Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
I grip his sides as he devours me. He nibbles the corner of my mouth, then plunders again as if he’s memorizing every inch of me.
And, suddenly, a voice in my head reminds me.
He has a girlfriend.
I pull back, panting, wanting, and stare up at him as he also tries to catch his breath.
“Christian.” He makes a move to go in for round two, and I press my hand to his chest. “No.”
He stops immediately and pulls away, taking his hands completely off of me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start anything you’re not comfortable with. I thought we were on the same page.”
I push my hand through my hair and turn away to pace back to the kitchen.
“Oh, we’re on the same page.”
“Then what—?”
“You have a girlfriend,” I blurt out and turn back to him, holding my hands out at my sides. “You’re splashed all over every cover of every magazine, Christian. And I’m not the girl who poaches another woman’s guy.”
He shakes his head in frustration and braces his hands on his hips.
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“I’m not blind.”
“No. You don’t understand.” He looks as if he wants to lose his temper, but he rubs his hand over his lips and takes a deep breath. “Serena and I have to make it look like we’re a couple for the media.”
“That does not seriously happen.”
“Oh, yeah, it does.” He laughs without humor. “We’re about to be promoting a movie that we co-star in, and the studio, along with all of the media, has coupled us up. But we’re not seeing each other like that. I don’t even really like her all that much.”
“You’re kidding.” I cross my arms over my chest and stare at him in awe. “How can they do that?”
“It’s not in our contract or anything, but we are expected to work the press junket. To walk the red carpets together. To look very much like a couple.”
“Huh.” I frown. “So, it’s literally all an act.”
He nods, his eyes sober again, and if I’m not mistaken, turn a little sad.
“The media lies about a lot of stuff. It sells magazines. It’s not interesting to report the boring stuff. I work, I work out, I go home. That’s not exciting.”
“But your life is none of their business.”
He looks as if he’s going to laugh, but then he shrugs. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters.”
I walk to him, and he watches me warily. I slip my arms under his and wrap them around him, pressing my cheek to his chest as I hug him tightly.
“I don’t need you to feel sorry for me,” he says, not hugging me back.
“Oh, please. You’re a rich celebrity. I don’t feel bad for you, I want to hug you.”
He pauses a heartbeat and then wraps his arms around me to hold on fiercely. He presses his lips to the top of my head, and then I pull away.
I have to. Whether he’s single or not, he won’t be here for long, and he’s not someone I should become attached to.
“Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house.” I walk away but don’t hear him following me. I pause and look back at him. “Are you coming?”
“Right behind you.”
***
“You never told me what you thought of the movie,” I say later when we’re settled back up at the Ponderosa with our salmon and salad. We finished our tour of my house, then drove up here, and he went to his unit for a bit while I got dinner ready. He just arrived a few minutes ago.
So far, there’s been no post-kiss awkwardness.
“It was pretty amazing,” he says and takes a bite of his food. “Ron Howard directed this one, and there are usually specific things he does in his films that I wasn’t sure if he’d do with this one, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that he did.”
“Like what?”
“Well, he always casts his brother in a small part, and has since his first film, if I’m not mistaken. He also added a few other actors from previous movies that he’s directed.”
“So, like Easter eggs for diehard fans.”
“Exactly. It was well done.”
“Christian Wolfe approves.” I take a sip of my wine. “I liked it, too. I didn’t love the aliens. They’re not attractive.”
“I won’t tell them you said that.”
I stick out my tongue at him and keep talking. “I’ve enjoyed the prequel movies that Disney has done, but with this one, I’m not sure how they’ll tie the story in with the rest of the series. I don’t like that they’re making the animated series relevant with the movie storyline.”
He’s stopped eating now, watching me with complete confusion all over his handsome face.
“You love Star Wars?”
“I have two brothers, Christian. Of course, I do. It’s brilliant. And Han Solo has always been my favorite. I didn’t know if they’d win me over with anyone other than Harrison Ford playing him.”