A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts #1)(12)

Dana walked to a chair with her name printed on it. Not too shabby, she thought. She sat down and waited for her book come to life. She watched as a beautiful woman, someone who should be modeling for playboy, walked over to her.

“Hi, Dana, right?” the young woman asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m Jennifer. I dropped by so I could say hello and talk to you about my character if you have a few minutes after Edward shoots this scene,” she said.

“Yes, of course.” Dana said, willing to do whatever it took to make her characters come to life.

Jennifer smiled and walked off to a large group of people waiting for her. Interesting, she had her own entourage. She found it more interesting that Edward didn’t. She knew he was more famous. Jennifer was new to acting and seemed to love the attention. Edward didn’t.

“Ghosts?” Edward chuckled, immediately grabbing Dana’s attention.

She realized they were shooting the first scene. She watched nervously as they worked through the first scene several times. Each time she found herself on the edge of her seat gripping the arms of her chair. Something was wrong…something she hadn't realized until this moment.

Watching Edward act she realized he was Christian. She made Christian for Edward and never realized it. Edward was who she thought about when she wrote Christian, an easy going guy who was kind and generous. “Oh my God,” she whispered to herself.

“Shhhh,” someone hissed.

She bit her lip as she watched the scene to continue to unfold. Every now and then she would look around and wonder if anyone else had noticed that Edward was doing a perfect job of playing Christian and figured out why. It would be really awkward if that ever came out.

***********

“Don’t kill me!”

Dana and Edward looked up from the computer screen. She frowned as she spotted her assistant standing in the doorway holding an ice pack to her face. Then she looked at the clock and groaned inwardly.

She’d been waiting for Jennifer to grace her with her presence for three hours. The actress made a big deal about getting together so Dana had asked Deana to watch the kids for a little while longer.

It wasn’t a complete waste of time. Edward had turned out to be eager to start their work. So far they’d finished the prologue and the first chapter. It was going a lot faster then she thought it would.

Dana looked back up to catch the first sign of recognition filter over her assistant's face. She gasped, pointed and squeaked loudly.

“Damn!” Edward said as he cupped his ears.

Mid-squeak Deana suddenly broke off, closing her eyes and wincing as she pressed the ice pack to her mouth.

Dana jumped out of her chair and walked over to Deana. “What’s wrong?”

Deana held up a hand and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Mommy,” a tiny voice said.

“No, it’s okay, sweetie,” Deana said, wincing. “It was my own fault, Dana. I was showing Elizabeth the proper way to eat a jaw breaker.”

“Oh no….”

Deana nodded. “I broke a tooth.”

Dana took Deana’s hand into hers and gave it a squeeze. “Do you need me to take you to the dentist?”

“No, I need to drop the midgets off, though. If it’s okay?” she shot a half-worried, half-worshipping look in Edward’s direction.

“Of course. You’re hurt, Deana. So, we’re done.”

“Are you sure?” Deana asked nervously. Dana knew the woman’s work history. Deana was still terrified at the thought of going back to her old job where she'd been treated poorly.

Dana pulled her into a hug. “You’re part of this family. Don’t ever worry about it,” she whispered into Deana’s ear.

Deana nodded and sniffled. “Thank you, Dana.” She took a deep breath and turned around. “Alright, guys, get in here and behave yourselves. Auntie Deana will see you guys tomorrow.”

**********

Edward watched curiously. All day Dana had gone out of her way to treat everyone like a good friend. She never once raised her voice to anyone. He was curious to find out if this was an act or not. There were so many fake people in Hollywood after all, but after seeing her with her assistant he knew without a doubt that she was the real deal.

His brows shot up when he saw two of the cutest kids shyly walk into the trailer. The little girl with her slightly curly honey blonde hair and deep blue eyes was without a doubt the prettiest little girl he’d ever seen. She sent him a shy smile, blushed, and stared at the floor, but that wasn’t what shocked him.

A little boy, a toddler perhaps and cute as hell, stepped into the trailer, taking his mother’s hand into his and smiled devilishly towards him. Edward blinked, once, twice and then again as he studied the boy. Holy hell…..this was eerie. The little boy looked just like him. Correction the little boy looked exactly the way he did when he was a toddler. Amy was going to go into hysterics when she caught a glimpse of this kid.

Dana talked to Deana for another minute before the woman left, but not before she wiggled her fingers at him and grinned, then winced. He watched as Dana knelt down in front of her children and said hello. She gave them each a warm smile, hug, and a kiss before turning her attention back to him.

“Edward, this is my daughter,” she gently pulled the shy little girl forward, “Elizabeth, and this little man is my son, Cole.”