Queen of the Universe (In Love in the Limelight Book 2) Read online

  “This was not some diabolical plan of mine to get you to do it.”

  Arlen just nods. “That it?”

  “I'll be emailing you some stuff tonight. You can look over it if you have time. Just stuff to help you prepare. Questions they might ask. Links to videos from other panels with the critics. Just to give you an idea.”

  “Okay. Thanks. If I have any questions, I'll call or text Ray.”

  I nod but don't say anything.

  “Okay. I'm going back in.” He moves out of the tree's shadow, giving me a wide berth.

  My heart hammers as I watch him go. “The text,” I say.

  I couldn't help it.

  Arlen stops and turns back to me. “So you got it.”

  “Yes.”

  “And deliberately ignored it.”

  “I didn't know what to say.”

  He takes another step toward me. “I'm not that demanding. A smiley face emoji would have done it.”

  “Arlen … we can't do this. Not now.”

  “It was just a text.”

  “Is that what you want? A relationship of secret texting?”

  “I want a connection to you.”

  “But it wouldn't stop with texting. You'd want more.”

  “Yes,” he says quietly. “I want more. I don't want it to stop.”

  I just shake my head and look away.

  “I thought …” he says. “I thought … we just had to wait until the show hit its stride, win or lose.”

  I don't say anything.

  “Lola?”

  But I can't do it. Not now. Not yet. I can't rip out his heart and mine. Not tonight. He's got to be ecstatic for his kids. We've got to see each other on the panel. I'm not ready.

  “You know how fast it could escalate between us,” I say quietly. “Even now we can't stand too close to each other. You know it. I know it. I'm just trying to stay away and stay sane. The littlest bit of contact with you drives me to distraction.”

  “And staying away doesn't?”

  I turn and look to the living room window. “Go back in and be with your kids, Arlen.”

  “Come in, Lola. Meet them. Hang out with us. No one will know.”

  “I can't.” I turn and run, getting out of there before I fall to pieces. Before Arlen sees me fall to pieces.

  Chapter 58

  ARLEN

  Arlen arrived minutes before the Off the Beaten Path panel was slated to be called. He left no time for socializing. At all. He took in the cavernous ballroom with its tacky carpet and sparkling chandeliers. The space was set up for a press conference, with rows of chairs arranged theater style to face a small stage at the front of the room. On it was a long table draped in shimmery cloth. Groups of people milled around, schmoozing and mixing, everyone waiting for the panel to be called. His panel. The one comprised of the showrunner and cast of Off the Beaten Path. In a few minutes, he would be facing the Television Critics of America. But they didn't faze him at all. Not when he was going to see Lola again.

  It had been a week since she'd scampered out of his front yard like a jack rabbit. A week since his last contact with her. And he felt like he was starving.

  He was going crazy with wanting her in his life. If the kids had noticed anything, they hadn't given any signs. But Katie would arrive in a week and then it wouldn't be so easy to hide his agitation. But he—

  Every muscle tensed as Lola slid up like a wraith to stand beside him.

  “Hi, Arlen,” she said, holding herself at attention and not looking his way. “Thanks for being here tonight.”

  Arlen, like her, decided to look straight ahead. But he was still breathing in the scent of her. He tightened his jaw. “Ray said ninety minutes. None of the panel videos you sent me took that long.”

  “I was making allowances for Wendy's strategic tardiness.”

  “Ah.”

  “I like the suit.”

  “Once upon a time, I dressed like this every day.”

  “I know,” Lola said. “I remember.”

  So did Arlen. That night in her house, in her bed, he'd mentioned his days as an investment banker. His days as family guy Arlen Black. A different life.

  Lola's phone chimed and she looked down at it. “Stop the presses, Wendy's here. It's showtime.” She turned to him, and when he looked at her, she smiled. “Good luck up there.”

  “Thanks. You, too.”

  She walked away then, towards the stage. Arlen watched her in her little black dress and little black jacket.

  Lola Scott.

  The very first day they'd met, he could see that she was a clusterfuck of craziness that would wreak havoc in his life, but he hadn't just turned around and left. He'd stayed, and he'd just kept letting her get closer.

  And he wanted her so much closer still.

  But damn, every time he thought of her, he felt a little breathless and sick inside. He just couldn't shake the feeling that she was slipping further and further away from him.

  Tom climbed onto the stage to introduce the show. He announced Lola's name and position first, and she took the stage. One by one, as Tom called the other cast members, they appeared from the wings and took their places.

  Then it was his turn.

  “Arlen Black. Playing Sam Destry the bounty hunter, Celeste's next-door neighbor.”

  Arlen made his way to his assigned place, the seat right between Lola's and what would be Wendy's. Cameras flashed and applause rippled. All eyes turned toward him, but his eyes sought out Lola. He kept his expression neutral but his focus clear. Lola. All the bizarre circus snapping around him, but she was the one who counted.

  When Tom finally announced Wendy’s name, the room crackled with excitement. The star flitted to the stage, greeting her co-stars and stopping to smile and say a few hushed words to Lola.

  Then Wendy took her seat. Without missing a beat, she turned to Arlen and kissed him. Her lips barely brushed his cheek, but she touched his face just enough to make the exchange look intimate.

  The kiss took Arlen completely by surprise. He didn’t want Wendy kissing him. He didn’t want Wendy touching him. Especially not when the room was filled with photographers. And especially not when the woman who'd upended his world sat a few feet away. It was weird.

  Arlen smiled graciously at Wendy when she whispered hello, but said nothing. He felt Lola sit up straighter beside him. Business as usual.

  Man, Arlen desperately wanted to go home, and the questions from the critics hadn’t even begun yet.

  But once the questions did start, Wendy took center stage, and nobody seemed to pay any particular attention to him.

  “Arlen. Arlen Black.”

  Arlen looked toward the critic who’d called his name, and acknowledged the woman.

  “How will the recent disintegration of your off-screen fling with Wendy Hunter effect the on-screen chemistry between your two characters?”

  A direct hit.

  Arlen smiled. “Nothing off-screen really affects my on-screen performance. I'm incredibly lucky. I have Lola Scott and a crack team of writers telling me exactly what to say. I've got the best directors in the business telling me just how to say it. I've got an entire streamlined crew making sure I look right as I say it. I just show up for work and let people far more talented than myself tell me exactly what I need to do. And I do it.”

  “And what about Wendy?”

  “Everyone working on the show, myself included, will tell you that she's the most generous actor one could hope to work with.”

  “So no resentment at all that she's so publicly with Sketch Lavelle now?”

  Arlen took Wendy's hand and smiled right into her eyes. He thought about everything Lola had done and said ever since Wendy's stunt. “None,” he answered.

  When Wendy teared up at that, cameras around the room went ballistic.

  Chapter 59

  LOLA

  I slip off my jacket and head outside into the late July humidity. I should be hobnobbing t
hrough the critics, basking in the glow of a kick-ass press conference, and enjoying my show's coming out party. But instead, I'm running. Trying to put distance between me and Arlen.

  It's just so unfair.

  Arlen in jeans and work boots with paint on his knuckles set my world on fire when he showed up at the studio a few months ago. A guy who could do that without even trying should at least have the decency to look like a dork when he's dressed up. But no. Arlen didn't even have the good grace to fidget or pull at his tie.

  I suck in a lungful of smoggy Hollywood air, trying to ground myself. I'm going to have to learn how to work with him. But not tonight. Everything just feels too recent and raw. I'll save the salt for later.

  Feeling older than a soap-opera has-been, I strike out across the plaza, heading toward the parking garage. Studio limos brought all the different cast members, but I drove, knowing I might need a quick getaway after an evening with Arlen.

  Arriving at the elevators, I press the call button with something like desperation. I'm pretty sure I have an entire pack of Chips Ahoy! Cookies at home.

  When the elevator doors slide open, I stop breathing.

  Arlen stands in front of me. He’s taken off his tie, and his hair is all disheveled, as though he’s been knifing his hands through it.

  “Lola,” he says, stepping out onto the sidewalk.

  I stand rooted to the spot, letting the doors slide closed behind him.

  “Arlen. A-Are you lost?”

  “No.” He runs a tell-tale hand through his hair. “I’ve got to get out of here. I was looking for the limo that brought me, but I can’t find it.”

  “It won’t be back for at least another hour,” I explain. “The studio’s way of making sure everyone stays at the party.”

  “Figures,” he says, pulling out his cell phone.

  “Wait.” I fish my keys out of my purse. “My car’s downstairs.” I push the button for the elevator, and the doors slide open. “”I’ll give you a ride,” I offer, stepping in. “Let’s go.”

  After the barest hint of hesitation, Arlen follows. We both stand ramrod straight and tall, not daring to look at one another. The fifteen second elevator ride is endless. When the doors finally slide open, we both stand stock still, leery of careening into each other as we race to jump out.

  “Thanks,” I say, and step off, pretending he's just letting ladies go first. And maybe he is. Maybe I'm just imagining he feels as jittery around me as I do around him.

  Chapter 60

  ARLEN

  Arlen couldn't say no. He should have. But he didn't.

  Now Lola was going to drive him home.

  The night seemed to be spiraling into emotional chaos. But he was pretty sure he'd hidden everything he was feeling for Lola from the critics and the world at large. So the evening wasn't a complete disaster.

  And Wendy had worked wonders as a distraction. As Arlen had been looking into her eyes, thinking about Lola, he'd been sure Wendy thought it was all for her. Just his overflowing gratitude for her showing up at his house with Sketch and setting the record straight with the kids. And he had to hand it to Wendy. She'd pulled it off like a pro, arriving in sunny yellow shorts and a Sponge Bob T-shirt, with the anything-but-sketchy Sketch.

  Arlen slid a sidelong glance at Lola then looked away. It was bad enough to see her looking so damn good all the time in her jeans and T-shirts. But now he had to put up with seeing her decked out in that little black dress, looking hotter than all nine circles of Hell? For the love of Pete, she could at least have the decency to wobble like a klutz in her heels.

  Was it weird that they weren't saying anything to each other? Anything at all? He was pretty sure it wasn't. It was just the safest thing to do. They didn't even say anything when they got into the car, buckled themselves in, and took off. At least Lola had the top down, and that would minimize any sense of intimacy.

  When the Tesla eased to a stop in front of his house, all was quiet. The lights along the walk and on the porch gleamed softly, but the rest of the house was dark except for a dusky glow coming from way back in the kitchen.

  “Are the kids sleeping?” Lola asked. “Who's the babysitter?”

  Arlen unbuckled his seatbelt. “They’re at the movies with Jim and Susan,” he said. “Freaky Lights II.”

  Lola didn't move a muscle. “Jim your partner?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Hmm,” Lola murmured.

  In the next second, Arlen was across the seat, pulling her into his arms. Lola unsnapped her seatbelt in the space of half a second and slid up against him. He kissed her like he'd been missing her for a hundred years, and she kissed him back, molding herself to him as she slipped her hands inside his jacket.

  But Arlen didn’t want her in the car. He wanted her in his bed. He pulled back to ask her to come inside, but she yelped, shoving him away.

  “Someone’s in the house!” she cried.

  Chapter 61

  ARLEN

  In a flash, Arlen was off her, whipping around to look at the house. The overhead kitchen light had been turned on, and two figures moved toward the front door. Nick and Nora loped beside them.

  One of the people inside reached out to pet the dogs.

  Hope blazed through Arlen as the front door creaked open. “C’mon,” he said to Lola, unable to suppress his smile. Just as he bolted out of the car, a pixie-faced teenage girl with short dark hair stepped onto the porch.

  “Dad!”

  “Katie!” Arlen raced across the yard to sweep the girl off her feet, twirling her around as they clutched each other fiercely in a jubilant hug.

  Setting her on her feet, Arlen looked down as Katie grinned up at him.

  “This is Mary Lou,” she said eagerly, stepping back to introduce her freckled friend.

  “Hey,” Arlen said, reaching over to shake the kid's hand. Then he looked at the two of them in something like awe. “What—How?”

  “Mary Lou's brother got bitten by something in Vienna and her mom didn't trust European doctors, so we all flew home. And since we were back, I couldn't wait to get here so I thought we’d surprise you.” She hugged Arlen again, this time catching a glimpse of Lola over his shoulder. “Hi,” she called tentatively, stepping back to peek around Arlen.

  Arlen turned to where Lola stood on the street, by the far side of the car. Arlen noticed the way she kept the Tesla between her and the trio on the front lawn. “Katie, this is Lola Scott. Lola, this is Katie and Mary Lou.”

  Lola’s face lit up with a soft smile as she waved to the girls.

  Katie looked back and forth between Lola and Arlen, taking in his disheveled suit, her skimpy dress. “So … did you guys meet at this big shindig you were at tonight?”

  “What?” Arlen said. “No, no. Didn't I say? Sorry. Lola's my boss. Off the Beaten Path is her show—she wrote it, and now she runs it.”

  “Right on,” Mary Lou chimed in.

  Katie cocked her head. “Did you guys go together?”

  “No,” Lola answered with a light laugh. “We just both happened to be playing hooky at the same time. Arlen was trying to get out of there, and I happened to be peeling out just about then.”

  Katie looked at him. “You didn't take your car?”

  “The studio made me show up in a limo.”

  “A limo!” hooted Katie. “Why? Were you guys at, like, a premiere? Was Johnny Depp there?”

  Arlen laughed. “It was a press conference. Publicity for the show. I think the studio just wanted to make sure I turned up.”

  Mary Lou smirked. “Are you a troublemaker?”

  “Not at all,” Lola pitched in. “Arlen is about as mellow as a cast member can get. The studio just knows how hideously boring these things are.”

  Katie looked back and forth between them again. Then back at Arlen. “I still can't believe you're an actor! And you guys had to go to a big deal press conference?”

  “In front of a bunch of critics,” Arlen explained
. “Every new show has to do it.”

  “Oh,” Katie said. “Cool. So what did you do with the Rugrats for the night?”

  “Movies with Jim and Susan.”

  “Freaky Lights II?” Katie guessed. “They've been talking about that one all summer.”

  “Freaky Lights II,” Arlen confirmed. “I missed you.” He laughed, crooking his arm around her neck. Taking a deep breath, he looked to Lola. “Want to come in? We can all order a pizza. And all the Pepsi you can drink.”

  “Not a chance,” Lola said. “You guys haven’t seen each other for what? Half a year? Go catch up. I’m outta here.”

  She was leaving. Arlen felt it like a knife in the gut, but he smiled easily. “Sure,” he said. “See you next week.”

  “Hey,” Lola called out before stepping into the car, “why don’t all you guys, and Matteo and Ella, come to the studio some time this week for a tour.”

  Arlen looked up.

  “I’ll give Ray my keys,” she continued. “He can usher you all over the lot. Take the kids onto the sets of a bunch of shows.”

  Arlen felt the empty weight of her invitation, even as Katie and Mary Lou bubbled over with quick acceptance.

  “Thanks,” he said to Lola. “I’ll call Ray to set it up.”

  She arranged her face into a huge smile. Without meeting his eyes, she slid back in the car and drove away, waving as she went.

  Later that night, after Matteo and Ella were settled in one of the kids' bedrooms and Katie and Mary Lou were all set in the other, Arlen moved around the house locking up. He loved that Mary Lou was here with them all. Katie had a friend. Katie—who'd always taken everything the hardest—was starting to live her life, learning to move beyond all the pain and anger and blame so she could just be a teenager. Arlen couldn't help but smile. She was starting to focus on the happy stuff.

  He was sliding home the deadbolt on the kitchen door when the sound of a chair scraping against the floor behind him made him jump. He spun around to see Katie, who had shuffled in wearing boxers and a Hello Kitty T-shirt, still her favorite sleepwear.