AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Really, do you have family there?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I have a friend who’s from there and I made him take me because it’s where Julia Roberts was born.”
“Big fan?”
She looked at him like he’d just asked the most obvious question in the world. “Yeah, you could say that.”
As much as Ace was enjoying this conversation, he was concerned that Ginny was here, in a dark hall, by herself. He would expect her to be surrounded by people. A manager. Assistant. Stylist. Or at the very least, her band. He and Dax had set up a green room in their small banquet room and he was surprised that she wasn’t there. She’d said that everything was fine, but he had a feeling it wasn’t.
“Is there someone I can get for you?” He understood if she didn’t want to go out into the crowd, but he didn’t want her to feel trapped in here.
“Get for me?”
“Yeah, like your assistant or manager maybe.”
Her expression fell. “You know who I am.”
Ace hesitated before nodding, not sure why that was so disappointing or why he felt the need to apologize for it. “Sorry.”
She shook her head. “No, don’t be silly. You have nothing to be sorry about. It was just nice to feel anonymous for a min…” Her phone buzzed and she looked down. When she saw the number her entire body tensed. “I’m sorry. I have to take this.”
“No problem. I was just coming in for a breather. I should get back out there. Let me know if you need anything.”
She nodded as her lips turned up in a tight smile before she swiped her finger across the screen and lifted the phone to her ear.
As Ace opened the door to give her privacy, he heard her say with a cheeriness that her posture and fake smile didn’t support, “Hey, Mom.”
Her sudden shift in body language made perfect sense. Family had the exact same effect on him. He could definitely relate. Ginny seemed like a sweet girl and he felt for her.
Ace had met dozens of celebrities in his life. Growing up his parents ran in those circles. Overseas he’d met actors, singers, comedians and athletes that came over to entertain the troops. And in the past month he’d been on a security detail for both a pop star and an Academy Award winning actor.
In all of his experience, he’d never met someone of Virginia Valentine’s stature that was so down to earth and real. He liked her. Not in a romantic way, more in a little sister way. Not that he had one of those, but if he had, that’s what he thought he would feel towards her.
Stepping back into the crowd he scanned the room fully expecting to be disappointed. All night he’d been searching for Stephanie. He’d even asked Simone if she was coming, but her sister had only shrugged and tried to direct the conversation back to herself. In the back of his mind he knew that she wasn’t coming tonight, but that didn’t stop his eyes from searching through the throng of people.
He’d almost given up hope when a flash of red hair across the room caught his eye. He did a double take and could hardly believe what he was seeing. Standing near the entrance of the bar beneath a light, her long, shiny hair flowing loosely around her shoulders, wearing a black dress that made her toned legs look a mile long was Stephanie.
In that instant, something changed. Something shifted. A piece that he’d never known was missing clicked into place. She was what he’d been waiting for. Not just tonight, but his entire life. She was it. He couldn’t explain how he knew but he did, on a deep, soulful level. The only question was, what he was going to do about it?
