Not a Fairy Tale

She woke with a start when a shadow fell over her. Wiping her mouth and praying she hadn’t drooled in her sleep, she sat bolt upright. It wasn’t Dominic.

A petite blonde woman stood over her, hands on her hips as she stared down at Nina. She wore her wavy, sun-streaked hair in a high ponytail. The woman pushed her sunglasses up onto her head to reveal a pair of curious, assessing gray eyes.

“Hi,” she said, sounding neither cool nor friendly. “Is Dom around?”

“I don’t know.” Nina scrambled up. “I haven’t seen him for a while.”

The blonde moved out of the sun and Nina noticed that she wasn’t as young as she’d first appeared. Tiny lines fanned out from her eyes. But she still had the figure of a teenager, and long, shapely legs that made Nina feel the rush of inadequacy that seemed to be her default setting here in LA.

“He probably went for a run on the beach with Sandy.” The woman’s mouth pursed in disapproval. “I’m going to pack away his laundry.” Casting another assessing glance over Nina, the other woman headed back indoors.

Nina followed, equally curious.

Either Dom had an unusually sexy housekeeper, or he inspired serious devotion in his girlfriends. In which case it was no wonder he seemed so disinterested in her. She was less than useless at doing laundry.

And who was Sandy – another girlfriend?

For the nearly four weeks they’d worked together in Westerwald, Nina had been cursed with the hotel suite across the hall from Dominic’s. She’d witnessed the procession of visitors he’d had. Hotel staff, women from the film crew, girls he picked up in nightclubs, dressed in skirts so short they could have caught hypothermia in the winter weather. Even her own make-up stylist had once slipped out of his hotel room at some ungodly hour, lipstick smudged and straightening her clothes.

Nina had been amazed they all seemed happy to move on with a smile, and never had a bad word for him afterwards.

She couldn’t fathom why. She’d suffered from the most irrational envy since the day they met. Most likely because she saw so little of his attention.

Last night he’d said he desired her. So why did he chase every other woman yet ignore her? What was it about her that Dom found so easy to resist, even when she’d been single and available? Was it because she wasn’t as anorexically thin as everyone else in LA?

There were shopping bags of fresh groceries in the kitchen. How the blonde was going to find place in Dom’s already well-stocked kitchen to pack them away, Nina had no idea.

She found the other woman folding freshly ironed sheets into the linen cupboard in the passage. The woman turned and smiled. “Those fit you well,” she commented, eyeing Nina’s borrowed clothes.

Oh, heavens above – were they hers?

Nina felt the beginning of a hot flush creep up her neck. She didn’t usually blush – she was a good enough actress to cover when anyone fazed her – but this petite blonde with her cool, gray eyes was seriously unnerving.

The other woman laughed. “Relax! I don’t bite. Would you like a cup of coffee while we wait for Dom and Sandy to get back?”

Nina pulled herself together. She’d been nominated for an Oscar, after all. She could play cool every bit as convincingly as anyone else. She smiled and tossed back her hair. “Thank you. That would be lovely. I could do with another espresso.”

Hopefully the caffeine would banish the grogginess of her afternoon nap.

The blonde began banging open doors in the kitchen. “Damn,” she said. “Kathy must have been here already. I can’t find any space in this kitchen.”

Nina resisted the urge to raise her eyebrows. Did Dominic have a harem thing going on? Or was there some sort of competition between the women in his life to keep him fed?

The blonde made cappuccinos for them both and, without asking, added a large dollop of cream and sugar to Nina’s cup.

Nina hesitated a moment before deciding that rejecting the cup held out to her would be rude, so she took it and perched on one of the high stools at the kitchen counter to take a tentative sip. The other woman moved to sit across from her.

“You’re Nina Alexander, right?” the blonde asked.

“I am. And you are?”

“Juliet.” Juliet offered her hand across the table and Nina shook it primly.

“You turned down Paul de Angelo to come home with Dom?” The blonde asked conversationally.

Nina choked on a mouthful of cream. “Good news travels fast.”

“Your very public rejection of Paul made the morning news. You know, I always thought he was gay.”

Luckily this time there was nothing left in her mouth to choke on. “He’s not,” she managed. Vanilla, but not gay.

“Oh good. And now he’s single, too. I don’t suppose you could introduce me?” The gray eyes sparkled. “No, I suppose not after last night. So what was wrong with him that you didn’t want him?”

Sheesh, this woman sure knew how to go straight for the jugular.

“There’s nothing wrong with Paul. He’s a real gentleman. The word ‘suave’ was practically invented for him. He’s polite and attentive, very focused on his career, and doesn’t live wildly like so many other big movie actors.”

He always got the best table in any restaurant, and he knew everybody who was anybody in this town. The perfect boyfriend, as long as you didn’t expect fireworks in the bedroom. And until he’d ruined it all by proposing.

Juliet wrinkled her nose. “He sounds terribly dull.”

Nina bit back a smile. That too. Paul was surprisingly boring for a star. All the way down to his predictable Prius. She shrugged. “He’ll make a wonderful husband to the right woman.” It just wouldn’t be her.

Juliet winked. “Dom is never dull, but you probably know that already.” She dipped her spoon into her mug and stirred thoughtfully. “I’m guessing he rode to your rescue last night?”

Nina nodded. “He saved me from complete humiliation.”

“That’s our Dom. He has a Knight in Shining Armor complex. He’s always getting into scrapes over women. Ask him to tell you the story about the time he….”

A bell pealed and Juliet jumped to her feet. “Who on earth would ring the gate bell? Everyone Dom knows would walk straight in.”

Nina cursed under her breath. She’d have loved to hear Juliet’s story. “It’ll be my PA.”

While Juliet headed off to let the newcomer in, Nina poured the rest of the creamy cappuccino down the kitchen sink. Much as she loved the taste of real cream in her coffee, she really didn’t need yet another spread in OK! magazine pointing out the cellulite on her thighs.

When Juliet returned it wasn’t only Wendy who followed her into the kitchen, but Chrissie, too.

“Your entourage has arrived,” Juliet announced.

Chrissie frowned at her. Either the botox was wearing off or her publicist was seriously unhappy today. “Why haven’t you taken any of my calls?” she demanded, sliding into the seat Juliet had vacated across from Nina. The confrontation seat, Nina was discovering.

“I’m sorry. I left my phone at the party,” Nina explained. Chrissie terrified her, but she was good at what she did and Nina was even more terrified of losing her. Especially now that she needed all the good PR that money could buy.

“I have it. I checked. Everything’s still in there.” Wendy handed over Nina’s purse, cell phone and a large Louis Vuitton hold-all. “And I brought the things you asked for.”

Nina sent her a grateful smile.

Chrissie looked a little mollified. “I’ll have an espresso. Black, one sugar,” she instructed Juliet before turning her back on the blonde. Juliet stuck a tongue out behind her back and Nina had to bite her tongue to stop herself laughing.

Wendy wasn’t as restrained. Her giggle earned a quelling glare from Chrissie.

“I have a Plan,” Chrissie announced. “I think we should work with the story Paul’s putting out there, but turn it around. We’re going to say you’ve met someone else and fallen head over heels in love. You didn’t plan to, but it just happened.”

Not quite the plan she’d had in mind. Nina shook her head. “Remember the fallout when Kristen Stewart was caught cheating on Robert Pattinson? I don’t think that would work in my favor.”

Chrissie smiled. “It’s risky, but here’s the cincher.” She paused for dramatic effect. “He’s going to be a completely ordinary man. Not a star. Just a Regular Joe. It’ll be like the reverse of George Clooney dating the waitress. People already see you as down to earth, so we’ll play on that and win you sympathy.”

“Who’s the lucky guy – anyone I know?”

“Dane has some out-of-work actors on his books. I’m sure one of them will jump at the role for the right amount.”

This was what she’d come to – having to pay someone to pretend to be her boyfriend? Sheesh! And people thought the life of an actress was all glamour.

“How is an actor a regular guy?” Juliet asked from the coffee machine. Chrissie ignored her.

“I have a better plan,” Nina said. “I don’t need a new boyfriend, just a new job. This is the perfect opportunity to reinvent myself as an actress with a little edge. I’m done with rom-coms. I still want to go after the role of Sonia, and I’ve asked Dominic to train me.”

“Who’s Dominic?” Chrissie asked.

“The man whose hospitality you’re enjoying.” Juliet plonked an espresso cup in front of her so hard she splashed coffee on the counter. She’d added cream to Chrissie’s cup, too.

“Oh, the stunt man.”

“Stunt coordinator. What would be in it for Dom?”

Chrissie finally looked at her. The two blondes eyed each other.

“Who are you?” Chrissie asked, looking down her nose at Juliet.

Juliet crossed her arms over her chest. “Consider me Dom’s manager.”

Though Juliet had to be at least a head shorter than Chrissie, Nina thought they were pretty evenly matched in the formidability stakes.

“If we go with this idea, we’d pay him, of course.” Chrissie said. “With a bonus thrown in if Nina gets the role.” She glanced around the open-plan living area, which was probably half the size of Nina’s bedroom. “He could get a bigger place, perhaps something up in the hills.”

Juliet shook her head. “Not everyone wants to live in the hills, and not everything is about money.”

Nina shuddered. As much as she agreed with the last sentiment, not everyone wanted to live by the sea either.

“He’s a stunt man and getting on in years. His career won’t last forever,” Chrissie said.

Nina flinched at her publicist’s callous tone. Besides, Dominic wasn’t any ordinary stunt man. He was bright and energetic and magnetic, and he clearly had friends in high places. He didn’t want Nina, or her fame or money, or he’d have made a move on her a long time ago. The way most men did.

“So what does Dom want?” she found herself asking.

Juliet’s cool, gray eyes met hers, and Nina had the oddest sensation that this formidable blonde knew exactly how much that question had been burning inside her, and that she wasn’t only asking how to get Dom to agree to train her.

Juliet smiled as her gaze flicked past them. “Ask him yourself.”

“Ask me what?”

As one, the four women turned to the kitchen door where Dom stood, holding a panting, creamy-colored Labrador on a leash. He wore trainers, baggy board shorts that hung low on his hips, and a sleeveless shirt that clung to his chest with sweat. Though Nina didn’t notice them in that order.

Another blush began to burn her skin.

Dom stepped in through the open door. “What are you doing here, Jules?”

“I brought you some groceries.”

“Kathy’s already been.” He scowled at her. “I’ve told you I don’t need anyone to do my shopping.”

“Of course you do.” Ignoring his glowering expression, Juliet moved to give him a quick peck on the cheek. She had to stand on tiptoe to reach. “And how else are you going to have clean sheets for your guests?” She fired a quick, mischievous glance in Nina’s direction.

“I have a housekeeper.”

Juliet dropped to her knees to scratch the dog’s ears. It tried to lick Juliet’s face and she laughed, pushing the dog’s head away. “Down, Sandy. Sit!”

So this was Sandy! Nina’s chest suddenly felt lighter and she wanted to laugh. Not quite the harem she’d imagined, nor did Dominic appear to appreciate Juliet’s attentions.

Nevertheless, he didn’t send the blonde away, nor did he bat an eyelid when, quite at home in his kitchen, Juliet filled the dog’s water bowl and set it down for Sandy.

Nina cleared her throat. “We were talking about what sort of payment to offer you to train me up for the role of Sonia.”

“I haven’t agreed to that yet.”

“I still think my idea is better,” Chrissie muttered.

Nina shook her head and kept her attention focused on Dom. Not that he wouldn’t have had her attention anyway. His presence filled the small, sunny kitchen. “Please?” she asked, making her eyes big and begging.

One corner of his mouth quirked up in a near-smile and her heart dropped. She knew what was coming. He gave her that look every time he was about to turn away from her, usually in some other woman’s direction. It was that night in the Landmark Café bar in Westerwald all over again. She’d practically thrown herself at him, and he’d left with a thin, pouty brunette instead. “We need to talk about that. Just you and me.”

She didn’t need his pointed glance at Chrissie to know what he meant.

“I’ll wait for you in the car,” Wendy said, taking the hint.

Chrissie was less easy to move. Between them, Nina and Wendy had to each take an elbow to propel her towards the door. “I really appreciate that you came all the way here, and I’ll call you later,” Nina said.

“Who puts cream in an espresso anyway?” Chrissie huffed, finally accepting Wendy’s lead. Nina shut the kitchen door behind them and faced the room. Juliet hadn’t moved.

Dom poured himself a glass of water from the fridge dispenser. “Feel free to leave any time, Sis,” he said.

His sister! It took all Nina’s effort not to grin.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You want to be alone.” Juliet wrinkled her nose. “You might want to have a shower first, though!” She shoved his shoulder playfully. “I’ll be happy to keep Nina company while you change.”

He glanced at Nina and she shrugged.

“Go ahead. I need to change too, anyway,” she said.

He scowled at Juliet again. “Any embarrassing stories and you’re out.”

She stuck out her tongue at him and Dom rolled his eyes. “If you’ll excuse me?” he asked Nina.

She nodded, unable to speak. The image of Dom in the shower had grown roots in her brain. Damn this blush. Was it ever going to go away?

When she looked back at Juliet, the other woman had a wicked glint in her eyes. “So you and he haven’t yet…?”

The blush burned even hotter. How the hell could his sister tell whether she and Dom had slept together or not?

“Why not?” his sister demanded. “Most women can’t resist our Dom. Are you really that picky when it comes to men?” Her eyes narrowed with speculation. “Or is it not men you’re interested in?”

Nina stiffened her back and stared right back at Juliet. “What happens between me and your brother is none of your damn business. If you want to know why he and I haven’t had sex, then you ask him.” She would love to know, too.

Juliet grinned, and her cheeky look very closely matched her brother’s. “You can’t blame a girl for being a little protective of her baby brother.”

Nina collected her bags off the counter and headed to the guest bedroom. Any relief she might have felt at Juliet being his sister rather than his lover had evaporated in a moment. She could only thank the heavens her own sister wasn’t as meddling.

“You still here?”

Only Jules remained in the kitchen when Dom returned, freshly showered and dressed. She looked up from the magazine she was flicking through. “Now that’s better. You’re more likely to seduce a famous actress dressed like that.”

“I don’t want to seduce her. She’s a potential client. And I really don’t need dating advice from you, thank you very much.”

Not that he hadn’t already learned everything he needed to know about women from his sisters. Like just how much drama they could be.

Jules frowned. “You can’t seriously be considering her request? You have surgery scheduled. It’s not as if you need her money, and she sure as hell doesn’t need you. That uppity publicist has a Plan B to set her up with some poor schmuck who doesn’t mind running around at the beck and call of a celebrity, so let them get on with it.”

He rummaged in the refrigerator and didn’t make eye contact. Why had the thought of Nina with someone else, even if it was nothing more than a set-up, made him lose his appetite? “I can reschedule the surgery.”

“Please think about this carefully, Dom. You can’t afford to leap first then look.”

When had he ever done anything so rash? “Risk assessment is what I do for a living. So trust me to know and understand the risks.”

“And healing broken bodies is what I do for a living, so you should trust me. You know what the doctor said. You need to stop pushing yourself or you’re going to damage your body beyond repair. Fix the damage that’s already been done before you can barely walk! And until then, you need to stop running.”

“The moment they start cutting through muscle and putting metal body parts inside me, my career is over. What am I going to do with the rest of my life?”

There it was, that specter that had hung over him for months now. His job was who he was. It was the reason he got up every morning. Without it, he’d be lost.

He was still a few years shy of forty; too old to re-train, too young to retire.

He’d be the first to admit that agreeing to prepare Nina for this role was a convenient way to buy himself more time to figure out what he was going to do with the rest of his life.

He shook his head. “My hip, my pain. I can manage it.”

“But you don’t have to live with the pain. A hip replacement is nothing to be ashamed of, and you’ll still have a full range of movement afterwards. Without pain.”

“Will you please keep your voice down?” He glanced past Juliet to the closed door of the guest bedroom. “Have you ever heard of a stunt man with a hip replacement? It’ll take months before I’m back to normal. Months of sitting around, unable to work. And if word gets out that I’m no longer fit, no one will hire me.”

“You always knew this job was going to have a limited lifespan. What did you think you were going to do when you got older?”

He hadn’t. He’d lived every day as it came and not spared a thought for the future. “I’m still young,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of good years ahead of me. When I can’t cope anymore, then I’ll reconsider the surgery.”

“Please don’t wait too long. The better shape you’re in when you have the surgery, the quicker you’ll recover.”

He rolled his eyes. “Is the lecture over yet, Sis?”

She sighed. “I don’t want to see you any more damaged than you are already.”

They’d been having this same argument for more years than he could remember. “I know you want what’s best for me, but I’m not a kid anymore. You need to butt out and let me make my own decisions. And you can tell the others that, too.”

“So your decision is to turn yourself into a glorified fitness trainer for a few weeks? Why? Forget training her. Just get her out your system and move on, the way you usually do.”

He shook his head. “It’s not like that. She’s not like that.”

Juliet shrugged. “If this is really only about training her, then you need to be realistic, Dom. She might have passed the cream test, but she’s still a spoiled celebrity. She’s never going to see this through. As soon as the going gets tough, she’ll be gone. Is she worth damaging your body further?”

“How about I let you know?” He loaded fresh strawberries, yogurt, and a generous handful of granola into the blender and switched it on, its roar drowning out any chance of further conversation. Finally taking the hint, Jules closed her magazine and hopped down from her stool. “I’ll see you on the flip side.”

The kitchen door had barely closed behind her when Nina emerged from the guest bedroom. Not a coincidence, he was sure.

The sweatpants were gone, replaced by tailored trousers and a white frilly blouse that dipped dangerously low between her breasts. He swallowed and forced his gaze higher. She’d done her hair and make-up too. She was back to being Nina the Movie Star again, not the vulnerable woman he’d walked on the beach in the dark with last night.

She slung her bag over her shoulder. “Thank you for helping me out last night. I really appreciate it.”

At least she hadn’t forgotten to thank him.

She shifted awkwardly, as if there was something more she wanted to say, and cleared her throat. “About what I asked you last night…I don’t want you to feel pressurized. You can say no.”

Had she overheard his conversation with Jules? He was man enough that he didn’t want a beautiful woman to see him as weak or feel pity for him. He kept his expression neutral and nodded.

“But will you consider it? If you change your mind, here’s my private number.” She held out a piece of paper with a phone number scrawled on it and he took it silently.

“Goodbye then,” she said and headed for the door.

“Meet me at 25 Degrees at 12 tomorrow.”

She paused mid-stride.

“It’s a day later than we intended, but it’s as good a place to start as any. No promises yet. I need to see what you’re capable of before I agree to anything,” he said.

The smile she threw him was almost enough to knock him off his feet. A man could definitely get used to being looked at like that.

“And wear comfortable clothes; clothes you don’t mind getting dirty in.”

Then she was gone, leaving nothing but the soft scent of her perfume in the air.

Chapter Four

Dom choked on his draft beer as he caught sight of Nina at last. She couldn’t have shouted ‘celebrity who doesn’t want to be recognized’ any louder. The oversized designer sunglasses and headscarf were enough to make anyone look twice, especially here in Tinseltown.

She hovered in the door of the restaurant, nervously scanning the room before she spotted him in one of the back booths and made a beeline for him.

She slid into the seat across from him, her back to the rest of the restaurant, and undid the headscarf. Her long, sleek dark hair tumbled loose.

“Hi.” The coquettish smile she sent him was enough to make up for the 15 minutes she’d kept him waiting.

The waitress who brought their menus was clearly well trained. She pretended not to recognize Nina.

“I’ll have the Number One burger with extra fries,” he said, handing her back the menu.

Nina’s face took on a pinched look for a moment, then she placed her order. “I’ll have a Pellegrino and the chopped vegetable salad.”

The waitress met Dom’s eye. He grinned. He agreed. He’d had such high hopes Nina wasn’t going to be just like every other image-obsessed actress. She’d even passed the cream test.

This was a test his sisters had devised years ago. They deliberately offered a woman a beverage she usually didn’t drink – in a town like LA where every woman was on a diet, cream and sugar were the obvious choices. If the woman caused a fuss, she was written off as high-maintenance. If she accepted the cup and was polite enough to sip, his sisters considered her a keeper.

It was a good test. He’d even used it a few times himself. No one even semi-famous had passed the test before Nina.

“Those aren’t exactly the kind of comfortable clothes I had in mind,” he commented, eyeing the pretty blouse and short skirt she wore.

She shrugged. “What if someone sees me here and takes pictures? Wendy has my bag in the car with a change of clothes.”