Page 66 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
“I was also thinking we could take another picture to post on Instagram. Something to keep people guessing.”
My heart sinks, hating the reminder that no matter how amazing this feels, it isn’t real.
“Oh. Right. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”
“So you’ll come?” Flint asks.
I glance at my watch. It’s just past two o’clock, but, according to Olivia, I still have an appointment at a salon for whatever makeover-ing they decide I need. Idowant to talk to Flint, though. As nervous as the prospect makes me, I’ll feel better if I have some clarity about what to expect moving forward. Fancy clothes are nice, but they won’t matter at all if I’m so overwhelmed by everything else that I’m in a constant state of panic.
“It might be late,” I say. “We aren’t quite finished with everything.”
“I don’t mind late,” he says quickly, almosteagerly. “I’ll wait up.”
I agree to Flint’s plan, we say our goodbyes, then I hang up the call, his words echoing in my mind the entire time.
I’ll wait up.
I look at myself in the mirror and study my reflection. He’ll wait up for what?
For me? For this woman looking back at me?
Once upon a time, I used to dream about being the kind of woman who wore fancy dresses. Or even justregulardresses. Anything even remotely cute or moderately fashionable would have been a step up from the practical, mostly frumpy clothes I wore.
I figured out by middle school that I didn’t have a very strong sense of style, but more than that, I figured out that I didn’t have the social skills that seemed to go along with being fashionable. You couldn’t just havethe look.You needed the personality to go along with it. The confidence. I didn’t have either of those things, something that was made even more obvious as my twin sisters grew up. It didn’t take long to realize that everything I lacked, they had in spades.
That’s when I really gave up trying.
What did I know about putting together a cute outfit? And where would I even wear it if I did?
Attending a magnet high school for the smartest math and science kids in the entire state didn’t help my cause. By college, I was settled into my ways. My clothes were functional. Practical. As boring as my nonexistent social life.
But the woman I’m looking at now?
She looks different.
Still like me. But maybe a little more like the me who used to look at the oversized blazers everyone wore to school and think,what would I look like in one of those?
I think she’s been in there all along.
Maybe I just needed a nudge—or, you know, a free shopping spree in New York City—to wake her up again.
Still, the fashion isn’t really the problem, is it?
I’m not so shallow to think that a new wardrobe will turn me into a different person. And I’m mature enough to recognize that I don’t reallywanta relationship with someone who doesn’t like me for who I am—nerdy job, lack of social skills, and all.
But I’ve only been myself when interacting with Flint. I’ve beendressedlike myself. He doesn’t know a lot about my job, but he knows I was willing to sneak onto his property disguised as a bush.
Could he actually like me?
Or is this just part of the charade?
Either way, it shouldn’t matter. Flint is a movie star. I know what his life is, and I’m not supposed to like him back.
Which is troubling.
Because I definitely already do.
Chapter Eighteen
