“Hmmm.” I nodded and licked my lips. “I think Lexi and Beth were right. Cowboys are pretty hard to resist.”
His hands on my back pressed me a little closer to him. “All cowboys, or just one in particular?”
I held back my smile as best I could and winked at him. “Just one. But you can’t get me to tell you who.”
With a grin that made my heart flutter, he dipped his head and kissed me again. Only this time, there was no hesitation in the way he held me. And no hesitation in the way I kissed him back. There was only him, and me, and the overwhelming sensation that I was falling head over cowgirl heels for that bull rider.
I guess I’d been lying to myself.
I was a rhinestones and leather kind of girl after all.
Epilogue
Lexi
I stared up at the massive glittering chandelier hanging from the ceiling above. Excitement buzzed throughout my body as if I’d just stuck my makeup brush in an outlet. With a muffled squeal, I tugged on Beth and Charlotte’s arms, and danced in my red pumps.
“Can you believe this place? I told you this was going to be legit.”
It wasn’t often that my dad’s boring job as an attorney came with glitz and glam, but this was one of those rare opportunities. A party! And not just any party—but a party with movie execs, and film makers, and actors from the new movie that was going to be filmed at Rock Valley High in the next few weeks. Dad was representing the school’s interest. That was the only reason he’d been invited to this little pre-filming party
Best of all—Alanis Nori was supposed to be in attendance. She was the makeup artist hired for this movie gig. I’d stalked her website before tonight’s party. Tall, brunette, with sculpted thick black eyebrows that made my tweezers tremble in their snug place inside my makeup bag. She was a graduate from the L Makeup Institute in Los Angeles. And my one-way ticket to getting an acceptance letter for after high school.
I was so getting a spot on her squad for this movie—even if that meant making coffee for the next six weeks.
“This is definitely legit.” Charlotte’s eyes widened as she scanned the crowded room. “Aren’t you glad you came with me tonight, cowboy?”
Hunter shifted restlessly beside her; his hand stuffed deep in his jean pocket. I’d tried my best to get Charlotte to convince him to wear a suit for the party, but I guess she’d failed. Miserably. At least he’d left the cowboy hat at home. Still, I couldn’t be upset at either of them. Especially not when he met his girlfriend’s gaze with such a hopelessly-in-love kind of expression on his face.
“I’d go anywhere with you, Char Char.”
Beth made a face and pretended to choke herself with her hand. I giggled silently, and then we both broke into happy grins. The whole love-sick thing going on between Charlotte and Hunter had lasted the entire summer. They were sugary-sweet and meant to be. I’d ship them anytime—even if it meant seeing them make goo-goo eyes at each other all the time.
“All right, people, eyes peeled for the target,” I urged my friends and then did a double check on the status of my makeup with a compact I pulled from my purse. It wouldn’t be good to be flashing my acne scars in front of a legit makeup artist. Everything was in place, except for a small fold in the collar of my white Prada blouse.
Technically, it was my mom’s. And technically, she didn’t know that I’d sort of borrowed it for tonight. It would be back in her closet before she even noticed it was missing. And she always did say first impressions were everything. Alanis Nori had great taste and she would notice something like that.
If I could just pin her down for two itty bitty seconds.
I scanned the crowd near the entrance. The Hilton conference rooms were the fanciest rooms we could get in Rock Valley. They were probably a far stretch from anything Hollywood had to offer, but it was golden for a Midwestern girl like me. Thick, red carpet stretched under my pumps. The ceiling was lined with gold trim. At least a hundred people were packed in beside us—most of them probably members of the film crew. Waiters carrying silver trays darted between the crowd, offering food and beverages to anyone in their path.
“So, what’s this movie about, anyway?” Beth snatched a shrimp cocktail from a nearby waiter holding a silver tray. She stared down at the expensive appetizer with a cocked eyebrow, distrust evident on her face as she poked at the red sauce inside the cup. “And why is the shrimp freezing cold?”
“Cold shrimp with cocktail sauce is the only way the stars eat it,” I said in a hushed voice, looking around to make sure no one heard her. “And according to Dad, it’s a soccer movie. He said it’s our generation’s Bend it Like Beckham.”
She wrinkled her nose. “What’s that?”
“Some ancient movie,” I said with a shrug. “I looked it up on Wikipedia. I guess it was popular back in the day. Who knows why?”
“Who’s Beckham?” Charlotte asked, biting her lower lip. “And what does bending have to do with soccer?”
A deep and throaty chuckle sounded behind us. We all spun to find the source. As soon as I laid on him, my heart jumped into my throat. Leaning against the wall was a boy about our age, maybe a year older, dressed in black jeans and tee. His dark blond hair was just long enough to be tousled artfully, as if he’d made a habit of running his hands through it. He had a sharp and perfectly sized nose, a jawline that even Henry Cavill would’ve been jealous of, and a slender, athletic shape. One of his black tennis shoes rested on the wall behind him as his light blue eyes
