Page 19 of Claim to Fame

But how could she have known? She didn’t know anything about Ethan.

Except that he can make you come five times in one night with his tongue alone.

“So you must be…”

“My father,” Tessa said, filling in the end of Hannah’s sentence.

No.This couldn’t be happening. Tessa’s father should be an old, decrepit man with thinning white hair and a cane. A frail senior citizen. Not Ethan.Not the man who knew how to make Hannah’s eyes roll back in her head and her toes curl.

Oh, God, she shouldn’t have had that breakfast burrito at the highway rest stop. She was going to be sick, right there in Ethan’s office.

Tessa’s eyes narrowed with concern. “Are you alright?”

Hannah tried to smile but it came out as more of a grimace.

“I’m going to get you a bottle of water.” Tessa slipped past her, back out into the hallway, leaving Hannah and Ethan alone.

“If you’re not here to see me, then what are you doing here?” Ethan asked.

“I’m—I’m here to see Tessa,” she said. It was sort of true. Half true, at least. “You never told me you had a daughter.”

“You never asked.”

Ethan had a daughter. A stunning, full-on adult daughter who reappeared at that moment with a bottle of water.

“Look, Han, now’s not really a good time,” Ethan said. “We’re expecting someone any minute.”

Tessa glanced between them. “Dad—”

Ethan continued, “Why don’t I call you later and we can get dinner and talk?”

“Ethan, I’m not—”

“I really am glad to see you,” he said, squeezing her bicep, his fingers trailing down her forearm and brushing against her hand, leaving heat in its wake.

Tessa eyed Ethan warily. “How do you two know each other again?”

“We’re good friends,” Ethan said, his eyes crinkling as his smile widened. Something low in Hannah’s belly clenched in response to that smile.

Not now.

“Dad, this is Daemon’s friend, Hannah. The actress from New York we told you about,” Tessa said slowly, as though she were explaining it to a child.

The confusion on Ethan’s face contorted into a look of pain. Betrayal. “You? You’re the one who’s hiding out because her boyfriend cheated on her?”

Her mouth went dry and she forgot how to speak as his expression shifted, the mask of a man she didn’t recognize replacing the openness and sparkle that had been in his eyes only moments before.

God, what must he think of me?

Ethan shook his head and spoke firmly, as though he could bend reality to his will. “No, there’s been a mistake. You’re not—I just saw you a few days ago. You— No.” He stormed away from her, disappearing behind his desk and shuffling papers like he was going to find something to prove she didn’t belong there.

“I should give you two a minute.” Tessa inched towards the door, slipping through the opening and closing it behind herself with a soft snick.

“Ethan.” He didn’t look up. He just stood there, shaking his head and shifting through paperwork. “Will you please look at me?”

“You were in a relationship with someone else when we…” He trailed off, his voice gone cold.

She swallowed. “It’s complicated.”

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