Damage Control (The Hollywood Series Book 2) (39 page)

“Well, it’s still pretty early.” Lauren pointed toward the living room. “Want to watch a movie with me?”

Grace nodded.

“Great.” Lauren smiled like a little girl who’d been promised a visit to the fair. “Why don’t you look through my DVDs to see if there’s anything you’d like to watch while I use the bathroom?”

Grace climbed out of bed and tugged on the T-shirt Lauren had given her, very aware of the fact that it ended mid-thigh. When Lauren entered the bathroom, she went outside to the living area and looked through her DVD collection.

Most of the DVDs Lauren owned were thrillers, mysteries, and science fiction movies. She didn’t even seem to have any lesbian romance flicks. Grace shook her head at herself. It was probably better that way. She didn’t need any more images in her head, or she’d never go to sleep tonight.

“Found anything interesting?” Lauren asked behind her.

Grace jumped.
Relax. It’s just Lauren.
But she knew she was lying to herself. It being Lauren was what made her so nervous. “Uh, not yet.” She pulled out a familiar-looking DVD, then another and stared down at her own face. “I thought you’re not that fond of romances?”

“I’m not.” Lauren flushed as she added, “I’m just fond of the lead actress.”

“Oh.”

Before the silence between them could go on for too long, Lauren said, “Although your hair in that one movie nearly turned it into a horror film.” She tapped one of the DVD boxes.

Grace groaned. “Oh God, yes. I kept wondering what drugs the hair stylist was taking, but whatever it was, everyone else on set seemed to be on the same stuff, because they kept telling me how great I looked.”

“Want to watch that one?” Lauren asked.

“No, thanks. I can’t relax when I watch my own movies. I keep critiquing myself, finding ways I could have made the scene better.”

Lauren nodded. “I know what you mean. I can’t read one of my own scripts without doing that either.”

See? This isn’t so bad.
Despite the turbulent emotions coursing through her, they were still friends who could relate to each other in ways that Grace had rarely experienced before. “Why don’t you pick the movie? I haven’t seen most of these, so I’d be fine with whatever you want.”

Lauren stepped next to her to look at the shelf. Their shoulders brushed, making Grace’s breath catch. “How about
Gravity
?”

Grace raised one brow. “Sandra Bullock as an astronaut?”

“She was really good in that role. I’d love to see you doing what she did some day.”

“Fight for my life in outer space?”

“Go from starring mostly in romantic movies and comedies to taking on more challenging roles.”

“You want me to stop playing it safe,” Grace said.

Lauren gently pulled her around to face her. “If you’re happy with the kind of movies you’ve been making, then you should stick with them and I’ll fully support you. But I think you have a lot more in you. You shouldn’t be so afraid to try something new.”

Were they still just talking about her career?

Lauren plucked the DVD from the shelf and held it up for Grace to see. “So?”

“
Gravity
it is.”

They settled on the couch, their feet up on the coffee table and Lauren’s blanket covering both of their laps. After a while, Grace’s feet got cold, so she curled them under her.

Lauren did the same.

Their bare knees brushed. If Lauren noticed, she didn’t seem to mind. Grace found that she didn’t mind either. Quite the opposite. She enjoyed the touch, innocent and strangely intimate at the same time. Neither of them moved her leg away.

Lauren seemed to fully immerse herself in the movie despite her occasional coughing. She flinched when space debris almost hit the astronauts and raised her hands as if to protect her own face from the impact.

Grace watched her as much as she watched the movie, smiling at how involved she got. Lauren had been right, though. Sandra Bullock was good in this movie. And she looked fantastic for a woman approaching fifty. Grace tested herself by studying her fellow actress when she was stripping off her spacesuit a little later in the movie, wearing just a tight tank top and boy-cut panties.

Nothing. The sight left her as unaffected as George Clooney, who played the commander of the space mission.

The warmth of Lauren’s knee against her own, however, made her heart beat a little faster.

An hour into the movie, she realized that Lauren had gone quiet, no longer commenting on the scenes or rooting for the characters. She had even stopped coughing.

Grace turned her head to look at her.

Lauren’s head had fallen back against the couch. Her eyes were closed and her mouth slightly open. Her chest rose and fell in the peaceful rhythm of sleep.

The movie forgotten, Grace sat watching her sleep. She took in her features—the strong jaw, the stubborn chin, the thick lashes that fluttered behind the glasses Lauren had put on to watch the movie. Grace’s fingers itched to trace the curve of Lauren’s cheekbones.

Lauren murmured something and smacked her lips in her sleep.

A smile tugged on the corners of Grace’s mouth.
Too cute.

Lauren’s head slid lower, resting in an uncomfortable angle against the back of the couch.

Grace reached for the remote control and turned off the movie and the TV. The room went dark, the only light now coming from a streetlamp somewhere outside. She slid from the couch and bent over Lauren, gently trying to pull her around and down into a lying position. But Lauren was unexpectedly heavy. “Come on, Lauren. You can’t sleep this way. You need to lie down.”

“Hmm?”

“Lie down,” Grace repeated.

Lauren peered up at her through barely open eyes and mumbled something that sounded like, “You too.”

“Um, the couch is too small for the two of us.”

Lauren blinked up at her, clearly not understanding a word Grace said. A smooth seductress Lauren was not.

Grace grinned and finally got Lauren to stretch out on the couch. Gently, she removed Lauren’s glasses, folded them, and placed them within easy reach on the coffee table.

When she turned back around, Lauren’s eyes were now fully closed. Grace hesitated, but with Lauren sleeping she had the courage to give in to the impulse to bend down and kiss her forehead, lingering against the warm, smooth skin for a moment before straightening.

“Good night,” she whispered, even though she knew Lauren couldn’t hear her. She stood in the near darkness for several more moments, looking down at her, before she finally made her way back to the bedroom and slipped into Lauren’s bed. This time, she fell asleep within seconds.

CHAPTER 28

An incessant ringing woke Grace from a dream in which she was snuggling with Lauren in a space capsule, both of them wearing only tank tops and boy-cut panties. At first, she thought it was an alarm warning them of space debris, but then the haze of sleep retreated and she realized that it was her cell phone.

Groaning, she reached out a hand from under the covers and placed the phone against her ear. “Yes?” she croaked, her voice rough from sleep.

“Uh, this is Jill. Sorry to call you so early on a Saturday. Did I wake you?”

“Yeah. But it’s okay.” Yawning, Grace sat up against the headboard and pulled the covers up over one shoulder. “Is there a special reason why you’re calling me”—she glanced at Lauren’s alarm clock—“at eight thirty on the weekend?”

“The people who’re putting together the celebrity waiter dinner would like to get some input from Lauren. Did you talk to her yesterday?”

“I did, but I forgot to ask her about the dinner.” As soon as she’d entered Lauren’s apartment, the benefit dinner had been the last thing on her mind.

“Did the two of you at least kiss and make up?”

“Uh… No. I mean, yes. I mean…yes, we made up, but we didn’t…” Grace snapped her mouth shut.

A soft knock sounded at the door to the living area before it was opened. Lauren padded in, still not looking fully awake. “Good morning. Are you talking to me?”

Grace pressed her palm over the phone’s speaker. She shook her head and whispered, “I’m on the phone with Jill.”

Lauren’s eyes widened. She mouthed, “Sorry,” tiptoed back out, and softly closed the door between them.

When Grace returned her attention to the phone, Jill was eerily quiet on the other end of the line. Then a salvo of questions was fired through the phone. “What the hell is going on? Was that Lauren? What is she doing at the cottage this early on a Saturday? Did she…stay over?”

“No.”

“Come on, Grace. I’m not stupid. If you’re not ready to talk about it, just say so, but don’t lie to me, okay? I’m supposed to be your best friend. I deserve better than that.”

Grace squeezed her eyes shut. “You’re right. You do. But I didn’t lie to you. Lauren didn’t stay over. I’m not at the cottage. I slept with her last night. I mean…stayed with her. Jesus.” She sounded like a stuttering teenager.

“You…?”

“She slept on the couch,” Grace quickly added. “She didn’t want me to drive up to the cottage in the dark.”

“Ah. So there’s nothing going on?”

It was tempting to just agree and avoid this conversation for a little longer. But it wasn’t fair—not to Jill and not to Lauren either. She pulled the covers more tightly around herself and whispered, “I kissed her.”

For several seconds, silence was her only answer; then Jill let out a piercing wolf whistle. “Woohoo! You go, girl!” Finally, she sobered and asked quietly, “Does that mean you want something more than friendship with her?”

Grace grabbed two handfuls of her hair and moaned helplessly. “I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about it. I’m trying not to think, period. This is scary as hell. I mean, I’m not gay. At least I never thought I was. And now…”

“Now?” Jill prompted.

“Now I met this person who makes me laugh, who gets me, who supports and encourages me, who sees me—the real me, not just the Hollywood persona…and it’s a woman.”

“Does that really matter so much?” Jill asked.

Did it? “Maybe it wouldn’t if it were just her and me, but… God, can you imagine what my mother would say? Or Nick? And I don’t even want to think about what the media would write…”

“You know, if having MS taught me one thing, it’s living my life to the fullest, not caring too much about what other people might think.”

Grace knew Jill was right; she knew it, but she couldn’t help how she felt. “But I care, Jill. I can’t help it.”

“What about Lauren?” Jill asked. “I take it I was right and she really thinks you’re hotter than a walk through the Sahara in a turtleneck?”

Her friend’s colorful choice of words made Grace smile despite her tension. “I wouldn’t put it like that, but…yeah. She wants to see where this is going.”

“And you?”

“I’m scared,” Grace whispered. “But I think I’d end up regretting it more if I let this slip through my fingers without even trying. She’s…special.”

“I’m there for you, okay? If you need a hug, a kick in the butt, or lesbian sex tips, let me know.”

Heat flared through Grace. “Jill!”

“Just saying,” Jill said, the grin obvious in her voice. “I might be celibate right now, but I’m still highly qualified to give the talk about the bees and the bees…or would that be the birds and the birds?”

Grace had to laugh. Talking to Jill, with her fun, no-nonsense approach to life, always made her feel better. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now let me talk to your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my—” Grace bit her lip.
Is she?
The thought made her head spin. Without another word, she padded out into the living room.

Lauren sat on the couch, looking as if she’d been waiting for Grace’s phone call to end.

Grace held out the phone. “Jill wants to talk to you.” The alarmed expression on Lauren’s face made her laugh. She patted Lauren’s bare arm and retreated into the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed.

Lauren gripped the phone with clammy fingers. She tried to tell herself she had nothing to be afraid of. Grace probably wasn’t ready to tell anyone about them, not even Jill. Not that there was much to tell.
Oh, yeah? You’re about to risk your career and everything you’ve worked for—for a woman who might or might not be straight.
Even though they hadn’t slept together or even really kissed, if Lauren was honest with herself, she knew that she was already in, heart, body, and soul.

“Hi, Jill,” she said, trying to sound casual.

“Morning, Lauren. So, you and Grace, huh?”

If Lauren were a cartoon character, her eyes would have popped out of her head. “Uh…she told you?”

“More or less. It wasn’t hard to guess with the way the two of you have been interacting lately. When you fell asleep on the plane and used her as a pillow, she looked at you with a tenderness I’ve never seen when she looked at Nick or anyone else.”

Warmth spread through Lauren’s chest. She loved knowing that she was special to Grace, but at the same time, it made her worry. “Do you think others noticed it too?”

“Amanda, maybe. And it won’t be long before Katherine figures it out.”

“Do you really think so?” So far, Lauren had thought that Mrs. Duvenbeck was so homophobic that she would deny and ignore any hints that her daughter might not be totally straight.

“Oh, yeah. Don’t underestimate her,” Jill said. “Part of her probably already suspects that Grace isn’t so defensive of you just because you’re the world’s best publicist. Why do you think she keeps pushing Grace to date men? It’s not just about the media.”

Oh, shit.
If her mother forced Grace to make a choice, Lauren wasn’t sure Grace would choose her over the approval of her mother. She sighed. “Is this the part where you tell me you’ll kick my ass if I hurt her?”

“No,” Jill said. “This is the part where I tell you to make her happy.”

How ironic. All her life, Lauren had tried to stay away from actresses because she thought they were shallow, incapable of selfless love and loyal friendship—and now it turned out that she’d been the one harboring shallow prejudices. “I’ll try my best.”

When she didn’t hear Lauren talking anymore, Grace peeked into the living room.

Lauren sat on the couch, the phone hanging limply from her hand.

Grace walked over and sat next to her. “Sorry if I ambushed you with that phone call.”

“I admit I liked your first ambush better, but it’s okay,” Lauren said with a small grin.

“I hope Jill didn’t say anything to scare you off.”

Lauren shook her head. “I don’t scare easily.”

“Good.” It had occurred to Grace that Lauren had just as much at risk as she did. Her reputation and her career were on the line too. For the first time, she realized that it could be Lauren, not she, who would want to back out and go back to being friends. The thought made her insides clench.
Give her some credit. Lauren isn’t the type to give up on something just because things are getting tough. For now, you’re just friends anyway. Don’t make yourself crazy over things that didn’t happen yet.

The loud growling of her stomach interrupted her brooding.

Lauren laughed. “I was just about to ask if you’re hungry. It seems safe to assume that you are.”

Grace rubbed her belly. She hadn’t eaten much the last few days.

“How about I make you breakfast? It’s the least I can do after I fell asleep on you last night.”

“Are you going to corrupt me again with some of your unhealthy food?” Grace asked.

“If I’m going to corrupt you, it won’t be with food.”

Lauren’s husky drawl made goose bumps erupt all over Grace’s skin. She shivered in the most pleasant of ways.

“Come on. You can help me in the kitchen and make sure I don’t go overboard.” Lauren got up and held out her hand.

Grace took it, enjoying the way Lauren’s long fingers felt wrapped around her own. Even Grace’s goose bumps now had goose bumps. Okay, that answered that question. She had wondered how it would feel to have Lauren touch her, even in such a small way, now that she’d admitted her attraction.

Neither of them let go as they walked over to the kitchen.

Lauren opened the fridge, and they both peered in.

“I have eggs,” Lauren said. “How about French toast?”

“I won’t even dignify that with an answer.” Grace pointed at a bowl of strawberries and two bananas. “How about a fruit salad with some yogurt?”

Lauren let out a suffering sigh. “Oh, the sacrifices we make for love.”

Grace froze, but Lauren didn’t seem to realize what she’d just said.
Oh, for Christ’s sake. It’s just an expression. She didn’t mean it like that.

While Lauren washed the fruit, she said over her shoulder, “Jill told me about the benefit dinner.”

At least she hadn’t offered to have the birds-and-the-birds talk with her too. “What do you think?”

“It sounds like a good idea. I’ll put together a promotion package later.”

“Today?” Grace wagged her finger at her. “It’s the weekend.”

Lauren turned and leaned against the kitchen counter. A smile played around her lips. “Well, I might be convinced not to work today…if you can provide a better way to keep me busy.”

Suddenly, every word seemed to be full of innuendo and hidden meanings to Grace’s overactive brain. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.” She turned away and searched Lauren’s kitchen drawers for a cutting board.

“Want me to cut the fruit?” Lauren asked.

“No, thanks. I think I can manage.” Admittedly, it was a bit awkward since she tried not to use the fingers of her broken arm too much.

“How about I at least lend you a hand?” Lauren said. “I mean, since you only have one good one…”

“Uh, yeah, why not.”

Lauren stepped closer and reached around her. One of her arms brushed Grace’s.

Heat suffused Grace. She flashed back to her birthday party, when Lauren had pressed close to show her how to play pinball. She remembered feeling overly hot then too. Had this…this pull between them existed even back then? Had her body known long before her head had gotten the message?

“Uh, Grace?”

Lauren’s breath moved the hairs on the back of her head, making her body temperature rise even more.

“Yeah?”

“Slicing the fruit only works if you actually use the knife.”

Grace bumped her with her behind, shoving her back a little. “Smart-ass.”

Chuckling, Lauren moved closer again and held one end of the strawberry so Grace could chop it.

Preparing breakfast this way wasn’t the most effective. With Lauren this close, Grace’s hands weren’t exactly steady, and Lauren kept reaching around her to steal a piece of fruit.

But finally, they had a pile of cut fruit and retreated to the table to eat.

When the last piece of fruit was gone, they worked together to do the dishes and clean the kitchen.

Finally, Lauren dried her hands on a dishtowel and leaned against the kitchen counter, regarding Grace. “I know you probably have things to do, people to see, mothers to appease, but…do you think you can stay a little longer?”

Grace wasn’t yet ready to give up her company either, so she nodded. “George sent me two new scripts he wants me to read. If you could print them out for me, I could do that here. Or…” She hesitated. “I’d love to see the revisions you made to your script.”

“I haven’t made that many changes yet. I kind of had other things on my mind.” A tinge of red colored her cheeks, and she turned away to wipe down the kitchen counter. “But if you want to see what I have so far…”

“I would love to.” Grace could tell how much trust it took for Lauren to let her see her work, and she valued it.

“Okay. Just don’t expect too much.” Lauren printed out the pages for Grace, and they settled on the couch, with Lauren checking her e-mail and Grace reading.