Page 28 of All That Glitters

“No, you’d rather force me into the shower,” she quips.

“Because you still fucking stink. You might be pretty, but that doesn’t keep the smell away. How about I take you to an opening?” I blurt out the offer without thought, but the moment I say it out loud is the moment I realize it’s the perfect solution.

A way for me to be there with her through every step and give her a trial by fire. She hasn’t been to an opening since she went with her parents, what…two years ago?

Past time.

The abrupt offer takes her by surprise. “You’d actually take me?”

It’s my turn to shrug. “Sure. Why not? It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to an opening, and there’s one at the end of the week for a former client of mine. It’s as good a chance as any for us to get back out there.” Us. As though it will help her feel less alone to think that I also need to get back out there.

A chance to feel human again…sure, it’s no pleasure to have photographers in my face and reporters firing off a million questions at once. But getting dressed up, mingling with others in the business, showing off Empire at her best? That sounds great.

Finally, I fall onto the couch beside her, tired of looming, tired of feeling like I’m always the one who has to drive and make sure she doesn’t go right off a cliff. There’s no chance of Empire hurting herself in a physical way, but mental flagellation? We’re both professionals at this point.

“I really don’t want to go,” she insists again.

I close my eyes and inhale through my nose. “You’re saying it like I’m giving you a choice. You either come to the opening with me, where you know what to expect, or I choose something else.”

“You’re threatening me?”

“You catch on quickly.” I blow out the breath. “If you want to see it as a threat, then by all means, do. I’m looking out for you. All I’ve ever done is for you and your career.” Our career, I mentally correct.

Because our success is intertwined.

This is the closest we’ve been physically since that day on the couch, and my mind immediately returns there when her shoulder presses against mine. “I suppose you think I’m ungrateful,” she says softly.

“I might start to see it that way if you keep digging your heels in.”

Empire groans. “Fine, then. I’ll go to the opening with you, but I don’t have anything to wear. All of my fancy clothes…have memories attached.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.” My heart softens, and the hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach lessens a bit.

She twists her face to mine and smiles. Small, tight, but there. Let the healing begin. “Thank you for always looking out for me. I know it’s a pain in the ass and cramps your style.”

“It definitely does. Not like I actually want a roommate.”

“It’s appreciated, Marcus.”

I like the way she stares at me. I look back at her boldly. My dick gives a twitch of acknowledgement, but I stuff down any desire to do more than look. Not like she’ll ever let me touch her again. It’s a bad fucking idea, and I’ve had too many of those in my life to count.

ELEVEN

Ugh, he needs to stop looking at me that way, like he sees every piece of me I’d rather keep from the world, and he plans to poke at them. Individually and with much attention. The same way—

I shake those thoughts away.

“When is the opening?” I want to know.

Marcus settles deeper into the back of the couch with his eyes closed. “I’ll let you know.”

“Oh, I thought this was an immediately if not sooner kind of thing.” Maybe I should start prodding him more than I already do.

It might get him to loosen up.

And while I’m at it, while he works to revamp my public image, I’ll start to work on convincing him I don’t want a public image. The movie role is his idea. My coffee date with River showed me one thing about myself: I’m not comfortable in the spotlight anymore, and I wish I’d realized it, the full extent of it, before I signed his contract.

A normal life has never been in the cards for me, no matter how badly I want it, and I’m starting to want it badly enough to taste it.

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