Page 31 of Resisting You
Noah’s brows lifted. “Confession? Is this like an, ‘I leave the lights on in the house’ confession? Or an ‘I used to be a glue sniffer’ sort of confession?”
I snorted a laugh that completely crept up and took me by surprise. “Glue sniffer?”
He shrugged. “Just trying to gauge if I need to order us another round of drinks.”
A softhmbuzzed between my lips. “Let’s just say it’s somewhere in between the two.”
“Okay…”
“I’m not exactly a stranger to the paparazzi,” I admitted, twisting my fingers around each other beneath the table.
“You’re not?”
“No. Not at all, actually. As I mentioned, my father’s a politician… Senator Alvarez. And my mother is Francesca Reyes.”
Most people went bug-eyed when I told them this fact. Even Hazel lost her shit on me for all of five minutes.
But not Noah. Noah just sat there quietly, running his index finger across his top lip.
After the longest minute of my life, I finally said, “Please say something. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner?—”
“You think I’m mad at you?”
“I… well… yeah. Aren’t you?”
His thoughtful expression shifted to concern as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Of course not. I’mjust absorbing the new information.” Slowly, he shook his head. “What kind of asshole would be mad at you for that?”
“A lot of people, actually. Even Hazel was hurt that I hadn’t told her sooner.”
He chuckled at the mention of our mutual friend. “I guess I’m not surprised at that. Hazel is pretty sensitive. And with her history, she understandably gets upset when people withhold information. But trust me, I get it. Making friends, dating, meeting people is so hard if you’re famous or, in your case, come from Hollywood royalty. You never know if someone is truly into you or your fame.”
My eyes widened and I leaned into Noah, too. “Exactly,” I whispered. “My whole life I was the senator’s daughter or the infamous Oscar-winning Francesca Reyes’ daughter. No one really cared to get to know me. It’s why I moved to New York. And why I never talk about them. I want to make it on my own. I want to start my therapy practice without their connections.”
“Mmmm. That makes sense. You want to be known for your skill. Not for the family you were born into.” Noah’s thumb moved in circles over mine, stroking and making my brain short-circuit.
“Doesit make sense?” I slid my hands out from under Noah’s. If I didn’t escape his touch, I wasn’t sure I was ever going to be able to think straight. “I’m basically doing the same thing now… using you and this ‘marriage’ to get clients. How’s that any different? I mean, in the two hours we’ve been here, I’ve gotten three different calls from actors wanting to book sessions with me.”
“First of all, don’t use air quotes around the word marriage. Especially in public,” he whispered and finished the thought with a wink at me. “Secondly, I don’t think it’s the same thing. You told me that the manager who called said that your name was already at the top of their referral list. Being married tome only pushed you that extra one percent into being the first person they called from that list. I could have just as easily just said you’re my friend and I recommend you, and they probably would have booked with you. As for everyone else? Our marriage is simply putting your name on their radar. Which is where you belong.”
“But how are they evenfindingmy name? None of the tabloids have outed my identity yet.”
“Oh, we all have our ways in my world. I’m sure it didn’t take more than a couple phone calls for their publicists to figure out who you were, between your association with me, Hazel, and Reid. And trust me, the tabloids are going to publish your name, too. And soon. So you’d better call your parents.”
I nodded. “I am. I will.”
“Tonight,” Noah said, firmer. “Chances are they already know your name now and it’s going to be public tomorrow morning… if it isn’t already.”
I hadn’t realized I was chewing my cuticle until Noah reached over and gently pulled my hand down from my lips. “It’s going to be okay,” he added reassuringly.
“Easy for you to say. You don’t know my parents.”
Chapter 12
Noah
The walk back to the Maple Grove Inn from the restaurant felt more like a perp walk to the county jail rather than a walk through a picturesque vacation lake town to our penthouse suite.
I knew when taking Rosa out to dinner that they’d follow us for the photo op. Even still, I’d forgotten how good it felt to have one on one conversations with Rosa. It’d been a while. Ever since she’d graduated and started her practice, I didn’t see her much. It didn’t help that Hazel had taken the job in New Jersey with Reid. There just wasn’t a lot of opportunity left to sit across from her, drink wine, eat good food and laugh as the candlelight flickered, catching the gold flecks in her molten eyes.
