Page 14 of Vain

“Huh?”

“Do you sing?”

“Oh. I can hold a tune, but I’m not going to be storming the charts anytime soon. My mother insisted that I take a bunch of classes, and singing was one of them. I’m also proficient in tap dancing and jazz hands, if the need ever arises.”

“Good to know. Nothing worse than being in a situation that calls for jazz hands, and nobody knows how to do it.”

“I know. So tragic.” I sigh.

He grins, making my ovaries spin and twirl like synchronized swimmers going for gold.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. Acting was never really my passion. Sure, I liked it, but it never drove me. That was all my mom. I wanted to be a Formula One driver. I pictured myself as the next Desiré Wilson.”

“Desiré Wilson? I don’t think I know who she is.”

“She was the only woman to win a Formula One race. I wanted to go one better and win a world championship, of course.”

“Of course. Go big or go home.”

My smile slips as I remember asking my mom if I could try racing. She laughed in my face.

“Wasn’t something I could do. Too many of my contracts had clauses that prevented me from doing anything dangerous.”

“Makes sense. If something happened to you, it would shut down the whole production process.”

“Yeah.” I look back out the side window.

“I wanted to be a ninja when I grew up. Still do, actually.”

I chuckle and look at him. I don’t know if he’s being serious or just trying to lighten the mood. “And what would you use your ninja skills for?”

“That answer has varied a lot over the years. At eight, the aim was to sneak into the kitchen, eat the cookies, and sneak back out without getting seen. But my mom must have ninja skills herself because I always got caught.”

“You didn’t give up the dream then and there?” I tease.

“Nope. I started dressing all in black and hiding in the shadows.”

“And a creeper was born.”

“I’d like to argue that fact, but a few years later, I used my ninja skills to sneak into the girls’ locker rooms and steal a different kind of cookie.”

“Ew, gross.”

“Don’t knock it until you try it. High school girls are very bendy. There was this one cheerleader that could?—”

I slap his chest, laughing. “You grew up to be a pervert.”

“Meh, the ninja gig was harder than I thought it would be.”

My laugh bursts out, and I don’t stop until we pull up at the studio gates. I can’t help it. He looks so serious that it almost makes me start all over again. I pull out my ID and pass, then grab Aiden’s before holding it to the guard at the gate.

The guard searches them both before his eyes land first on Aiden’s, then mine. “Okay, you’re good to go, Miss Carson. Have a good day.”

“Thanks, you too.”

As I direct Aiden to where he needs to park, I feel my nerves kick in again. I rub my damp palms against my jeans before taking a deep, steady breath.

“You’ve got this, Tilly. I’ll be right there with you.”