A-List Kiss: A Laugh-Out-Loud Romantic Comedy

by Brenda Lowder

  Sophie and Corey traded calculating glances.

  Maggie stopped stirring. “I think I’m free tonight. Tell Jonathan I’ll go out with him.” She carried her bowl over to where Sophie was placing the rolled pie crust into the pan.

  “Great.” I impulsively hugged my sister, making her bowl slosh. She shrugged me off. “He’ll be here at six.”

  She scrunched up her nose in an expression of disgust. “So you just knew I’d say yes?”

  “No, but I hoped.” I clapped my hands. “You’d better get ready! You’ve got a hot date.”

  She shot me a glare, but she moved.

  Success.

  ∞∞∞

  The next hour was spent getting ready. Maggie was taking this date seriously—she did full makeup. She also appropriated my red Dolce and Gabbana dress, telling me to chill about it since I could just have Mom and Dad buy me thousands more whenever I wanted. Normally I’d protest, but if it got her out of the house without an argument I could be accommodating.

  Corey and Sophie were parked in the living room with their feet on the coffee table watching the Gavin Braddock movie Inside Fascination. They’d decided to have a Gavin Braddock film festival every time they got to see him. Luckily, he’d made more than twenty-five films—the future of our relationship would be secure for weeks.

  The doorbell rang promptly at six. I opened the door to a younger, slightly goofier version of Matthew Decker. Jonathan’s wide smile lit up his face.

  “Hi, Eden!” He stepped through the door and hugged me. After a second’s surprised hesitation, I patted his back and he released me.

  He looked so much like his brother from his handsome, rugged jaw line to his great hair. I tried to pinpoint the difference between them that made Jonathan seem instantly accessible, and Matthew so not. It was Jonathan’s eyes, I decided. They were the same color blue as Matthew’s, but wider. He looked less intense—more like a puppy dog eager to please, which is something that could never be said of Matthew. He was dressed casually but neatly in nice jeans and a black polo shirt under a brown leather jacket.

  “Hi, Jonathan.” I smiled. I couldn’t help it. His smile was contagious. Boy, would his good humor do Maggie some good. In fact she should take notes.

  “Thanks so much for coming over. Please come in. Maggie’s getting ready, but she’ll be out in a minute. Oh, and before I forget…” I pressed a hundred dollars into Jonathan’s hand. I wanted to get this part done before Maggie could catch me. “Dinner’s on me.”

  “Thanks.” Jonathan slipped the money into his pocket. “I guess we can go somewhere nice.”

  “Would you like me to make you a reservation?” There were a ton of fabulous restaurants right in Pasadena, and I loved them all.

  “That’s okay,” he said. “I think I’ll see what Maggie wants to do first, and we can go from there.” Hmmm…he was letting Maggie run the show already. She was going to love him.

  I ushered Jonathan the three feet from the front door to the living room. “Jonathan, this is my roommate, Sophie, and this is my friend, Corey.”

  Corey paused the movie and looked up at Jonathan. “Nice to meet you, Jonathan.”

  “You look a lot like your brother.” Sophie didn’t need to sound so happy about it.

  “Thanks, I think.” Jonathan’s eyebrows knitted together, and he looked from Sophie to Corey and back again.

  “Oh, yeah, it’s a good thing,” Sophie said in a voice that was almost a moan. I cleared my throat, not liking the very appreciative once-over that Sophie was giving young Jonathan. I caught her eye and gave her a pointed look. She muttered, “Sorry!” under her breath and grabbed the remote from Corey, unpausing the movie.

  “Sorry I kept you waiting.” Maggie stepped into the living room from my bedroom, pausing in the doorway for maximum effect. She looked fabulous, as well she should since everything she was wearing was mine. The dress, the classic black Louboutin Pigalle pumps, and my diamond stud earrings composed her ensemble. Her dark blonde hair was left long and fell in soft waves swept to the side. Her eyelashes were plumped to perfection.

  I glanced at Jonathan to gauge his reaction. A wide grin split his face, and it was clear there was no way he was going to accuse me of false advertising. Great! That meant their date wouldn’t end before Gavin even picked me up. They could stay out all night and I could get a real break. I wondered if Jonathan could keep Maggie busy for a week at his place. No, that would be asking too much. Besides, after a night spent in her company, he probably wouldn’t ever want to see her again.

  “No problem,” Jonathan breathed. “Shall we go?” He held his arm out for her. Instead of stepping toward him and taking it, she moved to the couch and made Corey and Sophie scoot over so she could sit down.

  “Not yet,” she said. “My sister’s boyfriend is coming to pick her up soon and I want to meet him. We can leave after that. Have a seat.” Maggie gestured to the empty chair adjacent to the couch. “I love this movie!”

  Well played, my archnemesis. Well played indeed.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  So we all watched Inside Fascination—one of us seething in impotent rage at the uselessly spent hundred dollars, fabulous dress wasted on an undeserving sister, and a bunch of trouble talking up a college boy for a plan that failed to do the one thing it had been intended to accomplish. Oh, Maggie, you devious master manipulator. I wanted to scream.

  Instead I sat and watched the second half of Inside Fascination, and much like its title, we were all fascinated enough to sit and watch the movie rather than chat. Which was a good thing because the only civil words that came out of my mouth at that point would have been a happy “Sayonara” when putting Maggie’s butt immediately on a plane to anywhere else. Instead I watched Gavin execute a bank heist with the help of his ragtag crew of good-looking criminals.

  At seven o’clock the doorbell rang again, and I answered the door to find Gavin himself standing there looking like the dazzlingly handsome movie star that he was. I beamed at him and a thousand-watt smile broke across his gorgeous face. I forgot to breathe. He embraced me and gave me a quick kiss on the side of my mouth. Stepping into my apartment, he looked around at everyone, including them in his luminous smile.

  “Hello!” Maggie rose from the couch and approached Gavin before I had the chance to introduce them. “I’m Eden’s much younger sister, Maggie.” I should have thanked her for not telling him I was retirement-home bound.

  “Hello, Maggie.” Gavin shook Maggie’s offered hand.

  “Hey, Gavin!” Sophie called over her shoulder and turned quickly back to watching the screen. Corey waved his hellos and likewise turned his attention back to the last ten minutes of the movie. On-screen Gavin still had to die in the fiery car crash.

  Jonathan had jumped up at Gavin’s arrival and stood staring at Gavin, totally starstruck. Gavin offered him his hand and said, “Hello.”

  I directed Gavin’s attention to young Jonathan. “Gavin, this is Jonathan Decker, a friend of mine who is taking my sister to dinner tonight.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jonathan,” Gavin said.

  “Wow! Yeah. Very nice to meet you, I mean. I love your movies. All of them. I’ve seen all of them. Even Alligator Joyride. I mean, not that people wouldn’t see that one. Of course they would. In fact, I saw it twice.” Jonathan paused to breathe.

  Gavin smiled and nodded. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”

  Maggie stood up and loomed over Gavin. If not in actual height, at least in spirit. “So what’s your deal?”

  “I’m sorry, what?” Gavin blinked, nonplussed.

  Maggie crossed her arms in front of her. Oh no. Interrogation mode. “What’s your deal? Why are you dating my sister?” She stuck her determined little chin out. Jonathan looked at Maggie sharply. Yes, poor man. He had no idea what I’d gotten him into tonight.

  Gavin glanced between Maggie and me, uncomprehending. I should have said something to stop the Maggie train, but I was
n’t sure what that would be. And I had more than a little interest in his answer. I shrugged my shoulders and rolled my eyes at his questioning look, but I didn’t save him from answering.

  “I like her,” Gavin said simply.

  “Yeah, but you’re like the biggest movie star in the world. You could have anybody, and you’re hanging out with some no-name local reporter flunky. It’s weird.”

  I noticed that Corey and Sophie had paused the movie and were instead watching the unfolding drama in the living room.

  “It’s not weird. I like her,” he repeated, a sharper edge entering his tone.

  “Are you gay? Did you need a fast cover girlfriend for the gay rumors or something?” Maggie stepped into Gavin’s personal space.

  “No! He’s not gay!” I interjected. I could totally answer that one. And Maggie was going way too far.

  “I’m not gay.” His voice acquired a steeliness that I’d previously only seen in his onscreen persona.

  Gavin taking the hard line was so attractive. Particularly when it was directed at my obnoxious sister.

  “I am, however, offended by rude people and sisters who don’t treat their family members with respect.” Gavin ran his hand through his hair, sweeping it out of his eyes.

  Maggie took a step back and blinked a few times. “I’m just watching out for my sister.” She put her hands on her hips. “I want to make sure she’s dating a good guy. Just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you’re so great.”

  She was a petulant child next to Gavin, but I wondered if there was any trace of truth to her words.

  Gavin smiled, the heated exchange already forgotten on his handsome, sincere face. “She’s in good hands.” Gavin looped his arm around my waist. “I care very much for your sister.”

  Maggie smiled back at Gavin, proving that his smile really was irresistible.

  “I’m sorry to cut this short, but we have to get going if we’re going to make our reservation. Jonathan, Maggie, it was a pleasure to meet you both.” Gavin shook their hands again. “Sophie and Corey, great to see you again!” They’d been watching the movie again and trying to pretend like they weren’t hanging on every word of the Maggie/Gavin standoff.

  “Great to see you again, Gavvie!” Corey called back.

  “Don’t be a stranger!” Sophie yelled.

  Gavin waved at them both and shepherded me through the door and out into the cooling Los Angeles evening. I loved fall in LA, when the days were sunny and warm and the evenings cooled to sweater weather. In Atlanta the humidity of the days continued into the nights—muggy and stifling and almost never cool in the evenings. I rubbed my arms with my hands, suddenly wishing I’d thought to grab my sweater from the hall closet on the way out.

  Gavin glanced down at my arms. “Do you want to go back in and get a jacket?”

  I laughed. “Now that I’ve escaped, I don’t ever want to go back in there.” I peered over my shoulder at my closed front door. Maggie, Jonathan, Corey, and Sophie were all visible in the window.

  Gavin laughed. “Your sister is a piece of work.”

  “Yes, she is.” No argument there.

  We strolled past the mailboxes and out to the sidewalk to a crazy beautiful sports car Gavin had obviously driven himself. It was a gold mirage in the sinking sunlight. Gavin was into cars and loved to race them, but I couldn’t even begin to identify what this heavenly piece of mechanical engineering was.

  “It’s gorgeous!” I breathed. He laughed.

  “It’s my new Pagani Huayra.” He pronounced it “why-rah.”

  “I love it!” And I did. Deeply.

  Gavin accompanied me to the passenger side, and I noticed that his two security guys were parked in the car behind him. They obviously would not fit in the Huayra. I’d always wondered what Gavin did when he wanted to drive cars himself. I gave a little wave to the security guys, and they waved back. Gavin opened the door for me, keeping his arm around me to keep from getting hit by the door, which scissored up like wings into the sky rather than out like a normal car.

  “Wow! That’s so cool!”

  Gavin laughed again, obviously delighted that I appreciated one of the things he was passionate about. Impulsively he grabbed me around the waist and kissed me. I kissed him back, loving the feeling of his mouth on mine and his arms tightening around me.

  He broke from the kiss first and leaned back. A slow smile warmed his eyes. He took a lock of my hair in his fingers and wound it around his finger and then released it into a ringlet that didn’t stay. He gave me a last peck on the mouth and helped me into the car that was a scant two inches off the ground.

  ∞∞∞

  The ride to Malibu was spectacular. We drove up Pacific Coast Highway, the ocean waves crashing eternally on our left. The windows were down, and the salty air smelled sweet, filling my lungs with happiness in every breath. The setting sun lit the water purple. A perfect moment. My movie star beside me—driving the fastest, coolest car imaginable that hugged the curves of the winding road. It was one of those moments that you just want to freeze in time because you know life will never be this good again.

  I leaned back and ran my hand through my hair, letting the air flow through it. “How’s the movie going?”

  “Okay. We’ve got some time before we head out on location.”

  I turned and studied his profile. “On location?”

  “Yeah, didn’t I tell you?” Gavin shifted gears and we accelerated uphill around a curve. “We’re shooting in Vietnam. I’ll be there for eight weeks.”

  I noted he did not say “we” were going to be there for eight weeks.

  I swallowed. “Oh. That’s a long time.”

  “Not that long, really. I’ve had location shoots go as long as four months. This isn’t bad at all.”

  “I guess,” I said, my mind suddenly awash in questions that were demanding answers. What were we doing? What was I to him? Why didn’t I just ask and find out?

  Because I knew I’d be disappointed by the answer. Why force an answer when it wouldn’t be what I wanted it to be? A part of me thought that I wouldn’t know until I asked—the naïve and dumb part of me. The grown-up part of me knew that Gavin knew what he wanted all the time, and if what he wanted was a serious and permanent relationship with me, well, then he’d have it, and it would already be a done deal.

  So why did he send me the Cartier necklace and take me to Paris? Because he didn’t want to be alone and I was convenient, I told myself. I had a talent for availability.

  A tear sprang to my eye, but I didn’t let it fall. I told myself I’d ride this roller coaster until I had to get off. No point in ruining the beautiful evening ahead of me when the ride hadn’t come to a complete stop yet.

  Gavin pulled the Huayra up to valet parking at Nobu, and I turned to see his security guards pull in behind us. I wondered if they got to eat dinner here, too, or if they didn’t since they were working. I guessed they would be eating so they didn’t look too conspicuous. Did they get to order whatever they wanted? Working for Gavin had its perks.

  The valet helped me from the car as Gavin came around from the driver’s side to meet me when suddenly a barrage of flashes went off.

  Paparazzi. I’d almost forgotten.

  There were whoops and catcalls and a lot of, “Over here, Gavin! Over here!”

  Gavin took my arm and shuffled us closer to the cameras. He waved and led me toward the restaurant at a slow pace so he could pause and pose. I felt like a prop again.

  Why was he playing to the cameras? For attention? Or publicity for the new film? He was an actor, after all. And a damn good one according to the entire world. I’d never know what I meant to him. Did he even know how to be in a real relationship? Or was his entire life only about his career?

  We were almost to the doors of the restaurant when I spotted Todd carrying his camera and none other than Jessica Downing, swing anchor and terrible person, standing next to him, microphone at the ready. If anything,
she looked pissed off to have to cover a story with me as the focal point. Maybe it was good that Gavin was embracing the cameras today since I’d have to deliver him to KLLA’s action news team tied up with a bow.

  “Hey, Todd!” I tugged Gavin over to where Todd and Jessica were standing.

  “Hey, Eden!” Todd lowered the camera. Smiling, he gave me a half hug. He looked at Gavin. “Good to see you again, Mr. Braddock.”

  Gavin grinned widely. “Please, Todd! Call me Gavin.” He slapped Todd on the back like an old friend. There was no question why Gavin was the biggest star in the world. His sincere charm and charisma were dazzling to watch.

  Todd thanked him, hoisted the camera onto his shoulder, and resumed filming. Jessica, who’d been observing our exchange with narrowed eyes, busted through the gathering throng by thrusting a microphone toward Gavin.

  “Is it true you eloped to Paris with virtually unknown KLLA local reporter Eden Perry?” Jessica barked at Gavin. Virtually unknown. Ha. I didn’t even want to be known, thank you very much.

  Gavin patted my hand that was looped through his arm. “No, I can honestly say that we did not get married in Paris, but I wouldn’t rule it out for the future. I love this lady!” Gavin beamed at me and leaned over, dipping me over his arm and delivering the perfect Hollywood kiss.

  All the reporters and paparazzi around us cheered, and a thousand flashes went off as everyone snapped pictures of the kiss. Our kiss was screen perfect. Gavin’s head was tilted at a precise seventy-degree angle and the glow of the sunset burnishing his jawline was the ideal shade of burnt sienna. He was an expert, after all.

  The passion I’d had for Gavin was missing. My thoughts strayed to an extra-special agent. But with everybody watching, there was still an exhilaration to the exhibition. I felt something. I wasn’t dead inside. But even that part of me knew how staged it was…and how emotionally empty. I wished I was as emotionally empty as the rest of it. My feelings for Gavin had shrunk, but just hadn’t completely gone away.