Page 61 of A Star is Scorned

One month later

Livvy stepped out of the dinghy and onto the dock, careful not to get the heel of her champagne-colored shoe caught between the wooden planks. She dropped the skirt of her shimmering dress, and it swirled like liquid gold around her knees and ankles as she reached for Flynn’s hand.

Behind them, in the purple light of dusk, loomed the Catalina Casino, the gem of Avalon Bay with its rounded structure. Its tall, scalloped archways were illuminated in shades of silver and gold for the New Year’s dance.

Flynn tucked her arm beneath his and straightened the fox fur stole she wore, leading her up the pier toward the walkway.

In a few moments, they were at the front of the casino, and Livvy gasped at the beautiful mosaic tile that lined the entrance.

A mermaid with blond hair, floating in a sea of teal tile, stretched high above them, surrounded by two panels that featured the curls of ocean waves, brightly colored fish, and adorable seahorses.

It was even more impressive than the tile at Flynn’s home.

“It’s stunning,” she gasped in wonder.

“No, you are,” Flynn whispered into her ear, nuzzling her bare neck. She swatted at him and warmed. It was a terrible line, but it still made her go all squishy inside every time he told her she was beautiful. “But if you think this is good, wait until we’re inside.”

Flynn wasn’t exaggerating. Every room held more wonders than the last. The art deco building was extraordinary, from the designs in its tiled entryway to its lush red ceilings and walnut-paneled hallways.

She oohed and aahed as they made the climb to the twelfth floor and entered the enormous ballroom.

An outdoor circular balcony granted them a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the harbor and the ocean that separated them from the mainland in the distance.

Around the edge of the ballroom were beautifully decorated tables and chairs, each with a spray of red roses at their center.

The stage at the front of the room held a forty-piece band, currently playing “Stompin’ at the Savoy” while couples Lindy Hopped their way around the magnificent dance floor.

Livvy couldn’t help but swing her hips lightly in time to the music as she swiveled her head, trying to take it all in.

The chestnut wood paneling continued across the back of the room, where a large bar was built into the wall.

But the best feature was the room’s fan-vaulted ceiling with a gold metal chandelier and a large globe light at its center.

“Is it what you imagined?” Flynn leaned over and asked her.

She nodded. “So much more.”

The band concluded their song, and the couples on the floor broke out into a smattering of applause.

It was early still, and she knew the floor would only get more crowded as the night went on.

The band nodded on beat as the band leader counted off a quicker syncopation and they broke out into “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

Livvy couldn’t suppress a trill of excitement, and Flynn chuckled. “Would you like to dance?”

“God yes,” she answered, and he showed her over to a table next to the window where she could deposit her stole and the small clutch she was using as a handbag. He took her hand and they headed down three steps and out onto the floor, Flynn twirling her into his arms.

The music twinkled along, and he led her through a sequence of basic swing steps before turning her into a series of spins. By the time the song ended, she was gasping for air and smiling so wide her face hurt.

“Having fun?” Flynn asked, pulling her toward him.

All she could do was nod vigorously as she tried to catch her breath.

That day when they’d won the regatta and stared at the casino in the distance, Flynn had promised to bring her here.

She had thought it was a hollow pledge at the time, something he’d tossed off in the moment.

But the reality of it now was so much more than she had dreamed.

“I didn’t know you could dance like that,” she huffed out.

“When you’re a member of the British aristocracy, it comes with the territory.” He shrugged.

“A former member,” she corrected. Just after Christmas, Flynn had sent his brother a letter, renouncing any claim he had to the family title and fortune.

As his mother’s bastard, he technically had no right to it anyway, but Edgar didn’t need to know that.

He’d spare him that indignity at least. Better his brother just believe he’d forsaken his duty once and for all.

Flynn had enough money here, and he had never wanted the strings his family legacy came with.

So, he’d freed himself to enjoy his life with Livvy on his own terms. Just as his mother had done before him.

“Besides, I doubt they teach the Lindy Hop to future dukes.”

He chuckled. “No, you’re right. That I learned how to do from a cigarette girl at the Palomar Ballroom. She was a rather, uh, vigorous girl.”

Livvy rolled her eyes. “Remind me to write her a thank-you note.”

Flynn laughed more loudly now. “I love it when you get a little jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” Livvy teased. “I would’ve hated to teach you to dance. After all, I already had to teach you to fence.” She winked at him as his jaw dropped in mock outrage.

The band struck up another fast-paced song, and he proffered his hand to continue dancing, but she shook her head. “I need a break.”

Flynn led her off the floor and directed them to the highly polished bar at the back of the room.

It wasn’t crowded. It was so long, taking up the entire back half of the space, that Livvy suspected there wouldn’t be a line all night, no matter how many people were thirsty.

Flynn ordered a whiskey soda for himself and a gimlet for her before leading them to the outdoor balcony.

Flynn raised his glass and clinked it to Livvy’s. “To us.”

“To us,” she agreed, giving him a quick kiss and leaning in to him. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head gently atop hers as she looked out across the ocean. The stars were beginning to twinkle and the moon was a bright orb reflected in the water’s surface.

He hummed along to the music pouring out of the doors, and they stood together in utter contentment.

“What’s Judy up to tonight?” Flynn asked eventually.

“Oh, Walter is taking her to dinner at Perino’s, then dancing at the Biltmore.

” Judy had started dating the newspaper man shortly after the aborted Powers wedding.

The day after their escapades, Judy had gone to his desk at the Hollywood Reporter to tell her side of the story.

Walter Pince got the editor to put it on the front page, and it had led to Stanley Devlin being summarily fired from his position with the Production Code Administration.

Every studio in town had blacklisted the man, barring him from their lots and their parties.

Not that Hollywood didn’t have plenty like Devlin still in their ranks.

He made a convenient scapegoat for other powerful men’s abuses.

But at least there was one less wolf in sheep’s clothing prowling the studio streets.

The day after the story ran, Walter—who Livvy had confirmed was, in fact, twenty-three—had called to ask Judy to dinner, and they’d been inseparable ever since.

It made Livvy happy to know her sister was being cared for in her absence.

She was still working to stop mothering her. Old habits die hard, after all.

With Stanley Devlin fired from the PCA and his blackmailing exposed, Rhonda Powers had retreated from the public eye.

Flynn’s reputation issues had vanished seemingly overnight.

Not that it mattered, since he was dating his extremely respectable leading lady.

For real, this time. Harry had stopped arranging dates and photo ops for them, but the press was none the wiser that their relationship had ever been anything but genuine.

The papers still followed their romance with a breathless fervor, and Flynn and Livvy didn’t even mind.

It was good publicity for the picture, which would come out in February.

“Remember our meal from Perino’s?” Flynn whispered into her ear, nipping lightly at her earlobe as they continued admiring the ocean view.

“I do.” A pulse of want rushed through her from her earlobe to the tips of her toes.

She turned her head up to graze his jaw with a fierce kiss before replying. “And I look forward to having more of that dessert later tonight.”

Flynn’s eyes widened, and his irises blew out with want. “Careful,” he growled. “You wouldn’t want to give me a bad reputation.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Wouldn’t I though? I think I’ve done enough to bolster it. It’s time the rogue I was promised makes a return.”

He bent over to kiss her, flinging his arms wide so that he didn’t splash any of his drink onto her, and she stumbled backwards slightly, bowled over by the force of his enthusiasm.

She giggled and broke away from him. “I think I’m a bad influence on you.”

“It’s one of my favorite things about you,” he retorted.

The band finished their up-tempo number and started playing “Night and Day.” Livvy closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and soaked in the sound of the music. “God, I love this song.”

“Want to dance?” Flynn reached for her glass and set both of their nearly finished drinks on a high-top table a few feet from them.

“I want to stay out here a while longer.”

“We can still dance.” Flynn took her in his arms and pressed his cheek to hers, rocking them gently back and forth in the moonlight.

It was one of those impossibly warm California winter nights.

A precursor to that mysterious but inevitable week of January weather that reminded her why people moved here in droves, before things went back to months of gloomy days and spitting rain.

Livvy hummed along, and Flynn began to croon, “‘Night and day, you are the one…’”

He was dreadfully off-key, but Livvy loved it anyway. “I think you’ll have to leave the musicals to Don Lamont,” she teased.

He chuckled, the breath from his laugh tickling the side of her face. “It’s a good thing that Harry’s already set my next picture with you then.”

She made a sigh of contentment in reply, thinking about the contract she’d signed right before Christmas.

Harry had offered her three years on the Evets’s Studios payroll at triple the pay of her measly starting salary.

Plus an option for another three years when it was up.

It was the ticket to a future she’d never known she wanted.

The promise of a new dream. One that fit nicely with the novel she’d secretly started writing during breaks in her dressing room.

She hadn’t even told Flynn yet. It was still too new.

But it turned out that when you weren’t spending every waking hour fretting about other people in your life, there was more time to write.

They kept dancing, and Livvy soaked it all in. The beautiful ballroom behind them, decorated with such care. The warm feel of Flynn’s arms around her as he held her and rocked her gently in time to the music. The smell of the brine from the ocean far below them.

She and Judy had been through so much these last years.

But now she was at peace. More than at peace—she was happier than she’d ever thought possible.

About to ring in the New Year with the man she loved.

Secure in her career and content in the knowledge that her sister was as well cared for as she could possibly be.

“‘Till you let me spend my life making love to you,’” Flynn talked-sang into her ear.

She nuzzled his neck. “Mmm, that sounds nice.”

“Does it?” he asked, taking a step back from her and pulling a small, black velvet box out of his pocket. He didn’t get down on one knee, but simply popped the lid open with his thumb. A single emerald-cut diamond in a bezel setting winked back at her, twinkling in the moonlight.

She covered her mouth with her hands, truly in shock. Flynn Banks, resolute bachelor and rapscallion, was proposing to her. “Flynn, I told you already that being with you is enough. If you don’t ever want to get married, we don’t have to.” She didn’t want him to feel marriage was an obligation.

He frowned. “Is that a no?”

“No!” she shrieked, and he laughed in response. “I mean, yes. It’s a yes. Of course, it’s a yes.”

“Good.” He smiled, relief washing over his face. “But I did practice a speech, if you’d humor me.”

She extended her trembling hand, ready for the ring, and answered breathlessly, “I want to hear every word.”

He took the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger.

As he did, he told her, “Livvy, for many years, I swore I’d never marry.

Because of my parents, I believed that marriage was a prison doomed to make its victims miserable.

I watched as wiser men than me fell victim to its allure.

I called them fools. But that was before I knew you.

Before I understood the joy that could come from choosing to spend my life with someone.

From making a promise and a pledge to love someone at their best and their worst. Marriage isn’t a trap.

Not when it’s with you. It’s simply the next chapter in our love story.

” He gave her a gentle kiss as he clasped her now beringed hand to his chest. “It would be the honor of my life if you’d let me write it with you. ”

“Yes,” she whispered. “A thousand times yes.”

He bent his head and pressed a thousand yeses to her lips in return, before whispering against her mouth, “There’s just one thing you have to remember.”

“What’s that?” she asked, tangling her hand in the curls at the nape of his neck and pulling him down for another kiss.

“You’re marrying a scoundrel.”

She grinned against his mouth and kissed him as he lifted her gently and spun her in a circle with her feet off the ground.

With her arms around his neck, she studied the face of the man she loved, the rogue she would marry.

It would be the adventure of a lifetime.

And with Flynn at her side, she knew that she was ready to face anything.

Because he’d helped her see that truly living meant going after the things you wanted.

Even the ones that were a little wicked.

Because of Flynn, she knew that you had to choose joy for yourself instead of merely making choices that ensured it for others.

She gazed at him adoringly as he returned her to the ground. A firework boomed behind them, apparently launched from one of the sailboats docked in the harbor below. They jumped in unison, falling closer together, and laughed.

She gave him a sly look. “Thank you for the reminder, but you’re forgetting something.”

“What?”

“I happen to like scoundrels.” She sealed her proclamation with a kiss.