Method Acting: An opposites attract, found family romance (Center Stage Book 2) Adele Buck (e novels to read .TXT) 📖

car’s windows. The limo slowed and pulled under a portico in front of the hotel. The driver hurried out and was holding Alicia’s door by the time Colin had come around to her side of the car. She demurely allowed him to hand her out of the limo and rose to her feet, spine straight. Shooting him a mischievous smile that made his collar feel tight again, she tucked her hand into the curve of his elbow.

“Shall we?” he asked. She nodded.

“Let’s get this fancy party started.”

Alicia’s impressions of the hotel where the gala was being held were confused; it was all a bit overwhelming. A lobby with a soaring atrium, a brisk walk to the elevators that whisked them to the ballroom level, then…people. So many people. The ballroom was crowded with gowns and tuxedos. Alicia’s pulse accelerated. She was out of her element. Someone was going to point a finger and accuse her of being a fraud any minute.

Deep breath. She was probably wearing the most beautiful dress in the room. She lifted her chin and glanced over at Colin, who smiled and pressed his elbow to his ribcage, squeezing her hand that still rested there.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied.

“Well then, let’s go meet the kids.”

That’s right. Tonight is about the brilliant teenagers. A series of posters thick with information was set up in the back of the ballroom. Next to each poster was a nervous-looking adolescent in formalwear, some alone and looking around the room, some chatting with adults who had stopped to talk to them.

Colin stopped in front of a young woman in a bright fuchsia gown. Alicia glanced at the poster and froze. It was as if it were written in another language. But then again, Alicia guessed that science was essentially a foreign language to her.

“Good evening…” Colin’s eyes flicked to the poster. “Gina. I’m Colin, and this is Alicia. Your research looks impressive, but I’m lamentably ignorant about…” His eyes flicked across the poster again. “…RNA expression. Can you explain this to someone who disappointed his father by going into the law rather than medicine?”

The girl giggled and launched into an explanation that didn’t enlighten Alicia any, but she enjoyed the enthusiasm Gina displayed. The girl’s dark brown cheeks were flushed and her large eyes sparkled as she explained her poster to Colin, who seemed to ask intelligent questions while he disclaimed any knowledge on the subject whatsoever. Finally, the girl turned to Alicia.

“Do you have any questions?” she asked, her eagerness softening Alicia even as the girl’s question made her want to flee.

“I have to admit, I don’t understand any of it,” Alicia said. “I’m just an actress. The only time I claimed any expertise in science was when I played a medical examiner in a few episodes of Law and Order years and years ago.”

Gina’s eyes went wide, and her hands clapped over her mouth. “Oh my God,” she said, flapping her hands. “You’re Doctor Morrow!”

Alicia’s jaw dropped, and she blinked at the girl. “Um, yeah. I can’t believe you saw that…”

“I used to watch reruns after school! Your character was the only one on that show that didn’t treat DNA like a magic wand. That was…so amazing.” She mimed a swoon.

Alicia laughed, feeling old. “If you say so. I just said the lines they wrote for me.”

“It’s still amazing to meet you. Can I get a selfie?”

Feeling like the world was spinning the wrong way, Alicia leaned in and smiled while the girl extended her cellphone in front of them and took the picture.

“Nicely done,” Colin murmured in her ear as they moved to the next poster.

Colin squeezed the hand that he had grown accustomed to having tucked into his arm. It felt right to have Alicia there. She felt right. As they went down the row and chatted with teenagers about robotics and genetics, chemistry and physics, Alicia claimed to be out of her element, but she didn’t seem to know that her kind, attentive interest put a lot of nervous kids more at ease.

Well, except for the teenage boys who seemed to get even more nervous around her, but he couldn’t fault anyone for that. She had a similarly unnerving effect on him.

Coming to the end of the row of posters, Colin spied Brandon and his fiancée, Mari. Brandon’s eyes scanned Colin’s shoulders, and one eyebrow shot up.

“Yes, yes. You were right. Brandon, Mari, I would like you to meet Alicia Johnson. Alicia, this is my colleague Brandon Oberst and his fiancée Mari Ashford.”

Alicia shook hands briefly with both of them and looked at Colin sideways. “Right about what?”

Brandon poked Colin in the shoulder. “He’s been hitting the gym pretty hard for the last few months. I told him his tuxedo jacket probably wouldn’t fit.”

“And I failed to heed your warning. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.”

“Get it altered before the wedding. Or lay off the bench press.” Brandon grinned.

“When is the wedding?” Alicia asked, looking at Mari, whose gaze hovered somewhere in the vicinity of Alicia’s shoes.

“September,” the other woman replied, her eyes flicking up to Alicia’s face and returning to the floor.

“Congratulations. You’re going to be a beautiful bride. I love your hair,” Alicia said. Mari’s copper ringlets sprang out from her head in an exuberant profusion.

Mari’s freckled face blushed and her eyes flicked up, a small smile sliding across her features. “Thanks. I can’t wait for it to be here and done, honestly.”

At Alicia’s look of surprise, Brandon’s eyes twinkled. “Mari’s mother is running the entire show. It’s…all a bit much.”

“Speaking of all a bit much, this lawyer has had about as much science as he can handle, and I am ready for a drink. Anyone else?” Colin asked.

“Yes, please,” Alicia said. “But I need to excuse myself for a minute.”

“What can I get for you?” Colin asked.

“White wine, thanks,” Alicia replied. “I’ll be right back.” Colin admired the view of Alicia’s retreating form. The back of her