Catch a Falling Star (In Love in the Limelight Book 3) Page 17

  “What, exactly, have you found out?”

  “Well, let's see. Do you know about the city council meeting on Thursday? And what's at stake for Colin?”

  I stand up. “I think you better explain.”

  Chapter 36

  THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN

  “Blackmail?” Colin's eyes almost popped right out of his head.

  “Yes.” Ray said this so matter-of-factly, like the plan was entirely too obvious.

  Wendy bit her lip. “What do you mean, exactly?”

  Colin's head whipped to her when he heard the note of interest in her voice. “Wendy!”

  She kind of jumped back into the couch cushions, surprised at his reaction. She looked to Ray, sitting on the floor, fingers dancing across his open laptop on the coffee table. Then her eyes darted back to Colin, who was sitting next to her on the couch. “No?”

  “No!” Colin ran a hand through his hair. “These people are public officials. We can't blackmail them!” He took a deep breath, wondering what the hell kind of Kool-Aid they'd been drinking. “This is a solid project that does not need to blackmail anyone. And I will not build this on corruption and crime—that's exactly what The Dorm is designed to save kids from.”

  “Good point,” Wendy conceded. “No blackmailing.”

  “Don't make it sound so terrible,” Ray said. “Okay, no blackmail. But I was just talking about embarrassing tidbits we could have in our back pocket in case someone turns into a real dickhead.”

  Colin nodded. “Yup. That's pretty much the textbook definition of blackmail.”

  Ray huffed out a sigh. “Puh-leez. I just want some ammo against these people in case they try to nix the project based on the idea that Hollywood is the root of all evil.”

  “And it's not?” Colin challenged. “When your go-to plan is blackmail?”

  “I know how to fight.”

  Colin shook his head. “No blackmail, no huge checks written to city projects. My engagement isn't the only scandal that could de-rail this.”

  Wendy got very still as Colin and Ray went over the figures and paperwork for the project one last time. Colin had just said my engagement. My engagement. He hadn't used finger quotes even though both of his hands had been free. Wendy hadn't even heard finger quotes. He hadn't paused before he'd said my engagement so he could give the words a snarky twist. He just said it. Like it just was.

  “Wendy?”

  She looked up to where the two of them stood. “Huh? What?”

  “I'm taking off,” Ray said. And Wendy noticed his laptop case tucked securely under his arm.

  “Oh, right,” she said, getting up. “Good-night.”

  As Colin walked Ray to the door, Wendy sank back into the couch, feeling all tingly and warm. She knew she wasn't really engaged to Colin. But maybe he was starting to feel—

  “Wendy?” Colin came back into the living room and sat on the couch next to her. He turned to face her, concern etched into his features. “What's up? You're not trying to think up anything devious, are you?”

  She shook her head, trying to focus. “No, Colin.” She moved closer to him. “I wouldn't do that. You said you didn't want anything like that, and this is your project. So that's that. Colin, I wouldn't go against you on this. I wouldn't even consider it. It's so much more than a project. It's your life. I get it.”

  Colin twined his fingers into Wendy's. “It's not that it's my whole life. And it doesn't have to be in order to be really important. I want so much for those kids to have a safe place to land. And if I can give it to them …” He looked at Wendy. “I really want to. I want them to have this. To have The Dorm.”

  Wendy nodded. “I know.”

  “Whatever it takes, I'll do it. Whatever it takes to make it a safe place.”

  Tears burned into her eyes. “Oh, Colin. I'm so sorry. So sorry I did this to you. I'm so sorry I ever came here.”

  And before she knew he'd done it, Colin pulled her into him, holding her tight. “Don't say that,” he whispered. “I want you here. I want The Dorm, Wendy. I want it so much. But it's not all I want.”

  She pulled back a fraction so she could look at him. “It's not?”

  He shook his head. “No, it's not.” Then he kissed her, wrapping his arms around her, running his hands all across her body.

  And in seconds, they were clawing at each other, ripping off all the clothes that were keeping them apart.

  Wendy got Colin into a sitting position on the couch and straddled him. “Colin,” she whispered. “I wish I could fix this. I want to make everything perfect for you.”

  Colin reached over to his discarded shorts on the arm of the couch and took a condom out of the pocket.

  When she slid onto him a few seconds later, she found enough breath to speak. “Colin … I wish ...”

  His head fell back against the couch even as his fingers tightened on her hips. “Wendy, you are … fixing it. You have been … this whole time.”

  “Really?” she panted.

  “You just have to fit into my life … not … be … a threat.”

  “And do I?” She gripped him harder by the shoulders and started moving faster.

  “God, yes. You fit, Wendy. You fit.”

  Chapter 37

  LOLA

  I can't watch. I can't. A town council meeting in a small town outside New Orleans, but the world will be watching the streaming coverage. Why? Because Wendy Hunter will be there. With her hickabilly secret surprise fiancé Coach Colin Scott. And does the world even realize how much is on the line for Colin?

  I can't watch I can't watch I can't watch.

  Chapter 38

  THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN

  Colin and Wendy took the two fold-down wooden seats in the front row that Andre had been saving. The entire team was there. All the coaches. At least half the teachers from the high school. Tanya. Ray.

  The board seated at the front of the room looked like a dour bunch, but the politicians didn't scare Colin. He had his arguments ready.

  Calm, cool, collected. Not cocky. He could do this. It was third and long and the championship was on the line, but he could do this. He squeezed Wendy's hand.

  The murmur of voices in the background dulled away and Councilman Tate brought the meeting to order. He displayed the night's agenda on the screen, clearly proud of his power-point capabilities. Colin kept an even keel. He was last in the docket. But that was fine.

  So, he sat through an hour of city business, business that he knew was just as important to someone else. A case about an illegally placed neon sign that the owners knew was illegal but they put it up anyway. A man complaining about the birds on his roof. Someone else who wanted the parking meter taken out from in front of her store and she would plant a tree in its place.

  When The Dorm came up on the agenda, Colin stood up and walked to the podium. He read out the mission statement, detailed where the plans had been filed, listed all the approvals and qualifications, and finally asked for the final vote approving the project. He didn't say a thing about Wendy and the possible trouble she might cause. If they had problems with Wendy, they'd have to bring them up.

  And bring them up, they did.

  Councilwoman Cedars spoke first. “This recent news of your sudden engagement brings up a number of concerns, Coach Scott. How do you see Wendy Hunter fitting in to this project?”

  “She won't be contributing to it. Wendy Hunter has her own charitable foundation and several of her own philanthropic projects. And she won't detract from it. She's already met all of my players. She gets along with the kids, and they like her. So, any peripheral contact she has with The Dorm won't be in any way negative.”

  “But how can you say that with such certainty, Coach Scott?” Councilman Tate puffed out his chest. “Certainly, she's gotten along with the people of Rocheforte in the two weeks she's been here, but if we look at the bigger picture, an influence such as Wendy Hunter can be perceived as nothing but dangerous to a
n ambitious project like this that claims it wants to help kids and young adults 'find and stay on a constructive path.'”

  The image on the screen at the front of the room changed as Tate clicked his mouse. A clipping from a tabloid appeared. The story was eight years old and about a wild party in a hotel room. Drugs, booze, trashed furniture. And a picture of a clearly stoned Wendy in a salacious dress draped all over someone named Justin from a boy band of the day. “Drugs, alcohol, property damage.” He clicked through a few more damning articles from far from reputable sources. “And let's not forget these.” And one of the nude pictures of Wendy flashed up on the screen. On the wall of the hall. A naked picture of Wendy as big as the entire wall.

  A collective gasp from the cavernous room.

  “Tate!” This from Councilwoman Sochee at the end of the bench.

  He clicked back to the agenda. “Well, we all get the idea. Wendy Hunter is a negligent, uninhibited, freewheeling exhibitionist who has somehow managed to escape punishment from the law so far, no doubt due to her questionable relationships with the right people.”

  “Stop right there,” Colin snapped. “Wendy Hunter has never been arrested or charged with anything, and your suggestion that this is only because she has taken advantage of the system is completely unfounded and in itself criminal.”

  “I'm sure you misunderstood me. I never meant to imply or say any such thing. As admirable a life as you claim she's led, her documented behavior makes any association of hers with this project risky.”

  “All of those photos you showed are almost a decade old. Since that time, Wendy Hunter has risen to the top of her profession and she contributes more than half her money to her own charitable causes. And what is The Dorm about if not showing kids that they can turn their lives around? And that's exactly what Wendy Hunter has done.”

  Wendy had been sitting rigid and numb, but now she felt in danger of melting right into a pool of warm, gooey nougat. Had she ever heard anything as wonderful as the sound of Colin Scott defending her in front of a bunch of dickheads?

  “Coach Scott,” Tate said. “Rocheforte has been overrun with reporters and photographers for two weeks now as they chase down Wendy Hunter.”

  Colin gave one sharp nod. “And the influx of paparazzi has been a boon to businesses all through town.”

  Murmurs of assent from the crowd.

  “So we should base our local economy on the whims of Wendy Hunter?”

  “No, but you should base your decision about the project on the facts.”

  “And one fact is,” Councilman McSwain chipped in, “you're engaged to a Hollywood star. You are proposing to head up an incredibly ambitious project that affects hundreds, even thousands of lives, and you might jet off to Los Angeles to live at any given moment.”

  “No, I won't. Wendy's going to live here.”

  The room explodes in excited gasps.

  “She's giving up her television career to be your wife?” Councilwoman Sochee couldn't have spoken with more scorn unless she'd actually sucked on a lemon laced with motor oil.

  “She's going to commute. She'll film the show during the week, arranging her schedule to end early on Fridays and start late on Mondays. She'll fly out here for the weekends and she'll live here all the time when the show's not in production.”

  “Coach Scott.” Tate's voice drips with sarcasm. “You can't expect us to believe that. We've all seen how easily people get sucked in by the lure of Hollywood. It won't be long before you're the one going to Los Angeles. And staying there. Living the life of the rich and famous.”

  “This week alone.” Councilman McSwain looked at his notes in front of him. “You've allowed yourself to become distracted by Miss Hunter. Missing practices. Late almost every day. And during such a crucial week for this project.”

  “And didn't Miss Hunter disrupt one of your practices?” Cedars wrinkles her eyebrows. “Something about a doggie basket? Wendy showed up with her lap dog and someone got hurt?”

  “Wendy doesn't even have a lap dog,” Colin said, remaining calm.

  “Or was it a pet bunny?” she said. “Either way, she caused a disruption. She's been causing disruptions all week.”

  “That's an exaggeration.” Colin was still calm. “The town's getting to meet her. She's excited. They're excited. Things will calm down.”

  “So you admit she has changed the landscape of things.” Tate.

  Sochee lowered her glasses. “It seems to me, Coach Scott, that you're telling us how things will be. But your ideas seem to be in direct conflict with what's actually been happening. In Miss Hunter's past, as well as in present-day Rocheforte.”

  “I think we should take a vote,” Tate says.

  Wendy's heart leapt into her throat. How did the momentum in the room spiral so fast? And now Tate wanted to take a vote? Now that everyone thought she was the world's most distracting harridan and that Colin was rendered full-on stupid under her power?

  “Yes,” said Cedars. “Let's vote.”

  “Wait!” Wendy stood up. “What if Coach Scott removes himself from the project? He's built a strong, workable system. All the pieces are in place and every penny's accounted for. What if he stepped down? He could choose a successor, get approval from the board, and the kids can get the services they so badly need.”

  Colin turned to stare at Wendy, feeling like he just took a cannonball to the gut. Step down?

  Good God, was Wendy believing the happily ever after yarn they were spinning for everyone? Did she expect him to ride off into the rhinestone Hollywood sunset with her?

  Colin had to grip the podium to catch himself from collapsing as another thought hit him. She was doing it on purpose.

  Oh, God. Had it been Wendy's plan from almost the beginning? To get him out of Rocheforte, out of his life, so she could have him all to herself?

  Was multi-millionaire diva Wendy securing herself a partner? One she wanted? And one who had nothing left but her?

  Sochee looked at Tate, whose eyes gleamed. “Well ...”

  “Wait,” Colin said. “I have a counter-proposal. Instead of taking me out of the equation, why don't we remove Wendy Hunter instead.”

  The room fell into a hush.

  “We've been through this,” Sochee said with a beleaguered sigh. “Even if she never sets foot on the premises and never has contact with any of the kids, she's still a part of your life. You're engaged and that cannot be discounted.”

  “But that's just it,” Colin said. “We're not engaged. We never were. Wendy made the whole thing up.”

  Chapter 39

  RAY

  No no no no no no!

  Holy fucking shit! Why didn't Colin just let me and Wendy blackmail the council members?

  What the HELL is he saying?

  “What?” McSwain's eyes are bugging out of his head.

  Tate puckers his lips and lifts his brows. “Coach Scott, this reeks of desperation. Explain yourself. If you can.”

  Colin's voice is as sure and as strong as it's been all meeting. “We met at my sister's wedding last September. That's true. And we would see each other, once in a while, when she was out here doing work for St. Jude. She knew I didn't want to have anything to do with all the publicity of her world. But somehow, the paparazzi tumbled onto her visits to Rocheforte. So, on the spur of the moment, Wendy said we were engaged. She thought more of a love story would look better for both of us. And I said I would play along, just as long as she didn't mess up my plans for The Dorm.”

  Sochee throws up her hands. “So what's been going on here for the past two weeks?”

  “I was helping her create a charade. That's it.”

  “So you're not really getting married?”

  Colin laughed. “Far from it. We're used to seeing each other for a few hours at a time. But after living in her spotlight for a few weeks? Let's just say that we have something of a history, but no future.”

  I can't believe what I'm hearing. I can't believe i
t. I can't believe it. What the hell is Colin doing to Wendy? How can he do this?

  How is Lola going to spin this? Her insane leading lady pretended to be engaged to her brother so America's Sweetheart wouldn't come off as a cross-country horn dog?

  Councilwoman Cedars clears her voice. “Miss Hunter. Is this true?”

  Wendy nods ruefully. “As you can all see, I'm not so brilliant when I go off script. They caught me with Colin when I swore to him that I'd keep him out of the limelight. It was the first thing I could think of to salvage the situation. Colin Scott is a great guy, but he's not the one for me. I'm so focused on the show and all my charities that I don't have time to get involved with anyone. And Colin is so invested in The Dorm. But no. We were never engaged.”

  But the assholes up front still look dubious. So I send a quick text then I stand up.

  “It's true,” I say. “I'm Ray Collier. I'm the associate producer on Off the Beaten Path. Google me, you'll see. I've been here the whole time, keeping an eye on things. I knew our biggest star was having some publicity issues, so I decided I better be around in case anything needed handling.”

  Sochee looks me over. “You don't look very Hollywood.”

  “I've been trying to blend in.”

  “You don't look very Rocheforte, either.”

  “It's him.” Tate speaks up, having just consulted his phone. “Ray Collier from Off the Beaten Path.” He clears his throat, shooting a quick glance back at his phone. “I think we can trust what he says. This all seems to be a debacle of Wendy Hunter's doing, so, as long as he and Wendy Hunter go back to Hollywood and play their games anywhere but in Rocheforte, I think we can proceed.”

  Sochee sighs. “Well, Mr. Collier. I suggest you take your star and let us all get back to business.”

  I tuck my phone into my pocket just before I move to the center aisle. Wendy makes her way up toward me from the front row. She doesn't stop to look at Colin for even the barest second. When we meet, she takes my hand and we both walk out, our heads held high.