Page 7 of Finding Her Leading Man

Trevor looked across the street. Could he see her? She froze, her hand hovering over the napkin dispenser, which hung partway open.

Because acting like a mannequin wasn’t more suspicious than continuing to do her job. She sighed and let her hand drop. Idiot.

Trevor took off on a jog, his long legs eating up the sidewalk with easy steps. An unexpected jolt of desire hit her square in the stomach. She pulled out an antacid. Great. Two men gave her stomach pain for polar opposite reasons.

But at least Trevor gave her something else to think about now.

That man didn’t see her as she assumed most of the crowd in New York did. He didn’t see her as weak. As Jasper’s cast-off. As someone not worthy.

Trevor had looked at her with interest. As much as she’d tried to play it off, she was interested in him, too.

But she’d remember he was an agent. He might have said he wasn’t angling for another client, but that was hard to believe. Impossible, really.

“I don’t know much about him, but he seems nice.” Ms. Iris came to stand beside her. “His sister is an absolute doll. Sweet and smart. We’re all still a little confused about how Cameron snagged her. He can be a little rough sometimes.”

Samantha’s face grew warm with embarrassment. Ms. Iris must think she was crazy, standing at a window, scoping out Trevor. But Samantha’s curiosity got the better of her. “He asked me out on a date.”

“Ah.” Ms. Iris smiled and nodded her head. “You agreed, I suppose. I don’t blame you.”

“No. I didn’t.” She couldn’t have. She hadn’t gone on a date in…six years? Let alone with a man like Trevor. Jasper had been attractive. Sophisticated. Educated. All the things that she thought she wanted in a husband.

Trevor might be those things as well, but that never entered her mind. Trevor was hot. Old fashioned, James Dean hot. And he watched her with too much knowledge in his light brown eyes. Trevor knew. He knew her past and drama.

Ms. Iris’s eyes widened. “You should have gone! I called your mama, you know. Got the real low down on the entire situation.”

She’d assumed Ms. Iris would call her mom. They’d been best friends growing up and still stayed in touch. Her mom didn’t know the entire story about Jasper, but what she didn’t get from Samantha, she’d probably get from the Broadway tabloids. Word travels fast when Broadway’s “King and Queen” split the way they did.

And the Queen was the one forced out. This was when her anger overrode the hurt. At the right moment, she’d unleash it. After she stopped hiding, licking her wounds, and managed to shove her anxiety back into its neat, little pouch. She’d buried it once before, staying focused and using it as motivation to drive her success. She’d do it again. Eventually. She just didn’t have the energy at the moment.

“Trevor said that his sister would come by and convince me to go out with him.” It’d been a long time since a man had chased after her, even before Jasper. Jasper didn’t chase women.

They flocked to him.

And waddled right into his bed.

“That should be nice for you to hang out with someone. I know you haven’t gone out with any friends since you’ve been here. I heard Becky ask you last week if you’d like to go to the movies with them. Honey, we’ve all had men step on our hearts. You got to pick yourself up and get back in the world. I enjoy having you here, and I understand the reasons for wanting to hide away from the public eye, but you need to interact with more people. Being alone won’t help you move on.”

Ms. Iris’s version of having a man step on her heart versus Jasper’s public humiliation by sleeping with four different women (that she knew of) were two extremes. Even if her mom did know the whole story, she probably didn’t give Ms. Iris the dirty details. Who would? It was straight-up embarrassing.

“I promised that I’d go out with Addie but nothing else.” She didn’t have any inclination to become that involved with the residents of Statem even though they all seemed very nice. She wasn’t even sure how long she’d stay. She didn’t have to work. Her savings were more than enough to keep her settled for the next few months in this sleepy, little town with the small wages from the diner.

But the distraction, the experience of simply living for a while, was worth the damage her absence might cause her career.

At least, that’s what her therapist promised.

“Socializing with Addie is a start. Now, let’s refill some of the ketchup bottles and napkin dispensers while we have a lull in the day.”

Samantha pushed Trevor from her mind and mindlessly refilled the bottles. Ms. Iris turned on the radio. The next song that played was a Patsy Cline song Samantha knew well.

It’d been three weeks since Jasper’s bombshell. Three weeks since she’d had an urge to sing, something that used to be like breathing.

“Don’t just hum, honey. Your mom sent me all sorts of videos over the years. I know you can sing a little.” She winked. Yes, a “little” was an understatement with the Tony Awards under her belt.

After a glance around the empty diner, she began to singWalkin’ After Midnight,and some of the tension in her body drained away.

She finished the song louder than when she’d started. She turned around at the unexpected applause.

Becky, the owner of the diner, shook her head, her eyes a disconcerting, ice-blue color. “I knew you could sing. I mean, I searched the internet when I hired you, but man, that was good.”

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