dammit, as much as I don’t want to, I’m pretty certain that I do.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“What can I do? She wants a different kind of life. One that doesn’t involve spending seven days a week at Pawtown.”

Tabitha took a slow drink of her coffee. “Trick? You didn’t answer my question. What are you going to do about it? If you really love her like you can’t stop thinking about her, and want only her, and she makes your world turn upside down … if it’s that type of love, then it’s not about how inconvenient loving her is. It’s all about how you find workarounds for anything that stands in your way.”

“I can’t see how,” I said. I scooped up my third cookie. “I don’t know how to be with someone who only wants a public life. I let that go. I said good-bye to all that a long time ago.”

“Well, here’s the thing. You either don’t love her enough to make the changes you need to make so you can be with her, or you’re a damned fool, because that kind of love? That world-spinning-flat-on-your-ass kind of love? That doesn’t happen very often. Maybe once in your life, if you’re lucky.”

My gaze focused on Tabby. “Sounds like you know what you’re talking about,” I said softly.

Her blue eyes refocused on me. “You’re not the only one who has memories that they want to run away from.”

The knock on the door interrupted us. I stood and brushed my hands together over the plate. “Thank you, Tabby.” I said.

A half-smile showed on her face. She followed me to the door.

“You could have thrown my ass out and I would have understood,” I said.

“But then I wouldn’t have gotten to give you all my good advice.” She pulled open the door. Luis stood on the other side on the front steps. “Hey, Luis. You two be careful getting home.”

“Thanks for the cookies and the coffee, Tabby.” I leaned forward and wrapped one arm around her shoulder.

“No problem. And listen to what I said, Trick. If you love her, you need to find a way.”

I nodded and walked out into the cool night air. I did love Sophia, I simply didn’t know how to make my life fit with hers.

Sophia

“Doll,” Daddy leaned toward me and whispered, but kept his photo-op smile plastered to his face. “Can you at least pretend to be happy?”

I perked up my smile and shot it at the bank of photogs lining the red carpet. “Daddy, I am happy.”

“Sweetheart, you look more unhappy about attending my premiere than your sister does.”

I slid my gaze toward the far end of the red carpet where Ellen stood and waited for us. She’d done one step and repeat and had then scooted just inside the theater entrance to get away from the flashing cameras and shouting photographers. She hated these events. Usually, I loved them. Especially when I got to go as Daddy’s date. The photogs went bonkers for pics of me with Daddy. Of course they did! I was the only Legend with a front-of-the-camera future. Well, there was Rhett, but he’d made it clear he only wanted to write music and sing. No acting for him. I would act. In fact, Webber had just booked my first film. So this event, the premiere of
The Legend Never Dies
, was huge and it was a way to keep me and my career and the fact that I was the daughter of the biggest actor in the world front and center.

So why did I have to keep forcing the smile onto my face?

Trick. Trick Williams. My heart could not get over that man.

Daddy placed his hand over mine and guided me down the red carpet. We stopped and again I slid my gaze along the bank of photogs, starting on the right and slowly counting in my head as I looked at each one as they flashed until I got to the far left of the line. Flash. Flash. Flash. Flash.

“Come on, Doll, we’ve fed the beast long enough.” Daddy lifted his hand to wave and I did a tiny little wave too and we walked into the darker cooler air of the theatre. The smile slipped from Daddy’s face. Webber stood there glancing at his watch.

“Steve, my man, we’ve got two minutes until the premiere begins. You need anything? Anything at all?” Webber leaned closer to Daddy. “I even got a little lovely stashed in the green room.” Webber wiggled his eyebrows as though Daddy wouldn’t know what “little lovely” meant.

“Seriously, Webber?” Ellen stood on his other side. “If you weren’t an agent everyone would think you were a pimp.”

“What?” Webber held up his hands. “Everyone has different forms of stress release. Some people use booze. Other people use sex.” He pressed his hands to his chest. “It’s not my job to judge, okay? I merely provide what my client needs.”

Ellen rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and then flashed me a look that seemed to say,
really? This is what you want?
She leaned close to my ear. “Now do you understand why I want to be a doctor?”

“Doll, I’ll meet you inside. I need to go speak to the director and the other producer. And truly, Doll, if you want to sneak out the back, no problem. I’ll see you two at the premiere party.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek and then leaned past Webber and pressed a kiss to Ellen’s cheek. Then the two of them dashed across the lobby, leaving Ellen and me standing on our own.

“He’s totally going to the green room,” Ellen said. She crossed her arms over her chest. “My God, if he wasn’t our father, he would completely disgust me.”

I bit my bottom lip. In Hollywood it seemed everyone had some addiction to ease their pain. A giant hole filled with ache that needed praise and attention and … I turned away, knowing I was just as bad as everyone else. Desire for fame was my drug of choice. My eyes widened and I turned to Ellen.

“Do
you
think I use fame as a drug?”

“Well, duh?” Ellen said, and shook her head. “Of course you do. Our entire family does. Seriously? Are you just
now
sorting that out?”

“I …” My mouth dropped open. “I must not have thought about it, or realized, or even considered that the attention I get from what I do … that attention is part of what I
need
. Not just the work, but also the cameras and the idea of being a celebrity.” I looked at Ellen. “You don’t need all that, do you?”

Ellen pushed her hair behind her ear and tilted her chin. “Not the same way that you and Rhett do. Besides, the idea of having to walk down one of those?” She pointed toward the red carpet on the other side of the glass door. “For my work? The whole idea is horrifying.”

“It’s not horrifying,” I said. “But I definitely don’t seem to love it the same way I did when I started out. Now it just seems like kind of a hassle. Something I have to do for work. You know?”

“Not really,” Ellen said. “But, okay. What are you saying? That you don’t want to be a model anymore? That you aren’t going to do the movie?”

“No, I mean yes. I want to do those things, I just … I just want more in my life.” I leaned in toward Ellen. “I mean Daddy has work and a revolving door of women. I need more than that. When I was at Pawtown, especially near the end, I felt like I was really doing something. Like I was helping people and animals, and it felt good.”

“Altruism,” Ellen said. “That’s my drug of choice.”

I looked at Ellen. Always with the words and the smarts. “Okay, whatever that means, what I’m saying is I liked doing good things for people. It made me feel good.”

“And that, dear sister, is the meaning of altruism. You liked it. Made you feel good. Go do more of it. There are so many places that need attention and volunteers and people who will help and—”

“I can think of one such place right now.”

I spun around. Choo stood behind me with his arms over his chest. “Girl, you are in love. Okay. Deny until you die, but you need to be out on that ranch with that boy and you just don’t want to admit it.”

Did I? I bit my bottom lip. I did. Damn. I absolutely did want to be with Trick. “Even without living the luxe life I still need to be in Los Angeles, and there are events I
have
to do, and I’m not leaving modeling or entertainment. How could we possibly make all of that work? He hates Los Angeles and doesn’t want anything to do with the Industry.”

“I know, beautiful girl, we’ve gone over this already. And I am going to say the same thing to you now that I told you then. You have got to discuss all this with Trick. Okay? It’s not fair if you don’t. It’s not fair to you, to him, and it’s definitely not fair to the world, because the two of you would have the most beautiful babies on the planet!”

I pressed my hand into Choo’s shoulder and shook my head. “Stop. Okay? We’re not even close to that.”

“Maybe not yet, but someday you will be.” Choo held out an arm toward Ellen. “Come on girls, let’s get out of this place. Let’s go have some drinks and then maybe go to the after party … or maybe not.”

Ellen took one of Choo’s arms and I took the other. I liked the sound of some quiet time with my sister and my friend. I had discovered that I didn’t need all the glitz and the glam. What I really needed was the people I loved and the people who loved me.

Trick

“I hate these things,” I said. “I still don’t think this is straight.” I turned to Angie. Her dress was long and sparkly and she looked beautiful. Me? I was impersonating a stuffed penguin. “This tie is why I hate awards.”

Choo stood behind Angie. The guy looked like he was born wearing a tux. Not me. Man, I’d never been comfortable in one of these. Even when I was flying high, coked out of my mind, biggest star in the biz. Shit like this? Awards? Being recognized for my work or a performance gave me hives.

Angie rolled toward me and held up her hands. “Bend down. This isn’t why you hate awards. You hate awards because you hate people and you hate Los Angeles. Plus, you don’t like the idea of being recognized for anything you do. It’s basically a form of self-loathing.”

“Been reading
Psychology Today
again, I see.”

Angie smiled at me and pulled at the two ends of my bow tie. “It’s straight now.”

We could hear the muffled voice of the emcee through the backstage drapes. We could also hear the scrape and clink of spoons on dessert plates—the dinner was just about over.

“I’m just happy you two made it.” Choo pressed his hand to his heart. “I mean talk about cutting it close.”

“We left in plenty of time,” Angie explained, “but there was an accident on the 60. We sat there for almost three hours. I’m glad we decided to have Luis and Mary bring the animals in tomorrow.”

As it was, Angie and I had just barely made it to the hotel in time to change and rush backstage. Now we waited for the award presentations.

“I don’t even know who is presenting us with the award. Do you know?”

Choo and Angie exchanged a look. A hint of pink hit Angie’s cheeks. “Actually, I do, it’s—”

“Sophia Legend,” the emcee announced, the sound booming now from the other side of the curtain.

“What?” I whispered to Angie and Choo. “You didn’t tell me that Sophia was giving us the award.”

“That’s another thing, it’s actually not going to
us
.” Angie backed her wheelchair toward the exit. “It’s for you. And now that we have you here, I’m going to sit down out front.”

“You two are so on my shit list,” I whispered.

“Toodles!” Choo said and wheeled my big sis toward the side door that would lead around to the hall and then back into the ballroom. Those two would have a great view. They’d be able to watch me squirm in front of about five hundred people and the woman I was in love with. The woman who wanted no part of my lifestyle. Hell, she didn’t even want a relationship. She was a woman who would do anything for her career—which had included facing and conquering her biggest fear—a near phobia of dogs.

My gut tightened. I could hear Sophia making a speech. I couldn’t make out the words, but I could hear the tone and pitch of her voice. The warm lilt. I closed my eyes and pictured her smile, those beautiful lips. Laughter came from the crowd. They were eating whatever she was saying up. Of course they would. Not only was she Hollywood royalty, but she was smart and beautiful and articulate. I knew all about it. Sophia Legend was the whole package.