Amanda Berry - L A Cinderella

Robert gave Chase a helpless look. Robert typically avoided bringing anyone to shows. He was a confirmed bachelor and rarely dated. Women tried all the time to get him, but he remained cool and aloof.

Natalie’s face tilted his way. Chase knew he was hopelessly lost when it came to Natalie. He’d been trying to break her all week. Clubs, dinner and finally the Oscars. Maybe he was wrong to push her, but he wanted all or nothing. He’d rather lose her now than years down the road when it would be harder to let go.

He followed her gaze to see Shannen Matthews, his costar from If Only, standing beside his chair. Chase rose from his seat.

“Chase, how are you?” Shannen leaned forward and kissed the air beside his cheeks.

“Good, good, and you?”

“Missing London. I swear L.A. gets hotter every year.” Shannen’s blond hair brushed his sleeve as she turned her head and waved at someone.

“It has been a warm year. Natalie is a huge fan of If Only.” Chase glanced over his shoulder at Natalie, but she wasn’t looking at him.

She nodded in Natalie’s direction. “I must find Bill. We’ll catch up at the after party.” She kissed the air again and sauntered farther down the aisle.

Chase sat down as the lights began to dim. Natalie’s hands were clasped on her lap. He reached over and plucked one of them. He folded his fingers in with hers and listened to the opening act.

“Have you worked with Shannen Matthews after If Only?” The tentative whisper tickled his ear.

“Yeah, we’re supposed to do something in the future. Some sort of period romance,” he whispered without taking his eyes off the stage, where they were announcing Actor in a Supporting Role nominees.

“Oh.”

He glanced over at her, but her eyes remained riveted on the stage. What had that been all about?

The ceremony continued. Natalie clapped and watched along with the rest of the crowd, but something was off. Something in the way she smiled alerted him that something was wrong. Her fingers restlessly pinched at her satin dress. Her cheeks were stained pink and her lips were drawn tight. Had he done the right thing by bringing her? Was it too soon?

Becca had been a teenager when she left him. Natalie was a grown woman. Her shyness was one of the things he’d fallen in love with. Her reluctance to be brought into the spotlight charmed him. She made him happy, and she was trying so hard.

She’d taken everything he’d thrown at her this week. He’d stopped worrying that today would be the day she’d leave him. He’d begun to hope that they could make this last. That he could make a life with Natalie even though she wasn’t an actress.

Maybe he could make it up to her by skipping the after parties and just going home. They could cuddle up with some chocolate ice cream, and he could show her once more how much he loved her.

Natalie laced her fingers together. Chase loved her. Would that be enough? They hadn’t talked long term, but she couldn’t begin to imagine a life without him in it. But to have to brave this scrutiny every year…every month…every day…

Her normal, boring life would change. Not that it hadn’t already. After all, she sat next to Chase Booker at the Oscars. Never in a million years would she have imagined being here. She would have never considered it a possibility or wanted it.

The goals she’d set for herself had nothing to do with fame. A good career, a solid man, a few children, retirement. Nowhere in her future had she wished for cameras intruding on all the moments in her life. Strangers wouldn’t have wanted to know what she was doing. But as long as she was with Chase, her life would be open season for reporters and so would her children’s lives.

Her eyes drifted to Alexis’s beautiful profile. Chase had dated Alexis. The woman personified sex, from her lush curves to her to-die-for lips. When Chase went to his next movie set, a woman as gorgeous as Alexis would be waiting for him.

They’d kiss passionately because Chase always got the woman in the movies. How would Natalie’s kisses measure up? How would he feel coming back to L.A.? To her? Natalie Collins, petite brown-haired wallflower. How would they ever have a private life? Chase’s life was public. Had always been public, would always be public.

His smile was radiant as he watched the next presenter. He did look like Prince Charming. Unfortunately, she didn’t qualify as Cinderella.

He reclaimed her hand. Her traitorous body tingled in reaction to his touch. His eyes met hers. How long before he realized he’d made a mistake? How long before he wound up in someone else’s bed because she wasn’t cut out for this kind of life?

“Are you all right?” Chase ran his fingertip down the side of her face, leaving a trail of bittersweet desire behind.

She tried to steady her wayward thoughts. All relationships were built on trust, and she trusted Chase. Even though she preferred a quiet life, she loved him.

“Natalie?”

The crescendoing music kept time with her pulse as an Oscar winner left the stage.

She smiled at Chase and touched his cheek. “I’m fine.”

His eyes narrowed, but the next presenters began their speech for Best Picture. Chase and Robert’s faces appeared up on the big screen as Night Blooming was announced.

“And the Oscar goes to Chase Booker and Robert Addler for Night Blooming.” Applause sounded all around them.

Chase’s face cleared of all the concern in a heartbeat as he flashed his winning smile at the camera. He leaned close to her. “We’ll talk when I get back.”

He moved to the aisle and strode toward the stage with Robert. The music had stopped, and Chase and Robert were getting ready to deliver their speech.

“We’d like to thank the Academy.” Chase’s voice filled the auditorium. “There are so many people who were part of this film and helped to make it happen.”

He continued congratulating the whole cast and everyone involved in production, and she’d never felt more proud in her life. Her heart filled with love and warmth for Chase.

At the end of his speech, he turned to face her and gave her that smile that was hers. When he smiled at her like that, she was willing to give up everything, just to be with him. She cheered with the rest of the crowd as he was ushered backstage. Everything would be okay.

Alexis leaned over the empty seat. “They’ll be a few minutes backstage. We can head out if you’d like.” Her smile was predatory, but Natalie assumed it was always that way.

“Sure, but I’d like to find the restrooms first.”

An usher happened to overhear her and escorted her to the bathroom.

The doorman opened the door, and Natalie swept into the relative emptiness of the foyer. Natalie froze at the landscape beyond the doors of the theater. Though it was night, the exterior of the Kodak burned as bright as if it were noon. The rich and famous posed and paraded outside.

Alexis hadn’t waited for her out here either. Breathing deeply, Natalie moved toward the doors. It couldn’t be any worse than before. Except then she’d had Chase with her. Being next to Chase made her feel more beautiful, made her feel like she belonged.

She stepped out onto the red carpet and stopped to scan the crowd for Chase. Her gaze flowed over the other actors and zeroed in on Chase.

Her smile froze as she saw Alexis curving into his side as the camera flashed. Suddenly everything clicked into place.

Alexis wanted fame and attention. She didn’t need coaxing to get into the spotlight. Someone like Alexis would be there for him and look beautiful doing it. She didn’t mind the attention. She didn’t want a quiet life. She didn’t want simplicity. She’d fit in Chase’s life, where Natalie was a square peg trying to shove into a round hole.

Tonight she felt gorgeous with the dress, jewelry, makeup and shoes, but tomorrow she’d go back to being just Natalie. How long would just Natalie be enough?

No, that was stupid. Chase loved her. Natalie trusted him. He’d said he didn’t want anyone but her, and she believed him. For now, she was who he wanted to be with, but what about a month from now? Six months? A year?

Alexis turned and pressed her lips to Chase’s cheek for the next photo.

Natalie spun as her heart plummeted. This wasn’t who she was. She wasn’t strong enough to watch her man pretend to be in love with someone else. She wasn’t strong enough to walk toward him and claim him from Alexis. But somehow she’d find the strength to walk away.

She jerked open the doors and went back into the theater. There had to be a back exit. She picked up her skirt and hurried across the tile floor.

The door slammed open behind her.

“Natalie?”

Oh, hell, all he had to say was her name, and she wanted to stop and let him convince her she was wrong. That she deserved to be with him. That she could take the pressure of being his girlfriend.

His hand closed over her shoulder. She squeezed her eyes shut at the warmth in his touch and the feelings that swirled around inside her.

“Natalie, are you all right?” Chase didn’t spin her around or move in front of her, and for that she was grateful.

She couldn’t say what she needed to say if she lost herself in his green eyes. Opening her eyes, she stared at the red exit sign that would lead her back home.

“Who are we kidding, Chase?” Natalie’s eyes filled with unshed tears. She kept her voice steady. “You don’t need me. You need someone like Alexis. We don’t make sense.”

“I don’t want Alexis. I want you.” He slowly turned her until she faced him.

She kept her eyes on his tie knot. “For how long?” she whispered.

His fingers tensed on her shoulder. The pain was slight compared to the hurt curled up in her chest.