Page 40 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
“If I were one of my sisters, that’s all it would take to get me to agree. But I just don’t—”
“What if I give you access to my land for the rest of the summer?”
Her eyes go wide, but then they quickly narrow, like she’s already two steps ahead of me. “Justfor the summer?”
She’s negotiating. That has to be a good thing. “To the squirrels living in my backyard, yes.” I think about the various research sites she’s told me about that fill the forest behind my house. “To the rest of the acreage, you can have access indefinitely.”
She sits up a little taller.I’ve got her.
“For you, and any of your associates at the university,” I add.
“You would do that?”
I shrug. “I wanted the woods for privacy and a buffer from any future development. But it won’t hurt anything to have a bunch of biologists hiking around. As long as everyone steers clear of the house.”
I can almost see the thoughts flying through her brain. She’s probably already cataloging all the experiments she had to abandon but can now continue.
It occurs to me that had I known it would make her this happy, I would have offered her access to the land anyway. No strings attached. I’m a little disappointed that now I can’t.
She laughs to herself as she drops back into the sofa cushions. “I can’t believe I’m actually considering this,” she says. “Me.Maybe I’ll be able to convince a few journalists, but Flint, anyone who knows me is going to immediately know it can’t be real.”
I’m sure she doesn’t mean for her words to be an insult, butman,this woman is giving my ego a beating. Who cares if I do like her? Audrey couldn’t make herself any clearer. She’ll never feel the same way about me.
“Good thing you’re such a recluse, then,” I say, defaulting to what comes easiest to me. When all else fails, I can always crack a joke. “What are we talking, here? Ten, eleven people?”
She rolls her eyes. “Shut up. I know more than eleven people. It has to beat leastfifteen.”
I grin. “I think those odds are good enough for us to take our chances.”
She gives her head another shake. “Girlfriend to a movie star,” she says, like it’s the most preposterous thing she’s ever heard.
“Maybe let’s drop the movie star thing,” I say, nudging her knee. “I’m just a guy, Audrey.”
“A guy whoISa movie star.”
“Just think of me as the guy who flirted with you at the Feed ’n Seed. The guy you metbeforeyou knew he was anyone famous.”
She taps her chin. “Trouble is, that guy also had me hauled across the mountain by his Incredible Hulk bodyguard, placed in handcuffs, and interrogated by police.” Her eyes sparkle with humor, pulling an automatic smile out of me.
“That’s better than an actual rap sheet, right?” I ask. “And Nate’s not as scary as he looks.”
“When he’s looming over you in the middle of the forest, he’sterrifying.” Audrey holds my gaze for a long moment, her clear blue eyes bright even in the fading evening light. “But you’re right. He’s definitely a big softie. Especially when Joni is around.”
“I’ll take credit for that,” I say. “I set them up on their first date.”
“Speaking of dates,” Audrey says. “When is all of this supposed to happen?”
“The premiere is four weeks from Saturday. But we’d probably need to post a picture much sooner than that. As soon as possible.”
“Four weeks.” She licks her lips. “That’s just before classes start for me. What happens after?”
“After, you’re under zero obligation to do or say anything at all. We’ll probably both deal with people around here—especially people who know us—asking questions. You can be honest with the people closest to you—all my family will know the truth because I don’t lie to my family—but for everyone else, it will probably be easiest to just let them assume we dated and parted ways amicably when we realized you would never be happy dealing with all the crazy my life brings.”
My words ring with truth—at least in my own head—but then Audrey nods, confirming them even further. “I definitely don’t think I’m cut out for celebrity life.”
Well. Glad we’ve got that cleared up.
This will be fake dating andonlyfake dating.
