You Know I Do (Curtain Call Book 2)

  You Know I Do

  Curtain Call Book 2

  Standalone New Adult Contemporary Romance

  © 2017 Laura Greenwood

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission of the published, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address; lauragreenwood@authorlauragreenwood.co.uk.

  Visit Laura Greenwood’s website at:

  www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk

  www.facebook.com/authorlauragreenwood/

  Cover Design by Swoonworthy Book Covers

  You Know I Do is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Other Books by Laura Greenwood

  Paranormal Council (Paranormal Romance)

  The Dryad’s Pawprint (available in In the Shadows)

  The Vixen’s Bark

  The Necromancer’s Prey

  Paranormal Council Standalones

  Spellbound

  His Lost Bear (Newsletter Serial)

  Paranormal Standalone

  By Any Other Name: A Retelling of Romeo and Juliet

  Fantasy Romance Standalone

  Hidden Smoke

  Alventia Series (Fantasy)

  Betrayed (Mailing List Exclusive)

  Awakening

  Cloaked

  Anthologies

  Touched by Shadow, Caressed by Light

  The Newcomer: Twelve Sci-Fi Short Stories

  Christmas in Love

  Curtain Call (Sweet NA Romance)

  What Lies Beneath the Mask

  You Know I Do (coming soon!)

  Please Note

  You Know I Do is a companion novella to What Lies Beneath the Mask. It contains the same characters, and some cross-over scenes, but from Hayley’s point of view instead of Annabelle’s. While it could be read as a standalone, I would highly recommend reading after What Lies Beneath the Mask for the full effect. Both books are available with Kindle Unlimited.

  A third book in the series, Do Without You, will be set in a different theatre troupe.

  Other Books by Laura Greenwood

  Please Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Thank you for reading

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  I glanced up at my best friend to find her sketching with a lovesick smile on her face, despite us being in the studio we shared at the theatre. Anyone could walk in, and there would go her secret dating life. If I didn’t love her so much, I’d find it almost sickening how she was acting over Jack. But then again, I knew some of what she’d been through, and couldn’t deny her the bit of happiness she’d found. Even if she was determined to keep most of what had happened to herself. Maybe one day she’d actually tell me what happened during the eighteen months we’d spent apart.

  “I wish you’d get that lovesick smile off your face,” I joked and watched from under my lashes as she smirked to herself, but didn’t stop sketching. I wasn’t sure what she was working on, but with a whole production to stage, it was bound to be something important. She was the assistant director of our amateur production of The Phantom of the Opera, though calling her that was a complete injustice if you asked me. Belle was also the set designer, stage manager, and all round organiser of the production. Come to think of it, I wasn’t sure what the director, John, actually did.

  “What smile?”

  “The one most people wear when they get laid. But I know for a fact that you were in bed, alone, by half eleven.” Not that I’d been surprised. Jack had finally worn her down and they’d gone on their first date last night. Meaning I’d tactically made myself scarce when I heard them approaching the door. I knew Belle, and she’d never been the kind of girl to jump into bed with anyone, especially on a first date. And I’d like to think I’d come to know Jack in the past couple of months too, and he wasn’t about to push her into anything she wasn’t ready for. That boy was head over heels in love with my best friend, and the only person that didn’t seem to realise it was Belle herself. Even so, I’d thought it best to make myself scarce; on the off chance.

  “I had a good time is all. It’s not a big deal, Hayley,” she mumbled, a look of concentration passing over her face as she tried to decide on something in her sketch.

  “Yeah, I got that. So, where did you go?” I smiled to myself, knowing that Belle thought I was being patient in waiting so long to pounce. Instead I’d secretly been kind of enjoying keeping her on edge about it. That way, now that I was asking about it, she’d had time to think about the night before, and would actually be able to tell me how she was really feeling about it, rather than some fluff about her having a good time, but not being ready to date again.

  “We went to that American diner that opened a couple of weeks back, and then we went dancing. You’d love the place we went to; all salsa dancing and some of the best sangria I’ve ever tasted!” I gave her a pointed look; that wasn’t what I wanted to know and she knew it. Even if salsa dancing and sangria did sound amazing. How come none of the guys I’ve ever dated had taken me out like that? That just wasn’t fair! Then again, that was just Jack, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d planned it all weeks ago.

  “And…”

  “And?” She looked up, her bright green eyes widening as she attempted to give me an innocent look. I wasn’t buying it. More had to have happened, especially with the tension those two gave off whenever they were in the same room together.

  “Did he kiss you?” She smiled, and I squealed involuntarily. Ignoring the brief fling she’d had with our other leading man, Henry, she’d not been on a date in nearly three years, so this was exciting. “More than once?” I added hopefully.

  “Yes, more than once. He asked first.” She shrugged as if it was a little thing, but I could tell just from the look on her face that it wasn’t.

  “Oh! He really likes you!” Yeah so, I already knew that. That wasn’t the point.

  “What makes you say that?” She sounded so hesitant that I just wanted to go over and give her a big hug. But I knew that she probably wouldn’t appreciate that; Belle hated anyone treating her like she was kind of broken, even if she was a little bit. I think that’s partly what stopped her from dating for so long. Not that I’d ever admit that I thought that.

  “He asked to kiss you, he spent weeks trying to get you on a date in the first place.” In fact, it had taken my meddling for the two of them to even start moving towards dating. I stood by the fact that giving Jack Belle’s number was one of the best decisions I ever made. “He didn’t try to come in last night, he can’t take his eyes off you. Take your pick!” I ticked off the reasons on my hand as I said them, watching in amazement as a soft blush spread across her cheeks. She probably didn’t even realise it was there, which was a blessing in disguise; she always got so self-conscious about her blush clashing with her copper coloured hair.

  “And let me
guess…you got a goodnight text too?” She nodded, a shady look in her eye that told me she was hiding something; most likely that she got a good morning text too and didn’t want to tell me. Those two were fast becoming sickeningly sweet.

  A knock sounded at the door, and we both turned automatically to see Susan, one of the stage hands, there with an envelope. She looked nervous for some reason, but I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like me and Belle were scary people. Or at least, Belle wasn’t. If someone had ruined one of my costumes however…well there’d be hell to pay.

  “Erm, Belle, this is for you.” She handed over the envelope.

  “Where did it come from?” I was relieved she’d asked - I was curious too - but me asking would probably be seen as rude. We were only volunteers at the theatre, and while we shared the studio permanently, we never had anything delivered here. I wasn’t even sure why we had the advantage of a private studio. I think it was something to do with our success as a troupe, but I’d kind of switched off when Belle told me; I didn’t need to know the ins and outs, just that I had somewhere to design and make costumes. We even had the materials for my costumes delivered to our flat, or occasionally one of us picked them up directly from the shop. Just never delivered to the theatre.

  “Meredith gave it to me.” I scowled, but mostly because of my dislike for our leading lady. I swear Meredith, or Merry as everyone called her, would have been better as Carlotta rather than Christine, but John got the final say on casting decisions. Plus, I think Belle used up all her sway when she managed to convince him to give Jack the part of Raoul. Despite the fact that he’d only joined the troupe this year. Luckily, he was incredibly talented, not to mention boyishly handsome, so John had gone with it.

  “Thank you.” Belle tore into the envelope and I watched as her expression changed; a combination of shock and horror flitting across her face. Whatever she’d read, it wasn’t good. She didn’t say anything for too long, and I was on my feet and reading the note over her shoulder before she knew it. I inhaled sharply the moment I read the odd threat that made up the note.

  “Who gave it to Merry?” I asked, my voice sharper than I’d intended, but my protective streak had been engaged, and there was very little I could do to shut it off.

  “I don’t know.” Susan looked nervous, even going as far as worrying her lip between her teeth. I briefly felt sorry for her, but pushed the thought away as quickly as it came.

  “Dammit Susan, we really need to know.” I didn’t mean to sound so curt, but the situation was getting to me.

  “I can ask,” she stammered out, and I almost felt bad for intimidating her. Almost.

  “It’s alright, Susan. Thank you for delivering it.” Belle found her voice again, though it seemed a little shaky to me. Susan scampered out of the room as fast as she could, leaving the two of us alone. I wished that we could just go back to talking about Jack and Belle’s date last night, but I knew that there was a more important topic we had to broach.

  “Who do you think sent it?” I asked, certain that Belle had at least some ideas. Probably the same ones that I was having.

  “I’m not sure, but give me a sec.” She rummaged through one of her draws, which were surprisingly tidy for Belle. Then again, she’d been the victim of a sabotaged desk recently, which had probably helped her organization skills. She handed me another note, and I stared at it. This one was handwritten, unlike the one Susan had delivered, and it wasn’t in a handwriting I recognised. From the look on her face, it was clear that Belle did.

  “Where did you get this?”

  “I found it when my desk was overturned.”

  “Do you recognise the writing?” I silently begged for the answer to be no, even if a more logical part of me was screaming that it wouldn’t be.

  “It’s Toby’s,” she said the words quietly, as if reluctant to say them. Unfortunately, that’s what I’d feared she was going to say. I wasn’t completely in the loop about what her relationship with Toby had really been like, no one was, but from the little I’d seen when we were seventeen, I could take a guess. And it wasn’t a pleasant guess either.

  “Why would he be sending you notes?”

  “No idea.” She shrugged. I hadn’t had anything to do with her ex in years, but from what I remembered, and how Belle had been after they’d finally broken up, notes from him couldn’t be a good thing.

  “It’ll be fine,” I replied, not knowing what else to say, but hoping that I was right.

  “I know.” Belle’s text pinged with a text. and from the lack of smile on her face, I was guessing that it wasn’t from Jack. “Sorry, Hayls, John wants me in the theatre.”

  “It’s okay, we’ll figure this out later.” At least, I hoped we would. Toby had stolen her from me once, I wasn’t about to let it happen again.

  Chapter 2

  I walked between the mannequins I’d set up in our studio, fussing over them as the nerves began to set in. John had text me last night to say that one of the camera men from The Show Must Go On, the reality TV show he’d entered our production into, wanted to come and see some of my designs. I hated finding out last minute, but that was just John. For some reason, he never actually gave much thought to how we were supposed to pull off some of his ideas. And so, I’d made a mad dash into college to borrow the extra things I needed, then spent the next couple of hours selecting costumes and making sure they looked right. Which was especially tricky when the mannequins weren’t already set to the right sizes.

  I stood back and tried to see if the costumes even worked together. I was somewhat limited to what I’d finished making. I had tacked a few sketches to the walls of some of the costumes I hadn’t actually started yet, including the matching costumes for the Phantom and Raoul that I’d designed for Masquerade. I had a vague idea of what Belle had planned for that scene, but even without, that I was proud of the symmetry in those two costumes. They were essentially the same, but in inverse colours, a metaphor for the two choices Christine had; in some ways, at least.

  In front of my sketched designs were the six costumes I’d chosen, including my favourite: the dress Merry would be wearing to perform Think of Me. It’d been partly inspired by the film, but developed during several deep discussions with Belle about how we’d get the costume change to work. The challenge had been to do it, without Merry having to leave the stage. Ultimately, the top part of Merry’s costume would remain the same throughout the entire production, with just the skirt changing and a few additional pieces, like her cape in All I Ask of You. Saying that, I’d already made multiple tops for her. We’d both been part of the troupe for a few years, and Merry was notorious for ruining costumes.

  One of my other favourites was Carlotta’s dress for the opening scenes. I’d been able to go more elaborate on that one, simply because Veronica would have time to change her costume between scenes. Though making gowns with big skirts was particularly challenging when they had to be taken off easily. It’d taken some experimenting, but I’d finally decided to go for a hidden zipper. If anyone scrutinised the costumes closely, they’d notice, but hopefully no one would. It’d been so much easier to do costuming when we did Rent last year. Sure, I still made the costumes. Hayley McCarthy would not cheat, but they hadn’t needed to be anywhere near this extravagant.

  I heard Belle’s voice, along with that of a guy’s, coming down the corridor. I assumed the guy was Jack; the two of them had been almost inseparable since they’d started dating a couple of weeks ago. And, while she swore that the two of them were keeping their relationship secret, they weren’t doing a great job of it. The only reason I hadn’t said anything was because I’d never seen her so happy. Ever. Even pre-Toby.

  “Hayls, the camera wants to see your beauties!” Belle called through the door. It wasn’t Jack she was with then, rather whoever it was that was doing the segment on my designs.

  “Come in!” The door swung open and I watched Belle examine what I’d done with the desk and our studio, be
fore being completely distracted by the guy behind her. And what a guy. He was completely my type; tall, broad and toned, with dark hair.

  “Hi, I’m Hayley McCarthy!” I said brightly, wincing at how falsely cheery I sounded. Way to make a first impression, Hayley.

  “David Smythe,” he smiled as he introduced himself, then waved towards the only empty corner of the room. “Do you mind if I set my camera up over there?”

  I nodded, and the moment he turned away, I looked at Belle and started fanning myself. She smothered a giggle, before checking out David, proving to me once again that she was completely blind to the male species. At least, she was if they weren’t Jack Fenton.

  “I’m going to go back down to the theatre,” Belle said, a little louder than was strictly necessary, but I knew what she was doing. How could I not? I’d known her long enough.

  “Thank you,” I mouthed at her.

  “You’re welcome! Good luck,” she mouthed back with a wink. She waved back at me and I watched her leave for a moment. I wasn’t quite sure when it started happening, but it felt like I was finally getting my best friend back.

  “Am I alright to call you Hayley?” The camera man’s deep voice reminded me that I wasn’t alone in the room, and I turned back to him with my most dazzling smile in place.

  “Of course, is David okay? Or do you prefer Dave?” He pulled a face.

  “I hate going by Dave, but if you really want you can.” Well not now I couldn’t. Not after the face he’d pulled; it would just be cruel. Plus, the relieved smile he gave me did funny things to my insides, as well as softening his face.

  “David it is. So, how do you want to do this?” I motioned back towards my mannequins.

  “Do you want to take me through the costumes one by one, or would you prefer me to ask you questions?” He was coming across laid back, and I wasn’t too sure if that was because of his own personality, or if it was more to do with what he’d learned as a camera man. Except that, to be conducting interviews like this, he must be more than just a lowly camera man anyway.