Page 240 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

Still, he couldn't help but think Ellie was avoiding something, which meant, in essence, that she had something to hide. Already, it was putting distance between them. And with production starting in just two days, there was sure to be even more distance.

Bronson pulled up with the SUV, and Nash was quick to get to Ellie's door. Once he’d circled around the vehicle and climbed into the backseat with her, Ellie reached for his hand and gave it a kiss. “Thanks for coming out here with me. It means a lot. I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone on set. We can get a picture with Leon Row and send it to your uncle if you’d like.”

“And I’ll get to meet your dad in person, too,” he added.

A flicker of something flashed over her face. “True, he’ll be there for the first day or two at least. But first,” she said, reaching for a nearby lever to lower the partition, “we should stop at a gas station on the way to the hotel. We’re going to need a lot of caffeine for tonight.”

It was a beautiful night to be on the rooftop of a high-rise hotel in Dallas, but Nash wasn’t taking in the view. Instead, he was rehearsing dramatic lines from an upcoming film that his girlfriend would star in with another man.

Strands of outdoor lighting lit the space directly above Ellie’s hotel suite, visible from the glass skylight beside the seating space. The wordsswankyandposhhad come to mind as he’d walked through the suite with her. Theyhadstocked up oncaffeinated drinks as Ellie suggested—everything from canned, cold coffees to Red Bulls.

They’d nailed three full scenes leading up to this one—the final scene of the night. Nash had most of the lines memorized by now, which gave him just a taste of what it’d be like to work opposite the woman he’d fallen in love with.

"I'm begging you, Melody,” he said with an added country twang. “Don't go. Don't sign that blasted contract unless you want to sign away your entire life."

Ellie’s expression turned indignant. "This isn't fair, Trigger, and you know it. I've waited my whole life for this?—”

“Waited your whole life?” he boomed in return. Nash shook his head in disappointment as he took three slow strides toward her. "Well, I’ve waited my whole life forthis…" At once, Nash grabbed Ellie by the hips and pulled her against him. He knew they were only acting, but Nash planned to give this everything he had. He pressed an urgent kiss to her lips, taking the moment as if it was his own.

When he pulled away at last, he brushed a thumb over her mouth, barely summoning his next line. "What aboutlove, Melody? Haven't you waited your whole life for this?" Nash searched her face, stunned by the emotion he saw there.

"You know I have, Trigger. I’ve told you time and again."

"Then why? Why are you willing to risk what we have? You can do this without moving a thousand miles away."

Ellie shook her head. "You don’t understand. There are things that you just…" She pulled away and turned her back to him.

Nash reached for his script and found where they left off. "Things that I justwhat, Melody? That Idon'tknow? Because you'rehidingthem from me?"

Whoa, how had he forgotten that line?It was so close to home that he could have written it himself.

Ellie shook her head. "Maybe I am.” At once, she spun around and glared at him with a heat so fierce it burned right through his chest. "Maybe I'm hiding the fact that I come from dirt. You want to know why you haven't met my family? Because I'm embarrassed, Trigger, that's why! I’m ashamed of where I come from, ashamed of the very people who raised me, and I've been fighting my whole life to get away.”

Her chin quivered as her gaze drifted to the distance. “I'm glad you had a practically perfect upbringing with parents you can be proud of and a family that you can't bear to leave, but the truth…if youreallywant to know, is that I can't wait to get as far away from my past as possible. And if you insist on being part of that past instead of my future…” She gulped, her expression hardening as her nostrils flared. “Then I guess this is where our story ends."

Nash stood there, shocked and dumbfounded and unable to speak. Not that it mattered; this is right where the scene would end, meaning it was a wrap. The next time Trigger would see Melody again, it’d be months later when the poor guy showed up in Nashville with an apology on his lips and a key to his new apartment in his hand.

Nash would be danged if he couldn’t feel the guy’s pain. His desperation to get the woman he loved to stay.

He felt inexplicably exposed in one sense while entirely awed at the same time. Nash had witnessed Ellie in her element from the comfort of his home or seated with a box of popcorn in a theater before the silver screen. Heck, he’d rehearsed lines with her too; he’d been doing so for weeks. But never had he experienced the force of her talent the way he had right then.

He couldn't help but wonder if a small part of Ellie felt the way Melody did. Sure, Ellie wasn’t dying to start a new career. In fact, she was putting an end to it. But could Ellie really let go of a talent like this? He feared she’d want to go back to iteventually, that she may even leave him stranded if they ended up together at all. Worse, though, was the second possibility: she could be intentionally deceiving him. Sending him home with a nice, cushy check, thanking him for theside of romancewhile she continued to pursue a dream she never intended to let go of.

Perhaps that was the root of Ellie's fear. The fear he’d sensed during their conversation at the table. Maybe it had onlylookedlike it stemmed from the conversation about a stalker. Perhaps it’d been there sooner, and he just hadn’t sensed it.

What if Ellie’s real fear was of hurting Nash? Something she knew she was destined to do?

Nash smeared a hand over his face. It was definitely time to get some shut-eye because he was losing touch. Either Nash was paranoid and totally wrong about his wild ideas, or he was intuitively sensing some sort of hidden truth.

Only time would tell what the case may be.

Sure, Melody and Trigger would get their happy ending; that’s how romance went.

But with him and Ellie—there was no guarantee. For now, Nash was already in too deep. For now, he was stuck waiting to see howtheirstory would end.

CHAPTER 20

"Wow, five, six, seven covers.Eight,actually.”