“About this morning,” he began.
“You were just being honest,” Gia replied resignedly, staring at the dark green duvet.
“No. I wasn’t.”
She glanced into his face, surprised by his stark reply. She tried to read his impassive expression, but the only thing she sensed was his somberness.
“I’ve told you I have a hang-up about actresses, and I confessed my doubts about relationships between two people both working in show business. It’s not only you I’ve expressed this attitude to. People I work with are aware of it. My niece, Joy—whom I consider my closest family—is aware of it. I tried to warn her to stay away from Everett Hughes.”
Gia bent her elbow and propped her head up on her hand. “Joy and Everett are both in the business. Joy is your partner in Hightower Special Effects, and Everett is arguably the most famous actor on the planet. Are you saying that their relationship is doomed to failure?”
“No. They’re disgustingly happy together.”
“So?” Gia asked slowly, confused as to why he’d brought up Joy and Everett.
“I wanted to be honest with you about my doubts. But in fact, I was only being half-honest, and maybe in the end, that’s the same as being dishonest.”
“I’m not following you, Seth.”
He exhaled. “Not even Joy knows my original reason for avoiding actresses in the dating arena. I’ve never told her.” He gave her a quick, fierce look. “I’ve never told anyone that I was married before.”
“What?”
“It lasted all of ten months. I got married when I was twenty-three years old. I was still twenty-three when I was divorced.”
A tingling sensation started down her spine as she stared at him in the taut silence that followed his revelation.
“And she was an actress?” Gia whispered, already knowing how he’d reply.
He nodded. “Not at the time, but she became one. Not just any actress. An actress you know. An actress everyone knows,” he added, his mouth slanting grimly.
“Who?” Gia asked warily. Did she really want to know? She sensed his hesitation. “I’ll take this to my grave, if that’s what you want, Seth. You’ve never even told Joy, and she’s like a sister to you.” A flicker of unease went through her. “You do trust me, don’t you?”
“Zoe Lindsay,” was his blunt reply.
The name seemed to echo and vibrate in Gia’s head.
Zoe Lindsay was in her mid-thirties, but already she’d reached legend status. She had starred in not only commercial blockbusters but also highly acclaimed independent films, and even on Broadway. She was drop-dead gorgeous—a true Hollywood siren—intelligent, savvy and highly respected by her peers. Gia’s heart began drumming loudly in her ears.
Seth’s eyebrows pinched together in puzzlement.
“What’s wrong, Gia?”
“She’s my idol,” Gia mumbled under her breath, stunned. She blinked, immediately regretting saying her thought out loud. Had Seth heard her? She saw his expression stiffen and feared he had. “I’m sorry. I’m just kind of . . . shocked,” she tried to explain her dazed reaction.
“Yeah. It’s kind of hard to think of the two of us together.”
She sat up slowly, studying his face. “No, it’s not that. It’s just . . . unexpected to suddenly pair you two together. You and Zoe Lindsay.”
He nodded. “For me too. Of course, she wasn’t Zoe Lindsay when we met. She was Lindsay Callahan, a waitress in a dive bar in Barstow, California, not far from the National Training Center at Fort Irwin where I was based for a while. She was a force to be reckoned with, even then.” He gave a mirthless bark of laughter and shook his head. “I never stood a chance.”
“She must have thought the same about you,” Gia said. She felt a little dizzy, considering it. Dizzy and heartsore, somehow. Funny, she’d always known Seth was older than her, more experienced, and just worldlier in general. But to think of her—Gia Harris—involved with the same man Zoe Lindsay had married? To learn that Seth and her career idol shared a past?
Well, it was jarring, bewildering, and just plain unsettling on so many levels.
“Why did the marriage end so soon?” Gia asked.
“We were young and stupid. We got married in Las Vegas one weekend while I was on leave after a crazy summer infatuation. It was destined not to work from the start. I wouldn’t have been able to last long myself in the heat of Zoe’s fame fever . . . under the camera lens always trained on her world.”