Page 239 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

A rash of questions broke out amidst an obvious celebration between the three. And while Ellie did her best to be a part of that, smiling and catching what was said for the most part, she was inwardly gripping hold of that fear once more.

Was she in danger?

Worse yet, had she put Nash in danger?

The mere idea was enough to send her into panic mode. She did her best to contain it, but, Ellie was already starting to regret signing the contract.

CHAPTER 19

An odd dose of fear cycled through Nash as he and Ellie said goodbye to Wyatt and Wade. For the most part, the visit had gone much better than he expected. He wasn't sure what had softened Wyatt so much, but something definitely had, and Nash was grateful for it. He only hoped that he, too, could soften his heart in time to fully accept Wyatt’s olive branch.

The thing was, as monumental as Wyatt’s news might be, Nash couldn’t focus on it for long, not with Ellie’s strange, disconcerting reaction to Wade’s question.

“Nice to meet you, Ellie,” Wyatt said after walking them to the door. “And you,” he said with a slap to Nash’s back, “when are you coming back?”

“Since Ellie has two days before production starts, I’m going to stay at the hotel with her the first two nights.”

“Separate beds,” Ellie inserted.

Nash grinned. “Separate rooms, even. The suite’s massive.”

Ellie gave Nash’s arm a squeeze. “He doesn’t know it, but he’s about to pull an all-nighter rehearsing with me.”

Wyatt pulled a cringe face. “Sounds rough.”

Wade did the same. “Yeah, man. If you need someone to take your place…”

Nash only shook his head and grinned. “You guys are full of it today.”

“Nah,” Wade said. “We’re just happy to have family out here. And Ellie,” he added, resting a hand on her shoulder and leveling a serious look at her. “Just so you know, Nash cries at night if he loses his woobie. You’ve been warned.”

Nash chuckled along, but inwardly, all he could think about was getting Ellie alone. Not because he wanted to get fresh with her, either. He wanted to know why she’d stiffened when Wade asked about obsessed fans. Nash assumed it had to come along with the territory, sure, but he hadn’t actually considered that it’d been an issue for her. Had a bad memory flashed to the surface, causing her to grow quiet and tense? Was it possible she was dealing with something even now?

Nash wasn’t positive he’d read her right, but if he were to place a bet either way, he’d say Ellie seemed downright afraid in those moments. He just didn't know why.

It had felt odd to bring it up around his brothers, so Nash bided his time and tried to focus on Ellie's excitement over the news of Wade and Wyatt moving back home, something she started talking about the moment they stepped out of their apartment.

"Wow, can you believe they’re moving back so soon?” she asked as they followed her bodyguard Bronson down the hallway toward the elevator. “Who can blame them, though? They've lived on a beautiful ranch their whole lives. An apartment in a big city like this probably doesn’t measure up.”

Nash continued to nod, worrying that his mind was drifting further and further from the conversation. He didn't want to be rude, but he had something to address, and it seemed that they weren’t going to get a lot of alone time with Bronson around.

Ellie might be used to having an escort outside of her Wild Buck’s excursion, but this was all new to Nash. Of course, if Ellietruly was afraid, if somebody was actually threatening her, Nash was very glad she had a bodyguard.

He stayed quiet as the elevator lowered them into the parking garage, where they waited for Bronson to get the car—a large SUV with tinted windows.

"If I wasn't here, would you just be walking to the car with him or what?” Nash asked after Bronson walked away. “He wouldn't leave you standing here by yourself, would he?"

"No, of course not. He's giving me more leisure because you're with me." She sounded agitated by his question, but Nash was getting a little agitated himself.

"Hey, I want to talk to you about?—”

"I really have to study tonight, Nash,” she interrupted. “I'm honestly way behind, and I wasn’t kidding about the all-nighter. Do you mind if I start going over the story details with you on the way home? I’ll get you up to speed on everything that happened up to the start of the first scene we’re going to film, which actually takes place in the middle of the movie when Trigger’s hair is long. It’s short at the beginning and end, so we’ll film those parts last after he cuts it.”

Nash was already nodding. Of course, he was happy to help. And the fact was, Elliehadspent an awful lot of time with him during her stay at Wild Buck’s, and not much of it had been spent role-playing. Typically, once she received a script, Ellie said she closed herself off from distractions and spent weeks devouring the script and nothing more.

“I’m all yours tonight, Ms. Ellie,” he said, “use me however you’d like.”

Ellie bumped him with her shoulder. “Thank you.” At once, she dove into the story behind the film, telling him all about Melody and her past. She told him about Trigger, the male lead, and the roadblocks that held each of them back. The gruff granddad would be played by one of Uncle Lloyd’s favoriteactors; she’d added nonchalantly, which only made Nash shake his head at how very different Ellie’s life really was compared to his.