Starbright (48 page)

When the door opened, Aidan almost dropped the bouquet to the ground. Dappled sunlight spilled into the house, dancing over Beth’s curled brown hair, which framed her face and fell to just below her ears. She wore an evening gown that was flame red and called to him like a beacon. The bodice was form fitting, as if her creamy skin had been poured into it, and the full skirt met her ankles, complemented by black high heels. Even dressed in a designer black suit, he felt inferior.

Aidan stepped inside and closed the door behind him, ensuring Beth didn’t notice her present in the driveway. With a kiss to her cheek, an electric current vibrated under his skin.

“You look incredible.”

“And you look very handsome.” Beth graced him with a smile that cut through the dim light of the foyer. “Are those flowers for me?”

Aidan extended the bouquet, his eyes feasting on her everywhere at once. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

She took the bouquet off his hands. “What a lovely gift. Thank you.”

Aidan suppressed a grin. She was in for a big surprise if she thought the roses were her only present.

“I got you something, too.” Beth gestured toward the kitchen. “Let me put the roses in water and then we can go into the living room.”

Aidan brought his lips to her ear. “I already have the greatest gift of all. You.”

Beth gave a demure giggle and took his hand, leading him down the hallway with a sultry sway of her hips. Aidan gripped her fingers tightly, as if he was afraid she might disappear, nothing but a mirage conjured up by his mind to trick him into believing he was worthy of such perfection.

Beth collected a vase from under the sink and filled it with water. After removing the cellophane wrapping, she placed the roses inside the vase and fanned them out until she was satisfied. With a buoyant smile, she placed the vase on the kitchen table.

“They look lovely in here.” She took a step back, admiring the flowers from afar.

Aidan regarded her with the same appreciation. “I’m happy you like them.”

“Very much so.” She turned to him, toying with the angel pendent around her neck. Since Christmas, she had never removed the necklace, and Aidan never took off the ring she bought him—unless they were on set. He felt it bound him to her whenever they were apart, which thankfully wasn’t often.

“I can’t wait to spend the evening with you.” Aidan closed the gap between their lips. The air around him crackled to life like a kindled fire. “But first, I have something else for you.”

“What do you mean? You already gave me flowers.”

He tugged on her hand gently. “Follow me.”

She giggled on their way to the foyer. “Aidan, what’s going on?”

He pulled her in for a deep kiss as they reached the front door, and then he stood behind her. With his hands on her hips, he leaned over her shoulder and brushed his lips to her ear. “Close your eyes, little dove.”

Beth did as he requested.

Aidan opened the front door. With hesitant steps, Beth walked outside under his guidance.

Aidan stopped her as they reached the driveway. “Okay, open your eyes.”

“Oh my gosh!” Beth’s hand flew to her mouth. “But this—this can’t be for me!”

Aidan dropped the keys to her new car into her palm. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Oh, Aidan, I love you!” She flung her arms around his neck, gracing him with the smile that had charmed movie audiences all over the country, but in this moment, was meant solely for him. “What kind is it?”

“It’s a brand new, top-of-the-line, 1954 Cadillac Eldorado Sports Convertible in white Orlon.” Aidan led her down the driveway. “Only five hundred and thirty-two of them were made in the world. It has automatic transmission, a V8 engine, power steering, two hundred and thirty horsepower—”

“That’s much too powerful for me!” Beth leaned over the passenger door and petted the white leather seats as if they were an exotic animal.

Aidan chuckled. “Don’t worry. It’s got a lot of kick to it, but its safety is unmatched.”

Beth frowned. “Does this mean you won’t be driving me to and from the studio anymore?”

Aidan exhaled a deep breath. He was glad her expression wasn’t because she didn’t like her gift. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. I only wanted you to own your own car as backup, just in case.”

“Good. Now that I know you haven’t abandoned me, I can appreciate my new car thoroughly.”

With a playful shriek, Beth hopped into the driver’s seat. Dwarfed by the Cadillac’s large size, she gripped the steering wheel and pretended to drive it with an endearing, childlike wonder that made Aidan’s heart palpitate with merriment.

“Can you take me out driving tomorrow?” she asked. “I’d like a refresher course before I go out on my own since I haven’t driven in a while.”

Aidan nodded. “Sure. No problem.”

“Now it’s time for your gift!”

Beth led Aidan back inside the house with hurried steps and ushered him into the living room. He grinned the entire way, feeding off her excitement.

Beth dropped his hand and set her car keys on the coffee table before walking over to the fireplace and picking up an envelope wrapped in a dark blue ribbon. She presented the gift with a smile that rewarded him a million times over.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Aidan took a seat on the couch and removed two tickets from the envelope. When he read the event information, he leapt to his feet. “You got me tickets to the Heavy Weight Boxing Championship at Madison Square Garden in June!”

“Ringside.” A proud smile accompanied Beth’s reply. “I figured we could go together, if you don’t mind my company.
Golden Gloves
will be finished long before then, and if I’m tied to another project, I’ll do my best to get away for a few days. My hope is that our relationship will be public knowledge by that time. But even if it isn’t, we’ll still go. I don’t care. I want to spend the evening with you, watching something I know you enjoy very much.”

“You’d seriously go to a boxing match with me?” Aidan pulled his wallet out of his pocket and placed the tickets inside.

Beth nodded. “I have tremendous respect for the sport now, thanks to filming
Golden Gloves
.”

Aidan tucked his wallet away. “We can get a hotel room—”

“Or we could stay at your apartment.”

Aidan grinned. He still felt his shabby Manhattan residence wasn’t worthy of her, but sharing his bed with her—the same bed where he’d spent many lonely, miserable nights—was a very attractive offer.

“That sounds perfect.” Aidan placed kisses across her cheek and down her neck.

Her head fell back as a blissful sigh escaped her lips.

“Baby, the tickets must’ve cost you a fortune.” With a delicate kiss to her angel pendent, he murmured, “Please, let me pay for them.”

“You bought me a car, and you think the tickets are too expensive?” Beth linked her hands behind his neck and gave him a pout worthy of a temptress. “Please accept them as a gift from me.”

Aidan wasn’t comfortable with her spending money on him, but there was no way he could say no to her. “Okay, I will.”

She smiled and nestled her head against his chest.

“Actually, the car and flowers aren’t your only gifts.”

Beth was quick to pull back from him, her eyes wide in protest. “But you’ve already given me so much.”

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Aidan’s steps faltered with the reminder of what occurred at the end of his visit to RCA Victor.

He grabbed Beth’s car keys off the table and darted to the front door without giving himself a chance to dwell on the fact that, although the Cadillac was the flashiest gift of the evening, he wanted Beth to like her final present the most.

In the driveway, he opened the Cadillac’s trunk and picked up the vinyl record Matthew had dropped off at his house yesterday. He returned to the house and met Beth in the living room. At a loss for what to say, he simply handed over the gift.

Beth removed the disc from its sleeve and read the title. “ ‘Awakening.’ ”

Aidan found the courage to look at her, though his gaze was hesitant. “I recorded our song. Of course, I’ll play it for you whenever you want, but I figured, you know, maybe you’d like to own a copy.”

Beth brushed her fingers along the record like it was made of diamonds. “Aidan, this is the loveliest gift I have ever received.”

He jammed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “It’s no big deal, really.”

Beth embraced him so tightly he had troubled breathing.

“No,” she said firmly. “This is something special. Very special. Thank you.”

Aidan’s worry over his experience at the studio vanished completely. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Can we listen to it before we go?”

Aidan grinned. “You bet.”

Beth loaded the record on the hi-fi while Aidan turned on the table lamp, since the sun was now almost gone for the day. He stretched out on the same couch they had shared on Christmas Day and she lay on top of him, resting her head on his chest and tangling her legs with his.

Aidan brushed his hand to her hair as their song drifted throughout the room so beautifully he almost forgot he was the one playing it. When the needle lifted, enveloping them in silence, they didn’t move from the couch. With Beth’s ear pressed to his rib cage, he hoped she heard the fervent pounding of his heart and knew every beat was for her.

The shrill cry of the telephone stirred them. Beth groaned and stood. Aidan linked his hands behind his head as she walked across the room and lifted the receiver to her ear.

“Hello.” She paused for the caller’s response and then giggled. “Yes, Liv, we’re leaving now.”

Aidan grinned and shook his head. Olivia had the worst timing.

Reluctantly, he rose from the coach and removed the record from the hi-fi. As he placed it back in its sleeve, he came to terms with the fact there would be no more quiet moments with Beth until they returned from Romanoff’s.

By the time Beth hung up the telephone, Aidan was holding her gently and nuzzling her neck. Although he preferred to stay in, Beth looked forward to a fun-filled evening with their friends. With Olivia gone for the next several nights, they had plenty of opportunities for alone time.

“Olivia and Nathan are leaving now,” she said. “Connie and Matthew are already at the restaurant. Apparently, Frank Sinatra owes them a drink after losing a bet to Matthew about whose Valentine’s Day single would reach number one this week.”

Aidan drifted his lips down her neck. “I’m just going to walk back to my house to get my Porsche, and then I’ll swing by here to pick you up.”

“Why don’t we take my car?”

Aidan’s kisses stopped, giving way to a chuckle. “No offense, baby, but your Cadillac isn’t exactly my style.”

“Watch what you say about my car, buster.” Beth tried not to smile but lost the battle. “It’s a luxurious, exclusive machine. Only five hundred and thirty-two of them were made in the world, you know. You should feel lucky I’m letting you drive it.”

“Well, when you put it that way.” With a playful growl, Aidan placed a sloppy kiss to her cheek.

Giggling, Beth wriggled out of his grasp. “I’ll get my purse from my bedroom and then we can leave.”

Aidan’s expression grew serious.

“So, you’re sure about tonight?” he said as she crossed the room.

Beth regarded him over her shoulder with slight irritation. They’d had this discussion several times since receiving their invitations, and he knew she was tired of it. Still, he felt obligated to ask one final time.

“Yes, I’m sure. The way I see it is, as long as we’re not overly affectionate, we’ll be fine. It may be Valentine’s Day, but we’ll be sitting at a table with mutual friends. We shouldn’t draw suspicion, but even if we do, I don’t care. I want to spend the evening with you at Romanoff’s and I won’t let anyone ruin it for me.”

With a toss of her hair, she left the room.

Aidan was awed by her dedication and told her just how much by wrapping her in an amorous embrace when she met him in the foyer.

Perhaps it was a mistake to spend Valentine’s Day evening together in a popular restaurant, but after winning a round with Mr. Mertz this year already, Aidan felt confident he could handle the studio mogul again, if required.

Acting as though they were only costars and recent friends was the key to their success. However, as Aidan helped Beth into her coat, stealing a good look at her enticing figure hugged by her elegant dress, his resolve to keep his hands off her was already in serious danger of collapsing.

Aidan bypassed the restaurant’s valet stand and parked the Cadillac in the closest available spot to the entrance. He and Beth kept a respectable distance between them on their trek across the parking lot.

“Mr. Evans, Miss Sutton. Welcome to Romanoff’s.” The doorman looked surprised by their joint arrival but maintained his professional poise.

“Thank you.” Beth opened her purse. “I have my invitation. One moment.”

“That’s not necessary,” the doorman said as Aidan was about to show his own invitation. “Please, come in. We’re honored to have you both in our establishment this evening.”