feelings growing for her, which in the long run would probably only destroy him. She was a movie star for God’s sake. Known worldwide. It wasn’t so much that he felt unworthy of her; he just had a hard time picturing them together in the real world.
Troy went back to shaving and covertly watched as Julie got ready. It helped take his mind off the coming conversation with his uncle. He’d been doing his damnedest to avoid thinking about his father and uncle and how the roles had been reversed. Part of him understood why his mother had done what she’d done. She’d wanted a name for her baby, wanted a roof over her head. Hell, she’d all but sacrificed herself for him, but her sacrifice had also been him.
He’d loved his mother. He couldn’t be angry with her for making a choice she clearly hadn’t wanted to make, in hopes of a better life. She’d just made a mistake. But maybe she felt as if she’d done the only thing possible.
“Thinking about your uncle?” Julie asked. She’d lost the towel and had slipped into some chic, loose-fitting sweats. Even dressed down, she looked like a Victoria’s Secret model.
“Thinking about a lot of things.” He rinsed the razor and stuck it in his toilet kit.
She stroked her thumb across his cheek, her eyes clear blue and intense. “Clean shaven. Very sexy. I like it.” The emotion in her eyes spoke more than her simple words. A blush crept up her cheeks and she faced the mirror. “Now go away before you distract me more. I need to put on some makeup.”
Troy dropped a quick kiss on her lips and left the bathroom so she could finish getting ready.
He checked his watch. Eight minutes. Eight minutes until he’d see his uncle. Father. Zach. Troy sat on the sofa, ran his hand through his hair. He’d managed to dodge thinking about it because he’d lost himself in Julie, but now, with only a few minutes until Zach arrived, he had to face it. His stomach actually felt a little queasy.
On one level it made perfect sense. He’d always gotten along with Zach so much better than his father. He sure as hell looked more like Zach than he did his father, Jim. Who was really his Uncle Jim.
God, so many things made sense now. His fath—Jim—must have known. Why else would he have treated Troy and his mother so cruelly for so long? What other reason could there have been for him to move them so far away after his mom died? Unless her accident really hadn’t been an accident...
He couldn’t do anything about it this exact moment. Right now, he had to get used to the idea that the next time he saw Zach, he was really seeing the man as his father for the first time.
Troy wiped his palms against his jeans. Why the hell was he so nervous?
The bathroom door opened and Julie came out looking like a million bucks. In about five minutes, she’d managed to make herself perfect. It wasn’t that she had a ton of makeup on or expensive clothes. Her damp hair dried in soft waves around her face. Her porcelain skin made her a work of art all by itself, but with a little bit of makeup, she was beyond breathtaking. He marveled again at how easily she could switch from comedienne to beauty queen.
She took one look at him and somehow she knew. “It’s going to be fine.” She pulled him off the sofa and ran her hand through his hair, smoothing down a spot he must’ve wrecked in his nervousness. “He loves you. And you love him. You’re both still the same people. Now you have another connection, that’s all.”
Her simply stated words cut right to the heart of it. She was so damn good at seeing the meat and bones, and she absolutely had burrowed under his skin.
Yeah. Okay. That about sealed it. He loved her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Troy would’ve kissed her right then. Would’ve said screw the clock, his uncle—father—could wait, and he would’ve lifted her onto the table, spread her legs and taken her hard and fast, but a car pulled up outside. He rested his forehead against hers. “For the record, I’m really glad you’re here. With me. Right now.”
Her soft, supportive smile beamed up at him, her blue eyes gazing at him, brimming with emotion. He’d seen that look before on the movie screen...and in the bathroom a few