Page 6 of Claim to Fame

Her hand closed over his shoulder, and he placed his hand on top of hers. “I know everyone says this, but I promise you I mean it: it’s not you.”

Ethan knew a brush off when he heard one. “It’s fine, Han. I shouldn’t have said anything.” He forced his lips into the shape of a smile. “Blame it on the incredible sex.”

“You’re really alright?” she asked.

This was not how this night ended, with this trepidation in her touch. He might not be able to erase the gnarled knot of ‘what if’s in his chest, but he could make sure neither of them thought about anything of significance for the rest of the night. That was what these meetings were supposed to be about anyway—pleasure, a chance to lose themselves in each other, no obligation. No midlife crisis making him look like a desperate jerk who changed the rules.

He spun around and pinned her to the mattress, dragging his lips across her eyelids, her cheekbone, down the slope of her nose. “I’ll be better after I make you come again.”

He tugged her nipple between his teeth on his slow slide down her body, drawing a startled yelp from her.

“If you want to talk about—”

“Nothing to talk about.” He parted her thighs, kissing along the crease where her leg met her hip. “Unless you want me to tell you all the things I plan to do to you before the night is through.”

She shivered. “Yes, please.”

And then he made it his mission to erase every last thought from both their minds.

Chapter Two

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I know I’m late.”

Hannah burst into the small diner and darted over to the table in the corner where her friends were already chatting happily over mimosas. The flashes of the paparazzo’s camera that had stalked her steps since she left her apartment was blissfully shut out thanks to the diner’s “no photographers” policy.

“No baby today?” she asked Liv as she shrugged out of her jacket and took a seat at their usual table tucked in the back away from the large windows, though she could still see a photographer lingering on the sidewalk.

No doubt to take more unflattering photos of me when I leave.

“Daemon’s on dad duty today,” Liv said.

Liv and Daemon had met a few years back when they’d co-starred in a limited run ofChess. They’d been madly in love ever since, living a life Hannah could only dream of, complete with a cute townhouse and an even cuter pair of Broadway babies while they both still managed to keep performing. Hannah couldn’t even keep a houseplant alive while maintaining her performance and audition schedule.

“How did the concert go?” Jennifer asked.

“It felt really good.”

“Howard wasn’t a total ass?” Liv asked. She’d had her own difficulties with the legendary director.

"No more than usual, and he said he might want me for another concert in the fall, but then he said something about waiting to see how the public reacts to the pro shot ofBridget Jones’ Musicalbefore they make a final decision, so who the hell knows,” Hannah said.

Why did it seem like so much of her life was hinging on the release of a filmed version of the Broadway show she’d closed six months ago? How was a girl supposed to get on with her life when everyone around her was waiting to judge something from her past?

“Let him wait. He’ll see how incredible you are and by then, he’ll be competing with every other director in town to book you,” Liv said.

“We’ll see. I’ve been called in for the same parts so many times, I’m starting to think I’m stuck in aGroundhog Day-style loop,” Hannah sighed.

“You’d be great inGroundhog Day,” Jennifer said.

“They’ll never cast me as Nancy,” Hannah said. She had no illusions about the realities of being a plus sized woman on Broadway—though the fact a size twelve was considered plus size was some serious bullshit.

The server approached, dropping plates full of the most delicious smelling breakfast in front of each of them. “We ordered your usual,” Liv said by way of explanation when the mushroom and Swiss omelet was placed in front of Hannah.

“Enough about short-sighted directors. How was Ethan?” Jennifer asked, shimmying her shoulders in excitement.

Hannah’s face flamed red. “I never should have told you guys about him.”

“Come on. I’m an old married woman now. Let me live vicariously through you,” Liv said.

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