When I opened my eyes, I noticed a dark blond hair on the pillow. Gavin’s hair. A single strand of hair containing the DNA of male perfection. I plucked it from the pillow. Too bad I didn’t have any pockets I could tuck it into. I held it tightly between my fingers and wondered where my purse was.
Gavin strode into the room with a smile. He was back. I let the hair go. The real thing was right in front of me.
“Dr. Hurst said you need some rest and ibuprofen. You also need to take it easy for a couple of days. No rock climbing.” He smiled and tilted his head at me like we shared a private joke.
“Great!” I started to get up.
His eyes widened in alarm. “Should you be getting up so soon?”
“Really, I’m fine.”
“If you’re sure.” His brow furrowed. He stood and offered me his arm.
I couldn’t help a giggle as I looped my arm through his. As I walked across the room, I took inventory of myself and realized that, though I was sore and a little banged up, I was not dying. Even if I felt like I was floating.
“So how about that interview you owe me?” I grinned up at him. My injuries had to be worth something, right?
He laughed and fine lines etched themselves at the corners of his eyes. “If you’re sure you’re up to it. Now?”
I bounced on the balls of my feet, pulling his arm up and down with me. “I’d love to do it now.” I beamed at him. “I want to make my deadline.” I didn’t care about my deadline.
I gazed at this man I’d loved half my life. How was he so famous but so accessible? Over the years I may have had my doubts that the Gavin Braddock in real life would measure up to the one I’d worshipped in my mind, but here he was in the flesh. And he was better even than I’d imagined.
I smiled and squeezed his arm. “Let’s do it.”
As we entered the sitting room, I spied Todd cozied up to Gavin’s red-haired assistant on the couch. Todd started with surprise when he saw me.
“Sorry you got hurt, Eden. You doing okay?”
Todd was being nice to me. That was a new one. He must have felt guilty about the heavy drinking comments since I’d actually been injured.
“Fine, thanks.” I beamed my happiness at him. I was a whole lot more than fine with the world right now. Todd could be included in my goodwill.
“Are you ready?” I raised my eyebrows at Todd. “Gavin said he’d do the interview.” I pivoted and smiled at the redhead. It may have taken broken glass and a head injury, but despite her machinations, I was getting my interview.
Chapter Three
Because I’d been knocked to the ground, fallen on broken glass, and rolled around on Gavin’s bed with his pillow pressed against my face, I didn’t look my best. Fortunately, much like real television news reporters, I carried hair and makeup supplies in my bag. I’d done the necessary repairs in record time and was ready to interview Gavin before Todd had finished setting up.
Gavin and I were seated on black, wrought iron chairs with comfortable mustard-colored cushions around a matching table on the balcony of his suite. The beautiful town of Pasadena spread out below us. The peaks of orange-red and earth-toned tile rooftops stretched to hazy mountains in the distance. Potted palms partially concealed us on the balcony, providing a measure of privacy in the open air. The effect was cozy, intimate, and pure California.
“What made you decide to start your own charity?” I was several minutes into the interview, asking the questions I’d prepared and not putting voice to any of the swirling emotions that swamped me in his presence.
He leaned forward and brought his hands together in front of him. The look he leveled on me was intense, absorbed. We could have been alone. “In the years since I’ve been here in California, I’ve been through some earthquakes. I’ve experienced the fear of one suddenly leveling the whole city. It’s that temporariness you feel when you realize your world could end at any moment. I just really sympathize with people whose worlds split apart like that. I want to help, and I’m blessed to have the means and opportunity to do so. I looked around at other charities, and there weren’t any out there doing what I hoped to do, so I started my own.”
I almost dropped my notes. He was so real. So heartfelt. Why was he being such a great interview for me? Did I suddenly become a better reporter without noticing? In all the interviews I’d seen him in before, he was almost standoffish and extremely protective of his privacy. But he was talking to me like a person. A real person. Despite the fact that Todd was in the corner of the balcony recording us. Maybe Gavin had forgotten that Todd and the camera were there. I certainly had.
“That’s amazing,” I said. And it was. Not every celebrity used their superpowers for good the way Gavin did.
“It’s rumored you donated all your earnings from Earth Journey to repair the damage from the wildfires last summer. Any truth to that?”
“It’s true.” Gavin leaned back in his chair, his face flushing slightly pink. “But it’s not nearly enough for all the rebuilding. We’re holding this fundraiser so people can come and have a nice evening out and donate some money to a good cause. There are plenty of folks in Hollywood who have the money to spare.”
“I’m sure they’ll want to help such a worthy cause. Thank you so much for your time.” I turned to the camera for my sign-off. “If you would like to attend the Rebuilt by the Stars Gala, it’s being held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium tomorrow night starting at seven. Tickets are five hundred dollars a plate and are available at the auditorium box office, or you can order them online using the address on your screen.”
I motioned for Todd to stop filming and turned to Gavin to say goodbye. I’d done what I had come there to do. I’d met the man I’d been dreaming about my whole life. I also scored a big celebrity interview for local news, which is not something every puff-piece reporting local news person can say. But I couldn’t help feeling like I’d stepped off a cliff and was on the big fall down as I mentally prepared myself to part with Gavin forever.
He covered my extended hand with both of his. “Thank you so much,” I said, meaning it, “for everything.”
“I’m sorry about your accident, and I’m sorry that Patricia tried to brush you off. But I can’t say I’m sorry we met.” His eyes were warm, and his attention rested on me like a physical weight. My heartbeat accelerated wildly. A giant grin broke across my face. I was so not playing it cool.
“Me too.” I stood from the table, and the chair’s legs screeched as they scraped across the concrete floor, protesting my exit as much as I was. Todd had gone back inside to the sitting room and was packing the camera and equipment away. I hoped he’d take all day doing it.
Gavin’s cell phone buzzed, and he texted a quick reply.
I skirted between a potted palm and the table and tried to go through the French doors leading back into the room at the same time Gavin rose from his seat closer to the doors and tried to go through as well. Squeezed in the doorway together, we laughed. I tried not to think about how much I was enjoying the heat of his body pressed against mine. It was a mere second out of time—one I’d cherish, but it wouldn’t last.
Still smiling, I extricated myself from the doorway and walked into the room, but Gavin caught my arm when I passed.
“Could I…get your phone number?” He almost sounded nervous, but that of course was impossible.
Bubbles of giddy happiness shot through my veins. “Yes. Yes, please. I mean, of course, I have one of those, and you can have it too.” I babbled like a Price is Right contestant. Come on down! You’ve won a movie star!
I pulled my card from my purse and handed it to him. My fingers brushed his. Again, I felt the lightning-quick sparks shoot up my arm where we touched. His hand was rougher than mine, and I reveled in experiencing that personal physical detail of him. One little thing that not every other person in the world knew.
“I feel like I should make up for today’s harrowing adventure.” The corners of his eyes
crinkled when he smiled. “Would you come to the party tomorrow night?”
My heart sank. “I can’t really afford—” I started.
“I mean as my guest. Alligator Joyride didn’t do as poorly at the box office as everyone thinks.” He winked. “I can afford to pay for my own date.” His grin was a lazy half smile. What was happening here? Gavin Braddock was asking me on a date. Unbelievable. And yet it was exactly what I’d been dreaming of for years.
“I’d love to go with you.” Anywhere. I didn’t say it aloud, but I had the feeling my eyes transmitted it anyway.
“Wonderful.” He dialed his smile up to full power, and my breath caught. “I’ll send a car. What’s your address?” I told him, but he didn’t write it down.
“Here,”—I fished into the depths of my purse—“I know I have a pen and paper to write—”
He shook his head. “I have a good memory. I’ll send the car for you at six thirty.”
“Great. Thanks.” My hand shook as I closed my purse. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” I made a move toward the door. I had to get out of there before I fainted again. “Bye.”
“I’ll show you to the door.” Gavin placed his hand on the small of my back. An electric pulse shot through my body. We crossed the remaining few feet of the foyer.
Todd looked up in surprise from packing equipment. I think he was as shocked by Gavin’s personal attention as I was.
“Ready?” I asked Todd.
“Just a sec.” Todd closed the camera case and shouldered the equipment bag. Gavin extended his hand to Todd and focused his intense gaze on the cameraman.
“Todd, it was a pleasure to meet you.”
Todd blinked and shook Gavin’s hand. Gavin turned to me and put a finger under my chin, tilting my face up. His luminous blue gaze searched mine. Then he closed his eyes and brushed my cheek with his lips.
“See you tomorrow night, Eden.” A trail of delicious fire smoldered where his lips had grazed my skin. My feet froze to the floor. I’d stay with Gavin forever, even as a statue.
A motion over Gavin’s shoulder broke my trance. Todd was making kissy-kissy faces with a disgusting amount of tongue.
Before Gavin completed his turn toward the door, I said, “See you!” and fled the room.
If this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up.
∞∞∞
When we got back to the station, I took the footage to the edit bay and went to work on packaging the interview for air. While I was recording some voiceover, my phone rang, ruining my audio. I answered without looking at it.
“Hello?”
“Oh, wow!” There was a blast of surprised laughter on the other end of the line.
“Hello?” I repeated, with less patience.
“You’re a woman! Way to go!”
“Excuse me?” I sat up straight in my chair and blinked. “I am a woman, but I don’t see how that’s deserving of congratulations. There are almost four billion of us in the world.” I pulled the phone from my ear and glanced at the caller ID, which showed a local number I didn’t recognize. Ah, the joys of a brand-new phone. The frat-boy-sounding voice on the other end sobered.
“I’m sorry, I was just surprised. Please tell him his little bro said congrats!”
“Sorry, you have the wrong number.” I ended the call and wondered why the guy had been so excited to talk to a woman. Maybe he was in an all-boys school. Or prison. I shook my head, dismissing the call. Before I could start recording again, there was a quick knock on the edit bay door, and Kevin the intern opened it.
“Eden, you’ve got a delivery.”
“Really? Okay.” Weird. I never had mail sent to the station.
“Flowers and some other stuff.” Kevin held the door open, and I stepped through.
When we reached the front desk, my eyes widened at the sight of the largest, most beautiful bouquet of flowers I’d ever seen. There was some kind of mistake. They couldn’t be for me. I wasn’t dating anyone at all, let alone someone who’d send me a bouquet worth hundreds of dollars. At least four dozen roses, interspersed with stargazer lilies, orchids, and more flowers than I could name arrayed in a beautiful cut crystal vase that…wait a minute. I stepped closer and examined the vase. It reminded me of another one I’d seen that day. One I’d happened to crash into. My heart thudded as I scrutinized the bouquet. Rachel the receptionist beamed at me.
“Here ya go.” She handed me the card that came with the flowers.
“Thanks.” I tore into the envelope that bore the name of a fancy florist in Beverly Hills. Below that, “Eden Perry” was written by hand in blue ink. The card read, “Glad you fell into my life. I’m looking forward to tomorrow night. -G.B.” On the back was his full-color headshot.
Wow. Nothing in my dating history had prepared me for this. I know I’d been dreaming about Gavin all my life, but this was no dream, and the reality was far stranger. Things like this didn’t happen to me. Even with guys who weren’t smoking-hot-movie-star-sex-gods.
My last relationship ended almost two years ago. Jason Dillard was an emotionally unavailable accountant with whom I’d had a serious live-in relationship for five months back in Atlanta. Since Jason, I’d been in a two-year dry spell, and for it to be broken by the world’s biggest action star was unbelievable.
Rachel gestured to my flowers. “Who are they from?”
“Gavin Braddock,” I threw out without thinking. Rachel’s and Kevin’s jaws dropped to the floor.
“The Gavin Braddock?” Rachel gasped.
“Yes.” I shrugged as if it were normal. The looks of disbelief on their faces thrilled me. And were also more than slightly insulting.
“Wow. That’s just, uhh...wow.” Rachel stopped trying to speak, but her lips were still moving. I’d never seen her speechless before.
“Could you help me take these back to my desk, please?” I asked Kevin. I wasn’t being cute and feminine. The bouquet was seriously heavy.
“Sure.” He picked up the flowers for me with only a minor grunt. “What do you want to do about the other stuff?”
I paused. “Other stuff?” I raised my eyebrows at him.
Rachel and Kevin looked at each other. Rachel leaned over the side of her desk and produced what appeared to be a twenty-pound box of Godiva chocolates—my favorite. Rachel then retrieved a Cartier gift bag and handed that to me as well. Cartier. The only thing I loved more than chocolate was jewelry.
“For me?” I squeaked.
“It has your name on it.” She and Kevin seemed as mystified as I felt. “Is it from him too?” she asked in a stage whisper. Despite the fact that there was no one else on earth it could be from, I opened the card.
It was branded with a small picture of his smiling face in the bottom right corner and his initials “G.B.” embossed beneath it. “It’s from him,” I announced, looking up at their giddy faces. I read the card to myself, “Just something I thought was almost as beautiful as you are.”
I opened the iconic red and gold Cartier oblong box to find a white gold necklace set with tiny diamonds and midnight-blue sapphires. It was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. Wow. This was really over the top. I think the most Jason had ever given me was a gift card to the movies for my birthday, and we’d used it on the new release he’d wanted to see. It wasn’t a Gavin Braddock film.
But here was this exquisite jewelry confection that must have cost thousands. How could any of this be real? Maybe it wasn’t. A new thought occurred to me. This could be some new reality show I hadn’t heard of yet where celebrities made their biggest fans think they’re interested in them, and then it’s hysterically funny for everyone but the fan when it’s revealed that of course the movie star’s not interested in you, pathetic loser. A kind of mean and depressing The Bachelor or something.
I pulled the necklace out of the case to the oohs and ahhs of the small crowd of my co-workers who’d gathered at Rachel’s desk. I didn’t see any cameras pointed at me, and no alarm
s of music sounded when I fondled the necklace. Surely even the meanest reality fake-out show would stop you before you actually manhandled the diamonds. It seemed like this gorgeous necklace was really mine after all. My fingers itched to put it around my neck. This was some fantastic alternate universe I’d fallen into.
That is, until Jessica Downing, swing anchor and terrible person, joined the crowd around Rachel’s desk.
“What’s this, Eden?” she asked in her nasally voice as she smoothed her hands over her brown skirt, molding the fabric to her slender hips. “Spending time gossiping with Rachel? Don’t you have some more chickens to interview somewhere?”
“It was a turkey.” I raised my chin with dignity.
Jessica snickered. “Because that’s so much better.”
“Actually, Jessica, I was just giving Eden her deliveries.” Rachel’s eyes darted between us with a hint of mischief gleaming in them.
“Those are for her?” Jessica’s jaw dropped so far I could see her tonsils.
“That’s not the half of it,” Kevin interjected. “Show her the necklace.”
All eyes turned to me, and I realized I was still caressing the smooth white gold, diamonds, and sapphires. Jessica caught sight of the necklace in my hands and the Cartier box on the desk and made a disbelieving choking sound somewhere between a snort and a guffaw. I would like to think that she died a little inside, but she immediately rallied and said, “Why on earth would someone give you a necklace like that?”
“Not just anyone.” Rachel beamed. “Gavin Braddock!”
Jessica Downing blinked, uncomprehending. “Why are you saying ‘Gavin Braddock’?”
“That’s who sent her the necklace!”
“Why the hell would Gavin Braddock send you anything?” A bead of spit arced between us.
“Because she’s dating him,” Todd threw out as he sauntered past.
A-List Kiss: A Laugh-Out-Loud Romantic Comedy Page 3