Page 14 of Not Exactly a Small-Town Romance

“What’s your first stop?” Zachery asks.

“I think I’ll go north to I-40 through Barstow since I usually drive south through Palm Springs.”

“Because the fortune teller told you to take the long way?”

“I mean, if I’m going to listen to her, I might as well do it right. But going through the Midwest feels like the best choice.”

“What if she told you to go on foot?”

I lean in to bump his shoulder. “Don’t make fun of me. It’s a good move. The stops will be smaller, more intimate, and less touristy.”

“More farmers, fewer golfers?”

This makes me laugh. “Maybe.”

I can tell from his expression that he doesn’t think any of this is a good idea. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll see my dad, probably feel foolish for listening to a fake fortune teller, and head back to LA inside of two weeks.”

“About the fortune teller—”

I squeeze his arm.Hello, biceps.“Let’s not talk about her. I feel weird following her advice. I’d like to think of it as her being the person who got me out of my rut, and only rational thoughts are setting me on this journey.”

He nods. “Okay.”

The Transformers finally step away from the tourists, and we walk on.

But as we approach another cache of stars in front of the Hollywood Wax Museum, I slip on a bit of melted ice cream.

Zachery moves swiftly to catch me before I fall. “Careful there.”

His gaze meets mine, his body close. We’re a Hallmark meet-cute, right here on Hollywood Boulevard. For only the length of an inhale, I imagine this is our big moment, the one where we finally notice each other. Zachery and Kelsey, the ultimate Tinseltown pair.

Then it’s over. I glance down at the splat of pink. “Where there are tourists, there are spills.”

He sets me up straight. “Can’t live with them, can’t maintain our tax base without them.”

I realize I’m standing on Vivien Leigh’s star. I step aside, as if I’m on her grave. Vivien and Clark Gable. Now that was a power pairing if there ever was one.

Could I do that? Create a match that powerful?

Even if I did, Desdemona would be the casting director of record.

Zachery still holds my arm, and the heat of his hand feels good on my skin. He fits in so well here, in front of the museum, as if he might be one of its iconic figures come to life.

And me? An Alabama farm girl.

Maybe Vivien’s name beneath my feet will give me some good luck, and on this journey I’ll find someone as wonderful as Zachery, but available to a normal human like me.

Chapter 6

ZACHERY’SROM-COM-A-THON

Kelsey goes home to pack, but I’m in no mood to return to the office.

I do a second workout for the day in my home gym, and open the fridge to grab one of my meal preps, noting that the fight between the chef and the trainer rages on inside.

One stack of boxes reads, “To maintain body composition.”

Those are from Armond, the trainer.

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