When Dreams Come True (The Star Series Book 1) (7 page)

“Melissa Emily Loring, if you keep this shit up I swear on everything that is holy I’ll make your life a living hell.”

“Christine, you know I love you.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment before Christine spoke. “Yes, damnit, and I love you, too.”

“There. Now that we’ve got all that out of the way, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Have you seen the video and pictures from yesterday and your little adventure with Will Martinsson? Jesus, Lis! Will ‘I’m too fucking hot for my own good’ Martinsson? How in the hell did that happen? Tell me everything.”

After she filled her in, Lissa waited to see what Christine would have to say. She knew it would be good.

“When are you going to see him again? Now, before you say anything, I know you, and no, we aren’t going to exploit him. But I’d like to be able to be watching for the news items so we can get the word out to your readers. There is already a huge spike in activity on all of your social accounts. So far, mostly good with only a few crazies coming out.”

“Well, that’s good, I guess. And I’m not sure when I’ll be seeing him again.”

“Well, why the hell not?” Christine’s anger came through the phone. “Does he not think you’re good enough for him? Get me his number; I’ll set him straight.”

“Calm down, tiger. There’s this thing called schedules, and his time is booked far in advance. Besides, his assistant Beau wasn’t around when he dropped me off last night to see. He said he’ll call, and I guess we’ll know more then.”

“Is it serious?”

Lissa thought back to their conversation. She really didn’t want to share with anyone, though. She wanted to hold it all close to her heart. “Maybe.”

“Fuck. Hannah, I know you’re there. Tell me the truth. What’s up with them?”

“Oh, no doubt about it, totally serious,” Hannah said and ducked when Lissa threw the pillow at her.

“I thought so.” They could hear Christine tapping her pen.

“Hey, why do you say that?” Lissa wanted to know.

“Hannah, get your tablet. I’ve emailed you pics.”

The pictures went by one after another, showing her and Will. She was always pretty critical of herself in pictures but she thought she didn’t look half bad, and considering how charismatic Will looked, even in still pictures, she’d take what she could get. There was one underlying theme in each of the pictures: heat, and it was almost a visible thing. Sort of like a third person in the picture, between them but also pulling them together. There was no denying the fact that they both were attracted to each other.

“Geez, Christine, why are you even calling? It’s pretty clear they’ve got the hots for each other,” Hannah stated.

“Now watch the videos. I’ve put them in order for you.” Her pen was tapping faster.

The first one up was of her and Will outside the restaurant where they had lunch, then it moved onto the red carpet. Seeing images of them walking together as they made their way to the theater was strange. She was so focused on him and not making a fool of herself that she seemed to have, at least partially, blocked out the cameras.

“Oh, this one I’ve already seen! Remember, I told you I was able to watch that moment with you and Will? We should totally have some popcorn for this.”

“Shut up.” Lissa shoved Hannah’s shoulder. She couldn’t say much as she remembered exactly what words they’d spoken to each other. It was strange seeing it all play out and remembering what it felt like to be in that moment with him.

The next video came up. “Oh, shit… wow… ummm… yeah, that’s kind of hot.” The video was of their dance together.

Christine’s pen stopped tapping. “Kind of? What planet do you live on? You just about blew up the internet with that one.”

“You should have seen it in person. I thought the dance floor was going to go up in flames.”

“Can we move on?”

“Oh, no, there’s another video.”

“Great, what’s this one of?”

“Just watch,” Christine ordered.

It was their private conversation, where she was sitting on his lap. It was dark, so you couldn’t make out much, but from the angle the video was shot it looked like they kissed.

“Well, that’s a bummer.”

“Why?”

“It looks like we kissed, but we didn’t. I got the short end of the stick there.”

“I don’t know, it looks to me like you might be getting the ‘stick’ any time now.”

“Christine!”

“Are you going to answer my questions now?”

“Wait, first, these are all over the internet?”

“Oh, yeah. Every major and minor entertainment news organization is carrying them.”

“Has Will or his people made a statement yet?” Lissa questioned.

“Nothing yet. They
have
left me a message, and I would have already called them back if, oh, I don’t know, my client had called
me
back at least once in the past almost twenty-four hours so I would know what her side of the story was.”

“We’re talking now.”

“Yes, now tell me everything. Having lunch with him wasn’t on your schedule.”

“The studio brought him. You know my psycho in the book? Well, he wants to play him in the movie. He was there because he wanted to meet me. He’s read all of my books.”

“Really… well now, that is very interesting.”

“Then he found out that Hannah and I love the superhero movies he’s been in, and it just so happened the premier of the new one was last night, so he invited us.”

“Yes. And you both get to walk the red carpet with two very hot, very eligible movie stars.”

“Oh, yeah, baby,” Hannah chimed in.

“And how did you get to go to the after-party?” Christine fired away.

“He wanted the whole experience to be complete for us.”

“So, you’re saying he was just being polite to a couple of very beautiful women who happen to like superhero movies.”

“Sure.”

“Lissa. Don’t make me say your full name again. Why is it like pulling teeth to get anything out of you?” She could hear Christine gasp on the other end of the phone. “You’re not…!”

Hannah grinned. “She is.”

“I’ll be damned. Really? Wow… Lissa, that’s great. I’m so happy for you. After all this time, finally you let someone in and fall in love.”

“What the… no… I’m not in love. I’m just in like.”

Christine snickered, “Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that. Hey, I personally think it’s totally fucking awesome someone who writes about this whole ‘love at first sight’ crap actually went and did it.”

“You’re both wrong, and this conversation is over. We have to get ready to go.”

“Wait! Are you seeing him today?”

“No, he hasn’t called, and Angelica has tourist things for Hannah and me to do today.”

“Let me know if that changes, as
soon
as it changes.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Shut up, whore.”

“I love you, too, Christine.”

“Whatever. I’m off to talk to his people and then start making a scrapbook of your love story so when you’re married, you can look back and remember how you first met.”

“Shut up, whore.”

Christine laughed and Hannah joined in.

“Both of you. I’m ending the call now, bitch,” Lissa declared, laughing at their exchange.

“I love you, boo.”

“Love you, too.”

When the front desk called to say their car was ready for them, Lissa and Hannah went downstairs. She wondered if she was being hyper-sensitive, but it seemed like people were staring at her more. If Will was with her then yes, she knew they’d be looking at her, but she figured it had to be her imagination. She brushed at her clothes to make sure everything was buttoned and zipped.

The driver was out and around the car as soon as they exited the hotel, and he opened the door for them. She was surprised there were a few paparazzi around and they snapped her picture. While her mind whirled wondering why they might have been taking her picture, she absently stepped into the vehicle. Suddenly, she stopped half in and half out of the car when she realized there was someone already sitting right there. She blinked a few times hoping her eyes would quickly adjust to darker interior. When they did, she looked into the grinning face of Will, and she couldn’t help the matching smile from spreading across her face.

Unfortunately, Hannah hadn’t been paying attention and she couldn’t stop in time, running into Lissa’s backside and pushing her into the vehicle. Lissa fell and Will easily caught her. She lay on her back looking up at him.

“Come here often?” Lissa smiled up at him.

“Oops. My bad,” Hannah said with a smirk on her face.
“I guess you could say…” She tilted her head to the side. “You’ve fallen for him?”

Lissa groaned at the lame joke and reference to their earlier conversation. She tried as gracefully as she could to move off Will’s lap, and with his help she was finally able to. Once they were all settled in, she turned to him and smiled. It was so good to see him. “How?”

Will grinned at her and waved to Royce. “Well, we were talking last night and we both aren’t flying out until tomorrow. We came up with this brilliant plan and spoke with Angelica, who put everything in motion for us.”

“Hannah, remind me to have a talk with her about how I don’t like surprises.”

“Should I also remind you not to go easy on her, Paula Pushover? Besides, you do too like surprises.”

Lissa stuck her tongue out at her and sighed. Hannah was right; she was a pushover and did like surprises, but it was just so hard to get one over on her. She couldn’t stop smiling as she looked at him. “Does this mean we have the whole day together?”

“It sure does, lovely lady,” Royce chimed in. “We’re going to do everything you had on your list, and then some. Just a relaxing day, getting to know one another.” He turned to Hannah and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Keep dreaming, bud.” Hannah gave him a gentle shove.

Royce covered his heart with his hands. “Oh, you wound me.”

Lissa leaned closer to Will. “This is a wonderful surprise. Thank you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” He laced his fingers through hers. “I couldn’t stay away. I need to know more about you. I need to know we’re both feeling the same thing.”

She glanced over toward Hannah and Royce who were deep in their own conversation. Taking a deep breath, she decided to hedge her bets. “Well, if I was reading this in a book, I’d have a hard time believing how quickly this is moving.”

Will grinned at her. “Ahhhh… but your characters always have a connection from the beginning and fall in love quickly.” He tilted his head to the side and smiled. “Wouldn’t you say we’re in a similar situation?”

“Hmmm…”

He laughed softly. “Did I make you speechless again?” He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “I look forward to you trying to get me back.”

Lissa frowned at him. “How did you know?”

“That you’d hate being at a disadvantage and you’d do whatever you could to gain the upper hand and at some point render me speechless? Oh, I don’t know… lucky guess?”

“I’m not buying it.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

He leaned in toward her until they were almost nose to nose. “It’s the connection.” He placed his hand over her heart. “You feel it, you can’t deny it. It’s there; almost a living, breathing, thing between us. I’ll be damned if I’m going to walk away from this.”

Lissa couldn’t look away, as she wondered if he was reading her soul the way she was reading his.

*****

They spent the day driving around from landmarks to museums, talking and laughing along the way. Phone calls had been made earlier and things were ready for them at every location, either making sure they had the tour to themselves or closing for a short period of time so they were able to walk through without causing a scene. Still, Will and Royce stopped and signed their names or posed for pictures when people
did
notice who they were.

It was late in the day and their car drove them higher and higher into the hills. Lissa couldn’t help but think what a wonderful day it had been. Everything they’d seen, and sharing it with Will, who was seeing most of it for the first time himself, was fantastic. They’d also found every little excuse to touch each other: a casual touch, holding hands, a quick embrace. It was almost as if they were trying to cram weeks of dating into one day, neither knowing when next they’d see each other.

Resting in Will’s arms, Lissa noticed Hannah bring her phone out of her purse. “Hand it over.” She leaned forward and held her hand out.

“What? No. I have to check messages. I haven’t all day.”

“Exactly. You haven’t all day. Don’t start now.”

“But…”

“No buts. Hand it over.”

“Fine.”

Lissa put the phone in her back jeans pocket. “I told you, you’re taking the day off. The
whole
day.”

“You give me days off all the time.”

“And this is our vacation day.” Lissa narrowed her eyes at her, tempting her to argue. When she didn’t put up any more of a fight, she knew Hannah was up to something. “I’ll figure it out, you know. So you can just stop planning how to check messages now.”

Hannah smiled and sat back, crossing her arms over her chest. “Of course.”