Page 89 of A Star is Scorned
“We can go inside if you’d like,” Flynn told her. He didn’t know how to play this. He’d never done it before. Except on-screen. And that usually involved a cutlass.
Livvy gave him a warm but timid smile. “No, some fresh air would be nice. Let me just get out of this thing.” She gestured at her habit.
“I don’t know, I think it’s sexy,” he teased.
She blushed deeply. “I wasn’t aware you had a thing for convent girls.”
Flynn took a mock stern pose, his hands on his hips, and stuck out his hand, pretending to admonish her. “‘Get thee to a nunnery!’”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “I’d stick to swashbuckling. Shakespeare’s not for you.” She opened her front door and Rallo scampered in ahead of her. “I’ll be right back.”
Flynn waited for her to return for what seemed like an eternity, running through a litany of speeches in his head. Trying to find the words to tell her how he felt. They all sounded trite and silly. He had hoped that agreeing to marry Rhonda Powers would have given some indication of the depth of his love for Livvy. But she seemed frightened, embarrassed almost.
She appeared back in the doorway, wearing a long-sleeved, two-toned knit sweater and a gray pencil skirt. “Okay, all set.”
“You’re right.” He smiled. “You do look better without the habit.”
She smiled. “Do you think Rallo will be okay alone in there? He curled up on a throw pillow and went right to sleep.”
Flynn chuckled. “He’s had a busy morning. Let him rest. Shall we?” When he proffered his arm, she shut the door behind her and skipped down the steps to take it, though she kept a comfortable bit of distance between their bodies. Why was she being so skittish?
“The pool and the gardens are that way,” she said. “They’re not much. But it’s better than walking through the rows of houses.”
He set off in the direction she had pointed out, and they walked companionably in silence for a moment. But soon he couldn’t bear the quiet. “You caused quite the stir today.”
She blushed. Damn it, this was a terrible start. “I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to. I was simply supposed to object and accuse Rhonda of abandoning her baby at the convent. So you wouldn’t have to marry her. I didn’t mean to turn the whole thing into a circus.”
He grinned. “Oh, I quite enjoyed it.”
She stopped cold. “Really? It was a madhouse. Rallo bit off a man’s finger!”
“Yes, I shall have to buy him plenty of bananas to thank him for that.”
Her face bloomed into an even wider smile, and she shook her head. “Oh, you’re terrible.”
“What? Devlin deserved it. They should give Rallo the medal of honor.”
“He’d probably try to eat it.”
“Probably. Maybe they should give you a reward instead.”
“Pfft, for what? Causing a scene at the wedding of one of Hollywood’s most famous bachelors?” She dropped his arm and walked away from him then, wrapping her arms around herself as if she was cold, even though it was comfortably warm in the sunshine. “At least you’re free now. I couldn’t let you marry that woman. Not once Dash told me why you’d agreed to do it.”
He didn’t understand. He thought she’d come today to win him back. To tell him she loved him and wanted to ride off into the sunset. But she was closing herself off, withdrawing. He went up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Don’t beat yourself up, Livvy. So things went a little haywire. The important thing is I’m not married to Rhonda Powers, and we exposed Stanley Devlin for the hypocritical bastard he is.”
She whirled to face him. “Don’t you think he’ll make it worse for us now?”
Flynn shrugged. “He’ll try. But Walter’s a good man. He’ll print the truth. And I’ll tell him as much or as little of it as Judy and you are comfortable with me sharing.”
Livvy ran her fingers through her hair in nervous exasperation. “Why would you agree to such a thing in the first place? I would have handled it.”
He took her hand and tangled his fingers with hers. At first, she seemed reticent. Surprised, even. But then she clasped his hand tightly and a burst of affection swirled in his chest.
He lifted their hands to his mouth and kissed the top of hers. “That’s exactly why. You’ve been handling things for you and Judy for so long, I thought it was high time someone took the burden off of you.”
“Even if it would make you miserable?”
