Page 33 of Stone Promises

I pick at a spot on the couch. “So they’re not . . .”

“Not for a long time,” she says.

I feel a huge sense of relief; like I’d been holding my breath since he walked into my life, but now I can come up for air. “What you whispered to me last night, about me being the one, what does that mean?”

“You must see the way he looks at you, Mallory. It’s the same way my husband looks at me. The man is completely smitten. I haven’t seen him so much as look at another woman since he saw you outside the club on Saturday.”

“But there are so many of them. Why me?”

She gives me a scolding look. “Why not you, Mallory? You are nice. You’re beautiful. You have a history together that nobody can even come close to.”

I eye her skeptically. “Did Chad send you here to get me to go out with him?”

She guffaws. “Lord no. And to be honest, Mallory, I’m not sure if I’m here to encourage you to date him or to warn you away.”

“Warn me?”

“Yes. Listen, I love Chad to death, but you need to know that dating a celebrity comes at a hefty price. You’ll lose your anonymity. Some of your freedom. As soon as the press finds out about you, every facet of your relationship will be plastered across tabloids, internet and entertainment TV. You may develop a fan base of your own. You may even get hate mail.”

I take in a sharp breath. “Hate mail?”

She nods reassuringly. “You have what others want.”

“I don’thaveanything,” I tell her.

“Oh, but you do. You have that man’s heart.”

I find myself tearing up at her words. I wanted him for so many years. I think I fell in love with him when I was six, the minute he stood up to those bullies for me. Every boy in my life—every man—has been compared to him—the younger version of him—and none have measured up. I tried like hell to erase him from my life back then. I did stupid, destructive things. But no one has ever been able to take his place. Strings of failed relationships plagued me until I just gave up and stopped dating. I thought the problem was me, but maybe it was Chad all along—or the fact that he’d hadmyheart, making me unable to truly give it to anyone else.

Kendra takes my hand. “I know this is a lot to take in. And it’s unfair to you. You shouldn’t have to deal with all the crap that comes along with him. New relationships can be hard enough as it is. But it’s a package deal if you want to be with him. And it’s already started, you know. There is a picture of you out there.”

I’m completely caught off guard. “A picture ofme?”

She nods reluctantly. “From the night of the premiere. It’s only your profile. You can’t even tell it’s you. But after Chad’s reaction to seeing you that night, some photographer took your picture and it ended up on the morning show Chad did yesterday. I’m assuming he didn’t tell you about it because he didn’t want to alarm you. And it’s not a big deal. Not yet anyway. But it will be. With him going to your school and then you showing up together at his brother’s residence—it won’t take long before the press put it all together.”

I sink back into the couch cushion trying to figure out how I feel about all of this.

“I’m not telling you this to scare you away,” she says. “But I do want you to think long and hard about it. If you don’t think you can handle it, please don’t get his hopes up any more than they already are. I don’t want to see him get hurt, Mallory. And I think you may be one of the only things in this world that can truly hurt him.”

I take in a shaky breath, still trying to hold back my tears. “It—it’s a lot to think about.”

She pulls a business card out of her purse and hands it to me. “I’m his publicist. It’s my job to know everything that’s going on with him so I can put out fires and get as much good press out there as I can. If you ever have any questions about what you see or hear, call me. Don’t jump to conclusions. Nine times out of ten what you see is not true, or at least it’s a twisted version of it. But woman-to-woman and not publicist-to-girlfriend, you can trust me to be straight with you.”

Girlfriend?My head is spinning.

“I like you a lot, Mallory. I think you’d be great for him. And to be honest, I think you’d be great for his career. People seeing him with someone who’s not an actor might be a benefit. Tone down that bad-boy persona and all.”

I fold my restless hands together in my lap. “That’s not what his manager thinks.”

“Who, Paul?” she scoffs with a rebellious look. “Don’t pay any attention to that stick in the mud.”

“But he’s not the only one who would disapprove,” I say. “His fans. Courtney Benson. God knows who else wouldn’t want him with me. I feel it would be an uphill battle.”

She nods. “It may well be. And you need to figure out if it’s worth it. Ifhe’sworth it.”

My eyes snap to hers as I absorb the words she’s said. She gives me a sympathetic look as she stands up and slings her purse over her shoulder. “Youdohave a lot to think about. But remember this, just because he’s a celebrity does not mean his heart can’t break just like everyone else’s.”

After she leaves, I head into the kitchen and sit at the table, eyeing the spaghetti dinner my dad has prepared for us. I try to get myself to eat, but find I’m mostly pushing food around on my plate.

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