A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts 1)

Amy walked up behind her. “That’s really not a bad picture,” she said casually.

Dana turned several shades of red. “It’s an embarrassing photo.”

“You don’t like your picture taken?” Amy asked offhandedly, but Dana detected something more than curiosity in her words.

“Amy, what’s going on?” Dana asked, focusing on Amy’s suddenly nervous expression.

“They want you to do a photo shoot and an interview with People magazine,” Amy said apologetically.

Dana groaned, “When?”

Amy grabbed her arm and dragged her to her feet. “Now!” she said excitedly. Dana closed her computer and placed it under the couch.

“Okay, let’s go,” she said dejectedly.

Amy opened the door. “Okay, come in.” Several women carrying garment bags, make-up and shoes walked into the trailer.

“What’s going on?” Dana asked.

“This is for the photo shoot,” Amy said innocently.

Dana gestured to the bags. “What do they expect me to wear? And why can’t I wear what I have on?” She gestured to her jeans and tank top.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Honestly, between you and Edward I have my hands full. Just let them work their magic,” Amy said.

An hour later Dana walked out in a baby blue silk cocktail dress with spaghetti straps. Amy was practically bouncing along side of her. Dana leaned over and whispered to Amy. “You do realize payback’s a bitch, right?”

That seemed to make Amy giggle. “Totally worth it! You look amazing!”

“Thanks,” Dana said dryly. She liked what they did to her hair and make-up, but she refused to give Amy that knowledge since she was already too damn happy. Dana feared they would have to cut sugar out of her diet, soon. She was just too damn cheerful all the time.

Rick walked over to her, smiling. “Damn, Dana, you look great.” He took her hand and led her into the studio. She was surprised to see a large white back drop with bright lights set up off to the side of the set.

Edward paced the area. She noticed he was wearing a black suit with a baby blue shirt. The first two buttons were undone making him look irresistible. When he saw her he stopped pacing and noticeably swallowed, taking her new look in. He walked over to her.

“I’m really sorry, Dana. The studio and your editor decided we needed to give an interview about the book. I tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn’t listen.”

She turned her focus on Rick. “Rick, we’re only ten chapters into the book. We’re not ready to talk about it, and we're certainly not giving details,” she scolded him.

Rick tried to give her an innocent look but she wasn’t having it. “I’m not giving any details, Rick.”

He put his hands up. “That’s fine. Just talk about what it’s like to work with him, stuff like that.”

She sighed, “Fine.”

A man stepped forward in an expensive suit. She pegged him for a reporter instantly. “Dana, thank you for granting this interview. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem.” She gave him a soft smile which he returned easily.

“If you don’t mind I would like to get some pictures of the two of you,” he said, leading her over to the white background.

She nodded. “I’ve never done this before.”

“I’ll help you,” Edward said.

“Thank you.” He took her hand and led her in front of the camera.

“Okay, guys, for this shoot I just want you to act normal. There’s no direction so just talk,” the photographer said.

Dana was beyond nervous. Not only had she never done something like this before, but now she had to figure out what to do. She was so afraid of turning the wrong way or making a bad move and end up looking like a total weirdo.

“This is nice, let me guess, Amy?” Edward said, gesturing to her dress.

She looked down at her dress and looked back at Edward to find him smiling. “Yeah, I think she went a little overboard. It took everything I had to get her to relax.” She absently pushed a strand of hair back over her ear. Edward reached out and fixed it into place.

“Did you know your sister actually tried to get me to wear a gown to this thing?” she asked, laughing.

Edward easily returned her laugh. “I’m not surprised since she tried to make me wear a tux.”

Dana reached out and ran a hand down his jacket smoothing it out. “That definitely would have been overkill.”

Edward watched Dana smooth down his jacket and had to stop himself from grinning like an idiot. What the hell was wrong with him? He forced himself to focus on anything but her silky dress that seemed to cling to every curve of her body. “So, I hear the third book is coming out today,” he said casually.

He was surprised to see the look of confusion on her face. “What day is it?” she asked him.

“June twelfth.”

Her hands went to her face. “Oh no!” she cried.

Edward was instantly alarmed. His hands went to her arms and gently pulled her closer to him. “Dana, what’s wrong?”

She dropped her hands from her face. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. I just forgot about something.” She looked into his eyes and tried to force a smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

Something was wrong. Granted, he'd only known her for a couple of weeks, but he knew this wasn’t her. It was like the life had instantly been sucked out of her. She stepped away from his embrace.

“I’m all set guys.” The photographer informed them. “Mike, they’re all yours.”

The reporter stepped forward. “Okay, where’s a good spot to do this interview?”

“Dana’s trailer,” Edward said. He took her hand without another word and gently tugged her in the direction of her trailer.

*******

“Dana, I hear the third Christian and Bailey book is coming out today. That makes it your sixth book you've had published. You must be very excited,” Mike said.

She nodded. “It’s still very overwhelming.” She tried to smile.

For the last half hour Edward studied her. This was definitely not her. She ran a hand through her hair and looked at her watch every two minutes. She crossed her legs again. He sat back and let his eyes run over her long tanned smooth legs while he tried to figure out what was wrong. He wondered if she had a date and decided he didn’t like the idea and moved on to something else.