Page 30 of Hollywood Crush

“Well, it’s…” I could feel myself blushing. Why had I been so bloody domestic? I felt embarrassed about it now but passed over the package. “It’s a sandwich. Cheddar cheese ploughman’s. Sorry, I know the caterers probably do on set meals, but I just thought…”

Daniel stopped my apologies with a kiss. He tasted like chocolate spread and strawberries that I’d topped his food with, and his tongue made a lazy swipe along my bottom lip. “Thank you, I really appreciate it,” he said.

The whole situation felt ridiculously comfortable but I couldn’t feel my blush receding. This man made me a mess in every way and I had no idea what I’d do once he left the village. Him promising to break things off with Patrick had done wonders for my jealousy but uncoiled some kind of hope within me that he would stay. Which was stupid. I didn’t even know if I really wanted the man to stay. I’d known him all of a month or so and shagged him a couple of times. That was all. I’d met plenty of attractive men in Aberystwyth or Cardiff and known them for a similar amount of time before binning them off. Whyhim? The most unattainable man I’d ever met?

And then he smiled at me in the sunlight and I knew why. Because I could look around the world for a smile that genuine, that kind, and I’d never see it again. Daniel Ellison was the most striking man I’d ever met.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Nothing…just that you are going to beverylate to work if you don’t stop moping around my house,” I teased and put on a smile.

“Your house, is it?” He grinned again and my stomach fluttered.

“Yes, myhouse. And the sooner I get all you bloody guests out the better.”

“The sooner we’re out and filming today the sooner you have to clean Marjorie’s marshmallow-stained bedsheets,” Danny countered.

“That…can be Mam’s job now I know the score,” I said. “I don’t want to know where those marshmallows have been inserted and I don’t want to scar poor Nadia for life.”

I pulled Daniel up to stand and gestured for him to follow me. A quick check of the time said it was approaching 7am and if he was up the rest of the cast and crew were sure to follow.

Sure enough, reception was getting busy. I took a step away from Daniel automatically, but he kept pace with me.

A woman carrying a tray of prosthetic ears —Stacey,my mind supplied — approached us. “I thought we’d be dragging you out of bed, Mr Ellison. But it seems someone has already done us the favour.”

I felt myself blushing, and Daniel pulled me in with one arm. “Get yourself a hotel proprietor if you want to be up early in the morning. I’d advise anyone to give it a go….and I have.”

He had said it loud enough that a couple of the caterers and runners around us stopped still for a moment. Had he really just outed what we were infront of a room full of people? My heart thumped so loud I wondered if people could hear it from the other side of the village, and I let that stupid bubble of hope in my stomach rise again before quashing it.

“I’ll see you later. I know you’re busy, but you’re always welcome to come and watch filming,” he said. He stretched slightly to kiss me on my cheek and I felt the butterflies in my stomach go into some kind of happy dance with togas and wine.

After he left, the crew seemed to filter out slowly. I busied myself tidying reception, and after ten minutes or so I heard footsteps from the corridor.

“Alright Mam?” I asked.

She sighed, plonking down a coffee on the counter for me. “God, I’m tired.”

“Couple more weeks and the crew will be gone. And we’ll have enough money to keep us running for another year at least. We might even have enough to take someone on full time. Let you relax a bit.”

“Or you,” replied Mam. “This place was always my dream. Well, your father’s more than anything. I just don’t want you saddled with my mistakes.”

“I’m not…” I started, but didn’t finish. I knew exactly what she meant.

“What would you do, cariad? If you had your own way?” Mam’s Scottish accent always sounded weird when it tried to twist around Welsh vowels.

I hesitated, because I’d never even thought. Butthe first image that popped into my head betrayed me.Daniel. If I had my own way, he’d be around all the time. Another image jumped into my head then, like the question from my mother had opened floodgates I didn’t even know existed. Us two, sat in the conservatory enjoying a quiet meal. Then it morphed again, that conservatory filled with plants of all descriptions, a hum and buzz of happy customers. A hike, us two, with dogs — or kids.

“Tudor?” Mam waved a hand in front of my face and I realised I hadn’t actually answered her question.

“Oh, uh…”

It seemed I didn’t need to answer, because she took my hesitation as a chance to talk. “The thing is, I was eighteen when I met and fell in love with your father. I had my whole life ahead of me, and I threw it away for a 30-year old Englishman who said his dream was to open a hotel on the coast. It all sounded soromanticto a young woman — no, girl — from Glasgow. I was a child, really, no matter how mature I felt. And I let his dreams supersede mine in every way because I thought I was in love. And when things here went pear-shaped he pissed off and left me with a toddler, and a hotel that was haemorrhaging money.”

“Bastard.” I hadn’t heard from my father since, and I’d never even tried to make contact. It wasn’t worth the hassle or heartbreak. “I know all this though, Mam. You’ll never know how grateful I amfor everything you’ve done.”

“I know, I know. All I’m trying to say is, don’t tie yourself to me or this place out of obligation. I wouldn’t wish my hardships on anyone, but would I change my life now looking back? I have you. And that’s enough for me. I want you to have your own dreams, not someone else’s.”

I smiled at Mam though I could feel my eyes tearing up. “I’m here because I want to be, don’t you worry.”

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