L.A. Cinderella (18 page)

He was confident Natalie was probably hearing that he and his costar were involved in a tawdry love affair. When in reality, he lay in bed at night staring up at the ceiling knowing Natalie was awake and wondering what she was doing. Robert had told him that Natalie had decided to stay on at Pandora Productions.

“I’m not sure what my next move will be.” Chase waited for the wine to be poured. “We still have a few months of filming.” A few months for him to get over Natalie. Then he could get back to dating women who were used to fame.

“To getting to know each other better.” Amanda’s red lips curved into an inviting smile. She held up her glass of white wine.

He wished Natalie were here as he tapped his glass against Amanda’s. He would have loved to show her England and Europe. They could have escaped up to Scotland for a weekend. Maybe he should take what Amanda was offering. Maybe then he could get Natalie out of his head.

“Chase?”

He lifted his eyes to Amanda’s bright blue ones.

“You aren’t over her, are you?” Her usually plastic face was soft and knowing. “It’s okay, you know. If you want to talk about it?”

Chase glanced around the table. Everyone was involved in their own conversations, enjoying the wine and the food.

“Look, Chase, we need to stick together here. You can’t go all moony-eyed on me every time someone mentions her.”

“I don’t go all—” He turned to catch Amanda’s teasing smile.

“I’m not above stealing a man from another woman, but not when he’s desperately in love with her. So why don’t you tell me about it?” She stabbed a piece of carrot and chewed on it with her attention completely on him.

“She’s not one of us.” Chase took a swallow of wine.

“You mean she’s an alien or something.” Amanda’s eyebrow rose.

“No, she’s not used to being in the spotlight.”

“Oh.” Amanda chewed another piece of carrot before responding. “So, she’s like me before I became an actress.”

“I highly doubt that. You probably loved attention. She’d prefer to stay in the background.” Chase smiled softly, remembering Natalie’s shyness.

“True. I was made for Hollywood. But so what? Why should she adore the spotlight? What’s wrong with having someone in the background cheering you on? Instead of having to manage two careers?”

“Because it’s part of my life, it’s part of who I am. If she can’t be in the light with me, when else am I going to see her?” Chase’s fork clattered on the plate.

“My God, Chase. What a snob you are.” Her eyes twinkled in the candlelight. “You’d give up a chance at happiness because she didn’t want to be in front of the silver screen. Do you know how many actors and actresses would kill to find a relationship where they knew the person was after them and not using them to get a leg up in the business?”

Chase stared down at his plate. Her words echoed through his head.

She placed a hand on his arm. “Love doesn’t come around
all that often in this business. If you’ve got it, why the hell would you let it go?” Her words rang through the hall.

The din of conversation stopped. Chase looked around the table to all the eyes turned on him. Could it really be that simple? Would it all be right if he went back and asked her to be with him any way she wanted? Just as long as she was in his life?

“Well?” Amanda’s voice drew his attention back to her. “What are you waiting for?”

“Yeah, Chase. Go get her,” came from the end of the table.

Chase pushed back his chair. “I’ll see you all in a few days.”

Natalie pushed up her glasses as she tried to concentrate on the binder in front of her. Her contact had torn that morning, and she’d had to put on her glasses at work. Things had gone pretty much back to normal.

The tall, model-like employees continued to use the hallway as their personal runway except it didn’t bother her like it had before. She just kept working.

When she was working, she could keep her mind off Chase. Wondering who he was with? If he missed her? Rachel had assured her that Chase and Alexis weren’t back together, which made her heartache worse.

Even if she wanted to live in his fishbowl world with him, she’d burned that bridge. There would be someone for her, but no one would be like Chase. He definitely had been worth the scrutiny, but it had been too much.

She tried to focus on the papers in front of her. What she wouldn’t give to get away? Unfortunately, she hadn’t been at Pandora long enough to ask for vacation so she could recapture her focus.

A shiver of awareness went through her. Startled, she
looked up, but no one was in the hallway. Her nose tickled with the scent of Chase’s cologne. Her heart jumped in her chest, hoping for more than just his scent. She tamped down on her wayward heart.

Someone must be wearing his favorite cologne. Chase was somewhere in England shooting a film with some actress who had likely taken Natalie’s place in his bed. Her stomach pinched at the thought. She knew the tabloids weren’t always right, but it didn’t hurt any less.

She needed one of the other binders from down the hall to figure out this last reconciliation.

She hurried to the file room, still marveling at the way the office cleared out after four on a Friday afternoon. If she could get these last few numbers into her spreadsheet, she could e-mail it to the CFO and leave for the day. Not that she had anywhere important to go.

She shoved her glasses back up her nose and scanned the sides of the binders. Of course, it was the top shelf. She grabbed a stool and pulled it over. Stepping up, she closed her hand over the binder.

“Do you need a hand?” Chase’s voice sent tidal waves of joy pulsing through her body. The heat from his body scorched her back.

Natalie couldn’t move. Her arm was still slightly above her head, even with the stool. Her mind blanked, and her heart skipped. “Uh, no. I’ve got it.”

He leaned into her back, and his hand closed over hers on the binder. She closed her eyes against the assault to her senses. The instinct to lean back into him almost overrode her common sense.

Her heart pounded in her ears even as it clutched in her chest.

“Natalie?” His soft words lifted the hair around her ear.

Every nerve in her body strained with the need to turn and fling herself into his arms. She couldn’t, though. She couldn’t be what he needed.

“Forgive me.” His words reverberated through her being. His hand closed over hers and brought her knuckles over her shoulder to his lips.

A gasp of air escaped her at the sensation of his lips on her flesh. Unable to fight her impulses, she spun. She had to see him. Her eyes drank in the sight of him. With the stool they were face to face. A slight darkness underscored his eyes. His hair was a bit more tousled than usual, but he was just as gorgeous as he’d ever been.

His words sunk in. “Forgive you?”

His hand brought hers back to his lips, and he kissed each of her knuckles. “I never should have pushed so hard. There’s only one woman I want to be with, and I don’t need to share her with the press.”

His hand caressed the side of her face and trailed down to her neck. “You ground me. Keep me real. I love you. I can’t promise life with me will be easy, but I want you to share it, with or without the cameras. Can you trust in my love for you?”

“What are you saying, Chase?” Her aching heart eased and began to fill her chest with hope.

“What I should have said at the Oscars. However you are willing to share my life—even if you want to stay in the background—I want you there. In my life, in my bed, in my future.” He pushed up her glasses. “Will you marry me, Natalie?”

A thousand things rushed through her mind. A thousand what-ifs were stomped down by her heart. She couldn’t imagine living without Chase. Her heart had ached every day they were apart. He was worth giving up her private life.

Her hands cradled his cheeks. “I trust you, Chase. I want to be a part of your life. I love you.” She kissed him.

He drew her into his arms and captured her lips with his. The weight on her heart lifted. Anything was possible with this man by her side.

N
atalie stood silently staring at the reflection in the mirror. The dress was simple, but elegant. Her hair was pulled up with ringlets left loose to float around her face. Her makeup was subtle. She’d never felt more gorgeous.

“No, Charity. It’s fine.” Rachel’s gaze met hers in the mirror, and Rachel rolled her eyes. She continued to talk into the phone, “No, it’s not wrinkled. Woman, it’s called a vacation. I’ve got everything on this end. Go relax somewhere.” Rachel snapped the phone shut.

“Okay, where were we?” Rachel picked up a slip of paper. “I think we got everything on Charity’s checklist.”

“I’m surprised she sent you a checklist.” Natalie turned and smiled at Rachel.

“I’m not.” Rachel set the list down. “But you’re gorgeous, Natalie. Every man out there is going to wish he was the one standing there.”

A short rap on the door sounded before it was cracked open. “It’s time.”

Rachel grabbed the bouquets and studied Natalie’s face intently. “I’m so happy for you.”

Rachel pulled Natalie into a brief hug before handing her a bouquet.

For a moment, Natalie’s butterflies took flight in her stomach. After this, Chase and she were headed to Hawaii for a week, where they could be alone. The butterflies settled and she followed Rachel out the door.

Her father took her hand as she entered the church, which normally sat a few hundred. The pews were full, and people were standing along the sides.

As they stepped forward after Rachel, Natalie’s eyes connected with Chase’s. His smile took her breath away, and even though the paparazzi were outside the church waiting, she couldn’t be nervous.

Her future waited for her at the end of the aisle. A future that included the man she loved and trusted to keep her heart safe.

When her father passed her hands to Chase’s, Chase leaned down next to her ear and whispered, “I’d give up my entire world for one more moment in your arms. One more night by your side. I want it all. All of you. I want you to have it all. All my love, all my heart, all of me.”

Her eyes misted over, and she leaned into him. “I want you for who you are. I trust you with my heart. I love you, Chase Booker, whether the spotlight is on or off.”

His finger brushed aside the tear on her cheek. He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Forever.”

“Forever.” She turned with him to step up the stairs to the awaiting minister. Ready to spend every day in the fishbowl as long as Chase was by her side.