Backstage Romance: An Austen-Inspired Romantic Comedy Box Set by Gigi Blume (ebook reader with highlighter txt) 📕

A cold awareness overshadowed his features, and I noticed his Adam’s apple catch as he released his hand from my waist, putting distance between us. I felt the absence of his touch acutely.

“Friends,” he said with a forced smile. “Always.”

He drawled out the last word, channelling his inner Alan Rickman. That made me laugh, which seemed to soften his countenance. He cast a tender gaze upon me and trailed the backs of his fingers softly across my cheekbone, and his smile transformed into sweet reverence.

Gah!

Why did his teeth have to be so immaculate? And why was I fixating on his teeth like an enthusiastic dentist?

“Do I need to carry you out of the theatre?”

“I’m perfectly fine, thank you.” I disengaged myself from the influence he had on my nerves and stepped away to straighten my dress. “I’m just faint from hunger.”

“Did you finish that bag of potato chips?” he asked with his voice full of concern.

“Listen to you. You say, ‘potato chips’ like a proper American.”

“Comes with the territory.”

“If you say so, Mr. Hollywood.”

“Let’s go to the stage door to find your Aunt Stella, and then we’ll eat all the calamari at the reception.”

Food. The man knew the way to my heart. My aunt always put on a spread for the Patrons of the Arts on preview night. When her theatre produced My Fair Lady the year prior, she served tea sandwiches and champagne. There was sure to be lots of champagne for the Pirates reception, too, as well as pirate-themed food like seafood perhaps. Or maybe those wieners in the shape of octopi. Octopuses? Octoweiners.

We spotted Stella as she emerged from backstage, still dressed in her pirate costume from the show.

“I’ve brought you a present,” I said, handing her the bottle of rum.

She examined the remaining contents with a playful frown. “How thoughtful of me to share half the bottle.”

She always exaggerated. There wasn’t that much missing.

“It was the chap sitting next to me,” I explained.

She looked to Jaxson with disbelief. She knew as well as I did he was too serious to break the theatre rules.

“The chap sitting on the other side of me,” I amended. “Bob.”

Jaxson nodded. “He was quite smitten with Emma.”

“The whole world is smitten with Emma,” replied Stella.

She had a bounce to her step as she led us through the crowd in the lobby where the reception had already started. Robust applause erupted from the patrons as a flute of champagne was thrust into her hand almost as soon as she emerged. She smiled diplomatically and raised her glass in a sweeping motion, nodding at familiar faces and the generous donors that kept The Gardiner Theatre relevant in the ever-changing Los Angeles theatre scene.

“Individually, I love you all with affection unspeakable.”

A wave of laughter hummed in the room as many of them recognized the line from the show.

“And collectively?” someone shouted from amongst the crowd.

“Collectively…” she said with some thought. “Well, collectively, I know you’re just here for the free food.”

She raised her bubbly to initiate the toast. The sound of clinking glasses and the murmur of resumed conversation released her from their attention, and she ticked her head for us to follow her away from the patrons. She emptied the contents of her glass in a nearby plant as she guided me and Jaxson into a small storage room near the box office.

“Can’t stand that rubbish. Come along. I have snifters in here.” She had a bounce in her step. If I knew my aunt, she was celebrating a small victory that had nothing to do with Preview Night of Pirates of Penzance. Since she was a hopeless matchmaker, I had a feeling her mood had everything to do with the kiss the whole audience witnessed on stage.

“So, we want to talk to you about Beth Bennet,” I said, watching her reach inside a box on the shelf for the glassware.

She unwrapped three snifters and polished them with the tissue paper. “I admit to nothing.”

“Jax is interested in her,” I said.

She abruptly stopped what she was doing and scowled at me.

“Well, she’s taken.” Then, turning her attention to Jaxson, pointed a manicured finger and said, “I have other plans for you, Mr Knightly.”

Jaxson swiftly caught her hand and kissed it, smiling at Stella playfully. I felt an unfounded tinge of jealousy. He never kissed my hand like that. He only placated me with a peck on the top of my head. “I wouldn’t dream of crossing you, Dame Stella.” He winked for good measure. “It’s purely professional.”

No woman, not even my formidable aunt, was immune to his come-hither eyes and dazzling smile. She tried to hide it but softened a little under his gaze, pouring the spirits into her snifter.

We explained what happened with Jennifer Fairfax, how Pinky was freaking out about it unnecessarily, and how we thought Beth might be a good fit. Stella couldn’t be happier with the idea and left me and Jaxson to find Beth. When she shut the door behind her, I was hyper-aware to Jaxson’s presence, crammed alone with him in the small room. It didn’t seem to bother him, though; even though he could have kept to the opposite corner, he found more delight in encroaching on my personal space. He stepped into my sphere, the toes of his designer shoes tapping against mine, and he lightly rested his hand on my waist. He was so incredibly close, the fabric of his shirt collar brushed against my chin as he snaked his other arm behind me. His breath was warm and sent a delicious tingle along the shell of my ear. I turned my head toward him just enough to see the playful mirth on his face as he watched my reaction. Our noses were almost touching. What did he think he was doing? He leaned in another inch, causing me to take another step backward into the shelf behind me.

“Are you going to just stand there?” he said huskily.

“What?”

“You’re in