Page 100 of Reel Love

‘Is that a word?” she asks. “Or was that the boss of young Ebenezer Scrooge?”

“Ebenezer’s boss was Fezziwig. Felsic is a word in geology.”

“No fair using scientific terms.” She smiles over at me.

“I’m playing to lose here, don’t distract me.”

“You’re playing to lose now?” Alana asks.

“Think of what I get if I lose …”

She just grins and I smile back.

“We’re obnoxious,” I tell her. “It’s good we don’t have any witnesses.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been obnoxious like this before.”

“I know I haven’t.”

She’s the only woman who’s ever drawn out this side of me to this degree. I reach across the board and lift her hand to kiss her knuckles. Just because I can.

“Now look at who’s being distracting,” she teases, and then she lays down DIETERS on my I.

“I told the guys about my epic home tour,” I wink over at her.

She giggles. “One of my favorite parts of the night.”

“One of your favorite parts? There was more than one?”

“It was a great night.”

“Unbelievable,” I agree.

I fill her in on the guys and their ridiculous questions and the way Ben taunted me this morning. She laughs all the way through my story.

“I didn’t tell them it was you. They just knew I was finally meeting SaturdayIslandGirl.”

“You didn’t tell them it was me?”

“I didn’t know if you would want me to. And, I guess I don’t want the complication. They already know you better than I do. They’ll have a lot to say when they find out—aspects of our relationship I don’t want to have their input on yet, if ever. If I want it, I’ll ask for it. Usually Kai’s the one I go to if I want to have a man to man. And more often than not, Ben jumps in uninvited. Ben’s not always a jokester. He’s got a huge heart. But at times he teases when I need things to be more serious. Anyway, that’s why. I just want the two of us to establish what we’re doing here before we invite the rest of the world in to spectate and make commentary.”

“I agree. And,” she pauses and looks over at me. Then she places her hand over mine. “There is a complication. It’s temporary, but you need to know about it.”

I’m quiet, waiting for whatever changed her mood to something more serious.

“I have a co-star, Rex.”

“Rex Fordham.”

“Yes.” She rubs her thumb across my hand. “Rex Fordham.” She sighs.

“Weren’t you two dating in the past?”

“We were not.” Her voice has a finality to it. “I hope you don’t think less of me when I tell you this.”

“Pretty sure that’s not possible,” I assure her.

“Well, he and I pretended to be in a relationship. It was a publicity thing our people worked up. It made fans happy and boosted interest in our movies.”

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