by Judy Corry
"Okay. I'll be there."
Mallory thanked him and hung up. Drew finished his last few reps then hit the shower. Once dressed, he had his driver take him to the studio. If he was going to be hung up in there for a couple of hours, he needed to get some work done on the commute.
"We need you to wear this first," the head story producer, Oliver, said, pointing to the black V-neck shirt, gray jacket, and denim jeans he'd apparently worn on his date with Melanie in Holland.
Drew took the shirt and slipped it on, then pulled the jacket over it, not bothering with the jeans beside them. The pickups only showed him from the chest up so the top half was all that mattered.
Oliver directed him to his chair in front of the green screen. "I know we just had you do these two weeks ago, but I didn't quite get what I wanted. So let's just start from the top." Oliver sat in his chair across from Drew, with his notepad in hand and his pencil tucked behind his ear. Next to him was the cameraman, Joe, who had spent a lot of time filming Drew kiss a bunch of girls.
"Okay, for this first one, I want you to remember back to Holland and your picnic by the windmill. It was a chilly day in late September. Melanie told you about how she had been raised by her grandparents since her parents lost custody of her and her brother." Oliver read from his notes. “So what I want you to say is: Melanie looked gorgeous today, and I was honored that she would tell me about her family. I feel like we got a lot closer on our date."
"Uh…" Drew started, trying to remember everything he was supposed to say. "Melanie looked gorgeous today on our date. I felt like we got a lot closer when she told me about her family." He knew the words sounded stiff coming off his lips. It usually took him a few tries to get them right, trying to use the tricks Kate had taught him.
"Cut." Oliver instructed Joe. Then he turned back to Drew, with a half-smile. "That's one way to say it, I guess."
"Sorry, it was a lot to remember. Will it work?" He hoped so, because from the line-up of outfits on the table, it looked like Oliver had plans to keep him busy for the rest of the day.
"It might, but let's try that one more time just to make sure we get what we need. Try again when you're ready." Oliver gave Joe the signal to start recording.
Drew's thoughts scattered for a moment before he pulled them back together. He tried to picture the date with Melanie. They had walked all over Holland, had a picnic in a field next to an iconic windmill. The date had been great; Melanie was very down to earth and gorgeous with her long brown hair and cute knit hat. They had great chemistry, but he had a hard time fully being himself around her. She was such a well-bred southern lady that he didn't know how to joke around with her. This was why he'd had to let her go home a couple of weeks later.
"Melanie looked gorgeous today. My heart went out to her when she told me about growing up. I'm amazed at how well she turned out given that hard childhood she had. I really appreciated her sharing her story with me. I felt like we got a lot closer today, and I can't wait to spend more time with her tonight," Drew finished, hoping he'd given Oliver enough to go on that time.
Oliver gave him a slow clap. Drew shook his head and smiled at the ridiculousness of the situation. Since when did a twenty-eight-year-old guy get a standing ovation for saying a few silly lines?
"That was amazing." Oliver smiled. "Just keep that going or another fifty of these, and we'll be in good shape."
"Fifty more?" Did they like any of the ones he'd done last time?
A guilty expression formed on Oliver's face. "Sorry. We decided to spin the story a little differently, focus on different aspects of your dates, so we do need a lot more."
Drew tried not to feel defeated at the huge task ahead, but wow, fifty more lines. If he didn't get some magical acting skills quick he might not get to watch tonight’s episode air live with the world again.
Oliver had him do a few more lines in his current outfit before having him change into a plaid button-up from his roller skating date with Ella.
"How's it going?" A voice said from behind him as he was buttoning up his shirt.
It was Kate, wearing black rimmed glasses that he'd never seen before. How did he not know she wore glasses?
She seemed to take in the part of his exposed torso as he continued buttoning. Was it possible that her eyes had lingered on him for more than a curious second? That hadn't happened since she was in high school. But he was thankful he'd worked out this morning.
"It's going to be a long day," Drew finally managed to say once he'd found his tongue. Was Kate still checking him out? Now that he knew she wasn't married, he didn't have to feel as guilty about that thought as he would have just a day before.
She smiled. "Still not a professional actor yet? Somehow, I kind of like that about you."
She stepped forward and helped him straighten the back of his collar.
Oh, she wasn't checking me out. She was inspecting me. Doing her job.
Drew willed the flush away from his cheeks that came when her finger grazed the skin at the back of his neck.
Get a grip, Drew. Just because Kate also looks really good wearing glasses, it doesn't mean you need to care about it.
"Well, I guess I'll let you get back to your pickups. Alexis is probably wondering where I am with her coffee." She held up the cup in her hand.
"Hey," Drew said, stopping her, not wanting her to leave so quickly for some reason. He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before saying in a low voice, "We never got to decide when to get together to go over your pitches, did we?"
She grimaced.
Did she not want his help anymore?
"About that… I'm not sure I'm ready to talk to Alexis yet. I'm just getting to know her. I don't want to ruin things too soon."
Hoping Kate wasn't just trying to let him down nicely, he said, "We could still work on them. Maybe once you have a pitch you're comfortable with, you'll realize how waiting forever to get your work out there is really doing a disservice to the whole film-loving community." He smiled innocently.
Kate laughed and shook her head. "Okay, fine. I could get together tonight after work. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'll change my mind if I actually have something to work with."
"Well, if I ever get done here, tonight will work for me…though I was hoping to watch the show when it actually airs."
Her face lit up. "How about we do both? I've always wanted to watch someone watch himself on TV. It should be fun."
Drew tried not to let himself think about how awkward that might be and told her that it would be great. Then she walked off, her black heels clicking all the way down the hall, and Drew went back to his chair. Oliver commented a few times on Drew's ability to finally find some real enthusiasm for the job. Drew tried not to think about how his spirits had seemed to brighten right about the time Kate and he had made plans.
Yeah, that definitely wouldn't be a good thing to think too much on.
15
Kate
"Was the paparazzi following you?" Kate asked Drew when he showed up at her door in his holy-man disguise right at five-thirty.
He stepped inside and removed his wig and fake beard. "I don't think so, but I decided to wear this just in case." He shrugged out of the costume, his shirt slightly shifting to reveal a glimpse of his well-defined abs.
Kate’s cheeks heated. This was the second time she'd seen part of his torso that day, which was probably a bad thing to see if she wanted to keep her wits about her. Drew was dating Gwen, and she was supposed to push them to get engaged. Kate doing her job well would help her stay in Hollywood where she wanted to be. So, if she wanted to have her dreams of seeing her screenplays on the big screen someday, she needed to do her job. And checking Drew out was not listed anywhere in her job description. Plus, she would not be the girl who still crushed on a guy who didn't want her. She'd already made enough mistakes in her relationship with Nolan.
She drew in a deep breath to help push away those thoughts,
then led Drew to her tiny kitchen table. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked.
"I'll take some water. Thank you."
Kate reached into the cupboard and filled up a tall glass of water for Drew.
"So what is this story about?" Drew asked, after draining half his glass. "Did you decide on which one you wanted to pitch first?"
Kate rubbed the back of her hand. "I was thinking of doing the one I started writing two years ago. For now, the working title is The Visitor."
"Oooh, sounds kind of alien-esque." Drew leaned closer. "Let me guess, a really hot alien spy lands in this girl’s backyard, casts some sort of mind spell on her, and she invites him in. She takes care of him, tells him all the info he wants, and then he plans to fly away to tell his commander what he discovered. Only, he fell for her in the process. Then there's some sort of lovey-dovey montage, ending with a big kiss at the end." Drew stopped, leaned back with a smug smile on his face.
"As wonderful as that all sounds," Kate said, "sadly, I didn't go with the alien, sci-fi angle."
"Darn it." Drew snapped his fingers.
"It's actually a story set back in the nineties, where this man shows up at a widow's house, beaten and bruised and all mysterious. She lives on a farm, and there are no other neighbors close by to help the guy, so she reluctantly invites him into her house—"
"See, I knew it was about a girl inviting a strange man into her house." Drew grinned proudly.
Kate nodded patiently. "Yes, good job. You paid attention to the title. Do you want to hear the rest of my synopsis or not?"
"Yes, sorry. Go on." He made a show of clamping his mouth shut and locking it with a pretend key.
Kate rolled her eyes. "So she invites the guy into the house with her and her three young children, has him sit in the kitchen while she cleans him up, wondering how he came to be so beaten up. She tries asking him, but he won't give her a straight answer."
"Oh, so he's like a spy…kind of like I said," Drew interrupted again.
Kate nudged his shoulder playfully. "Do you want to tell the rest of the story then? Jeez, I feel like I'm a teacher being interrupted by a fourth grader."
"Sorry, Ms. Dawson."
She smirked. "So, anyway. After she and the children have bandaged up the guy and let him rest, they come to find out that he's actually there to help them escape. He worked undercover for the CIA or something and knew that the area was about to come under attack. And just as he's telling them his story, their wheat catches on fire. It was a really dry year, and everything just bursts into flames and is getting closer to the house. The family scrambles to grab everything of value, but there's no time. The Visitor grabs the baby and the two-year-old, the widow carries the seven-year-old to the car, and then they drive off, leaving everything behind.
"They go into hiding somewhere and the guy helps them rebuild their life. As they work together, the man and the woman fall in love. Everything looks wonderful, until her presumably dead husband shows up. He's actually super evil and faked his death, and now he’s coming back to torture them…he's the real visitor that they have to worry about."
"Wow, that sounds intense," Drew said.
Kate's chest deflated. "Too intense?"
"It's just, I thought you said it was a romance. This sounds like a crazy thriller."
Kate nodded. It had started out that way and had actually been more comedic in the first drafts, but in her revisions over the summer and fall, it had taken a twisted turn. Possibly a turn related to the events of her life. Happy-go-lucky newlywed finds out she married a stranger who ends up treating her like trash.
"Do you think Alexis would even be interested in something like that?" Kate asked meekly.
A huge grin stretched across Drew's face. "I think she'll love it. She told me a couple of months ago that she loves to get into more of the thriller angle on her side projects. Finding Your Soulmate is what she likes in her everyday life, but when she does a film she wants something completely new and edgy. You should totally do that one."
"Really? You're not just saying that to be nice?" Kate leaned closer, holding her breath. Could someone that big really want something that had come from her? A nobody?
Drew nodded, his grin stretching wider. "You should approach her this week."
Oh, she could hug him right then. She hadn't had anyone support her in her dreams for a long time. Her biggest cheerleader had been gone for seven years. But if billionaire Drew, who had a killer gut instinct when it came to successful business ventures had faith in her, maybe she should have faith in herself too.
"I think I need to make one quick pass through it before I can do that. Maybe next week."
"I wouldn't wait too long. That story sounds awesome!"
Kate couldn't resist the impulse this time. She jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you for believing in me."
His returned the hug, and she blinked back happy tears. Why couldn't she have married a guy like him the first time? Were there any guys like him left in the world?
He kissed the top of her head and spoke into her hair, his warm breath sending tingles down her spine. "I've always believed in you, Kate, and I always will."
"Now for the non-scripted interview." Kate turned toward Drew on the couch when the first commercial break for Finding Your Soulmate began. She had made sure to leave some space between them on the couch, setting her phone and remote control in the middle so she wouldn't be tempted to scoot closer and see if it felt the same to cuddle with him as it had back when they were kids. "What did you really think of that one-on-one date with Nina? Was it really that awkward?"
Nina was a shy accountant, and though a date spent on a sailboat sounded romantic, on screen there were a lot of awkward silences…accompanied by chirping crickets.
Drew laughed. "It wasn't that bad. I don't know how they managed to get those crickets all the way out to sea," —he smiled at the ridiculousness of the added effects— "but we actually had a good time. Yes, Nina was more reserved, but the quiet moments really weren't that long or uncomfortable."
"So, do you give her a rose over dinner?" Kate asked, desperate for any spoilers he would give her. While she knew that he ended up with Gwen in the end, she had no idea who his second, or third…or fifteenth choice were.
Drew clamped his lips together for show and shook his head.
"Come on, like I'm gonna tell anyone. Most of the people on Twitter already know, thanks to Twitter's live feed."
Speaking of Twitter… Kate grabbed her phone to check her app, typing #soulmate and #nina into the search bar.
Sure enough, there were a bunch of tweets that showed up. She read through them real quick then looked up at Drew with a frown.
"You sent her home?"
Drew shrugged guiltily. "She was too quiet for me."
"You're complaining about someone being quiet, Mr. King of the Reserved?" Seriously, did he not know how hypocritical that was of him?
"I know, I know. I just prefer someone more outgoing."
So he liked Gwen because she was outspoken?
Weird.
Hopefully that's not what he meant.
Kate deleted #nina from her search to see what everyone was saying about the show. There were memes of Drew in his swim trunks, standing on the beach for one of his in-the-moment interviews. One of the captions read, "I don't always go on national television, but when I do, I make sure to bring my rock hard abs." Another had that same image with a rose photoshopped into his hand, saying, "Will you accept these abs?"
A giggle escaped out of Kate's mouth when she clicked on the next photo.
"What?" Drew asked, looking up from his own phone.
Kate held her screen up so he could see it. "Your abs have their own Twitter account."
Drew jumped across the cushion separating them and grabbed her phone to look at it. His eyes bulged when he saw the closeup of his torso set as the profile pic, with the handle @DrewBurrowsAbs.
/> "This is ridiculous!" he said, as he scrolled down the page. "My grandma better not ever get on Twitter."
"You don't like the idea of fans just gazing at your abs all day?"
Drew scrunched his nose. "No. That's so weird."
He tossed her phone back to her, and she had to admit that he was kind of adorable when he was embarrassed.
"You had to know people would do something like this. I mean, you are the bachelor on a hit show watched by millions of women."
"Yeah…no." He sunk back into the couch and draped his arm across his eyes for a moment. "I guess I knew a few people would recognize me here and there," he said, sitting up, "but really, when I signed on, I had no idea how big this thing was. I think you forget I didn't grow up watching this show."
"I did invite you and Aiden to watch it…so don't be mad at me for not trying to enlighten you."
The commercial break ended, and soon Drew and Nina were back on the screen, sitting at a table with food they didn't touch.
Kate watched Real-Live Drew. Since she already knew what was coming, she wanted to see how he reacted to watching himself. His jaw was tense, and his eyes focused like he was picking apart everything he did on the screen. When he lifted the rose from its silver platter, the signal that he was ready to tell Nina if she was invited to stay longer or not, Live-Drew sucked in a breath, as if bracing himself for a blow. On-Screen-Drew seemed to do the same.
Live-Drew held his breath clear until Nina had tearfully let him walk her back to the SUV that would take her to the airport.
"How was it, sending people home like that?" Kate asked quietly, noticing an energy shift in the room.
"It was gut-wrenching. Every. Single. Time." His eyes were hollow when he looked at her. "Breaking up with amazing women who just weren't right for me was so hard. My stomach still gets all twisted up when I think about it."
"I could tell. All these months later and you still seem to be having a hard time watching the show."
He nodded. "Even though it happened months ago, I'm just getting my first view at all the things the ladies said to the cameras about me. I had no idea just how invested those women were before, so hearing it now is pretty sobering. And it only got harder each week."