Finally, she stepped back and smiled at me, and I got an up-close demonstration of why Juliet Manchester was considered America’s hottest young actress.
She was good.
Her face was flushed, and those green eyes sparkled as she shot me a look that could have been read by others to mean we’d shared secrets and whispers, late night trysts and early morning snuggles.
If I’d seen only the look, I’d almost have believed she was interested in me, except I was the one she’d been kissing, and I knew better.
“We’ve got a plane to catch,” she called to the crowd, pulling me along next to the two burly security guards whose job it was to see us to the plane and beyond.
We pressed through the crowd and checked in. Once we were at the gate, I looked at her as she looped her arm through mine. “I thought the whole point of taking the late flight was to avoid the cameras. You tipped them off, didn’t you?”
“My agent did,” she confirmed. “You’re doing great.” She leaned her head into my shoulder and then looked up at me again. “That grope will be all over the Internet by the time we land. We just need to keep it convincing through the next couple days, and we’re both golden.”
Golden. Right. So why did this all feel so wrong?
Chapter Two
Tess
“How was the movie, my love?” Gran swiveled her head to greet me as I came in and dropped my keys into the bowl on the table next to the door. I crossed the room, planted a kiss on her cheek and slid into the chair across from hers with a sigh.
“Juliet’s famous for a reason.” I shrugged. I’d never get used to watching my big sister on the theater screen, but there was no question her star had risen and was continuing its meteoric upswing. “The movie was cute, and sappy, and a little bit predictable. But it was good.”
Gran made a face, her nose wrinkling and her brows lowering behind her round glasses. “Sounds about right.”
I wasn’t about to tell Gran about the other video I’d seen Juliet in tonight, the one where Ryan McDonnell was groping her breast in the airport. Gran was no prude—the opposite really. Letting Gran in on that little nugget would only lead to her demanding I pull up the clip and play it for her. And then we’d be analyzing it, Gran critiquing Ryan’s kissing prowess and speculating about his abilities in other areas. I wasn’t up for it tonight.
Personally, I thought it was a little much, especially considering my sister’s divorce wasn’t yet final. And because Ryan McDonnell was my all-time movie-star crush, and I was pretty sure I’d confessed that to Juliet before.
She could have anyone she wanted … the whiny jealous little sister part of me wondered why it had to be him.
Gran clucked at my assessment of my sister’s acting. “I told her I’d go see one of her films when she gets to carry a gun and kick some ass.”
I grinned at her and sighed. “She does mostly romcoms, Gran.” She had done one pretty serious film—it had gotten an Oscar nomination, even. But most of Juliet’s movies were light.
“Maybe it’d improve the plots if she had a gun in one of ‘em.” This comment was followed by a cackle and a snort. “Or some kinky sex!”
I thought again about the airport grope video. If Gran wanted to see Juliet having sex, that was probably about as close as she’d get. Also, ew.
“I’ll tell her you said so.” I laughed. Gran never bothered to disguise her thoughts, no matter the topic. And she liked movies with explosions and sex. It was part of her charm.
“You better not tell her.” Gran’s faux-angry expression changed to a quizzical look, her soft wrinkled face softening beneath the trucker cap she wore pulled over her curly white hair. It said “I’m Fancy” on it. I had no idea where she’d gotten it.
“I still don’t understand why you like going on your own to the show, Tess. Why not find a friend to go? What about Tony? He’s always had a thing for you, hasn’t he?” Her eyes searched mine.
“Which is a really good reason not to go to a movie with him.” Tony was a friend. Nothing more.
I thought she’d given up suggesting that movies were made for dates. In the small town where we lived, there weren’t many prospects for me, and I wasn’t really looking, anyway. “I like going alone. I don’t feel any pressure to react a certain way and I don’t have to share snacks.” I leaned my elbow on the arm of the chair, dropping my chin into my hand. “I actually really like being alone. I guess that makes me weird.”
“Makes you lonely.”
I sat up straight. “Why? Are you lonely?”
She shook her head. “I’ve got you, don’t I? And don’t forget Chessy.” At the sound of her name, Gran’s house chicken let out a squawk from the little dog bed at Gran’s feet.
I rolled my eyes at the chicken and then smiled at Gran. “And I’ve got you.”
“Tess, I hate to point out the obvious, but there’s an expiration date on that deal.” Gran was turning ninety, but I didn’t like her to remind me of her mortality. When she was gone, I definitely would feel alone. Since I’d moved back in to look out for her, she was kind of my world. Gran and my job. And I was fine with that, though I guess that made me pretty unusual in
