Page 20 of Hollywood Crush (West Wales Romance #2)

Tudor

An alarm that wasn’t mine woke me, and I shot up in bed like a rocket. Was a guest in trouble, or Mam standing over me in anger once again, or… Oh .

I was so unused to having a man in my bed that the sight of Daniel — Danny — laying there tangled in the sheets still shocked me. He felt around, bleary-eyed and apparently not quite conscious yet, to stop his phone from blaring.

“Wh-what time is it?” he turned to me, his voice groggy and hair sticking in every direction.

He was so gorgeous I wanted to cry. This Danny, the one who the world would never get to see, was all mine.

Messy, and tired, and still bloody fucking gorgeous.

How could I have lucked out in the way I had?

How the hell could I ever give this up? I had no idea.

“No idea on the time, it’s you who set the alarm.”

“Oh, six o’clock then,” he muttered. “Stunt filming all day today, so I just have to look pretty for the close ups.”

“Might want to have a shower, then,” I teased. “You look throughly fucked. ”

“I was thoroughly fucked and that is entirely your fault,” he replied. I heard his stomach rumble as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. I remembered then that he’d come over relatively early and then we had gotten way too busy to eat.

“Use my shower then come to the conservatory when you’re ready,” I said. “I’ll make sure you’re well fed. Roland doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who believes in lunch breaks.”

“Doesn’t he? Always seemed wonderful to me,” Danny replied.

I took in the view from behind as he walked to the shower, his smooth tanned skin and gorgeous arse basically tempting me to go and join him. But if he had set an alarm he would have to be on set soon, and I’d rather him fed than fucked. How bloody domestic of me.

I pulled on my work trousers and a shirt from the cupboard.

Mam wouldn’t be up yet and Nadia wasn’t due in to work until the evening, so I brought my mobile with me as I walked past the sounds of Daniel humming to himself in the shower — he was a much better actor than singer — out into the hallway, through reception to the kitchen.

Even the catering crew weren’t up and awake yet, which gave me the time and space to do what I needed to do.

I wasn’t sure if Daniel was allergic to anything, he’d never said, or complained, so I got to making the simplest things I could.

After ten minutes and a quick wash up I was carrying a plate of food and a foil-wrapped bundle to the conservatory.

I hadn’t set up the little fold out table so when I got there Daniel was looking out of one of the huge windows towards the sea. My plants had started to grow and I’d been harvesting spinach regularly for when I cooked for me and Mam.

“French toast,” I said, holding out the plate to him. I pulled a knife and fork out of my pocket and handed those to him too. “Sorry, I’ll get the table now.”

“No need.” Danny sank to sit cross-legged on the floor and tucked in, making heightened sounds of enjoyment which I was sure were only to reassure me that it was good. I crouched down next to him so that I wasn’t towering over him.

“That’s my own bread,” I bragged. “I used to get it all from the bakery but he’s been so piled high with orders that I’ve started to make my own. Not on any massive scale, of course. Just enough for me and Mam. And you, obviously.”

“It’s very, very good,” said Daniel, thankfully interrupting my ramble. He cleared the plate and set it down beside him. “What’s that?” he pointed to the foil wrapped package in my hand.

“Well, it’s…” I could feel myself blushing. Why had I been so bloody domestic? I felt embarrassed about it now but passed over the package. “It’s a sandwich. Cheddar cheese ploughman’s. Sorry, I kn ow the caterers probably do on set meals, but I just thought…”

Daniel stopped my apologies with a kiss. He tasted like chocolate spread and strawberries that I’d topped his food with, and his tongue made a lazy swipe along my bottom lip. “Thank you, I really appreciate it,” he said.

The whole situation felt ridiculously comfortable but I couldn’t feel my blush receding.

This man made me a mess in every way and I had no idea what I’d do once he left the village.

Him promising to break things off with Patrick had done wonders for my jealousy but uncoiled some kind of hope within me that he would stay.

Which was stupid. I didn’t even know if I really wanted the man to stay.

I’d known him all of a month or so and shagged him a couple of times.

That was all. I’d met plenty of attractive men in Aberystwyth or Cardiff and known them for a similar amount of time before binning them off.

Why him ? The most unattainable man I’d ever met?

And then he smiled at me in the sunlight and I knew why. Because I could look around the world for a smile that genuine, that kind, and I’d never see it again. Daniel Ellison was the most striking man I’d ever met.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Nothing…just that you are going to be very late to work if you don’t stop moping around my house,” I teased and put on a smile .

“Your house, is it?” He grinned again and my stomach fluttered.

“Yes, my house . And the sooner I get all you bloody guests out the better.”

“The sooner we’re out and filming today the sooner you have to clean Marjorie’s marshmallow-stained bedsheets,” Danny countered.

“That…can be Mam’s job now I know the score,” I said. “I don’t want to know where those marshmallows have been inserted and I don’t want to scar poor Nadia for life.”

I pulled Daniel up to stand and gestured for him to follow me. A quick check of the time said it was approaching 7am and if he was up the rest of the cast and crew were sure to follow.

Sure enough, reception was getting busy. I took a step away from Daniel automatically, but he kept pace with me.

A woman carrying a tray of prosthetic ears — Stacey, my mind supplied — approached us. “I thought we’d be dragging you out of bed, Mr Ellison. But it seems someone has already done us the favour.”

I felt myself blushing, and Daniel pulled me in with one arm. “Get yourself a hotel proprietor if you want to be up early in the morning. I’d advise anyone to give it a go….and I have.”

He had said it loud enough that a couple of the caterers and runners around us stopped still for a moment.

Had he really just outed what we were in front of a room full of people?

My heart thumped so loud I wondered if people could hear it from the other side of the village, and I let that stupid bubble of hope in my stomach rise again before quashing it.

“I’ll see you later. I know you’re busy, but you’re always welcome to come and watch filming,” he said. He stretched slightly to kiss me on my cheek and I felt the butterflies in my stomach go into some kind of happy dance with togas and wine.

After he left, the crew seemed to filter out slowly. I busied myself tidying reception, and after ten minutes or so I heard footsteps from the corridor.

“Alright Mam?” I asked.

She sighed, plonking down a coffee on the counter for me. “God, I’m tired.”

“Couple more weeks and the crew will be gone. And we’ll have enough money to keep us running for another year at least. We might even have enough to take someone on full time. Let you relax a bit.”

“Or you,” replied Mam. “This place was always my dream. Well, your father’s more than anything. I just don’t want you saddled with my mistakes.”

“I’m not…” I started, but didn’t finish. I knew exactly what she meant.

“What would you do, cariad? If you had your own way?” Mam’s Scottish accent always sounded weird when it tried to twist around Welsh vowels.

I hesitated, because I’d never even thought.

But the first image that popped into my head betrayed me.

Daniel . If I had my own way, he’d be around all the time.

Another image jumped into my head then, like the question from my mother had opened floodgates I didn’t even know existed.

Us two, sat in the conservatory enjoying a quiet meal.

Then it morphed again, that conservatory filled with plants of all descriptions, a hum and buzz of happy customers. A hike, us two, with dogs — or kids.

“Tudor?” Mam waved a hand in front of my face and I realised I hadn’t actually answered her question.

“Oh, uh…”

It seemed I didn’t need to answer, because she took my hesitation as a chance to talk.

“The thing is, I was eighteen when I met and fell in love with your father. I had my whole life ahead of me, and I threw it away for a 30-year old Englishman who said his dream was to open a hotel on the coast. It all sounded so romantic to a young woman — no, girl — from Glasgow. I was a child, really, no matter how mature I felt. And I let his dreams supersede mine in every way because I thought I was in love. And when things here went pear-shaped he pissed off and left me with a toddler, and a hotel that was haemorrhaging money.”

“Bastard.” I hadn’t heard from my father since, and I’d never even tried to make contact. It wasn’t worth the hassle or heartbreak. “I know all this though, Mam. You’ll never know how grateful I am for everything you’ve done.”

“I know, I know. All I’m trying to say is, don’t tie yourself to me or this place out of obligation. I wouldn’t wish my hardships on anyone, but would I change my life now looking back? I have you. And that’s enough for me. I want you to have your own dreams, not someone else’s.”

I smiled at Mam though I could feel my eyes tearing up. “I’m here because I want to be, don’t you worry.”

Mam turned to head up the stairs and gestured for me to follow. We had to get the cast’s rooms cleaned before the morning shoot was finished.

“So you’re telling me,” she said as she turned the staff key in Marjorie’s room’s door, “that you have no Hollywood ambitions?”