Chapter 7
7
V anessa wrapped her hands around the warm ceramic mug, staring out the kitchen window at the morning light streaming through the palm trees. The coffee’s rich aroma filled her senses, grounding her in the present moment as her thoughts drifted upstairs.
The house maintained its usual morning quiet, but the energy had shifted. Someone else occupied her space. Someone whose kisses from the previous night lingered in her mind with startling clarity.
Her fingers brushed against her lower lip. That kiss in the alley… It had awakened something she thought long dormant. Something that had nothing to do with rehabbing her image.
Vanessa had done her best to act like she’d been unaffected by their kisses last night when they’d come back here, that it had been just another performance for her, but she’d hardly slept last night, knowing that that wasn’t true.
She couldn’t dismiss the way Kate’s touch had set her skin ablaze, or the way her heart had thundered in her chest when their lips met.
Vanessa sighed, running a hand through her hair. This was not part of the plan. She had agreed to this charade to salvage her reputation, to regain control of the headlines. But now, with Kate just upstairs, Vanessa found herself grappling with feelings she had no right to entertain.
She needed to get a handle on this, to remember why she had agreed to this in the first place. Yet, even as Vanessa tried to convince herself that their plan was working, she couldn’t shake the memory of Kate’s fingers tracing the line of her jaw, or the way her breath had caught in her throat when Vanessa had pulled her closer.
Vanessa closed her eyes, willing the images to fade. This was not the time to get lost in the whirlwind of her own emotions. She had a reputation to salvage, a career to protect. Anything else was a distraction she couldn’t afford.
She opened the security app on her phone, glad to see that the photographer hadn’t come back. At some point between one and four o’clock this morning he’d left. But now, she watched as Elliot’s black Mercedes pulled up to her gate and punched in the code. Her agent never showed up unannounced, not in more than twenty years of working together.
“Here we go,” she whispered, placing her mug on the counter.
The security monitor on the wall displayed Elliot parking behind her car. He wore an impeccably tailored navy suit, his silver hair catching the morning light.
Vanessa glanced down at her black silk robe and bare feet. There was no time to change. The sound of Elliot’s car door echoed through the quiet morning. She padded to her front door and reached for the handle just as Elliot raised his hand to knock.
“You’re here early.” She opened the door wide, studying his expression.
Elliot stood on her doorstep, newspapers and magazines tucked under one arm and his phone in his other hand. His perfectly groomed eyebrows arched high on his forehead, a gleam in his eyes that she recognized from countless publicity campaigns over the years.
“Darling, have you seen the headlines?” He stepped past her into the foyer, his designer shoes clicking against the floor.
Vanessa followed Elliot into her kitchen, where he laid out an array of tabloids and magazines across her pristine marble counter. The glossy pages captured every moment of last night in vivid detail.
She forgot to breathe as she took in the first image. There she was, with pressing Kate her against the wall. The streetlight had cast a golden glow across Kate’s face, her lips parted, eyes half-closed. The raw intimacy of the moment struck her.
“These are absolutely perfect.” Elliot spread out more tabloids. “The lighting, the composition, the chemistry-”
Vanessa barely heard him. Her fingers hovered over another shot. This one showed Kate pulling her closer, their bodies melding together. The image transported her back to that moment, to the heat of Kate’s breath against her neck, the softness of her lips.
“Look at this one,” Elliot tapped a close-up. “The way she’s looking at you...”
Vanessa’s stomach tightened. In the photo, Kate gazed at her with such open vulnerability it made her chest ache. She remembered that exact moment. That was when the line between performance and reality had blurred beyond recognition for her.
The headlines screamed across the pages: “VANESSA’S NEW LOVE,” “HOLLYWOOD’S HOTTEST NEW COUPLE,” “PRESCOTT MOVES ON.” But these words felt hollow compared to the truth captured in those images. The passion. The hunger.
“Vanessa?” Elliot’s voice cut through her thoughts. “Are you alright?”
She pulled her gaze away from the photos, forcing herself to look at her agent. “Yes, I just...” Her voice trailed off as her eyes drifted back to the images spread before her.
Footsteps on the stairs pulled Vanessa’s attention from the photographs. Kate descended, wearing the same white pants and teal blouse from last night, her hair tousled from sleep.
Kate paused at the kitchen entrance, her eyes widening at the sight of Elliot. “Oh, hi.”
Vanessa’s throat went dry. The tabloids scattered across her counter told one story, but the reality of their night apart in separate rooms painted another. She caught the slight darkening of Elliot’s expression as his gaze darted between them, his lips curling into a knowing smile.
Kate’s gaze drifted across Vanessa’s silk robe, lingering at the exposed skin of her collarbone.
Vanessa’s breath caught in her throat. The air between them crackled with an electric tension. Kate’s eyes traveled up, meeting Vanessa’s with an intensity that transported her back to the alley, to passionate kisses and desperate touches.
“Well, well.” Elliot straightened his tie. “I see our little plan worked better than expected.”
“It’s not-” Vanessa started, but the words died in her throat as Kate stepped closer, her presence magnetic, and Vanessa’s mind flashed to their heated kisses with her back against the wall in that alley.
Elliot’s eyebrows rose higher as he observed their loaded silence. His assumption was written across his face, that the passion captured in those photographs had led to something more, that Kate’s presence this morning meant exactly what it appeared to mean.
But Vanessa didn’t correct him, the words caught in her throat. She needed to explain that Kate had slept in the guest room, that they really had been acting in those photos, or at least Kate had been.
Hadn’t she?
Vanessa pulled her robe tighter, her fingertips pressing against the cool marble counter as she faced Elliot.
“TMZ’s already running with it.” Elliot held up his phone, his face alight with excitement. “‘Kate Monroe Comes Out: Rising Star’s Steamy Night with Hollywood Icon.’ The comments are through the roof.”
Kate shifted beside her, and Vanessa fought the urge to turn to see her expression.
“‘Hollywood’s New Power Couple: Kate Monroe Steps Out of the Closet and Into Vanessa Prescott’s Arms,’” Elliot read from his phone screen, his voice carrying the practiced cadence of a seasoned publicist.
Vanessa’s attention split between his words and Kate’s proximity. She’d moved closer to examine the headlines, her arm brushing against Vanessa’s silk robe. The memory of Kate’s fingers gripping her back filled her mind.
A wave of protectiveness washed through Vanessa. This was Kate’s moment, her coming out story being splashed across every entertainment outlet. She stole a glance at Kate, searching for signs of distress or regret, but found only a quiet determination in her expression.
“‘The chemistry between the two actresses was undeniable,’” Elliot’s voice took on a theatrical flair.
Vanessa’s fingers pressed harder against the cool marble counter. Electric barely scratched the surface of what she’d felt in that alley. The way Kate had responded to her touch, the soft gasp against her lips.
Elliot slipped his phone into his jacket pocket. His eyes danced between Vanessa and Kate, a knowing smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
“I must say, this went far better than we’d planned.” He gestured to the tabloids spread across the counter. “The raw passion here… You can’t manufacture that kind of chemistry. And staying the night?” Elliot raised an eyebrow, his smile widening. “Remind me to add ‘celebrity matchmaker’ to my resume.” He winked at them both. “My commission on this pairing will be substantial, by the way.”
“Elliot.” Vanessa’s voice cut through his enthusiasm. “Nothing happened last night.”
Elliot’s perfectly manicured eyebrows shot up toward his hairline. He glanced between them, taking in Kate’s wrinkled clothes from the night before and Vanessa’s silk robe.
“You expect me to believe-” He waved his hand at the photographs scattered across her counter. “After these? Please.”
Heat crept up Vanessa’s neck. The images taunted her. The way her hands had tangled in Kate’s hair, the press of their bodies against the car. She forced her gaze away from a particularly intimate shot.
“Kate slept in the guest room. The photographer followed us back here last night. We couldn’t risk Kate being seen leaving. Plus, it wasn’t safe.” The words came out sharper than intended. “We maintained appearances for the photographer, nothing more.”
Kate shifted beside her, and Vanessa caught the slight downturn of her lips. Something twisted in Vanessa’s chest, a mixture of guilt and longing she hadn’t expected.
“The guest room.” Elliot’s voice dripped with skepticism. He picked up one of the tabloids, the one with the huge photo where Kate’s fingers trailed along her jaw, their lips a breath apart. “This doesn’t look like maintaining appearances, darling. This looks like-”
“It was acting,” Vanessa cut him off, though the lie burned her throat. She remembered the softness of Kate’s lips, the heat that had spread through her entire body. “We did exactly what you wanted. We created a convincing story for the press. It just happened faster than we’d intended.”
Elliot’s eyes narrowed as he studied her face. In twenty years, he’d learned to read through her careful masks, to spot the moments when she held back. His gaze flickered to Kate, then back to Vanessa.
“If you say so.” His tone made it clear he didn’t believe a word. “Though I must say, if this is acting-” He tapped the photo. “You both deserve Oscars.”