Page 881 of One More Kiss

Chapter6

Spent,Max eased back into the cushions of the worn settee, pulling Lu down with him. Her golden hair spilled onto her shoulders, across his chest, and he was sure he’d seen nothing more beautiful in his life.

She shivered, and Max rolled her over and pulled her into his body, wrapping her in his warmth.

He wanted to see her face, figure out what she was thinking, feeling, but it was hidden in his shoulder. Her breathing had slowed, coming now in a deep, even rhythm, much different than their pants and strangled screams moments ago.

He kissed her hair, and she murmured something unintelligible. “Are you cold, love?”

“Mmmmm.” Her shiver gave him the answer he needed.

He slid from behind her, and despite her protestations, got up. He ran to the area where they had eaten, and cleared the food and glasses away before scooping up the blanket. A creak of a board caught his attention, but when he heard no other sound he returned to her.

She’d curled up on the settee, and Max stretched out next to her and threw the blanket over them both.

“That’s nice. Really nice,” she whispered against his neck. “Let’s stay here forever.”

Max chuckled at her suggestion. Nothing would please him more, but by morning a janitorial crew would arrive to empty the trash cans and do general cleanup from the previous day’s classes and rehearsals.

“Oh, but Cinderella, I think you will have to be home before midnight before your prince turns into a frog.”

“For a literature professor, you are quite bad at mixing Grimm stories up, and together.”

“Seriously, Lu. I turn into a frog at midnight.”

Then they both laughed. It was all so good.

“We need to talk, love.”

“No. Why?”

“Something’s been bothering you. What has worked its way so deep into your soul and caused you so much pain? What did your family do?”

She sat upright, pulling some of the flannel coverlet with her. He followed, pressing himself into her back and wrapping an arm around to hold her tightly against her.

“You first, Max. What brought you, a decorated screenwriter, on the rise, working with Hollywood royalty, all the way to North Carolina? There’s more to this story than we know. And trust me, everyone has been talking about it, wondering. The speculation is grotesque. Of course, that hasn’t stopped anyone, especially the female staff, from fawning over you.”

He lay back, leaving the blanket with her. The chill was good for him. Reminded him of how he’d been left out in the cold by his friends, by the studio. He had no one but his brother and sister, as his parents had moved to the newly formed State of Israel several years ago, and he did what he did for his brother, who was a burgeoning makeup artist in the place Max had to leave behind. The only place he’d ever called home.

Los Angeles was so different from Asheville. But looking at the curve of her back, her sweet face peering over her shoulder at him in question, he’d decided Asheville was better. Before, nothing more than his career mattered. Feelings never got in the way. Sex was sex, and typically of some mutual benefit. Not that he hadn’t benefited with Lu, and he thought she had too, but he wanted her to be happy with him. Needed that more than anything.

Needed her.

“You’re smart, Lu. You read the news. I’m sure you saw some of the hearings on television. The ‘red scare’ happened. Joe McCarthy and communism. Blacklisting. I was blacklisted by Hollywood for being a communist sympathizer.”

She jerked around, pulling the blanket from him and standing up to stare down at him.

“What!?”

Her reaction was exactly what he’d expected. The horror at thinking she’d slept with a Commie, and actually enjoyed it.

Max bolted off the settee himself at the sound of a scrape, like a chair pushed across the wood floor. He stuck his head outside the dressing room, but again saw nothing. This time, he closed the door, and came around to stand before Lu.

“Look at me.”

She didn’t comply. He gently cupped her cheeks in his palms and turned her face up to his. “None of it was true. My God, none of it. Well, one thing. I did attend a meeting at the behest of my brother. The twin I told you about. His curiosity was piqued, as was his interest in another of the young members.”

“Your brother, the homosexual?”

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