Page 72 of When You Rescue your Celebrity Crush

I give him the address, and it appears on the screen in response to my voice. Then a map zooms in. “Would you like directions to this location?” a pleasant robot voice asks.

Rob confirms and a line appears, directing us to my house.

I stare at the map, then at the man beside me. “I haven’t seen that before.”

He flashes a grin at me. “It’s a little hack. The system has voice control, so I just needed to enable the connection to the mapping software.”

“You’re a talented guy.”

He shrugs and stops at an intersection, flipping the turn signal on. “It’s what I do. Was that your dad’s place?”

When I don’t reply, he holds up a hand. “Sorry. I know it’s supposed to be a secret. I’m just not great at small talk.”

“That’s okay. We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

He points at the map on the screen. “If you aren’t interested in hearing about the code behind my navigation tweak, that’s probably safest.”

I chuckle. “Luckily for you, I’m great at chitchat. But we can just be quiet if you want.”

We drive in silence for a few minutes. I gaze out the window, watching for Mom and Maddie, but we don’t pass them.

Rob pulls up my short driveway and parks in front of my rental. As I reach for the handle, he clears his throat. “You’re good for Matt.” I swing around to look at him. His face goes a little pink, and his broad shoulders twitch, as if he’s resigning himself to commenting. “I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time.”

I huff out a little snort. “You obviously haven’t seen him today.”

His eyes narrow. “No, I haven’t. Did something happen?”

I fight the urge to squirm under his direct gaze. “I told him we shouldn’t see each other anymore. This was always supposed to be casual, and I think he’s getting too—” I break off, looking away.

“Too serious?” Rob shifts his shoulders against the door of the car, to look more squarely at me. “You think he’s conflating his crush on Nica the movie star with his feelings for Nica the woman.”

I hunch a shoulder, not wanting to meet his eyes.

“You’re probably right.”

My head jerks around, and I meet his eyes in surprise.

He holds up a finger. “But that doesn’t mean his feelings are wrong.” He flicks a control, and the door lock snaps up. “Don’t hurt my friend.”

My eyes sting, and I sniff a little. “Better a little hurt now than a lot of hurt later.” My eyes blur with tears, and I pat at the door, trying to find the handle.

Rob reaches across me and opens the door. “Maybe you don’t need to hurt anyone. Now or later.”

I wave as Rob drives away, then use the keypad to open the garage door. I have too much to process. I’m not sure how to reconcile all the emotions I’m feeling right now. Destiny is not who I thought she was. For some reason, knowing she planned all of this makes me reevaluate my relationship with Matt. Which is stupid. Our situation was completely different from Dad and Destiny’s. Matt has no wealth or power. He’s just a kind, handsome man who thinks I’m the woman he wants to share his life with.

But I’m having a hard time believing that. I’m the flaky Hollywood actress, destined to bounce from one terrible relationship to another, messing each one up and moving on, never really settling down. Just like my father.

As I reach for the garage door button, Mom and Maddie roll up to the house on their scooters. Maddie sails into the garage, her long red hair streaming behind her like a flag, cool and classy in her miniskirt and designer shades. Mom putters in behind, her full skirt flapping around her legs. Her hair has taken a beating and sticks out at odd angles, but she’s laughing as she stops a fraction of an inch from the wall.

“Looks like you two had a good time.” I hit the button, and the door rolls down as they lean the scooters against the wall and converge on me.

“We should get another one, so we can all go out together!” Maddie holds up her hand, and my mom slaps it.

“How’d you get here so fast?” Mom pats around her body until she locates her crossbody purse and pulls out a comb. “We went back toward the house, but we didn’t see you.”

“I caught a ride with a friend.” I point her toward the powder room as we enter.

Mom gives me a quick nod and disappears inside while Maddie and I head for the living room. Maddie throws herself down on the couch. “Your mom is always such a hoot. I wish mine was more like her.”

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