Page 58 of The Mistletoe Makeover

“What? Dating you is that bad?” Cammy laughs.

“Dating a celebrity. The whole life of dodging cameras, wearing disguises. Even Ava struggled with it, and sheisa celebrity. For a small-town girl, it would be overwhelming. She didn’t even know who I was when we met.”

Because that’s what makes her different from every other girl I’ve dated. She doesn’t care about my celebrity status or fame.

“That’s why the video worked,” Cammy adds. “She wasn’t posing for the camera. She was looking at you. It was refreshing to see someone so in the moment. She’s endearing, really.”

Exactly.It’s why Mia has gotten under my skin in the worst way. Every moment with her reminds me how my life could be different if she were in it. No cameras. No fans. Just us, slow dancing in the living room alone, every touch setting off the fireworks inside me.

One night with her at the Pine Paradise made me fall hard. Now, I can’t stop dreaming of waking up with her in my arms every day.

Cammy stops shooting long enough that I know what’s about to happen. She sits on the coffee table. “Jace, you know I don’t give personal advice very often.”

“Oh, really? You’ve been hinting about Mia for the last five minutes.”

She shrugs. “I’m a matchmaker because I like to see people happy instead of miserable and depressed.”

“I’m not miserable or depressed...”

Cammy shakes her head, her pink ponytail swinging across her shoulders. “Ever since you and Ava broke up, you’ve been in a funk. I know you’re trying to push away all your feelings after Ava. But instead of telling yourself why you can’t date someone new, try to imagine how youcan.”

“That’s the problem. I can’t imagine dating someone, especially after what happened. I don’t want to drag someone into my very public life and see them get hurt.”

“But don’t you understand, Jace? It’s not your fault things ended up so messy. Ava spread some things about you that weren’t even true. It’s not fair you were the one the press blamed for the breakup.”

I still haven’t gone public with the truth—though I have my reasons.

The front door opens, and Mia walks in, holding my dry cleaning. “Oh!” she says, looking between Cammy and me. “I didn’t know you were busy.”

I’d told Mia that she didn’t have to knock when she dropped off my dry cleaning.

“We were just finishing up,” I say. “Cammy wanted a quick photo shoot.”

Cammy grins as she looks from me to Mia. “Thanks to you, everyone is asking for more of Jace.”

Mia frowns. “Me?”

I look at Cammy. “Told you she doesn’t know.” Then I turn back to Mia. “Our video went viral.”

Mia looks at me in amazement. “It did? That’s great, right?”

“Yeah, really great,” Cammy says. “If it were up to me, I’d have you dance with Jace foreveryvideo.”

Mia shakes her head. “I’m sure you could find lots of girls for that job.”

“Nope. The public has spoken, Mia,” Cammy says, putting her camera away. “You’re theit girl.”

She crinkles her nose. “I don’t want to be anyone’sit girl.”

She doesn’t want the attention of millions of fans. Maybe Ava loved that part of our lives together, but Mia would hate every second of living in the spotlight.

“You don’t have to do any more videos,” I insist.

She didn’t choose this life; I did. Just because she’s filling in as my assistant for one concert doesn’t mean she has to experience the dark side of fame.

“Come on, Jace,” Cammy urges as she hauls her backpack over her shoulder. “This will help your concert sales. And your image problem.”

“I don’t care about my image problem,” I grumble, tired of Cammy and Allan bringing it up. It’s been a topic I’ve been dodging all year.

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