Rapture(10)
Finally, he turned to face her. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have your lawyer here to talk about this?”
Grace had considered it for a while, but now she shook her head. “I told you I don’t need a lawyer to talk to you. I think we can handle this on our own for now.”
His dark brows knitted together as he regarded her across the coffee table, the suspicion obvious on his handsome face.
Was this what Hollywood had made out of them? Two people who no longer trusted each other’s intentions? That was one of the reasons Grace had decided not to get her lawyer involved just yet. She didn’t want to believe that Nick would try to go after her money.
After studying her for a few moments, Nick plopped into the armchair and gave her one of the boyish grins that had won her heart three years ago.
Grace barely felt like the same woman anymore.
“Some days, I think I’m crazy for letting you go so easily,” he said with a slight shake of his head.
Nothing about this was easy for Grace. Even though she knew it was the right thing to do, she’d struggled with this decision for months. But Grace had been an actress all her life, so she drew on her acting skills to hide her feelings and return his smile. “Well, you clearly are.”
His grin broadened. “Oh, yeah? What about you? You’re just as crazy for giving me up.” Sobering, he put one of his ankles on his opposite knee as if he needed a bit of a barrier between them. “Why are you?”
He’d asked before, when she’d told him it might be a good idea to take a break, some time apart to think. She hadn’t had a satisfying answer then, and she didn’t have one now. How could she explain to him what she barely understood herself? “I don’t know, Nick. I just think there’s something missing. Obviously, you felt the same way or you wouldn’t have found someone new so fast.”
He tilted his head and studied her. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
“Not even a little bit.” It was the truth. Being replaced within weeks by a twenty-one-year-old dancer with abs to die for hurt her ego, but not her heart. “And that tells me that getting a divorce is the right thing to do.” As far as she was concerned, their marriage was over for good. Now it was just a matter of making it official—and that was what worried her most. “Let’s just hope that the media and our fans will think so too.”
Nick’s frown deepened the little scar on his forehead. He liked to tell people that it was from one of the stunts in his movies, when he’d actually tripped in the bathroom and hit his head on the toilet. “You don’t think it’ll hurt your career, do you? I mean, you’re rock solid, right?”
“Let’s hope so. The divorce won’t be final until the end of the year, long after the release of Ava’s Heart, so I should be fine.”
“Shailene and I will keep a low profile until then,” Nick said.
“Thanks.” Grace shifted on the couch. She didn’t want to think about the headlines the press would print once they found out about the divorce and Nick’s new girlfriend, so she instead reached for the paperwork Nick had brought over. “What’s this?”
“My lawyer has drawn up a generous alimony package for you.”
“Alimony?” Grace was careful not to smile since she didn’t want to hurt his male ego. She made more money than he did and had from the very beginning. When they’d first met, Nick had been a stuntman while Grace had already been nominated for her third Golden Globe. “Nick, I appreciate the gesture, but it’s not like I’ll starve to death after the divorce.”
“Okay, then let’s forget about the alimony and talk about the house.” He swept his muscular arm to indicate the Laurel Canyon property.
They had bought it together when they’d married fourteen months ago. Grace looked around, taking in the living room where they had hosted dozens of parties. None of it held any meaning to her. Nick and his interior decorator had picked out the furniture and the ultramodern decor while she’d been on location. She’d thought she would come to like it or at least get used to it over time, but it hadn’t happened. The house, impressive as it was, had never truly felt like a home. She bit her lip to stop herself from saying it out loud. “You can have the house.”
“Did you just say…?”
She nodded. “That you can have the house. It’s too big for me alone anyway. I just want the cottage in Topanga Canyon.”
He stared at her with eyes as round as an owl’s. “You prefer the cottage to the house?”
Before she could answer, the gate buzzer sounded.
Nick glanced toward the foyer. “Are you expecting someone? Your new boyfriend?” he asked casually.
A little too casually, Grace thought. Clearly, he couldn’t help being a bit jealous of any new man in her life. “I don’t have a new boyfriend.”
“No? I thought maybe you and Russ… You looked pretty cozy on set.”
Grace burst out laughing. “It’s called acting, Nick.” Kissing her co-star on film had probably been the most unromantic moment of her life. “Be right back.”
Lauren parked in the same spot as the last time she’d been here and climbed the stairs to the Durand/Sinclair mansion.
Again, Grace was the one who opened the door, with no sign of any employees around. “It seems we’re making a habit out of these impromptu meetings,” Grace said when she stepped back to let her in. She was smiling, though, and didn’t sound annoyed at the interruption. In a pair of faded Levi’s and a Central Precinct T-shirt, she was more attractive than any woman had a right to be.
For some reason, that annoyed Lauren even more. She didn’t return the smile. “We need to talk.”
Grace looked back over her shoulder, toward the living room. “Now isn’t a good time.”
“Now is a very good time,” Lauren said. “If we don’t talk about this now, you can read all about it online tomorrow.”
Grace’s eyes widened. “What—?”
A man stepped into the foyer, interrupting them. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t want you to think I was intentionally eavesdropping on your conversation.”
The surprise and worry disappeared from Grace’s face as if she’d pressed an emotion-controlling button. With a practiced Hollywood smile, she said, “Nick, this is Lauren Pearce, my new publicist. Lauren, this is Nick Sinclair, my husband.”
Lauren would have recognized him even without the introduction. She’d met him only once, but he’d been photographed with Grace often enough. Admittedly, they made a striking couple, his black hair and broad shoulders contrasting nicely with Grace’s blonde hair and feminine curves.
“I think we met at an after-party a few years ago,” Nick said.
“Right.” Almost against her will, Lauren was impressed that he remembered her. With all the classically beautiful actresses who’d paraded around the party in plunging dresses, she hadn’t thought that he’d paid her much attention.
They shook hands before Lauren looked back at Grace. “We really need to talk.”
“I’ll go,” Nick said.
“I didn’t mean to—”
“That’s okay. I’m expected back on set in an hour anyway.” He turned toward Grace and pulled her into his arms.
Lauren averted her gaze, giving them some privacy, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw that he just pressed his lips to her cheek instead of claiming her in a passionate kiss. “Thank you,” he said.
Grace hugged him tightly. “You’re welcome. Just be careful on set, okay?”
“Will do. See you tonight.” He jogged down the stairs, got into his gleaming black Corvette, and drove off.
They stood in the foyer for a few seconds, looking at each other, before Grace closed the front door and said, “Let’s go to the patio.”
They settled on the same two patio chairs they had used a few days ago.
Lauren decided to get right to the point. “I just had an interesting call from a blogger for Hollywood Affairs. He found a source who swears you spent the night with a fellow actress in a hotel in Macon.”
Grace gripped the armrests of her chair with both hands, but her carefully schooled features gave nothing away.
“He says you paid with a credit card registered to your birth name,” Lauren added and watched Grace’s face for any kind of reaction.
Grace stared out over the city without saying anything. After a few moments, she got up and walked toward the edge of the pool. She dipped the toes of one sandaled foot into the water as if to buy herself time to think. “What do we do now?”
Lauren followed her and stood next to her so that she could see her face. “The first thing you need to do is to stop lying to me. You can’t be caught lying. Not to the media and certainly not to me.”
“I’m not lying,” Grace said, still staring down into the rippling water.
The impulse to shove Grace into the pool gripped Lauren. Maybe that would wake her up. But, of course, she couldn’t do that. “You sure as hell didn’t tell me the truth either. What happened with Jill Corrigan? It was Jill with you in that hotel, wasn’t it?”