Typecast (30 page)

While not normally a drinker, she nodded and perched at one of the barstools. “I may have an answer for you.”

He opened a bottle of champagne. “How did you sneak away from my brother?”

“Oh, yeah.” Once more she glanced over her shoulder. Logan didn’t lie when he said being away from her wasn’t working and decided it would be much more efficient to do everything together. Not that she minded in the slightest, but it was making her research extremely inefficient. After being with him for a full day of his work, she knew something wasn’t right, but her instinct said he wasn’t trying to hide as much as he was trying to protect her, especially since he didn’t seem to want to let her out of his sight. “He takes longer to get ready than I do.”

“It’s the hair.” With a little bit of flourish, he dipped a sugar cube in some liquid and put it at the bottom of a champagne flute and poured in some cognac. “Also, he’s probably trying to look pretty for you.”

“I’m glad he decided he wasn’t going to cook tonight.” However, she had been privy to watching Logan train the chef and staff as if they were going to be defending the country. The man was sexy when he was stern. Hell, the man was sexy when he wasn’t stern. He was just sexy.

“One champagne cocktail for the lady.” Wilson topped his concoction off with the champagne, put a black napkin on the bar, and presented her with the drink. “Between you and me, I think I may have lost my special guest chef.”

“What makes you say that?” The bubbles trailed up from the sugar cube in a little line, their goal to reach the top of the glass. Like the bubbles, she had her goal. She smiled, tilted the drink in his direction, and took a sip. A bit of sweet and a bit of tart.

“I think he likes his new career with a special lady in a slinky dress much better.”

“You mean the show?” She took another sip of the drink.

“Just you.” Wilson wiped down the bar.

“What did he do after the movie wrapped?”

He shrugged. “Some bit parts, then he just did what he always did, but whenever
Stardust
bubbles up to the surface, his job is to be the mouthpiece for the rest of them.”

Never an actress, she tried to be nonchalant and ran her finger along the rim of the glass, but her mind skidded to a halt and replayed Wilson’s statement. Why didn’t this occur to her before? When she had scored the first interview with Ryder and Erin, she had assumed they didn’t want to speak, but Logan coordinating everything had been deliberate. Maybe a paid position? Why?

“Hey!” From the back, Isaac entered, waived, and joined them. He handed Wilson a bottle of extremely expensive wine. “I’m not sure what you get a bar owner, but congratulations.”

The men shook hands.

“I better get everyone in position to open the doors and find my woman.” Wilson gave them a thumbs-up and walked away.

Isaac turned to her. “So, are we at the shy smile, handshake, or hug stage in our relationship?”

“Relationship?” She took her time to study the man. Last time they had met, she’d barely noticed anyone was in the room but Logan. Unlike her bad boy, Isaac was the perfect representation of a clean-cut professional. He was more likely to be Matt’s best friend rather than Logan’s with his tailored pants and white button-down and his brown hair neatly parted and combed off to one side. Isaac could blend in anywhere—put him in a suit, he would be a banker or a lawyer, or give him a white coat, the owner of a laboratory.

“The relationship between the friend and the girlfriend is extremely important.” He put his hand to his chin. “If we don’t start off right, I could be kicked to the curb in a second.”

“No way, both our names start with
I
. That binds us.” She held her arms out.

“Excellent deduction.” He gave her a hug. “And may I say you look quite lovely?”

“I will take your compliment and return it.” Though she had only met him one other time, he felt like an old friend. Like she knew him before.

“Well, it took me a while to get my hair and outfit just so, but it came together.” He leaned on the bar. “Of course, nothing compares to your Mr. Alexander trying to get ready.”

At realizing another opportunity, she polished off her drink. Suddenly, her whole world felt like it was leading toward the truth. Everyone was suspect. “Did he always take this long when the two of you would go out?”

“We tried it a couple of times, but we are not each other’s types.” Isaac laughed. “Actually, we don’t really go out where we have to get ready. He doesn’t like going out that much. It’s a pain.”

Fine, fair answer. She needed to dig deeper. How did Logan Alexander, the actor and investor, become involved with Isaac, the chemist? “Did you know him before he was a pain?”

He opened his mouth but paused, a slight yet noticeable break in the rhythm of the conversation. “Logan has always been a pain.”

Of course, there was always the possibility she wanted to read too much into his actions. She tried one of Logan’s tricks. “So the movie didn’t change him much at all.”

“I met him right before he started filming, but I think he has mellowed over the years.” Rather than staying in his relaxed pose, he moved closer and leaned in. “I have to say that of anyone I met from the film, he was the true actor, the one who cared about the craft and telling the story.”

The passion in Isaac’s voice made her eyes well up. Still, Logan had never seen the movie all the way through until her. Maybe it was somehow too painful?

“However, that wasn’t your question. You wanted to know what happened when we would go out, as in searching for women. And only to show my loyalty to you, I will let you in on the secret.” Without her prodding, he continued. “We both rarely went into that scene. He hated the whole game of it and thought women only wanted him to say they scored with a star, and I was too much of a Poindexter to get anywhere without him.”

Poindexter. His word choice reverberated through her like when someone hit her funny bone. A unique term for the geek or nerd, one not used often, but one used in
Hollywood Stardust
. She stared into his eyes. His expression didn’t change, but something was there, deeper.

“Not that anything we talked about matters. Your date is here.” He lifted his chin.

Instinct caused her to turn, and her breath caught.

How, where, and why did the man coming their way end up with her? Dressed in dark pants, a gray shirt, a tie, and a vest, and his hair pulled back with one naughty lock hanging down, only Logan Alexander could pull off such a look.

Like the superstar he should have been, his mere presence owned the room.

He kept his focus on her, but slowly sauntered across the room. By the time he reached her, trembles had taken over her body.

“Gorgeous.” He held out his hand.

“You are.” Grateful for the support, she put her hand in his and managed to get off the barstool without falling over.

He shook his head and held her arm out. “When I’m with you, I don’t need anyone else’s company, but damn if I’m not proud to show you off tonight.”

Unable to help herself, she closed the small gap between them and kissed him.

His lips caressed hers, and he smiled. “I taste we already sampled the bar?”

“Just a champagne cocktail.” She wiped a bit of lipstick off his lower lip.

“I don’t want you to leave my side.”

Funny, she wanted to say the same thing to him. “I won’t.”

“Good, because that’s where you belong.” He brushed the back of his hand against her cheek.

“Logan.” She tilted her face up to him.

“Excuse me!” Isaac came over and put his arms around both of them.

“What do you want?” Still, Logan didn’t take his eyes of her.

“I wanted you to pay attention to me.” Isaac stuck his face in with theirs and laughed.

“I believe when I came down here I caught you paying enough attention to my girl for all of us. Your attention quota is full.” Logan pushed him back.

“Ivy and I need to bond in our own special way.” Isaac gave her a wink.

“Well, you’re done now, and Ivy and I will go bond in our own special way.” In a possessive move, Logan slid his arm around her waist.

“Hey, we need to open the doors.” Wilson rushed out and snapped his fingers.

Ivy tore her focus away from Logan to find the staff members waiting, and Giselle standing alongside Wilson. She waved to her best friend, and Giselle blew her a kiss.

“Well, you’ve been talking about this forever. Open the door.” Logan backed them up toward the side of the bar.

With a final inspection as he walked across the room, Wilson opened the doors.

The light from the street illuminated the entry, and people began to stream in.

Wilson went into proprietor mode, shaking hands, hugging, introducing Giselle, and making small talk. The servers and rest of the staff scurried around them as the place filled up with well-wishers.

“I hate big crowds of people.” Logan tightened his hold on her and motioned to the bartender. “Champagne cocktail and a soda water with lemon.”

He didn’t need to tell her twice since they hadn’t moved from their spot since the doors opened. While people gathered around Wilson, only a few came over to Logan with a quick hello, maybe a handshake, but mostly waves and smiles.

“Here we are.” He handed her the drink and tapped his glass against hers. “Thank you.”

“For what?” She waited to take a sip.

“Being here, being with me.” He stared into her eyes. “For the first time I’ve been at one of these events, I feel normal.”

For as many questions as she had about the man who stole her heart, at last she received some answers with his simple admission. “Well, I’m going to toast to Mr. Logan Christopher Alexander, who finally proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that reality can be so much better than fantasy.”

“I love you.”

The words left his mouth with such ease that she would have missed them if they weren’t three life-changing words. For the second time since he had joined her at the opening, her breath hitched. She opened her mouth, but what did she say? Did she return the sentiment? What if he didn’t even realize what just happened?

“Shh. This is my turn.” He smiled and put his finger to her lips. “I believe we have a toast to finish.”

Caught in a daze, she copied Logan and put her glass to her lips.

“Come here.” He took her glass, placed it on the bar, and pulled her close.

Never needing his kiss more, she lifted her face to his.

“Hey, the place is really on fire!” Isaac came over.

“I’m glad. That’s what my brother wanted. I guess we’re all getting what we want tonight.” Logan raised his eyebrows at her. “What do you say, Ivy?”

Somewhere, she needed to find her voice. “Best party I’ve ever been to.”

“All right, I don’t need a doctorate to take a hint that this is a party for two, but before I let you stare at each other until it is socially acceptable for you to sneak away, I need to show you something.” Isaac elbowed him.

“Make it fast.” Logan took her hand, intertwining their fingers.

In a useless attempt to focus, she blinked.

Suddenly, the low constant hum of the people amplified as if someone had hit the ball out of the park, and as far as she knew, no one heard their conversation.

“Unbelievable.” Logan tensed.

At last she tore her gaze away from the man who only minutes before had said he loved her and turned to the crowd. No wonder the crowd went wild. “Ryder and Erin are here.” Along with them came Brian the agent.

“What are they doing here?” A bit of excitement laced Logan’s voice.

“You haven’t all been together in one room since—” She stopped herself from going too far.

“Since that night.” His voice cut through her. “Let’s go say hello.”

As he guided her away, she stopped. “Wait.” She turned back to wrangle Isaac. He must want to at least watch the spectacle, especially since he knew Logan through the filming.

“What’s wrong?” He gave her a little tug.

Isaac was nowhere to be found.

She followed Logan. “Nothing.”

Hushed tones and whispers took over the place as Logan guided her through the sea of people toward his unexpected guests, and she found herself holding on to the man who loved her like a life preserver. All eyes were on them.

“Isn’t this different?” Logan gave Erin a chaste kiss on the cheek and shook both Brian’s and Ryder’s hands. “What are you doing here?”

She detected something behind Logan’s voice, a mixture of surprise and annoyance.

“You came to my set. I thought it only fair I show up to your digs. Plus, Erin called saying we owed you one.” Ryder patted Logan’s shoulder and turned his attention to Ivy. “And there’s the real reason I came.”

Ivy wondered if she would ever get used to talking to Ryder like a normal person.

The once teen idol grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug, causing her to let go of Logan. “I haven’t seen a better interview of myself in twenty years. I wanted to talk to you.” Ryder wrapped his arm around her shoulders and took a couple of steps away from the rest.

She opened her mouth and glanced over her shoulder.

Though talking to Brian, Logan kept his eyes on her.

With her head held high, Erin held on to Brian’s hand and glanced around.

Wait, Brian’s hand? Strange.

“Seriously, I loved my interview, and after all this fanfare with
Stardust
is over, I want you to come and spend some time on location with me, covering the movie.” He moved them closer to the wall. “I think it would make a great follow-up to your story with Logan. Maybe we can even find you a small part.”

Once more she glanced over at the others, who were pretty much in the same position. The fact Erin seemed to be standing closer to Logan was probably a figment of her imagination. Maybe Logan was right about the constant together thing. The few feet separating them seemed like a mile or two.

“You told me you wanted to be an actress.” Ryder waved in front of her face. “I’d love to give you your big break.”

She forced her focus on him. “I’ll have to check to see what mine and Logan’s schedule will be, but of course we’ll do something.” If she had a job and if Logan still went to work with her. Her stomach swirled with nausea.