Page 82 of His Girl Hollywood
Don started pulling her more quickly down the carpet. She tried to dig her toes into the plush carpet. “Darling, slow down. Don’t you want to talk to the reporters? This is your big night.”
He pulled her toward him and gently pressed his hand to her back, close enough to take her in his arms if he wanted to. “It’sourbig night. All I want is to get to my seat and watch my first picturewhile I hold my girl’s hand. There will be plenty of time to talk to the press later. Hell, Harry’s got me lined up for the cover of at least three different magazines with the word ‘screen’ in the title.”
She laughed at that. “The public relations office at Evets Studios is quite good.” She meant that too. So far, they’d prevented any scuttlebutt about Don and Arlene’s on-set romance from reaching the press.
“So, I’ll let them do their job. Tonight, let’s enjoy the movie we made together.”
She blushed and looked down again, and he quickly ghosted a kiss to her forehead, which only made her smile harder. Someone from the press line yelled out, “Hey, lovebirds, give us a kiss.”
Don put his hand under her chin and tipped it up to search her eyes, looking for approval. They’d agreed not to hide. Harry had promised he’d handle any nasty headlines or gossip that even so much as intimated Arlene hadn’t earned her place as a director twenty times over. But here Don was, still making sure this was okay, still respecting her career.
She had told him she would love him unashamedly, the way he’d always deserved to be loved—and the flashing lights of dozens of cameras didn’t change that one bit. Let the PR department deal with it. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, enjoying the puff of air that escaped his mouth in surprise before he returned the kiss, wrapping her in his arms. His hand wandered to her behind, and she broke apart from him, hoping he hadn’t noticed she wasn’t wearing any underwear. That was a surprise for later. They looked at each other, at the camera, and then back at each other and both giggled.
She felt someone snap a photo of them—with his arms around her, holding her like she was more valuable than any treasure to be found in an Egyptian pyramid, her looking up at him like he wasRa, the god of the sun. She made a mental note to ask Ida to track down the negative on Monday. She knew without even seeing it that she’d want to frame this picture and put it on her mantel. Right beside the picture she’d taken of Don the day he left. A portrait of a boy, ambitious and headstrong, beside a picture of a man, back where he belonged, giving and receiving the love he’d been hoofing for thousands of miles away.
He kissed her cheek again and started pulling her to the entry doors. “Let’s go get our seats,” Don said.
She let him tug her, giving herself over to the joy and giddiness of the moment. “You know they reserved our seats, right?”
He looked back at her and laughed, and she followed him through the pillars into Hollywood’s temple, the sacred home of the motion picture, his laughter echoing off the colorful painted pharaohs on the walls.
***
The moment the lights went down, Arlene’s stomach started somersaulting. A hush fell over the crowd, and she held her breath as the title card with a calligraphedThe “It” Girlfilled the screen. She whooped and Don cheered as the next card readStarring Rita Carterand thenIntroducing Don Lamont. She reached over and squeezed his hand. She was so proud of him, she could burst.
Suddenly, there it was:Directed by Arlene Morgan. The words blown up to the size of a football field. She’d dreamed about this for as long as she could remember and now it was here, in black and white. Don put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly before erupting into thunderous applause. She smiled so hard it made her cheeks hurt.
After a few expository scenes introducing the characters of Leeand Danny to the audience, it was time for the first love scene—when Lee “teaches” Danny to dance, and he impresses her boss, eventually asking her out to dinner and kissing her. Throughout the dance sequence, she could see Don smiling, counting the steps under his breath. “You were right,” she leaned over to whisper. “This choreography is much better than what I tried to make you do.”
He preened a bit, reveling in her praise. But all the color drained from his face as the dance ended and it came time for the love scene. He needn’t have worried. As Danny leaned in to kiss Rita Carter’s Lee, Arlene heard little gasps and intakes of breath from around them in the theater. Someone in the back wolf-whistled. Don was a matinee idol now, whether he liked it or not. “You’re a natural,” she whispered.
“Nah,” he murmured back. “I had an excellent teacher give me a very instructive lesson.” She bit her lip and crossed her legs, trying to stifle the sudden rush of heat that came with the memory of that first kiss on set. God, she really should’ve worn underwear.
The rest of the film passed smoothly, and before she knew it, they were at Don’s big number—his dance with his alter ego. She crossed all her fingers together in her lap and then sat on her hands. This number was revolutionary. Unlike anything that had ever been done before. And she had no idea how the audience would react. Would they think it was hokey? Would it make sense to them, this notion of Danny wrestling with himself through dance?
She could scarcely breathe as she watched Don and his reflection execute a perfect series of steps across the screen. The music swelled and Don’s larger-than-life self jumped up onto the streetlight and then down into the puddle, banishing his reflection with a few kicks of his feet. The audience around them burst into uproarious applause, a few scattered people even leaping to their feet. She couldn’t stop the sudden rush of tears that swamin her eyes, turning the movie screen into a watery impressionist painting. It was a hit. Don was a star. And he loved her. It was a Hollywood happy ending she’d never dared to imagine could actually be hers.
Chapter 33
“Slow down!” Lena giggled as Don pressed his foot to the gas. “We have all night.”
He looked at her, at the way her auburn hair gleamed in the streetlights as they passed under them. The twinkle of merriment and slight impatience in her eyes. “We do,” he agreed. “And I intend to use every second of it.”
“Keep your eyes on the road then, so we can get home in one piece,” she retorted. But the smirk on her face told him everything he needed to know. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her. Half of him was tempted to pull over to the side of the road and ravish her then and there. But then, at some point they’d still have to get home—and once he started, he wouldn’t want to stop.
She reached over and ran her hands through the hair at the nape of his neck. She pulled away and laughed at the spare strands of confetti that came away on her fingers. “I’ve never had a night like this,” she admitted.
The premiere had been something else. The Egyptian Theatre with its lines of palm trees illuminated by spotlights, and the red carpet flanked by faux Egyptian statues and painted hieroglyphics. The whole evening had been beyond his wildest imaginings. But Lena had already won an Oscar. Surely, this couldn’t compare.
“I know what you’re thinking.” She grinned. “Yes, winning anOscar was great, but that night was missing the best part of this one.”
“And what is that?” He stole a glance at her as he wound his way through the quiet backstreets, the path to her bungalow etched into his heart by now.
She smiled, a look of such love in her eyes that his heart could nearly burst. “You know it’s you.”
He smirked. He couldn’t help it. She reached across and pressed her finger ever so gently to the place on his face where his scar slashed through his dimple. “Have I ever told you how much I love this spot?”
He took one hand off the wheel, grabbed her hand, and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Only about a thousand times.”