Page 9 of Please, Stay

“Addison Johnson. Trevor and I flew to Atlanta, and Addie met us up there. They’re going down to the Keys for Christmas to meet their parents. And I came here.” He took his cup from her and halfway toasted her. “To see you.”

“Addie.” Her mouth worked for a moment before she could get a coherent thought to come out. “She’s engaged to my cousin, Cameron.”

His lips twisted to the side in a tiny, half-smile that she was sure would flash a dimple if he’d not had the short beard. “Small world.”

“Incredibly.”

“Now, are you going to take me on a tour of your town?”

He’d really come to visit her? She hesitated. She had to say “yes,” but her voice wouldn’t work.

His eyebrows rose. “Juliana?”

She mentally kicked her own butt and blurted out, “yes,” before grimacing at the awkwardness of her voice. Nice time for puberty to return.

He either didn’t notice or didn’t care, because he decided to release his biggest weapon. A real, full-blown smile. Damn. She might as well get used to it. Grayson Moore could turn her into a puddle with nothing more than a smile.

3

Had she beenthispretty before? She looked much younger than he’d remembered. Less of a threat. A reporter could rat him out and ruin everything. He’d gone on his gut instinct with trusting her.

Grayson took a sip of his coffee. The overwhelming smell of cinnamon in the Christmas-themed coffee shop tainted the flavor. Although he’d left his hair longer than usual and grown a short beard, hoping for a little bit of a disguise, Juliana had seen through it immediately. That was fine with him. It was also nice that no one else had given him a second look, including her somewhat eccentric friend.

Juliana’s sharp, green eyes narrowed. “You’re going by ‘Henry’?”

“That’s right.”

“Redding?”

“For now.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “You don’t look like a Henry.”

“I’ve never played a Henry in a movie or on T.V.” He sipped his unfortunately flavored cinnamon coffee again. “You’d be surprised by the number of people who only know me by my characters’ names. I assume you didn't mention to your friend who I was before I walked over here?”

She glanced behind her. Most of the tables were empty, but she still leaned forward and dropped to a whisper. “I wasn’t one hundred percent certain it was you. The beard is thicker than before. It threw me off for a second.”

He scrubbed a hand over his chin. “Too much?”

“No!” Her quick answer turned her cheeks pink. “I mean, it’s a good disguise, but why the secret? And why aren’t you in Australia filming the sequel to your latest film?”

“Is it a habit or hobby that you keep up with all movie stars’ whereabouts? Or is it only me that you stalk?”

Her cheeks turned from pink to crimson. He shouldn’t tease her. She could still let the world know where he’d hidden himself this year for Christmas. Then, this entire town would be crawling with ruthless paparazzi. He trusted something about her. He’d not met this sweet, unpretentious quality in a woman in a very long time. And his one phone conversation with Addie had confirmed his impression of her. She’d sworn that Juliana wouldn’t be interested because of his fame and money. It was amazing the lengths he had to go through just to have a little time with a woman he found interesting.

“I don't stalk people. I keep up with all of Hollywood, not just you. That's my job. I write an entertainment column, well, I write almost every column for the local newspaper. The article I wrote about you came out in this morning’s edition.” Her teeth caught her bottom lip again, and she resumed her destruction of the poor muffin. “I wouldn’t suggest you read it. I wasn’t very nice about your movie.”

“Oh, really?” Her honesty amused him, although he’d already read the paper at the gas station.

She looked up from her pitiful excuse of a muffin. Her leg bounced under the table, creating little vibrations across the surface of his coffee. It was beyond Grayson why people became nervous when they spoke to him. Growing up, he’d been invisible in foster home after foster home. Now, people all over the world recognized him. Well, they usually recognized him.

“How did you describe me? ‘A star bigger than the script. A script that was so poorly written, that Grayson Moore’s performance is the saving grace to the entire $6.95 spent on this moviegoer’s ticket. Thank goodness those blue eyes never disappoint.’”

Juliana looked down. “I had no idea you read that already. I’m so sorry! You were very nice to me in Atlanta, and I had a hard time sending that to print. But my dad insisted I do an honest review.” She peeked at him from under her lashes. “You should have read my review ofIron Man 3. You’d have thought I killed all the puppies in this town the way everyone treated me.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Grayson reached out and lightly touched Juliana’s hand. Her hand twitched, but she didn’t pull it away. “But can you wait until I leave before you tell anyone I’m here? Or print anything? I know tabloids sell newspapers, but I’d like to keep away from the media for a while.”

Her gaze dropped to his hand, and the smile fell from her face in a flash. Her eyebrows creased together. She slid her hand back into her lap. She shrugged under her shapeless sweatshirt and stood. The shy girl disappeared, replaced by something he recognized. Pride.

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