Page 46 of Noah
And she’d never walked away.
Except that time she left for LA. But that was ancient history at this point.
“I’m afraid they took one look at what we had to offer and cut out,” I admitted. “Or that they saw me and decided I wasn’t worth the risk.”
God, it was scary to admit that. I didn’t even know I was thinking it until I said it out loud. Now that it was said, though, I couldn’t take it back. I mean I could say I hadn’t meant it, but she’d see right through that. She always did.
Instead of judging, though, she just squeezed my hand. “You’re worth more than you realize, and they’ll see that. Let Taylor work on them. If I know her, she’s already got a plan that will have them crawling on their hands and knees to sign you.”
“She is a witch in woman’s clothing,” I agreed. “Full of magic.”
Molly’s mouth quirked. “Witches don’t need to wear women’s clothing,” she said. Then she leaned in, looking awfully mysterious for a girl I’d known for years. “We’re all witches. We just don’t show it very often.”
I laughed at the mental image that brought on of Molly herself in a tall, pointed hat, riding a broomstick, and before too long she was laughing as well, hers ringing higher and more joyous than my husky tones. Once it died down, though, I could see that she had something serious to ask me.
“What?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
She gave me a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t like how much things are changing. This whole thing with that man who claims to be my dad, and with the magazine...”
“You don’t think that man is your dad?” I asked.
She met my eyes. “Does it even matter? If he isn’t, he’s just wasting my time. If he is, he left me for twenty-five years before bothering to come around. He claims he didn’t know about me, but how could he not have known? He just woke up one day and his girlfriend was missing for months and he didn’t check on her? And she didn’t tell him anything until this month? It doesn’t feel right.”
I put a finger under her chin and looked deeply into her eyes. “And it’s the thing we always wanted, isn’t it? To find parents? Get out of that orphanage?”
“I already found my family,” she whispered.
I didn’t have to ask to know she meant me and the guys. But we weren’t real family, and if she had a chance to find he real dad...
“Why aren’t you giving this a chance?” I asked.
She paused, like she hadn’t even considered that before, and when she answered, her voice was broken. “I’m afraid he won’t be real. And I’ll just get hurt again. I don’t want to count on someone who already deserted me once.”
I blew out a slow breath at that, because I didn’t have an answer. I didn’t think she was wrong. But I also didn’t think she was right. And I could see how much she wanted to believe he might be her dad... and how much it would kill her if he wasn’t.
Right. New subject.
“Anything else? How’s the job?”
Her face went from sad to doubtful in an instant. And then to crafty. “Actually, now that you bring it up... Noah, I have a favor to ask.”
27
MOLLY
Noah had said yes to the photo shoot.
He’d said no to being completely naked, though, and I hadn’t been able to talk him out of that.
“Think about it,” I said, moving through his room and cleaning it up. I was planning to blur the background and focus only on him, but you could see clutter even through a blurred shot, and I didn’t want these pictures to look sloppy. I slid the blind closed but cracked them so there would be beams of light coming through, and then started making the bed. “The labels are asking you to be more accessible to photographers, right? Be more friendly? Less brooding dark boy?”
“Brooding dark boy?” he asked, amused. “Is that what they’re calling me these days?”
I threw a pillow at him. “You know what I mean.”
“‘Noah Michael, brooding dark boy of the rock world,’” he said musingly. “I don’t know, I’ve always thought of Rivers as darker than me. Maybe it’s because he’s brunette and I’ve got blond hair. Can’t I be the golden boy instead?”
“Oh my God.” This time I picked up a shoe and threw it. “Make yourself useful and clean up your room!”
