All Chapters of MY FORBIDDEN SHOWMANCE: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Jay opened my refrigerator without asking.I was in the bathroom finishing my mascara when I heard it: the refrigerator door, then silence, then the freezer, more silence, a cabinet, and another cabinet.I leaned toward the bathroom door. "What are you looking for?""Food.""Well, you aren't going to find any."Silence again. I finished my other eye.Jay appeared in the doorway, looking concerned."What?" I asked."Tess.""What?""You have one frozen pizza.""Yes.""Half a bag of tortilla chips.""Those might be stale.""Three granola bars.""Breakfast.""And wine.""Also breakfast if rehearsal goes badly."He stared at me, so I put the mascara down. "Why are you looking at me like that?""Where's your food?""You just listed all of it.""No. Your actual food.""I eat actual food.""Where?""Places.""What places?""Restaurants. The theater. Sometimes people give me things."Jay rubbed a hand over his face. "What were you going to eat tonight?""I hadn't decided.""Tomorrow?""Tomorro

I stepped into the bedroom first. Danny closed the door behind us with a quiet click, and the second the latch caught he was on me again.No more checking. No more questions. His mouth crushed against mine, harder than before, one hand already fisting in my hair to tip my head back so he could take what he wanted. The other hand went straight under the hem of my top, palm flat and hot against my stomach, fingers spreading like he was claiming the skin.“Been thinking about this since last night,” he muttered against my mouth. “You stopping me.” His teeth scraped my lower lip. “Not happening again.”I made a sound that wasn’t quite a word. He took it as agreement and walked me backward until the backs of my thighs hit the edge of his bed. One shove and I sat. Danny didn’t follow me down. He stood between my knees and pulled his shirt over his head in one motion, tossing it somewhere behind him.Jesus. I’d seen him without a shirt in fittings, but not like this, not with his chest risin

“You cheated,” he accused. “I won.” “You moved the ball.” “With my club.” “With your foot.”I stared at Jay across the miniature golf course.“That is a serious accusation.” “I watched you do it.” “Do you have witnesses?”Jay looked around. A family with two little kids was arguing over a blue golf ball, and an older couple was three holes ahead of us. Nobody was paying attention.He looked back at me. “You're unbelievable.”“You're losing.” “Because you're cheating.”I leaned on my putter. “Sounds like something a loser would say.”Jay shook his head and walked toward his ball.We'd left rehearsal less than an hour ago, and apparently tomorrow had turned into miniature golf. Jay claimed he'd chosen it because I'd said grocery shopping wasn't an activity and he wanted to make sure today's plans met my standards. I suspected he'd chosen it because he thought he could beat me.He was wrong—mostly because I was cheating.Jay lined up his shot. “Are you going to stand there?”“Yes.” “Can

I was standing onstage pretending to listen to notes while Danny stood six feet away pretending he hadn't spent most of last night kissing me.Apparently, forbidden relationships got easier with practice.“Tessa?”I blinked. Our director was looking at me.“Sorry.”A few people laughed.“Want to join us?”“I'd love to.”“Wonderful. From the top of the scene.”I moved back to my mark. Danny was already waiting, looking completely normal, professional, and annoyingly focused.The music started, and I crossed toward him on cue. The scene had been awkward the first few times we'd rehearsed it—there were too many technical marks to hit, lines to deliver, and exact spots where Danny needed to touch me.Today it felt easy.Danny caught my hand, and I looked up at him. For one second, I forgot there were twenty people watching us.Then he said his line. I remembered mine, and we moved through the rest of the scene without stopping.“Good,” the director called when we finished. “Much better. W

The director didn't ask me to sit.I did anyway—mostly because my legs felt like they might stop working.He closed the office door behind me and walked around his desk. For one stupid second, I thought maybe this wasn't about Danny. Maybe he'd called me in to discuss rehearsal. Maybe he wanted to change something about my character. Maybe Claire hadn't said anything.Then he sat down. “Tessa, I need to talk to you about something that was brought to my attention this morning.”Fuck.“Okay.”He folded his hands on the desk. “Danny came to me.”I stared at him. Danny? Not Claire. Danny.“He expressed some concerns about your interactions with him outside of rehearsal.”For a second, I honestly didn't understand. “What?”“He said you've been pursuing him.”I blinked. The words didn't make sense. “I've been...”“He said he's tried to maintain a professional relationship with you, but your advances have become increasingly difficult for him to manage.”I couldn't speak.Danny had said tha