A-List Kiss: A Laugh-Out-Loud Romantic Comedy

by Brenda Lowder

  “My advances? Oh, let me set you straight—so to speak—my friend. I was not the only one ‘advancing.’ Gavin was advancing all over me. We were advancing right out of the limo and onto the red carpet before we were so rudely interrupted by arriving at our destination.”

  Corey started playing with the cord on his gray hoodie, looking back and forth as he pulled the cord out first with one hand then the other. It was like watching a spectator at a miniature tennis match. “Oh, my. Is that what the kids are calling it these days? I had no idea you’d advanced so far with him.”

  I leaned back in the recliner but still managed to look down my nose at Corey. “Oh, you know what I mean. He was enjoying our make-out session. Big time. But I’m fine with you trying out your theory, and I’ll laugh in your face when we find out you’re wrong.”

  A thought occurred to me. Something I should’ve worried about earlier. “What exactly are you going to do? Are you going to stage some big production number of ‘Over the Rainbow’ and if he doesn’t join you, he’s straight? Or maybe quiz him on his knowledge of Barbra Streisand and Cher song lyrics? Or offer him tap water and if he demands Fiji water, he’s gay?”

  “Were you planning on listing every single gay cliché? Go ahead. I’ll wait.” I gave him a raised eyebrow and he continued. “First of all, no one drinks tap water, so that’s just gross. And in bad taste. Second of all, sweetie, I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but there is one and only one qualification for a man to be gay, and that is that he likes dick.” Corey dropped the cord to his hoodie and smiled cheekily.

  “Tell me you are not going to just whip it out at him.”

  “No, of course not! I am not a straight man. I actually believe in foreplay.” He leaned back and put his arms behind his head. “I think a touch on the arm, a soft kiss, and then when he kisses me back, pow! Gaysville! And you’re welcome for saving you years of therapy by outing your gay movie star boyfriend.”

  I leaned forward and the recliner came down with a bang. “Are you kidding? Your whole plan is to hit on him? That’s ridiculous. I can’t sanction that. I thought you were going to ask him if he’d ever seen Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday or something like that. You’re not allowed to try to kiss my boyfriend.”

  “But won’t you look stupid if he actually kisses me back? Now who’s being ridiculous?”

  Did I really think Corey had a chance here? Of course not. I blew my breath out in a huff. “Fine. You can try to kiss my movie star boyfriend, but I’m going to tell him that you’re suffering from a rare case of sensory loss that means you have to put your mouth on something before you will believe that it exists. Realize this means that you will also have to kiss the door, table, refrigerator, and me before he leaves this apartment so he can see that it’s true. And you are not, I repeat not, to make me late for my flight to Paris!”

  “Oh my God, Eden. You are taking all the fun out of this exercise.”

  “Heaven forbid.” I rolled my eyes. Then I jumped when the doorbell rang.

  He was here.

  Chapter Twelve

  Even though we both ran for it, Corey was first to the door. He yanked it open and said, “Huh.”

  The driver stood in the doorway in lieu of Gavin. Corey was not the only disappointed party here. Was Gavin not as excited to see me as he had been yesterday? Or was that just some line he’d used last night?

  “Hello.” The driver clasped his hands together and I wondered how many doorways he’d stood in like this. “I’m here to carry Miss Perry’s bags. Mr. Braddock awaits the pleasure of her company in the car.” Corey wasn’t going to get his chance to test Gavin’s sexual preference today. Though with any luck, I’d be testing it over and over again on our trip.

  “Bye, Corey!” I grabbed him in a fierce hug. “Stay out of trouble and look after Sophie for me.”

  “You know I will. Look after Sophie, that is. I can’t guarantee about the trouble.” Corey squeezed me hard. “You take care of yourself, honey.”

  I left Corey to lock up the apartment behind me, and I followed the driver to the sleek black stretch limo. The driver set my bags down near the trunk and then opened the car door for me. I was relieved to see that Gavin really was inside. I wouldn’t be riding to the airport on my own. I’d had a sudden terrible vision of riding alone to the airport only to be greeted by the blank looks of the ticketing agents at my insistence that a movie star had left a ticket for me to go to Paris. A look of “she’s crazy” would be followed closely by confinement in a padded cell and a white straitjacket. But no! Here Gavin was in the flesh, accompanying me to Paris himself. On purpose.

  He was on his phone. I wondered if he was as close to his phone as Matthew was to his. I laughed under my breath.

  “I don’t think we can make those kinds of assumptions. Find out the finer points and call me back.” He smiled an apology to me and waved me in with his free hand. I slid onto the seat next to him.

  “All right. I’ve got to go. Thanks, bye.” Gavin ended the call and turned, his eyes landing on me with the weight that made tendrils of desire curl into my lower belly.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I wanted to pick you up at the door myself, but I really needed to take that call.”

  “That’s okay.” And it was. Even my insides smiled. “You’re here now.”

  “And so are you.” His voice was sexy without even trying. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Me too.” Before I could say another word, Gavin pulled me close and kissed me. Firm lips, solid chest, and a coaxing pressure that had me climbing on top of him. I’d watched him kiss the female lead in Elegy in Autumn twenty-three times and dreamed about Gavin kissing me like that. I wondered if the heat I felt when I watched him on-screen could possibly be matched in reality. He ran a hand up my leg. Delicious flames of fire followed. Gavin Braddock was even hotter IRL.

  “I’m so glad we have a long drive,” I murmured against his ear as the driver pulled away from my apartment. I kissed Gavin behind his ear and slid my hand up his chest.

  He pushed a button on his armrest, and the window between the driver and us went up. He put his hand over mine, holding it against him. I could feel his heart beating. “Unfortunately, we don’t have that long. We’re only going to Burbank.”

  “Burbank? Really? For an international flight? Wow! That’s convenient. What time does our flight leave? Do we have time to get a snack before we get there?” In all of my excitement, I’d forgotten to eat.

  Gavin laughed. “It’s my plane. It will leave when I say.” He put his arms around me and pulled me closer, kissing my neck.

  I lingered a moment in enraptured silence. I should have realized Gavin would have his own plane. His last movie made more than two billion dollars, foreign and domestic. Wow. No getting practically strip-searched at security. No waiting for two hours at the gate, hoping I could board at the front of the line so my carry-on luggage wouldn’t have to get checked. No sitting next to strangers with them half in my lap because the seats were too close together. Just Gavin and me in luxurious comfort in the sky for eleven hours. My skin felt flush and I panted with desire. For the plane. I couldn’t wait to get on that plane.

  Gavin pulled back and looked at me searchingly, probably wondering why I’d suddenly become unresponsive. I grinned at him, still thinking about his plane. Gavin laughed at me again and sat back against the car seat.

  “Do you want to stop and get something to eat?” He ran his hand through his now attractively mussed hair. “I’m a bit hungry too.”

  “Yes!” I tucked my legs under me, enjoying the space to do so.

  “Where should we go?”

  I didn’t hesitate. “In-N-Out.”

  Gavin lowered the window separating us from the driver and said, “In-N-Out, please, Tim.”

  Tim turned the car around, and we headed back to the In-N-Out next to my apartment. We sat in the drive-thru, which I knew from experience would take a while since the li
ne was always wrapped around the block. It would’ve been faster to walk.

  “So you like In-N-Out?” Gavin asked, looking amused.

  A private plane and dinner. “Love it! Don’t you?”

  “I really do.” Gavin’s slow grin lit his eyes with a smoldering fire. “But I’m not used to my dates asking me to take them there.”

  “Oh.” Didn’t his other dates eat? Of course not. This was LA. No woman would ever be caught eating. Especially by box office superstar Gavin Braddock. My hunger had led me to make a tactical error. Was it too late to tell him to take me to the nearest poké restaurant?

  Gavin laughed and smoothed my furrowed brow with his fingers. “Don’t second guess it. I love that you’re not afraid to be yourself. You’re not posing to get my attention. You’re really you. And I like you.” He chucked me under the chin. “I’ve always dreamed of dating a sexy woman who would eat a hamburger with me.”

  I laughed. “I’m the girl of your dreams then.”

  Gavin roared with laughter and enfolded me in a bear hug that turned into another make-out session until we arrived at the speaker box. Gavin relayed our order, and within moments we took possession of our delicious burgers, my vanilla shake, and hand-cut fries made from fresh potatoes. Eating takeout in the back of the limo was life-changing. There were so many places to put stuff. There were tons of drink holders and table surfaces. Not at all awkward like eating in the car usually is.

  I dipped a fry deep into some ketchup. “So your other dates were all fancier, right?” I couldn’t help myself from asking. I ate the fry, closing my eyes with pleasure as the starchy goodness hit my tongue.

  “They pretended to be. Most women date me for what they think I can get them—a role, a job, career advancement, press, money, whatever. Being sought after for what I can do for someone rather than for who I am sucks, but, well, it’s part of the job. A lot of people forget I’m a person and not a commodity.” Gavin unwrapped half his burger and took a big bite.

  “I never thought about it like that. That would make it hard to know who your friends are.” I munched more fries.

  He gestured at my shake with an inquiring eyebrow wiggle, and I handed it to him. I didn’t mind sharing. I cherished his germs. He took a sip of my shake and handed it back to me. “It’s not that hard. People can be really obvious. It’s not difficult to figure out what they want from me.” He wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and smiled. “That’s why I liked you right away, you know.”

  “What?” I asked, not following.

  “Well, it was obvious to me that you just wanted me and not what I could do for you.” His eyes twinkled.

  Heat rose to my cheeks. It was that obvious that I “wanted” him? It was true, of course. But he could tell that right away? How embarrassing. I’ve never had game. “But I’m a reporter. Don’t you loathe reporters? Wouldn’t they be the worst people in the world to date because they want your life story? They want to catch you doing something newsworthy?” I unwrapped my burger and took it out of the half-paper sleeve underneath the wrapping so I could take the tomato off.

  “Well, yes, but I hardly classify you as being in the ‘reporter’ category.”

  My head snapped up. “Why not? I am a reporter.”

  Gavin cocked an eyebrow at me. He was so sexy. “As you told Sammy Sparks, your heart isn’t in your job.”

  “It’s true. You have me all figured out already.”

  “Well, not all figured out,” Gavin said with an impish grin and grabbed me roughly for another kiss, making me drop my hamburger.

  We arrived at the airport much too quickly. I resented the interruption that getting to the airport and having to get our luggage and board the plane would bring. I’d have enjoyed another hour of limo make-out time. Hmmm...but once on the plane we could probably make out again. It was an eleven-hour flight, after all. Wait. Eleven hours was a long time. We could probably do more than make out. Wow. Funny how I hadn’t thought about that at all when I’d assumed we were flying commercial. Knowing that we’d be flying on Gavin’s private plane—well that was just a whole new world of sexual opportunities.

  The Bombardier Global Express sat on the tarmac like a glittering mirage. Boarding the plane for my international flight to Paris was as easy as getting out of the limo, walking up a very short staircase, and stepping inside. Everything was taken care of. I didn’t have to lug my bags, stand in the radiation-zapping giant microwave box, or let the frisking TSA attendant get to third base with me. All I had to do was hold Gavin’s hand for the short walk across the windswept tarmac, past the droning engines, and then I was ensconced in more luxury than I’d ever seen. The tan leather seats were wide and comfy, and there was actual space between them. They swiveled so you could turn and face the person you were talking to. And they reclined completely so you could lean back into open air and not a stranger’s lap.

  There were strategically placed varnished wood tables, one of which was already decked out with a fruit plate, a cheese plate, and a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket. This was how I wanted to travel for the rest of my life.

  “Do you like it?” Gavin snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me into an embrace.

  I snuggled in close, smelling the cool ocean scent on his warm skin. “I love it. In fact, I love it so much I’m surprised you haven’t noticed I’m only going to Paris with you for access to your private plane.”

  “Very funny. You didn’t even know I had a private plane. You thought you were flying commercial.” And then he really did laugh at me.

  I laughed too. After this I was ruined for commercial flying. What would I do when Gavin dumped me for the next entertainment? Take boats or trains or walk. No way was I flying coach again.

  Gavin and I took our seats and buckled our seat belts. Three men and a woman got on the plane and sat at the other end, giving us our privacy.

  “Who are they?” I asked.

  “The two burly men are my security team, then there’s my publicist and my butler.”

  “Your butler? Really?” Did those exist outside the 1800s?

  “He’s like a housekeeper who keeps my life in order.” Just then two more men and a woman got on. The staircase was folded up into the plane after them. “Oh, and you know Tim, my driver,” Gavin said as Tim walked by us to sit with the other staff people. “And my assistant, Patricia, you’ve met before.” Patricia and I exchanged glances before she continued on to her seat. “This gentleman here is my other personal assistant, Anthony Baker.” Anthony passed us discreetly and went to sit with the rest of the party.

  “Two assistants? And, like, a staff of twenty. It takes a lot of people to run your life, I guess. Do you always travel with this many people?”

  “I usually travel with more. This is kind of my skeleton crew. It’s a romantic getaway, after all.”

  “It is?” I wanted confirmation for my elevating hormones. I also loved the word “romantic” on his lips.

  “Well, yes, I mean, that’s what you want, too, right?” Gavin was flustered. I loved that he was flustered. I giggled, and he broke into a wide grin.

  “It’s what I want.” I leaned toward him and brushed his lips lightly with mine.

  Gavin responded with light pressure on my mouth and then straightened away from me. “Great! Then I should show you the bedroom.”

  “There’s a bedroom? On the plane?”

  “Of course. It’s top of the line. Here, come see.” Gavin hopped up and grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet. He gestured toward the back of the plane. “I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  Gavin walked me past his retinue of staff and showed me the bedroom, which was spare but elegant. Buff-colored leather was upholstered to the back wall making it look like a giant headboard. Like in a cabin on a cruise ship, the furniture was minimal and firmly anchored. The room was decorated in clean lines with a modern sensibility. I guessed that the sparse furnishings came from the fact that you couldn’t rea
lly maintain pictures on the wall or decorative lamps if you were flying. The comfortable looking queen-size bed sat atop a lacquered, mahogany platform which was flush with the left wall of the plane. A rectangle of windows, half-covered by lowered blinds, offered a view of the sky from the bed. A dark-brown leather recliner and a table were left of the bed and faced the large flat-screen TV anchored to the opposite wall. The overall effect was very sleek, modern, and manly.

  “Very nice!” I walked to the bed and petted the cream-colored cashmere blanket that was folded at its foot.

  Gavin showed me the master bathroom which, although on the smallish size if found in a house, was so much larger than you could ever dream of for a commercial airline bathroom. In fact, you could probably fit at least four commercial airline bathrooms in Gavin’s master bath.

  After the tour, I returned to my chair and fastened the seat belt. Gavin sat down next to me and gazed at me with a knowing grin.

  “We’ll go back to the bedroom in a few minutes, after we’ve taken off and have ‘achieved cruising altitude.’” He gave his eyebrows a suggestive little wiggle.

  I laughed—and then immediately groaned.

  “What’s the matter?” He dropped the grin and searched my face for clues.

  I huddled closer to him and stage whispered. “We can’t go back to the bedroom and have sex!”

  “Why on earth not?”

  “Because they’ll know!” I gripped the armrests on either side of me and nodded in the direction of Gavin’s entourage.

  He burst into a laugh. “So?”

  He was infuriating.

  “So they’ll know what we’re doing! We’ll have to walk right by them again! And then we’ll be back there, you know, making noise and stuff, and they’ll know we’re doing it!”

  “Again I ask, ‘So?’”

  “It’s too personal. They’ll know! And then when we’re done, I’ll have to do the walk of shame back out in front of them, and it won’t even be morning time.” I tightened my seat belt and folded my arms.

  “Why would you be ashamed? Shouldn’t you be bragging?” Gavin put a hand to his forehead and sighed. “I hate to have to point this out, but many women actually want to sleep with me. Some have even been known to brag about it. To national publications, even. And many times it hadn’t even happened. You should be very proud to make me your conquest. Besides, who cares if they know? People are having sex all over the world.”