Wrapped Up In You (A Mystic Island Christmas) by Stephanie Rowe

Author:Stephanie Rowe [Rowe, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: SBD Press
Published: 2015-11-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

COLE FELT WILLOW stiffen the moment he asked the question, but he didn't release her. He hadn't missed the look of absolute terror on her face when she'd been identified at the dance. She'd gone sheet white, and looked like a rabbit ready to bolt for cover. Whatever it was that had her spooked, he wanted to know what it was. "It won't change how I see you. To me you'll always just be the girl from the beach. Talk to me."

She searched his face, as if to ferret out any signs of subterfuge, and then she finally sighed. "You said you've been living under a rock, but surely you've heard of Billy Morgan and Ceci Ramirez?"

He frowned at her reference to two of Hollywood's biggest celebrities, superstars who'd had more than their share of scandals. They were infamous for affairs, on-the-set blowups, and Billy had been in and out of treatment for substance abuse over the years. They were both megastars, celebrities whose stardom had transcended the years and the scandals. "Of course."

She gave him a thin smile. "They're my parents."

"Your parents?" He frowned, trying to reconcile the ugliness of Hollywood celebrity life with the woman in his arms. "Really?"

"Really." She spread her hands. "I'm the ugly kid they hate to admit they have."

He narrowed his eyes, searching his memories for references to their children. "Isn't Angelica Morgan their daughter? And...a son, right? Trevor Morgan?"

"Yes, and me." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm the kid no one likes to acknowledge." She lifted her chin. "I'm the ugly, fat one," she said softly. "I never lived up to my family's successes. I'm just..." She shrugged. "Whatever."

He remembered suddenly seeing Ceci's wedding picture on the front of a magazine at a grocery store recently, and the groom who was twenty years younger. He hadn't paid any attention to it at the time, but as he looked into Willow's vulnerable face, he wished he had. Hell. "Tell me more," he said, sliding his hand into hers. "Let's walk."

She fell in beside him, her shoulder bumping against his as she began to fill him in about growing up in that family. The parties, the paparazzi, the constant judgment by the media. Her voice was tight and reserved as she spoke, but he could feel her pain anyway, especially when she talked about all her attempts to have an acting career like theirs, and how she'd always fallen short, never getting the role that would make her legitimate. "There was this one role I really wanted. It was for a fantastic movie. The director called my agent and told me that I was too fat and I needed a nose job if I ever wanted to get anywhere," she said softly. "I was sixteen at the time. It crushed me."

Cole swore under his breath, and pulled her to face him. "Listen to me, Willow," he said. "When you were sixteen, listening to some bastard say you were too fat, I was spending my Saturday afternoon at the dock, waiting for the ferry, hoping that the next one would bring you back to the island.

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