Page 40 of Stone Promises

I think about everything he’s done for me this week. Coming to my house and talking with my dad. Showing up at the school. Ethan’s dinner. Tonight. And then I think about the fact that all week long, he’s done everything right. He’s been nice, funny, chivalrous, generous. And those eyes, I swear I could get lost in them. I raise my glass. “To possibilities,” I say.

“So, open book,” he says, serving me a slice. “Shoot.”

“Okay. Tell me about Courtney Benson.”

He brings a hand to his neck. “Going right for the jugular, eh?”

“We have to start somewhere.” I take a huge bite of my dinner, never losing eye contact.

“See, that’s what I love about you. You’re very direct. And you aren’t afraid to eat in front of me, even when you get spinach in your teeth.”

I use my free hand to cover my mouth. “Oh, fudge. I have spinach in my teeth?”

He laughs. “No, you don’t. But I’ll give you a thousand bucks right now if you say the word fuck.”

I feel the heat cross my face. It’s not that I haven’t said the word. I’ve said it plenty of times. Like when I stub my toe in the middle of the night walking to the bathroom. Or when I failed my first calculus exam. But for some reason, I can’t say it to him.Maybe it’s because you’ve always wanted to do it to him.

“You don’t actually have a thousand dollars with you, do you?” I hold up my hand before he speaks. “Wait, don’t answer that. I really don’t want to know if you have more in your pocket than I make in one week.”

He finishes his slice and then refills my glass and only my glass. “So, you want to know about Courtney.” He puts the bottle back in the ice bucket and wipes his hands. “As I’m sure you already know, we dated for a while last year. We met duringDefcon Onepre-production, hit it off and were together most of the summer and throughout filming. I broke it off when I found out she was using drugs. I tasted it on her one day and it scared the shit out of me. What if just kissing her would get me hooked on it again? It wasn’t a chance I was willing to take. I don’t think she’s a hard-core user like I was, but it was a deal-breaker for me.”

“And what about the others?” I ask, as long as he’s given me carte blanche. “Heather Crawford and Ana Garner? That Tanya woman said you have a history of dating your leading women.”

“You saw the show, huh? I was wondering if you did. I didn’t want to say anything to freak you out and send you running for the hills so soon.”

“I saw it.” I don’t tell him that Kendra was the one who told me about it and that I had to search my TV for past episodes until I found it.

He holds up two fingers. “Twice I’ve dated a leading lady. Noteverytime like she made it out to be. I dated Heather way back when. Then there was Courtney. It was bullshit what Tanya said about Ana. Ana and I are friends, but we never dated.” He chews on his lip in thought. “I took Lila Knox out for dinner a few times, she had a supporting role onMalibu. Other than that, I’ve dated some random women. Would you like me to compile a list?”

“I’m not sure we could come up with enough paper,” I joke.

His hand covers his heart. “Ouch, Mal. That hurt. In any case, that falls under the ‘shit from the past’ category, okay? That’s not me anymore.”

“Not anymore, huh?” I ask skeptically. “Then tell me, who is the last woman you slept with and when?”

His jaw drops at my temerity.

“You said open book, Chad.”

I can see he’s at war with himself on how to answer the question.Oh, God, please don’t let it be this week.I take a very large sip of my champagne, draining the glass.

“That I did. Okay then, it was late last year. Her name was Nikki and she’s the daughter of one of theBlind Shotproducers. She lives here in New York, so anytime I was here last fall, she would be my date. We hooked up a few times but it was casual. Courtney was my last relationship.”

He refills my glass for the third time. “Do I get to ask you the same question?”

My answer comes quickly. “No.”

He frowns and looks at the table. “Please don’t tell me it was this week, Mal.”

I can’t help but smile that his words matched my very thoughts. I laugh. “No, not this week.Sofar removed from this week it’s downright embarrassing.”

Nowhe’sthe one smiling. Smiling a little too big if you ask me. But it doesn’t last long as his face turns somber and he runs a hand through his hair. “I’m not sure I want the answer to this, but was Julian your first?”

I look down at the table, not very fond of remembering that low time in my life. “No. Julian and I never—”

“Wait,” he interrupts.“Never?You dated for a year and you never . . . not once?”

I shake my head. “It’s complicated. And you don’t have to look so darn happy about it.”

---