Page 46 of The Art of You

“Please, Bella.” His jaw clenched, but I spotted the slightest wobble of his chin. The fissure in the solid wall of strength he was doing his damndest to maintain. “I need a distraction.”

I thought back to Friday when I’d asked for his help to distract me at the party. “The eighties,” I blurted. “Movies, I mean. Bet my parents still have all of our DVDs in the theater room. We could watch some classics. You know, likeGhost.Dirty Dancing.”

“Swayze,” he said under his breath, which I took to mean,yes.

I offered him my hand, a little worried he wouldn’t take it.

He looked up toward the ceiling, and when I followed his eyes to the camera there, my shoulders slumped.

Constantine.

I flinched the second I felt his skin touch mine. “Feellike having a stiff drink with our candy?” he asked, taking me by surprise.

It took me a second to lift my gaze from our clasped palms to find his face.

“Who said anything about candy?” I bit the inside of my cheek, still trying to get over the fact Hudson was holding my hand knowing my brother might see this moment.

“That sweet tooth of yours did.”

The weight of what he’d been holding seemed to slip away like a magician performing a trick. Poof. Gone. He’d successfully hidden his pain under the rug, exactly the way I’d stowed the photo away between the magazines on Friday.Now look where we are.Secrets always came out one way or another.

“You’re right about that.” I forced a smile.

“So, are we pretending to be at an airport where the rules don’t apply, or what?” His sexy tone was nothing more than a bandage.

Now wasn’t the time to force him to unearth his secrets. He’d begged for a distraction, and I would put every one of my father’s poker tips to use, bluffing my way to acting okay. Just like he was.

“Only if you promise to show me whether or not you can dirty dance.”

Chapter 17

Hudson

Bella was curled up asleepon the couch, her head on my lap. I couldn’t help but stare at the bruise around her eye and feel guilty we’d even been in an accident in the first place. I should’ve never let that happen.

I went for my scotch to work the lump down my throat, careful not to disturb her as I reached for it on the table next to me. The drink did nothing to ease my guilt, so I forced my attention back to the screen.

After watching her two favorite Swayze movies, she let me watch one of my favorites of his—Road House. But we were now on film four, and she’d switched the vibe up quite a bit toThe Shining. Apparently, much like golf, horror helped her fall asleep.

It also could’ve been the food we overindulged in that knocked her out. We’d chased down our Cantonese dim sum, dumplings, and sweet and sour pork with alcohol. Not to mention the woman had to be in a sugar coma from all the candy she’d eaten.

But aside from bathroom breaks, we hadn’t budged from this spot on the couch in about seven hours.

Maybe we were ignoring a whole host of problems that kept building up to what I felt would be the point of no return, but spending this time with her had to be the best seven hours I’d experienced in a long damn time. Though, I’d have to admit, I may have been more focused on her than the movies.

While sipping my drink, I mindlessly ran my fingers through her thick hair, watching the kid in the movie ride his tricycle down an empty hallway at the Overlook Hotel.

My hand went still as I realized we were no longer alone. Alessandro was in the doorway, staring at us. He quietly gestured for me to join him, and I set aside my drink, contemplating how to extricate myself without waking Sleeping Beauty.

After stealthily maneuvering her into a new position so I could stand, I went into the hall and immediately addressed the elephant in the room. “About what you saw.”

“Relax. I’m not Constantine.” He folded his arms, propping his shoulder against the wall at his side.

Works for me.

“I appreciate you looking after her today.”

Not really a hardship to spend the day cozied up with her.

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