And yet, despite all the things she’d held back for too long, her sister was perceptive enough not to miss a beat of her thoughts.

“I love you too much, Val, not to want the fairytale to come true for you.” Tatiana smiled, her beautiful smile that had lit up screens all over the world. “What if you gave Smith a chance to love you the way you deserve to be loved? Don’t you think there’s a chance that he could be up to the challenge? And don’t you think you could be up to whatever challenges come, too?”

Love?

Oh.

Oh my.

Even as Valentina had accepted the pulsing, unavoidable attraction between her and Smith, she’d been careful not to let herself dream of anything more than pleasure. No matter how sweet, how heartfelt, how gentle or loving he was every time he kissed her.

The whispered words, “But what if he isn’t? And what if I’m not?” came out of her before she could pull them back.

She could feel Tatiana’s blue eyes on her, still concerned and so full of love, as she said, “You know Jayden?”

Valentina tried not to show how surprised she was by the abrupt conversation shift. “Sure. He’s really nice.”

A flush appeared on her sister’s cheeks. “I think so, too. In fact, I’ve kind of been waiting for him to ask me out for a couple of weeks.”

The first thing that hit Valentina was how perfect Jayden was for her sister. He was quiet and focused, cute and young and sweet. He wasn’t about the limelight, but because he worked on film sets, he’d have some idea of how to deal with Tatiana’s life because he worked with stars all the time.

How had she missed the budding romance between her sister and the on-set techie? Here she’d claimed she would do anything to be a good sister, and yet she was even blowing that.

“The thing is,” Tatiana told her, “I don’t think he’s ever going to ask me out.”

Now it was Valentina’s turn to say, “Why not?”

Her sister’s gaze was so direct Valentina had to sit back deeper into the couch cushions. “Because he thinks I’m a big movie star and he’s just him.” She used her fingers to put quote marks around the words.

Looking at the situation from her sister’s viewpoint, Valentina could see how frustrating it must be to be put on a pedestal. And yet, wasn’t that exactly what she’d done with Smith, despite how many times he’d proved to her that he was just as human as the rest of them? But she’d been so busy trying to protect herself from a future she couldn’t define or clearly see, that she’d used his fame as the perfect excuse to keep her distance.

Clearly, her suck-a-tology was at an all-time high.

Especially since flashes of her sister in Smith’s arms kept coming at her and nailing her flat, despite everything that they’d just said to each other.

This time she was the one squeezing her sister’s hands and saying, “Where are you going to go with Jayden when he says yes?”

“I’m going to take him to a restaurant with a romantic table for two.” Her sister licked her lips. “And then I’m going to seduce him.”

If Valentina had been trying to convince herself that Tatiana was still just a girl, she knew now that it was time to give up. Her sister was a woman, with a woman’s needs. And a woman’s heart, one that longed for love, yet was smart enough to know how to reach out and grab it when it was within reach.

Valentina put her arms around her. “I love you, T.”

“I love you, too,” Tatiana said and when a knock sounded on the door a second later, she added, “Enough to tell you I think you should give Smith a chance. A real one, this time, so that he can show you exactly what he’s made of. And so you can show him what you’re made of, too.”

Tatiana didn’t wait for Valentina to respond before hopping off the couch and opening the trailer door for Smith. “She’s inside,” Tatiana said, and then in a lower voice that Valentina couldn’t hear she told him, “If you hurt her, I’ll hurt you,” before leaving the two of them alone.

Chapter Twenty-three

Valentina was standing in the middle of the trailer when Smith stepped inside. God, even looking at her now away from the lights and cameras and the crew, he couldn’t get her expression when they’d finished filming out of his head.

Knowing how thin his thread was where Valentina was concerned, as soon as they’d started shooting the sex scene, Smith had steeled himself not to look at her, and to keep his full focus on Tatiana. But it had been impossible to block Valentina out, as for the first time ever while working, he felt completely ripped in two.

All it would have taken was one look into her devastated eyes and he would have made the split-second decision not only to cut a scene that needed so badly to be in his movie, but also to call a halt to the day’s filming altogether. Were it not for the cast and crew and studios and investors that were counting on him to get it right, he would have walked off the set, taken Valentina’s hand, and disappeared with her to a place where Hollywood and make-believe didn’t exist.

And yet, after he and Tatiana finally finished filming what had been the most difficult scene of his career, and he’d let himself turn to Valentina again, Smith hadn’t been anywhere close to prepared for how pale her skin had become, how horrified her eyes had been...or the mask of betrayal and sadness she wore.

Had he made the wrong choice?

And had he just lost the only thing that truly mattered?

Unexpectedly, Summer and his brother Gabe had come to see him on set and even though he loved the kid to pieces, every second away from Valentina had been excruciating. He’d needed to go to her, to try to make things right. Thankfully, his brother had been able to tell something was wrong. On a promise to bring Summer back to the set soon, Gabe had distracted her with a table of sweets for the crew.

After they left, Smith had all but sprinted off the set to get to Valentina. No one dared to get in his way, and if they had, he would have mowed them down. Now that he was finally with her, he didn’t think, could barely string two thoughts together when she was near. He just pulled her into his arms...and prayed she wouldn’t pull away.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for today to hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you. I won’t ever hurt you again, I promise.” With every sentence, he stroked one hand down her back, her hands trapped against his chest. She had to feel just how hard, how fast his heart was beating.