Page 18 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
I look up to see Nate, lips pressed together like he’s trying to hold in his laughter. I reach for the bag of cookies and dump them onto the counter. Every single one is slightly different. A beauty mark on my cheek. A third eyeball in the middle of my forehead. An impressive array of different mustache and goatee styles. But the most impressive thing is that the cookies are all stillsealed.Somehow Nate—because it wasdefinitelyNate—managed to graffiti every single one of my cookies and thenresealthem into their packaging.
“Dude. You’ve got too much time on your hands.”
He bursts out laughing. “This one is my favorite.” He pulls out a cookie from the bottom of the stack and slides it toward me. On this one, one of my teeth is blackened out, and a long feather earring dangles from my ear. Honestly, I’m impressed with the artwork. I had no idea Nate had it in him.
“How did you even know how to do this? Can we still eat them? This isn’t sharpie or anything, is it?”
“Ann taught me,” Nate says. “And they’re fine to eat. I used edible ink.”
“I still think it was totally unfair for you to ask Ann to help when you wanted to defacehercookies,” Joni says. “She never would have answered your questions if she’d known what you were up to.”
Nate waves his hand dismissively. “Pretty sure she figured it out. Either way, she had a fresh batch of cookies out on the counter. Who cares what happens to the ones she already sold?”
“Wait, she has new cookies out?” I ask. “She made more?”
Nate nods. “She sold three while I was waiting in line. Only person who didn’t buy one was the trespassing biologist lady.”
“Audrey?” I ask. “She was there?” My heartrate ticks up the slightest bit at the thought, which is dumb. I probably won’t ever see her again. Her bright blue eyes flash through my mind’s eye, and a twinge of disappointment pushes through me. “She saw the cookies?”
Nate nods, and the feeling in my chest tightens, then shifts to embarrassment. This should not matter even a little. But the thought of Audrey seeing those cookies, maybe even thinking I had something to do with them, makes me uncomfortable.
“Did she say anything to you?” I ask, trying to keep my voice neutral.
“Nah. She waved,” Nate says, “but she didn’t look very happy to see me.”
“Because you almost had her arrested,” Joni says. “And you're the size of a tree.” Joni leans over and kisses Nate on the cheek. “Sometimes you intimidate people, baby.” She grabs her phone off the counter and slides it into her pocket. “Are we done here? I’ve got a million emails to sort through.”
“Yeah, go,” I say, waving her off. “Just keep thinking about possible solutions to this whole Claire situation.”
Joni nods. “Will do.” She steps away from the counter, then pauses and spins back around. “Flint, have you thought about just taking adateto the premiere? Not a fake one, like Simon suggested, but just…a date.”
I furrow my brow. “A real date?Who? I’m not seeing anyone.”
“We could easily figure that part out,” Joni says. “Just think about it. If you have a beautiful woman on your arm, looking all cozy and comfortable, people aren’t going to be asking about Claire.”
“No, they’ll be asking about the mystery woman on my arm. Besides, the press junket isbeforethe premiere. That’s when people will be hounding me the most.”
Joni frowns. “That’s true. But if youdidhave a date, maybe we could do something before that makes it clear you’re with someone. Simon was right about that part, at least. If you’re seeing someone new, it would putyouin control of the narrative.”
“And you won’t feed the flames like Claire does,” Nate says. “You can just say you want to keep your personal life private, and then move on to the next question.”
“Exactly,” Joni says, her eyes sparkling. “Claire will know that if she keeps talking about meeting up with you, dating you when you’ve clearly moved on, she’ll only look desperate.”
“And stupid,” Nate adds. “She won’t want to look stupid.”
I reach for my water and drain half the bottle. I still don’t love the idea, but it’s slightly more tolerable than Simon’s. His plan felt like a publicity stunt. This feels more like a decoy.
I run a hand through my hair. “Ya’ll are talking like I could just head down to the Feed ’n Seed and pick up a girlfriend on aisle four.” Audrey’s eyes flash through my mind one more time, and I quickly shove the image away.
“If anyone could, it’s you,” Joni says. “Just mention it to Ann. I bet she’d have a dozen women lined up in an hour, ready to date you.”
I appreciate Joni’s confidence, but I’m not half as certain. Besides, women lining up to date me because I’mFlint Hawthorne, famous actor, is a lot different than a woman wanting to date me because I’m…me.A lot less appealing, too.
“I’ll think about it,” I say, suddenly restless to be out of this room, away from the drama that drains the fun right out of my career. I look out the window at the late afternoon light. It’s already past four, but that doesn’t mean much. It’ll be almost nine before it’s fully dark. “I’m going to go work on the trail.”
Nate perks up. “You want me to come with you?”
“Nah, man. I need solitude. But I’ll keep my phone on me.”
