Page 27 of Easy Rumba

“Does that mean it was good or bad?”

“It means, do you miss it?”

I think for a minute before replying to his question.

“I thought I would miss it more than I do. I love acting and being someone else, losing myself in the emotions of a scene like the ones you’ve just watched. But do I miss the Hollywood life? No, the intrusion into my personal life was more than I ever thought it would be. I knew there would be some but not to the extent there was. I couldn’t even go to the store without people critiquing what I was wearing. If I forgot my wedding ring, my marriage was falling apart. If I wore the wrong color, I was lambasted. I remember pregnancy watch with Izzy. I didn’t drink champagne at an event because I knew I was pregnant, and it was all over the gossip magazines the next day. They even zoomed in on photos of my stomach to see if I had the start of a baby bump under my dress. I wasn’t one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood, so I don’t know how they deal with it all. To be under the microscope twenty-four seven is not something I think I ever want to do again. That’s much more Simon’s thing. In many ways, it was why he tried to control me so much—he was worried about keeping up appearances. He released our baby scans to the press before we’d even told all our family. I’d wanted to sit down and talk to my mama about it first, but I wasn’t given the opportunity. The announcement had to be orchestrated for maximum exposure to raise our Hollywood profiles. It felt like another acting job in the end. One that was too painful when it exploded because the violence was real.”

I lower my head into my hands when I finish speaking. I don’t think I’ve ever voiced so much displeasure at the Hollywood life to anyone before. I hated it in so many ways. New Orleans was a breath of fresh air to go back to. It’s peaceful, and I can walk around the streets without having camera flashes going off in my face.

Maybe I’ve made a mistake doing the dance show.

It will put me back in the spotlight.

My breath quickens in panic.

No, I can’t go back to all of that.

Leo pulls my hands away from my face, and cupping the bottom of my chin, he presses his lips passionately against mine. My panic recedes as I lose myself in his kiss. It’s full of the emotion we’re both feeling. The affection between us has been developing with every dance and the time spent in each other’s company getting to know one another again.

Eventually he pulls away but rests his forehead on mine.

“Why did we ever lose contact with each other? Our lives could have been so different. I could have saved you from him.”

“No, fate decreed we had to part for a while, to grow and learn. We had to experience life separately before we came back to each other as better people.”

“I’ll never hit you.” Leo pulls me into his lap, and I allow him, savoring the heat of his body and enjoying the touch of a man for the first time in a very long while without the fear of him hurting me.

“I know,” I whisper back.

Turning my head toward the clock, I see it’s late in the evening. The film was a couple hours long, and we’ll need to be up in less than five hours for training.

“Why don’t you stay here tonight?”

“Here?” Leo tilts his head and looks at me, trying to read the meaning behind my words.

“I can’t promise you anything, Leo. I mean intimacy wise. I don’t know if I’m ready to welcome a man that far into my life, but what I do know is I don’t want you to leave my side. I want you to hold me all night. Be beside me when I wake so I know none of this is a dream, and I really am safe in your arms again.”

Leo doesn’t reply. He stands and holds his hand out to me.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

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