Page 3 of The Grumpy Actor

“There wasn’t any tension.”

She raises a brow. “That’s a lie.”

“You’re reading too much into what isn’t there. Like you said, where would I have met a celebrity like him?”

“That’s right.” She nods. “You two are worlds apart.”

Yeah, we are. But back then, I thought we were living in the same world. He’d just been Liam, the acting graduate student who swept me off my feet, not the big-time playboy actor the world has come to know.

My heart tightens and I try to ignore it, but it’s hard when I feel like I’m reliving the past all over again.

I thought he was behind me, but it turns out he isn’t.

“Come on, let’s get out of here. Getting lunch from here is clearly impossible with the crowd.” I pull Lily along by her arm as I head down the street. “I’m helping my mom at the diner today.”

“Oh, so you still haven’t gotten any freelancing gigs lately?”

“Yes, and as long as I stay under my mom’s roof, I have to pull my own weight and help with the diner.”

“Keep saying that like it’s a bad thing. Your mom is literally the best cook in town.”

I scoff loudly in Lily’s face, and she bursts out laughing. We make our way to Grant’s Diner, which has been in our family for as long as this town has existed.

The diner is packed, which isn’t surprising. Most of the tourists who come to town often make my mom’s diner their go-to place for lunch, then stick to the fancy resorts for a high-end dinner. The locals, however, come in at any time.

As soon as we enter, Mom calls out to me from behind the counter. “Sophie, man the counter. Lily, you take orders.”

“I only followed Sophie here,” Lily replies.

Mom throws her a sharp glare. “And?”

“I’ll get on it, Mom,” Lily says quickly.

I hold back a laugh as I head to the counter. My mom and Lily have a relationship where I often wonder if Lily isn’t actually my sibling. Lily’s mom has been my mom’s best friend since before we were born, so we’re practically family.

We get swamped with work pretty quickly. When my mom’s part-timer, Susan, shows up later in the evening, I leave the counter to her and join Lily in taking orders.

I grab a notepad and head over to the two men who just walked in. “Good evening. May I take your orders, please?”

The brown-haired man sighs heavily and picks up the menu on the table. “Just choose something, Ben. I’m exhausted.”

Ben takes the menu and begins to peruse it. They don’t look like tourists. Tourists are usually hyper about exploring the town and gushing about trying the food here. And they’re clearly not locals, since I’ve never seen them in my life, and I can proudly say I’ve met everyone in this small town.

They must be part of the movie crew, then. That has to explain their exhaustion.

“I can’t believe she really quit at the last minute. Who does that?” the brown-haired man laments.

The second man, Ben, lowers his menu. “I’m guessing she heard the rumors about how hard it is to work with him and bailed.”

“This isn’t a joke.”

“Sorry, Julian,” Ben apologizes, but from his sly smile, I can tell he isn’t the least bit sorry. “But we both know the only person who can handle Liam’s nonsense is Kaylee. It’s so unfortunate she’s on maternity leave.”

Liam? Goodness, are they talking aboutmyLiam?

Why do I even care?

“I mean, all he needs is a temporary personal assistant. Is that so hard to find? One would think people would be thrilled to work with a celebrity,” Julian laments.

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