Page 100 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
“Will that be in jeopardy too?” Nate asks. “If you don’t find new funding?”
I nod. “Sadly, yes. Malorie is grumpy—she’s the one who just gave us angry eyes—but everyone else is really great. I’ll be sad to go.”
“Maybe you won’t go,” Nate says. “Don’t give up yet.”
I take a long drink of coffee. “Oh, geez,” I say, putting down the mug. “I forgot how bad the coffee is here.”
“Sorry,” Nate says. “You looked desperate.”
I press my face into my hands, rubbing them up and down like I’m trying to wake myself up, then breathe out a long sigh. “I miss him, Nate.”
“I’m sure he misses you, too.”
“So, Ed Cooper?”
“Right. We called the cops on him that night, but he’d somehow managed to snag an official invitation to the party, so they had to let him go. He wasn’t breaking any laws by being there.”
An uncomfortable shiver runs down my spine. “I just feel like there ought to be a way to stop him somehow.”
“Unfortunately, there will always be guys like Ed Cooper out there. It sucks, but it’s the price people like Flint have to pay.”
“And people close to Flint,” I say, my voice tired.
Nate leans forward, holding me with his very serious stare. It’s funny to remember how intimidated I was by this man when we first met. He really is just a giant softy. “Listen,” he says. “I know my opinion doesn’t matter. But I worked for a security agency before Flint hired me full-time, and I shadowed a lot of famous people. Flint is one of the good ones.”
Warmth spreads through my chest. Nate doesn’t have to convince me. IknowFlint is good. “Thanks, Nate. Your opinion absolutely matters.”
Nate glances at his watch. “Are you working late tonight?”
It’s only my second day back at the lab, and I can for sure find something to do, but if I stay late, Nate will stay late, and I don’t want him to do that. He hired a second security officer to cover my house when I’m home and in for the night, but as long as I’m out and about, Nate won’t stop working.
“We can go now,” I say, pushing back from my desk. “I can work on grant proposals from home, and that’s mainly what I need to be focusing on anyway.”
Nate follows me out to the parking lot, his eyes moving from side to side like there’sactuallya possibility of danger in this sleepy corner of Silver Creek. “So, when I start teaching classes next week, will someone have to come to school with me? I bet my students would love—”
Nate grips my elbow, silencing my rambling, and tugs me behind him.
And that’s when I see him.Ed Cooper.
“I like you in your natural habitat,” he says as he lifts his camera.
My stomach rolls, a wave of nausea nearly doubling me over.
“Keep walking, Audrey,” Nate says, his voice low. “Don’t respond to him.”
Suddenly, the distance between us and Nate’s SUV seems enormous. It can’t be more than twenty yards, but my shoes are full of lead, and my limbs are trembly and weak. The car could be miles away for how long it’s going to take me.
“This whole look,” Ed says, following behind us, the shutter on his camera clicking over and over. “It really suits you, Audrey. You look like a real biologist.”
I swallow against the lump in my throat, but it’s Nate who answers him. “Sheisa real biologist. And you’re on private property. You need to leave.”
“Touchy,” he says, as he takes a step closer. “Sorry if I’m a little confused about what’s real and what isn’t. After all the news lately, who knows?”
Nate pulls out his keys and clicks the fob to unlock the doors. He keeps his hand on my elbow, half-leading, half-dragging my stupid functionless limbs toward the passenger side.
“What can you tell me about your relationship, Audrey? Was it all fake? Are you going to see Flint again?”Click. Click, click.“I saw Flint the other night. He was out with Claire McKinsey. Did you know he’s still seeing her? Was all this faking just a ploy to make her jealous?”
I ignore his words. Ihave toignore his words.
