Page 49 of Doc Hollywood

Taylor looked so affronted that Clara burst out laughing.

“Sorry.” She brought her free hand up to cover her mouth, giggling through her fingers, “Your mum sounds fun.”

“She is now. She was strict as hell when I was a kid. I couldn’t get away with anything, and now I’ve had to witness her doing the drunken can-can. It’s not where I thought I would be in my thirties,” he complained, rolling his eyes. However, the softness around them betrayed his love and affection for his mum.

“Where did you think you would be?” Clara tried to stop herself from thinking about where she thought she would be at thirty-five.

Once she met Jack, she thought she would be living in a comfortable house, married, and maybe even with a kid. Not single, working all hours of the day and night to pay off the debts of a man who turned out to be a cheating bastard.

“In all honesty. Not where I am now. I always hoped for success, but I knew it was a long shot. Unless you know someone in the business, it’s hard to break into it. I figured if I was lucky, I would get a few bit parts, and if I was really lucky, I’d get a series regular. And if the worst came to the worst, I thought I’d fall back on my degree in finance. Maybe get a job in the city, regularnine until five. A house in the suburbs, a wife, a couple of kids, and some dogs. You know, the American Dream.”

Clara desperately wanted to comment on his desire for a family, but she stopped herself because it felt too intimate when she had only known him for a few days, so she picked a safe topic.

“You’ve got a degree in finance?”

“Yeah. Mum insisted I do it. She supported me through university so I could attend auditions while I studied, and she supported me when I took a year off to film my first lead role in a television series. But she insisted that I had to finish my degree. That ‘show biz’,” he used air quotes, “might not be a stable career.”

Clara shrugged. “Turns out she was very wrong!”

“Yeah, but statistically speaking, she wasn’t wrong. The chances of me being in the position I am now were incredibly small.”

Clara picked up her drink and held it out to him, toasting, “Here’s to statistics.” Before she added, “I bloody hated that part of my degree.”

Taylor clinked their glasses and reached down to entwine his fingers with hers.

Clara swallowed a couple of times. Her cheeks flushed bright red, and she thought she should pull her hand away, as all this did was give her ideas about a relationship that would never happen.

He was leaving tomorrow, and she would never see him again. She amended: She would see him again—on posters in the streets and on the television, but never again in person.

She closed her eyes, and for just a second, she imagined what it would be like if Taylor did stay in her life and maybe become someone important to her.

She quickly threw that thought away. She couldn’t imagine herself being on his arm, going to a premiere or out to a restaurant with the paparazzi trying to take photos of Taylor. She could only picture him with someone glamorous, with movie star looks to equal his.

Not someone who hadn’t been to the hairdresser in four years. Whose makeup skills left a lot to be desired and someone whose idea of dressing up was jeans and a fancy t-shirt, not an outfit that could grace the cover of a Vogue magazine.

“What about you?”

“What?” Clara had lost track of the conversation with her internal musings.

“Do you have a family? Parents? Boyfriend?” Taylor said as his thumb brushed over the palm of her hand.

“No boyfriend. My ex was enough to put me off men for a long time.”

“What did he do?” Taylor’s thumb swiped over her palm again.

Clara kept her voice breezy, “Oh, you know, the usual. Cheated on me and swanned off and married a twenty-three-year-old. Yeah, he was a total treasure.”

“Ouch.” Taylor winced but didn’t pry, letting her lead the conversation.

“Ouch indeed. He was cut from the same cloth as your ex,” Clara muttered and took a big swig of her drink, trying to wash away the bitter taste that flooded her mouth when she thought too much about Jack.

“Yup, she really put me off trusting women.” Taylor’s tone was light; however, even being the skilled actor he was, the hurt still bled through in his voice.

“It must be hard to meet people when you’re the most famous face in the world. Well, as long as you don’t have the ferret stuck on.” She grinned, reaching her hand up and stroking it over his glued-on beard.

He caught hold of her hand, and for a heartbeat, she thought he was going to kiss her palm as she felt his breath on her fingers.

She gently tugged her hand back, her eyes catching on his, before she dropped hers to their entwined fingers that had been tangled together for the last few minutes.

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