What it Takes (38 page)

It wasn’t long.

Patrick called Kelsey again the next day and every day for the rest of the week. On New Year’s Eve, he called her as soon as the ball dropped, even though he was still two hours away from the New Year. His calls continued every day until he went back to work and his hours grew late and made it difficult to call at a decent time. Luckily, they still had e-mails and texting.

Kelsey’s month flew by for the most part. In the middle of the month, she supported Janelle when she told the kids about the divorce, and they seemed to take it in stride. Her father came by for several dinners. Her mother wasn’t on speaking terms with either of her daughters, mostly because of Nathan’s continued presence for their safety.

She was preparing for her return trip to Los Angeles when her phone rang. Despite the early hour, she rushed to her dresser to pick it up.

“Hey, Red, it’s Grayson,” said a deep, familiar voice when she answered the phone.

Her heart sank but she tried to smile so he wouldn’t hear the disappointment in her voice. “Hey, what’s up?”

“When’re you coming home?” Grayson asked.

Kelsey laughed. “I
am
home.”

“Ha ha. I meant to LA.”

“I’m packing now. Why?” Kelsey was suddenly worried that something was wrong.

“There’s a birthday party this Saturday that I thought you might want to come to,” he answered.

“For whom?” she asked.

“Patrick.”

She froze in the middle of folding a shirt.

Patrick hadn’t told her about a birthday party. The last time she’d spoken to him, the plan had been to meet his family for dinner to celebrate.

“Really?” she said with a laugh, quickly trying to figure out what she could ask without giving too much away. “Who’s giving it?”

“Brianna and Xavier are working together on it I think,” he replied, then, as if to answer the expected question, he continued, “Brianna is his current co-star.”

Her knees went weak at the innocent comment and her stomach flopped uneasily. She sat on the end of the bed as her old fear returned to clench a fist around her heart.

“Can you come?”

Kelsey swallowed to make sure her voice was her own. “I don’t think I was invited.”

“You can come with me, it’s no biggie. Xavier knows you, so he won’t make you leave.” He laughed lightly.

She traced the quilted design in her comforter with her finger. “Um, yeah, I should be back by then. What time?”

Grayson gave her the details and they continued to talk about other things for the next twenty minutes. She agreed to let Veronica and Grayson pick her up Saturday evening on their way to the party. She didn’t offer any information regarding Patrick’s visit but swore that
if
she happened to talk to Patrick, she wouldn’t tell him about the party.

After the call with Grayson ended, Kelsey resumed packing. Her stomach was in knots as she wondered what, exactly, was going on in California. Patrick couldn’t possibly be having a fling with Brianna, could he? Kelsey trusted that he loved her. But why would Brianna throw him a birthday party if they’d just met three weeks ago?

Something wasn’t right.

Kelsey had never wanted to be away from home so badly.

Twenty-Three

“P
atrick, it won’t take long. I promise, I’ll take you home as soon as we’re done,” Xavier Martin, Patrick’s agent, said, fumbling with his keys as they climbed the stairs to his house.

“This is a waste of time,” Patrick grumbled. All he’d wanted to do for the last three hours was to go home. He’d lost his phone somewhere on set and he hadn’t spoken to Kelsey in several days. She was coming back to LA soon and he wanted to see whether she’d e-mailed him when she’d be back. Xavier had been acting suspiciously all evening, and Patrick was beginning to wonder if he was up to something.

Xavier shook his head and chuckled as he opened the door.

As soon as they stepped inside, the lights came on and a crowd of people yelled, “Surprise!”

Damn it!

“Happy birthday, Patrick,” Brianna Talbot squealed as she threw her arms around Patrick’s neck. She kissed him on the mouth and he pushed her away, more gently than he would’ve liked to given the audience they had. “Are you surprised?” Patrick quickly surveyed the room then drew his eyes to his young co-star.

He’d been working with her for just over three weeks and her childlike behavior had yet to grow on him. She was dressed in a tight, short, low-cut red dress and her long blonde hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail high on the back of her head. It was all he could do not to roll his eyes as, through clenched teeth, he responded, “You have no idea.”

She squealed again and clapped her hands then tried to take his hand and lead him around the room. He shook her off and turned to his left to greet a few of his former co-stars, smiling politely despite his dark mood. With Brianna hot on his heels, he had to introduce her as well and it quickly became obvious she’d been there to greet everyone. He now had a better idea of what Xavier had been up to and was starting to think it was time to find a new agent.

Patrick made his way through the crowd, trying to put distance between himself and Brianna, but she was always quick to catch up. He’d only greeted ten people before he became bored and wondered how long this would take. Starting at the door, he scanned the crowd on the other side of the room, mentally going through the names of people as he spotted them. He’d worked with everyone there but hadn’t seen a lot of them since. For some, that had been years.

After scanning half the room, his eyes finally fell on a familiar and very welcome group. Veronica and Grayson were having a quiet conversation and, when they separated, he saw a face that made his heart stop.

His phony smile cracked and became a genuine joy that he felt to his core. Kelsey beamed in return and he quickly moved toward her, briefly greeting everyone he passed. He was vaguely aware that the distance between him and Brianna was growing, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of Kelsey. She was the only woman in the room who mattered.

“Kelsey,” Patrick murmured as he scooped her into his arms and lifted her off the floor. He kissed her cheek and held her as the tension left his body. “My god, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” she whispered, a large grin on her face. She kissed his cheek and he squeezed her tighter.

Grayson cleared his throat and Patrick slowly released her. He laid a hand on her cheek and studied her face. Her light brown hair was curled and fell just below the shoulder. The brown and lavender eye shadow made her rich green eyes pop, her long lashes were naked, and her lips were a pale shade of pink. She was wearing a red, lightly patterned, empire-waisted tunic, with a handkerchief hem. The deep V-neckline showed off the Christmas gift hanging around her neck.

“Nice necklace.”

“I thought you might like it,” she said with a laugh.

“What’s going on with you two?” Grayson asked quietly, but neither of them answered.

When Patrick had completed his study of Kelsey’s features, he turned to finally greet Grayson. Veronica was beaming from ear to ear as Patrick, chuckling softly, hugged her. Positive that they were the reason Kelsey was there, he opened his mouth to thank them.

“I’m sorry. I’m not sure if I introduced myself.” Brianna’s high-pitched, whiny voice cut through Patrick like a knife.

As she slid her arm through his, she glared at Kelsey. He narrowed his eyes and tried to pull away but Brianna tightened her hold. Kelsey wasn’t smiling, but her serene expression calmed Patrick slightly.

“I’m Brianna Talbot,” she said, drawing out the first “ah” sound longer than necessary. Patrick liked this side of her personality even less than the perky, teenaged side. “I’m Patty’s—”

“Don’t call me that,” he muttered as he rolled his eyes. It wasn’t the first time he’d asked.

“—leading lady,” Brianna continued, ignoring him, “and hostess of this party.” She pulled her shoulders back and sneered at Kelsey. “And you are?”

Kelsey stared her down, her eyes narrowing on the younger woman as the corner of her lips slowly lifted. “I’m Kelsey Morgan,” she said, then paused as her lips continued to rise until her dimples appeared. Patrick forgot to breathe. “
Patrick’s
girlfriend.”

Patrick’s heart leapt to his throat and he looked down to hide his elation. A tiny squeal escaped Veronica, and Grayson’s gaze bounced back and forth between Kelsey and Patrick. Brianna let her arm drop as she deflated on the spot. She gave Patrick a black look as she walked away with a scowl on her face. He grabbed Kelsey’s hand and pulled her closer as he turned to make his way around the room, greeting the rest of the guests with her by his side.

Kelsey loved the way Patrick’s eyes lit up every time he introduced her. For almost a week she’d been on a roller coaster of emotions that had only gotten bumpier since landing in LA the night before. One minute she was sure Patrick would be happy to see her and the next she’d fear he’d pretend she didn’t exist. She knew she was being silly, but still the nagging voice that had started with Grayson’s call had only gotten louder until the moment she met Brianna, when it had turned into a raging, jealous banshee.

And when she’d noticed there were three women for every one man at the party, Kelsey couldn’t help but speculate. Had Patrick worked with every woman there, or just a majority of them? Had he slept with all of them? Her stomach had rolled with uneasiness, and while the drink Grayson had gotten for her would’ve calmed her nerves, she couldn’t take a sip.

Now she enjoyed the calm high she felt as she circulated the room by Patrick’s side. He only let loose of her hand once and found it again as quickly as he could. After they’d greeted the last guest, they wandered back to Grayson and Veronica, whose eyes Kelsey had felt following her around the room. Grayson gave Kelsey back her drink as she stepped to his side.

“When did this happen?” he immediately asked.

Patrick chuckled and put his arm around Kelsey’s waist. “Just before Christmas.”

“But I thought she went home to Virginia,” Grayson said.

“She did,” Patrick replied. “About two weeks after Thanksgiving, I went to see her there.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Veronica stated. Kelsey smiled at her and took a sip of her drink. “How long did you stay?”

“About five days,” Kelsey said after counting it up on her fingers

“And this is the first we’ve seen of each other since I left,” Patrick added as he pulled Kelsey closer.

“So is this your coming out party?” Veronica asked, and they all laughed.

“Apparently so,” Patrick replied.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Kelsey said sheepishly.

“She deserved it, Red,” Grayson said. Brianna had greeted them all at the door with a quick hug and referred, in a ditzy, girlish way, to Patrick as “Patty” several times. “She needed to be put in her place. If you weren’t going to do it, I’m sure Veronica would’ve been more than happy.”

Veronica solemnly nodded.

Kelsey turned to Patrick. “She won’t be horrible to you on set, will she?”

“Probably.” He shrugged. “But I’d say it was worth it,” he said with a wink.