Free Behind the Film Star's Smile by Kate Hardy Page B

and then you’d find your picture in the gossip pages tomorrow morning and a lot of speculation to back it up.’
    Which was the last thing she wanted. With a little bit of digging, any journalist would quickly find out that she was Matt’s widow. The story would be dragged up all over again. And who knew what spin they’d use to talk about Luke?
    ‘Agreed,’ she said softly. ‘At least here we’re under set rules.’
    ‘Thank you for being understanding,’ he said. ‘It’s not that I’m ashamed to be seen with you. I mean, we’re friends. And I’m not looking for a relationship right now.’
    He couldn’t make it clearer than that. Any secret thoughts she might’ve been harbouring about him—well, it wasn’t going to happen. Besides, hadn’t he already warned her about people who fell in love with the characters he played, which weren’t necessarily anything like the man himself?
    ‘Me, neither,’ she said. Just to make sure he didn’t think that she was going to turn out to be a Kathy Bates-style ‘number one fan’ from the movies.
    ‘But friends...I could use a friend,’ he said.
    ‘Me, too,’ she said, and hoped her voice didn’t sound as quivery as her knees felt when he smiled at her.
    Luke found the menu from a local takeaway online, and between them they decided on a selection of dishes.
    ‘Can I be horribly rude and sort out a couple of things for tomorrow’s filming while we wait?’ he asked.
    ‘Sure. I’ll take Baloo for a walk. See you in a quarter of an hour?’ she asked.
    ‘That’d be good.’
    She took Baloo into the parkland surrounding the set, and they found a patch of evening sunshine to sit in.
    ‘I need my head examining, Baloo,’ she told the dog, and was rewarded by the dog putting her paws on Jess’s shoulders and licking her face.
    ‘Very helpful,’ she said dryly, making a fuss of the dog. ‘If you could talk, you’d tell me that you adore him, wouldn’t you?’
    Big brown eyes regarded her thoughtfully.
    ‘I think he’s a nice guy. Just his life’s a bit of a mess, right now. I think he needs you,’ she told the dog. ‘Someone to teach him to love again. To trust.’
    Ha. The same could be said of her. Though she wasn’t single because of a betrayal by her partner. Trust didn’t come into it. Her problem was fear.
    ‘And I have no idea how I make the fear go away, Baloo,’ she said softly. ‘If I let someone close...what happens if I lose them, too, the way I lost Matt and Comet?’ OK, so what had happened to them was outside the norm. Death wasn’t usually the result of someone’s intent. It was more likely to be a serious illness, or an accident. There were no guarantees that anyone in her life could cross the road safely every day for the next fifty years. Jess knew all that, intellectually. But knowing it emotionally was a different matter. And the fear kept her shut in that box of loneliness.
    ‘Now I’m being maudlin.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘And we’re due back at Luke’s trailer.’
    They arrived at the same time as their meal. Luke found some plates and Jess served up. And then Jess fed morsels of chicken surreptitiously under the table to Baloo.
    ‘Are you feeding that dog under the table, Ms Greenacre?’ he asked, catching Jess’s eye.
    ‘Busted.’ She laughed. ‘Sorry, I’m really not supposed to do that. It’s a bad habit and it means she’ll be a pain at the dinner table in the future, begging and expecting treats.’
    ‘But those big brown eyes have suckered you in?’
    ‘Yes,’ she admitted.
    Luke spread his hands. ‘Well, she’s looking for a good home. You could always adopt her.’
    Jess shook her head. ‘I can’t have a dog where I live. Whereas I’d guess that you don’t have a landlord who’s banned dogs from the premises.’
    He laughed back. ‘Are you quite sure you haven’t been talking to my aunt?’
    ‘I’m sure.’
    ‘Monica would like you,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘And you’d