Page 20 of Harmless Scandals

“What did you do after you broke up with your mother?”

She smiled at the way he phrased it. “I traveled. I worked from the time I was five, so I had never really had a vacation.”

“Wait, you worked?”

Damn. She didn’t always tell people about her childhood. What was it about Mick that just made her spill her guts?

“Yeah. I was an actor.”

He blinked. “Like on TV? You’re famous?”

She snorted. “Not anymore and I don’t think I was way back then either. Mainly smaller parts”

“I would have remembered an actress with the name Serenity Jones.”

“I had a different name back then.”

“Oh. Hmm. Still kind of hazy.”

“Most of my shows and movies were geared toward girls.”

“That would explain it. I bet my sister would know you.”

She knew he wanted her stage name, but she didn’t offer it. It was one thing she didn’t want to deal with. Not when she barely knew them.

“So, you left the business.”

She shrugged. “I was out of control. I hated acting, anything that had to deal with being in front of the camera. The two years before I left, I was completely out of control. I started drinking beer when I was twelve, wine when I was thirteen, then the harder stuff when I was fourteen. Lots of bad press, lots of recriminations.”

She saw something pass over his face. “What?”

“You drank the other night.”

She shook her head. “I could control it, I just didn’t want to. When I left, I had been working for over a decade. I wanted to escape. After I left, I didn’t drink until I was legal again and not that much.”

“Ah. So, you emancipated yourself, changed your name, and ran away.”

“Yeah. Pretty much.” But now she wondered about what she had told him. She had only told a couple people about the book proposal. Now she had just blabbed about her other life.

“What’s wrong?”

She looked up. “Sorry. I don’t tell people about that all the time.”

He nodded. “I’m almost a stranger and it’s dark and stormy. Sometimes people let their guards down.”

“I guess so.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

“I don’t mind. I just don’t want paparazzi to find me. It’s been a decade but you never know.”

“That’s why you changed your name?”

“Yeah. And why I ran.”

The old shame of her past crashed down on her hard. She knew it was the only thing she could do to save herself, but there were times she felt like a coward.

“Hey, I promise not to tell anyone.”

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