by Taylor Hart
“You’re going to love it,” Olivia told Jorge. “Let’s get you where you need to go.”
Jewel watched them go, and satisfaction pulsed through her. These were the moments she loved her job most.
“How was the date last night?” someone asked from behind her.
Jumping a bit, Jewel squeaked in surprise. Her hand went to her chest.
Grant Kent stepped next to her. “Sorry.”
“Oh.” She knew she was blushing. Not just because he’d startled her, but because he looked completely different. “You got rid of the dreads?” she breathed out.
“I did. And you pay for students to attend.” He looked like he had caught her doing something wrong.
She frowned at him and did the same thing she had done to Olivia. “Shh.” She turned away from him, going back to other paperwork. “You can go help your cousin in the art room.” Why had her heart rate sped up so much?
“Hmm.” He didn’t sound convinced that should be his task.
She tried to collect herself and be all cool like she’d acted yesterday. It’d just been a stroke of luck her neighbor had been able to come to jump-start her car and she’d been able to … what? She didn’t know. Avoid dating a rich, handsome movie star? She’d chided herself all night. Why?
For starters, she had a lot to figure out in her own life, that’s why! And wasn’t he with his co-star anyway?
Their eyes met, and she quickly looked away. She felt something undeniable. Which was ridiculous. She wasn’t some puppy-eyed teenager, and he was Grant Kent, star of Raced and Wrecked. Like it was even a possibility.
“I have to finish organizing things.” She nodded to the piles of paperwork everywhere. Dang, he looked good without the dreads.
“Okay, I’ll see you after.”
Saying nothing in reply, she watched him go. Today, he wore khaki shorts, a button-up shirt, and flip-flops. Nervous butterflies swarmed inside her just watching him walk away.
Turning back, he made a finger guns gesture before pushing the door open and disappearing.
Jewel growled in annoyance. Had he just fake shot her?
After the camp was over, Jewel busied herself with the students and quickly thanked all of the volunteers. She hauled bins of materials to her back office and locked the door. Quickly, she changed into her swimsuit, then put her clothes back on over it. She really needed the beach.
Emerging from her office, she nearly fell over when she heard someone.
“Hey.”
She stumbled back, realizing that it was Grant Kent again. “H-Hello, Mr. Kent.” She tried to say the words smoothly.
He was closer than she expected. To say that he looked as dreamy as he did in the movies was an understatement. He was easily ten times more gorgeous in person than in the movies.
“So how did the day work out?” he asked casually.
“Good.” Her voice squeaked a bit. What was wrong with her? She moved away from her office and started toward the door.
He kept pace with her. “Good.”
She pushed out of the theater room and then turned to lock that door. A bunch of the kids from her program were still hanging out in the halls. She waved at them. “Have a nice break.”
“Bye, Ms. Olympia,” the students called out. “Have a Merry Christmas.”
“You too.” She beamed at them one last time, then moved toward the exit.
Grant stayed by her side. “They’re good kids, aren’t they?”
She nodded, not giving him her full attention. “They are good kids.”
They got to the main door, and Grant moved in front of her to hold it open.
She passed through, feeling nervous as all get out. What was his deal? “Thank you.”
He nodded. “Look, I had someone bring this to me. Please make good use of it.” Taking her hand, he slipped something inside of it.
She looked at the paper in her hand. A check. Unlike her checks, this check looked official, businesslike. She noticed it was printed professionally. Confused, she saw it was printed for five thousand dollars. All the wind went out of her. “What is this?” She held it up to him.
He shrugged and pulled out his sunglasses, putting them on. “At least my hack skills can help fund a good cause.” He took off toward the parking lot. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Olympia. Please rip up your personal checks. You give enough.”
“Wait. No,” she said, her mind spinning. Five thousand dollars? She trailed after him. “I can’t accept this.”
But he didn’t stop. In fact, he didn’t even acknowledge her.
“Wait!” She jogged after him, holding the check up. “I can’t take this.”
He stopped moving and turned back to her, tugging his sunglasses off. “You’re turning my donation down?”
Man, his eyes were arrestingly beautiful. “Uh. I … you already volunteered. That’s plenty.”
“So did you.” He flashed a smile at her. “In fact, you’re pretty good. I was just telling the class how to properly do a Brooklyn accent. I used your advice too.”
She smiled at him, liking that he had complimented her, even though he was stinking famous.
“What?”
She waved a hand and felt a rush of butterflies, the same ones she’d felt in the parking lot yesterday when he’d asked her to dinner last night. “Nothing.”
He cleared his throat and crossed his arms. “Keep the check, please. I’ll count it as next year’s good Christmas deed so I can get it out of the way.”
Hating that she liked the sarcasm in his voice, she relented. “I guess it’s always nice to accumulate more Christmas deeds.” She laughed and thought of It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart. “Are you trying to get your Christmas wings too?”
Slowly, he smiled. “My mother made us watch that movie every year.”
For a moment, their eyes held, and she didn’t know why it felt like they were connecting.
He cleared his throat and closed the gap between them. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”
This wasn’t what she’d expected. She had expected him to say his goodbye and then walk his star power away from her. “Okay.” Her nose twitched. “Is that you?”
“What are you talking about?”
She sniffed, now invested in this smell. “You smell …”
“Like roses.” He let out a light laugh.
“Yeah,” she said, surprised by it and his reaction.
He rolled his eyes. “Ari. I don’t know if you know how she’s been with the oils.”
Thinking of how the girl was certifiably obsessed, Jewel laughed. “That’s funny.” She found herself distracted by his eyes again. Yes, they were that blue. She thought of the scene in the Christmas movie Save the Date, which she watched over and over whenever she was sick or felt sad. It was a silly rom-com, and she loved it.
“Ms. Olympia?” he asked, yanking her out of her dreams and back to the present.
“Sorry.” How embarrassing. Had she really just gotten lost in his eyes?
“You okay?”
She blinked. “Yes, talk.”
“At the risk of getting rejected again, I’m going to ask you for a real date.” He put his hand out. “But it doesn’t have to be tonight. It can be anytime.” He blew out a breath. “Ari is gone for the next couple of days for acting camp, so that would be preferable, but I can be flexible.”
This was insane. Grant Kent was asking her out … like, for real out. Last night had been rushed and confused and felt like he wanted to pin her down because she’d insulted his acting skills. “You saw that I kissed that guy last night, right?” She had thought that would convince him she had a boyfriend.
He grinned. “I knew it was fake. The guy was shocked, and believe me, I recognize fake.”
“I guess you would recognize acting,” she said with a laugh.
He pointed at her. “Bad acting at that. Plus, he’s not really your type, is he?”
She smiled. “My type?”
> “Yeah, he’s Navy SEAL all the way. I have a brother that’s a SEAL, and they don’t think it, but they stick out like sore thumbs.”
As amusing as this was, she felt overwhelmed that she was actually having this conversation with Grant Kent. Mr. Save the Date himself. Dang, she loved that movie of his. “I can’t date a SEAL?”
“Naw, you’re more the type to date a do-gooder.” He looked cocky, like he’d just fallen right into the role.
“And that automatically means you?”
Tilting his head to the side, he held up two fingers. “I have done two good deeds in less than twenty-four hours. Well, three if you count volunteering both days.”
She shook her head. “Your goodness overwhelms me.” In fact, it did, but she didn’t know how to say how much his five thousand dollars would mean to her after-school program. “What if the SEAL is my boyfriend?”
He grimaced. “I would feel bad for you that you have to hike into that monster truck all the time, but maybe he has a ladder for you.”
Unwillingly, she smiled.
He pointed to her shoulder. “Are you wearing a swimsuit?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Cool.”
“I like to go to the beach and take a swim after a long week.”
He wiggled his brows. “Good for you. So …” He waited. “Why not go out with a movie star? What do you have to lose? We could go to the beach together. Or we could go out sometime on this break.”
Although she was flattered, she thought of her trip to find her mother. “No.” Suddenly, she wanted to explain to this man something she hadn’t told anyone else—about finding her mother. That was absurd. She didn’t even know him. “I’m leaving over the holiday.”
“Where are you going?” he asked.
She sighed. “I’m taking a road—”
Out of nowhere, ten kids emerged from the high school and pointed at him. “That’s Grant Kent.” Then they were surrounded by kids asking for selfies.
She winked at him and walked away. “Catch you another time, Mr. Kent.”
Chapter 5
Grant walked to his car and waved at the last batch of kids. He’d seen her rush around the corner of the parking lot and disappear as he was surrounded by the teenagers. Of course, he’d obliged them with the selfies. He’d always considered it a privilege to be a movie star, and he liked taking pictures, especially with kids.
He opened the door to his baby-blue convertible Mustang and got in. The night was warm, and he started to sweat. He liked LA, and he liked the dry heat, but he really wanted to cool off. Maybe he would jump in his pool.
Dang, it would have been fun to have Ms. Olympia in the pool. Then, as if she had been conjured out of his imagination, he saw a little red Volkswagen bug come around the corner of the parking lot with her in it.
He was pretty certain she hadn’t seen him as she zoomed by.
Unable to stop himself, he decided to follow her. She’d said she was going to the beach. He could do the beach. What else did a famous movie star have to do except follow his little cousin’s drama teacher around? He let out a breath. Maybe he was turning into a stalker.
Chapter 6
Jewel stood facing Santa Monica Beach. She loved the ocean. It was an essential part of her. Even in the winter, she came here often. She was lucky it’d warmed up to the upper seventies today. Her mind flashed to Grant’s glorious face.
She shook her head. The whole thing with him made no sense. Why did he keep asking her out? He could have his pick of women. Her mind flashed to pictures she’d seen on Instagram last night of him and Tracy Halls together on the set of their latest movie. They were definitely a thing.
Annoyed she hadn’t called him out on that, and double annoyed she was even thinking about him, she focused on the sun on her face.
Her mom had sent five text messages, checking in on her. Jewel hated worrying her. She’d responded that she wasn’t too sick, just too sick to drive to Chico.
Pulling off her swim cover, hat, and sunglasses, she dropped them on the beach and kicked off her flip-flops. The ocean was what she needed—cool, refreshing. She moved into the water, and it felt like warm silk against her ankles. She thought of one of those chocolate commercials where the people submerged themselves in chocolate. When she had seen the commercial for the first time, she’d thought it was stupid, but after watching that feeling they seemed to have when they went into the chocolate, she understood—this was the feeling that she was surrounded by everything she wanted.
Walking a bit farther, she did a quick dive into the water and swam out for a bit. She had always loved to swim. When she emerged above the water, she turned to face the sun again.
Grant Kent’s face popped back into her brain. She knew she was blushing just thinking about him. Even though they’d gotten off to a rocky start the other day, she actually found she enjoyed him. She liked that he’d cut his hair, that he’d shown up and helped, and that he’d asked her out again.
It made her smile to think of the way Grant had told her that her neighbor she’d kissed for show was not her type. C’mon. Weren’t military guys a lot like football guys? Especially in those cheesy romance books, all hot and cute and totally dreamy. Every woman’s type, so to speak. She thought of her poor neighbor who had been asking her out a lot and had been disappointed when she had told him she wasn’t interested. She’d felt bad, but Grant was right. She wasn’t into having a guy who left her all the time.
She stared into the sun for a bit more, then turned back. If she hadn’t just been in Grant’s presence, she wouldn’t have believed that was really him standing on the beach, staring at her.
Chapter 7
Okay, was he acting like some creepy stalker? Maybe.
Had it been weird to follow her to the beach? He wanted to ask her why they were at Santa Monica Beach on a Friday. It was tourists galore. To stay incognito, he shoved a ball cap on his head and put on his sunglasses before getting out of his car. He was grateful he’d had his dreads shaved off the previous day, because he would be more difficult for the paparazzi to spot. They had made him way too noticeable.
His heart raced uncomfortably as he scanned the beach for her until he finally found her. She was wearing a polka-dot one-piece swimsuit, and dang, she looked fine. Definitely model material.
Her hair was plastered against her head as she stood in the ocean, her fingertips skimming over the top of the water. There was this intermingled feeling of seduction and bliss when he looked at her. Yes, he could see she loved the ocean. If he were tasked with casting commercials for something like this, she would star in it. He hadn’t decided the product she could showcase yet, but for this setting and to portray this feeling, he would hire her in an instant.
Seeing her here in this moment of calm, he wanted to know her—not just because she was stunning, though that didn’t hurt. No, he wanted to know why she loved teaching. Know why she used her own funds to pay for some kid she didn’t know. Know where she was going for Christmas. Where was she from? He wanted the character synopsis on her. What drove her? Why she wouldn’t go out with him? He needed all of these questions answered.
He continued watching for the next couple of minutes as she turned and did a little dive into the water, swimming out again. After popping back up, she kept her face tilted toward the sun.
Yes, he wanted to know her in a way he hadn’t wanted to know a woman for a long time. He wanted to know what was in her head and how she could so easily criticize him and be so honest when no one else in his world was like that.
So good and honest and frustrating because she didn’t want anything from him. Not a picture, not a date, not even the money he’d given her. He could tell he was lucky she’d kept it, and he knew it was only for the kids. This woman had come out of left field for him.
Feeling comfortable in his role as a voyeur, it was jarring when she turned and found his eyes out of the thousand people on the beach. It was an inst
ant connection.
“Hey,” he said, giving her a stupid grin when she finally came all the way out of the water and moved past him, going to her things and quickly putting on her cover-up.
“I think you just like women who turn you down,” she said when she was fully covered.
Without thinking, he stripped off his shirt, kicked off his flip-flops, and pulled off his hat and sunglasses. He waded into the water and dove in, loving the refreshing feel of the tide. When he emerged, she was standing next to him, her hands on her hips.
“Get back in with me!” He splashed the water and felt the way his brothers had acted the other day, begging someone to play.
“What are you doing here?” Her voice sounded measured, but he wondered how calm this woman really was.
“C’mon!”
She frowned. “No!”
“You know I hate being told no.” He laughed and splashed again. “Come on, Polka Dot. You know you want to.”
Suddenly, she tugged off her cover and ran into the water, laughing and splashing and diving right next to him.
“Yeah, boy!” He punched a fist into the air and felt like Will, a bit alpha male.
She laughed when she came up. “My weakness is the water.”
Dipping down to his shoulders so he was face-to-face with her, he grinned. “I think my weakness might be you.”
She rolled her eyes, then splashed him in the face and dove the other way.
“Hey!” Grant flicked the salty water out of his eyes. He laughed again but didn’t chase her down. He didn’t know what was happening, but the woman had turned him down twice, and he was satisfied with just getting her back in the water. Strangely, it felt like a huge win.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why are you here?”
“You know why,” he said, easing closer to her.
“Because you like a challenge?”
“Maybe.” His hands went up in surrender as he noticed the darkness that crept into her eyes. “Who hurt you?”
