Page 35 of A Star is Scorned
She had been too impudent with that Devlin man, but she didn’t like the way he had looked at her. She liked the way he’d spoken to Flynn even less. Was Flynn a playboy who lived life too hard? Probably, yes. But at least he didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t. That was rarely the case when it came to men like Devlin—moral arbiters with a sense of rectitude so stiff they could choke on it. She’d be lying if she said Flynn’s reputation didn’t make her slightly afraid of him, but it was also part of one thing she admired about him—he was true to himself. And how many people in this world could say that?
Except there was one thing that was false: this sham of a relationship and the pretense they had to maintain at Harry’s orders.
She glanced at Flynn, and her stomach twisted at the outline of Rhonda Powers’s lipstick still on his face. When she’d arrived at the Roosevelt, he and Rhonda had looked pretty cozy. He’d even smiled for a picture with her. He and Livvy were supposed to be a team, and if Flynn messed up her job at Evets’s Studios by running back to Rhonda, she and Judy would have no other options in Hollywood. What was he thinking, letting Rhonda kiss him?Was it because Flynn still had feelings for Rhonda? Ones Harry had forbidden him from pursuing for some reason?
Before she could spiral any further, Flynn pulled into the parking lot of the El Cholo Café and tossed his keys to the valet, who said, “Señor Banks, good to see you again. It has been too long.”
“José, even a week without El Cholo is too long. But I’m making another picture. You know the studio, they keep me running ragged.”
“Sí, sí,” the valet replied, opening the passenger door for Livvy. “And who is this lovely señorita?”
“My new costar, Liv de Lesseps.”
The fake name still sounded odd to her ears. Liv de Lesseps was something the studio had created, and she couldn’t make the glamorous image that name projected jive with the practical, studious girl she’d always prided herself on being. Back when she’d intended to become an author, she’d planned to write under her own name. José extended his hand to help her out of the car, and she took it. “I’m Olivia Blount.”
“Miss Blount, it is a pleasure to welcome you to El Cholo.” José made a show of sweeping into a bow and pressing a chaste kiss to the top of her hand.
“Now, don’t you steal my girl,” Flynn joked.
José looked up at Livvy and grinned. “I think we should let the lady decide.”
Livvy bit her lip, pretending to debate the issue. But butterflies were taking wing inside her at the sound of Flynn Banks calling her his girl. “Hmm, I’m not sure.”
Flynn laughed.
“Can I try the food first?” Livvy went on.
“Absolutely not,” Flynn replied.
She pretended to pout. “Why not?”
“Because no one would ever choose me after tasting an El Cholo enchilada.”
José shrugged and said, “He is right, Miss Blount.”
“But don’t take my word for it.” Flynn held out his arm for her and she gripped his bicep, enjoying the taut strength of his muscle beneath his impeccably tailored suit. “C’mon, Livvy, I’m starving.”
He led her up the terra-cotta steps into the cozy bungalow that had been transformed into a restaurant. El Cholo Café was a feast for the senses. Delectable spices and bubbling cheese greeted her nose, making her stomach growl. The bungalow was decorated with colorful wall hangings that welcomed its guests in to sit at high-back wooden booths.
“Banks!” proclaimed the man behind the cash register.
Flynn clapped his hand to the fellow’s and gave him a hearty handshake. “George, it’s good to see you. May I introduce you to Liv de Lesseps? Hollywood’s newest and soon-to-be brightest star.”
She blushed at Flynn’s praise and extended her own hand to greet the tall, dark-haired, handsome man working the counter.
“Livvy, this here is George Salisbury. He owns the restaurant with his wife, Aurelia.”
“Pleased to meet you,” she replied.
“George, she’s never had Mexican food before.”
The restaurant owner’s eyes bulged. “I’ll tell Joe to give you the works then. Banks, you haven’t been back since we changed the menu. Joe’s got us selling combination plates now. Rice and beans with your enchilada.”
Flynn appeared absolutely ravenous at the news that there was something new on the menu. He looked like somethingout of a cartoon. Livvy tried to hold back her laughter, but Flynn heard her.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. You’re practically drooling.”
