Take Two (16 page)

“Um
oka
y.
Why not?”

“I
needed to get away for a while.”

“Marriage jitters?”

“Not at all, Miss—”

“Melody,
”
I downed a martini.

“No, Melody. I don’t have marriage jitters…
Do you?”

“Why would I?”

“You didn’t answer my question about the boyfriend. Are you deflecting?”

“I don’t have
a boyfriend,” I downed the other two
martini
s
.

He didn’t say
anything in response. He just smiled at me.
I tried to look away, but I couldn’t.

I could
stare
at you all day.

“How long are you staying here?” I heard myself say.

“I’m not sure yet. Depends on a certain project I’m working on…
Tell me something.
Why did you
run away from me at the
launch
party?”

“I
-uh,
” I picked an olive out of my glass. “
I don’t really
remember.”

“
Why do I doubt that?
”

“
It was b
ecause you asked me out.
”

“Okay? That usually results in a yes or a no, not a late night run.”

“I don’t go out with
married men.”

“But I’m not—”

“
I know,”
I
stood up
and immediately regretted all those drinks
. “
Y
ou’re just
engaged
to be married. I don’t go out with
those types either.
”

“It’s not what you th
ink.
Don’t believe everything you read.”

“Don’t worry. I only read TMZ. They’re pretty accurate most of the
time.”

“
Trust me,” he grabbed
my hand.
“It’s not what you think.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or my hormones, but I
gave in.
“Okay.
Fine.
I believe you.”

He released my hand
. “Do you have any plans for today?”

“I
’m
going to
pass out on the beach for now
.
My sister and I are
go
ing
snorkeling later.”

“Mind if I
come
?”

“Snorkeling? Not at all. We’re going to—”

“
I was referring to w
hatever
you were about
to do right now.
”

Think of something smart to say! Think of something smart to say!

“I’m about to go
pass out
.”

I lay on my blanket look
ing
at
the sun.
I wondered how long I could lay
like that before going blind. I refused to tu
rn to my
left
and look at Matt—even though I could feel him staring at me.

“It’s kind of hard to pass out when someone
keeps talking to you,” I pretended to be annoyed.

“
I’m pretty sure it is,” he laughed. “
How long have you been here?”

“A week and four
days.
I don’t
think I want
to go back.”

“Me either.
It’
s much more qui
e
t
here than in New York.”

“You
’re telling me
you
don’
t enjoy all that
attention?”

“Not really
.
I can’t even get a sandwich without making the news.
It’s like every part of my life is documented by people I don’t even know.
”

“Hmmm. You know, the paparazzi are probably watching you
right
now. They might assume you’re cheating
on Selena
so
I’m going to—”

“You’re leaving?”

“
Yea
h
,
” I
finally
turned to face him. “
I should
head
—
”

“
Please stay
. I
know for a fact
they’re not watching. I took care of all that.”

Took care of all that? What does that mean? And he needs to stop looking at me like that…

He and I sat and watched the waves for
what felt like an hour.
There
was
a strong
tension between us and I tried my best to ignore it.

“Ho
w old are you,
if you don’t mind sharing
?”
he asked.

“Twenty four
.”

“How’d you get to be
a big critic so young
?”

“Are you
making conversation
or do you really want to know?”

“
I want to know,” he turned
on his side.

Don’t stare…Don’t stare…

“Well, I’ve always been a writer. I won all types of competitions in high school. When I got to college I
lucked up and got an internship
at
The New York Appeal
.
I did coffee runs and menial stuff for a whole year, but when my boss
got sick
he let me write a couple of reviews under his byline
.
As time went on,
he got worse
and worse
so
I was writing them all
.
A
fter a while, people were writing
in
and
asking his opinions on
everything—
shows, books
, films, whatever
. M
ovie studios
and publishers
even
sent
flowers and
gift
baskets to get in
his
good graces
b
e
cause readers
were clinging
to
his every word.
”

“But you were the one doing all the writing?
Were you still in college?
”

“Yea
h
…He died
my junior year
and
left a note
f
o
r
HR. He told them what had been going on and they
made me
the youngest critic
they’d ever had
.”

“T
hat
’s
really impressive. So w
h
en did you realize you h
ated Matt Sterling?”

“When he started referring to himself in the third person,” I rolled my eyes. “I don’t hate
you
, per se. I’m just not a huge fan of
your work
.”

“I think that’s just the liquor talking.”

“No,
I’m pretty sure I hate
all your films,
”
I
close
d
my eyes
.
I couldn’t stay awake anymore.

I opened m
y eyes and rolled onto my back.

“
Welcome back,
” Matt grinned
. “Do
you want to get something to eat?”

Did he sit there and watch me sleep the whole time?

“I think I
need to lay down some more.”

Note t
o self: You are officially a lightweight
.

“
Okay.
Wh
at’s yo
ur favorite romantic comedy?
Maybe I can better understand your hatred of my work.
”

“
When Harry Met Sally
.
I watch it every month.”

“Not
The Notebook
?”

“I
really
hate that movie
.”

“
Figures,
”
he smiled
. “You d
on’t seem like the mushy type.”

I used to be
…

“What’s your favorite rom com?”

“
Dirty Dancing
. I idolized
Patrick
Swayze
.
That movie’s the reason I
pursued dancing
as a kid.
”

“
Really?
I like that movie too. I know all the moves to—” I stopped myself. I didn’t need to be open with him. I didn’t need to talk about my past.

“Who’d you learn it with?”

“Let’s no
t talk about anything personal
. O
kay?
Let’s just relax. That’s the whole reason we’re here
,
right?
”

He raised his eyebrow.
“Sure
.
Do you have any plans for
early
tomorrow morning?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Would you be interested in going polar bearing with me?”

“Is that a fancy way of saying skinny dipping? I don’t think so.”

“What?” he laughed. “No, it’s not skinny dipping. It’s waking up really early in the morning and
jumping into the ocean when it’
s the
cold
est
.”

“Why the hell would anyone want to do that?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “
W
ant to find out?”

The
next morning, I woke up at five, thirty m
inutes later than I’d planned
. I jumped out
of bed and put on a
white and red
bikini.

“
Make sure you kiss him,
” Jen
giggled
.

“I wouldn’t dare. He’s engaged,”
I pulled on a brown
hoodie. “Besides, I’m still not over Sean
.
”

“The best way to get over someone is to
date someone else.
And why not start with a
high profile
movie star?
For the record,
I’m very
jealous
.”

“What
are you
doing up
anyway
?”

“
M
aking sure you look acceptable for your
date
with Matt Sterling,” she
crinkled her nose
. “You’re going to take
off
that fugly hoodie before you get in the water right?”

“Fugly?
How old are you again?
And it’s not a date, it’s
—”

“Here,” she handed me a
black and silver wrap dre
ss. “Wear this instead. And wear
a sweat
er instead of tha
t
hoodie.”

“Fine. Do
you think he’s trying to get on my good side so I can write good reviews for his films from now on?”

“Ha!
I think he
likes
you Mel.
Him being here is definitely not a coincidence.
I wouldn’t be surprised if his sole purpose of being here was to see you.
This is like
run-in number four, right?
”

“He had his people find out where
I was and came all the way to St. Barts
just to ask
me out again? Yeah
right.
”

I put on a white sweater and glanced at myself in the mirror b
efore heading down to the shore.