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

by Brenda Lowder

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.

  “Oh, I do,” Maggie smirked. “I know what’s on the thumb drive.”

  “What?”

  “Naked pictures of you he was going to put on the internet to help your career.” She smiled wide. She was taking me down, just like she’d always wanted.

  “That’s not what’s on the drive. You’re demented—” I started but didn’t get to finish.

  “He said he had the thumb drive on him? Where is he?” Matthew grabbed Maggie’s arm. “Where did you leave him?”

  Maggie pulled her arm out of Matthew’s grip. “A block away. When he parked in the garage, I slipped out of the car and walked here.”

  “Do you remember which house is his?”

  “Of course. I’m not a moron.” Maggie rattled off the address. “I made sure to notice. Thought it might come in handy later.”

  Of course she did. Just routine—for a crazy person. What kind of life did Maggie think I led that made her want to spy on random—and in this case criminal—acquaintances, get in their cars, and follow them around? I always thought she had problems, but really, this was too much.

  “This is great.” Matthew pulled Maggie in for a quick hug. He was obviously only concerned with results and not the escaped mental patient who got them. “Fantastic. You did great. Okay, now I just have to call for a search warrant, and I’ll have that thumb drive and he’ll be behind bars tonight. Case closed.” Matthew slapped his hands together. He was practically jumping up and down.

  Had Maggie just saved the day by being a paranoid schizophrenic delusional with projection issues?

  Matthew started making calls. I moved closer to Maggie. “I can’t believe you.” I squeezed my fingers tight in my fists but kept my arms at my sides. I wasn’t going to fight with her again. Not yet.

  Maggie turned from Matthew to spare me an eye roll. “I didn’t do anything wrong. You heard Matthew. What I did was awesome and helped him a lot. You could learn a few things from me, big sister.”

  “You’re right. There’s a lot I could learn. In fact, I already have. Useful things. Like how to be a psychopath.” I stood in front of her, forcing her to look at me. “If you wanted to know something about Gavin and me—or who else I was dating, or anything at all—why didn’t you just ask me?”

  “Because I could find things out on my own.” She turned away and went back to staring at Matthew as he paced while talking on his phone. “You probably wouldn’t tell the truth anyway,” she said. “You’re always so snotty. You and your perfect life. You rub my face in it. There’s no way you’d tell me about all the messed-up shit you do. You’d never tell me how your movie star boyfriend didn’t even like you because he’s gay. And that you were cheating on him with all these other guys.”

  “Okay, just stop it! Stop your crazy ramblings right there.” I held my hands up, trying to stop her words physically. “Gavin is not gay. I’m not cheating on him with anyone, let alone multiple someones. You’re crediting me with far more energy than I have. You’re inventing drama where there isn’t any.” I heaved a big sigh, lowered my head, and rubbed my forehead, a huge Maggie migraine in progress. I looked up at her through my fingers. “Did you really come all the way to California just to mess up my life?”

  There was a time when I’d longed for the close bond that I’d seen between sisters on television. But sometime, long ago, I’d decided a close relationship with one’s sister could only be found in fiction.

  She faced me squarely. “People can’t see their own lives clearly. It’s way easier to see the problems in other people’s lives. People can’t solve their own problems, let alone tell where they’re going wrong. That’s you, Eden. You can’t even see how messed up your life really is.”

  “If my life is so messed up, why are you trying so hard to be in it?”

  “To help you. I told you that.” She gritted her teeth.

  I never got to respond because suddenly there was the sound of a car approaching and then a loud popping sound like fireworks or like the gun shot that was fired at the Langham when I was there wrecking Matthew’s case. Just like that, actually. Without thinking, I jumped in front of Maggie and pushed her to the ground, lying on top of her, shielding her with my body.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Matthew drop his phone and dive to the ground while whipping out his gun. So sexy. He looked so powerful shooting his gun at the bad guys, his muscular thighs straining against the thick fabric of his pants. The clearly defined muscles of his biceps flexing with his iron grip on his firearm. But then I couldn’t think anything else as a giant fireball in my side exploded, sending ripples of pain through my entire body. I wanted to argue. I wanted to fight with Maggie. I wanted to get her to admit what a horrible sister she was. But I couldn’t do anything but close my eyes.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I slowly opened my eyes, blinking at the blinding light and various shades of white surrounding me. I was in the hospital. The tang of antiseptic and floor polish and industrial-ness stung the inside of my nose. It was not unpleasant, just specific. I’d had my appendix out as a child. I remembered the brightness and whiteness of it all and the accompanying antiseptic aroma.

  One thing I did not remember that I noticed now was the heat of the bed. The mattress must have been covered in plastic. A no-brainer for a hospital bed which needed to be cleaned often and would be used by a lot of sick people in its lifetime, but so uncomfortable. The sheet under me was soaked with sweat while my hands and neck were cold in the air-conditioned room. Plastic-coated mattresses must serve as awesome motivation to get sick people well. No one would ever want to lie on them a moment longer than absolutely necessary.

  I started to turn over to give my sweaty back some air, but a sharp pain shot through my side and made me cry out and stop. Oh, that’s right, I’d been shot. I tried to roll to my other side, grunting in pain, but fell back down to the bed. It felt like a huge rubber band was tightening around my chest. Panic pulled my breath in through ragged gulps.

  “Hey, take it easy,” someone said. I strained my head as far as I could to the right and looked to see who was talking to me. A tall, gorgeous man unfolded himself from the chair beside my bed and stepped over into my line of sight. He leaned over me.

  “Matthew!” My voice was rough with disuse.

  “Yes, it’s me, hero.” Matthew smiled and pulled my blanket up, smoothing it over me. “Can I get you anything?”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “You got shot,” he said.

  “I figured that part out.” I gingerly put my hand to my aching side. “Is Maggie okay?”

  “She’s fine. She wasn’t hit, thanks to you. You were the only one who took a bullet. You’re amazing, by the way.” His eyes gleamed as he cleared his throat and glanced away from me like he hadn’t meant to say that. “Maggie was here. She hasn’t wanted to leave your side since it happened, but I finally sent her home with Corey and Sophie. She was driving me crazy.”

  “Yeah, she does that. What time is it?”

  “It’s ten in the morning. On Wednesday.”

  “Wednesday? I slept through Tuesday?”

  “Yeah, you did. The doctor said you needed the time to recover and you’d wake up when you were ready.”

  “Don’t you have to work?” I asked, suddenly wondering why he was here.

  Matthew smiled. “I took a few days off.”

  “Don’t you have a bad guy to catch?”

  “Nope.” Matthew beamed at me. I basked in the sunshine of his smile. “He’s all caught, thanks to you.”

  “Thanks to me? Wow, okay. Now why don’t you just sit down and tell me everything I missed.” I gestured to the foot of my bed. It was hard having to look up so high to see his handsome face.

  He shook his head and nodded toward the door. “First I should tell you that your parents are here.”

  “My parents? Really? Where?” I leaned up a
cautious inch and tried to look around. Matthew laughed.

  “They went to get some coffee. They’ve been here since yesterday. I think that’s why Maggie was finally persuaded to go back to your apartment—she couldn’t stand any more grilling. They should be back soon.”

  The rubber band around my chest started to ease. There’s nothing better than getting to see your mom when you’re sick or hurting, regardless of how old you are. Mom makes everything at least a little bit better. I wondered how old I’d be when I stopped needing my mom but decided that day would never actually come.

  “Who shot me?” I asked him.

  “Are you sure you want to hear everything now? The doctor said not to upset you.”

  “Of course I want to hear everything! Wait. Where’s Gavin? Is he here?”

  Matthew glanced at the window and back at me. When he spoke, his jaw tightened, and a sharp edge lined his words. “I’m sorry, he’s not here. We tried to get in touch with him. I got his phone number from your phone. His assistant said he’d relay the message that you were in the hospital, but I haven’t heard back from him yet.”

  “Oh,” I said, my voice small. “When was that?”

  He exhaled like he didn’t want to tell me the next part. “Monday night. Right after you were admitted. You were headed into surgery…I thought maybe I could catch him before he left for Vietnam.”

  “Oh, okay. No problem. Um…thanks.” Had Gavin broken up with me and I didn’t even know it? What a trusting fool I was. In theory. But I found I didn’t feel that sad about it. The roller-coaster ride was over, and I didn’t mind getting off. I had other things to do in this amusement park. And the main attraction was standing right in front of me.

  “Anyway, tell me what happened. And don’t skimp on any details of my awesomeness,” I said with a smile. Matthew laughed, the tension from a moment ago forgotten, and pulled his chair close to the bed. I pushed the button to raise the head part of my adjustable bed so I could feel a little less like a comatose log.

  “When we picked Maggie up at the convenience store, we were very near the house where Osgood was staying.”

  “Right. I remember.”

  He leaned forward. I could see the stubble on his cheek. How long had he been watching over me? “Apparently Osgood didn’t see Maggie when she was in the back seat of his car, but somebody else did.”

  “Intriguing start. Go on.” I was anxious to know who to blame for my current pain. Probably Maggie. She was, after all, the source of most trouble.

  “So Maggie rode along with Osgood, slipped out of the car and out of the garage, and he never knew she was there.” He rubbed his head. “Stealth-ninja Maggie, apparently.” He rolled his eyes. “But do you remember the weaselly guy who was my informant? The one who gave me the dirt on Osgood?”

  “Of course,” I said. Froggy Voice.

  “His name is Lubbock. Well, Lubbock was on his way to see Osgood at this house after Osgood had called him from the car—that was the phone conversation Maggie heard—and told him that he had the thumb drive and had met with potential buyers. He also told him you’d spotted him earlier in the evening.”

  “So Osgood must not have known that Lubbock was the rat.”

  “Had been the rat—before he disappeared and left me twisting in the wind. But it doesn’t matter, because I got his ass.” Matthew rubbed his hands together. I realized he was gloating.

  “What happened?”

  “Lubbock said he’d meet Osgood at the house. He said he had a buyer for the drive, and he’d be right over. When he pulled up to the house, he saw a young woman creeping out of the garage. He followed her to the convenience store and watched her make some calls. She went inside the store, and, again, he followed her. According to him, she spent far too long shopping, but she finally bought a pack of mints and went out and sat on the curb to play on her phone. Lubbock drove back to Osgood’s and confronted him about the girl. Osgood had no idea what he was talking about, so Lubbock drove him back to the convenience store so he could get a look at her. By that time you and I had shown up, and we were talking to Maggie.

  “Osgood figured Maggie was the reason I’d found him and decided that was as good a time as any to get all of us out of the way. Very convenient that we were all standing out there in the open together and had no idea what was coming. I was able to shoot out the car’s tire, so Osgood and Lubbock didn’t get very far. They still had the thumb drive, so no sensitive information ended up in the wrong hands. And then I added some attempted murder and accessory charges, so they’re going to prison.”

  “Yay!” I said.

  The look he shined down on me was full of pride. “And you are a hero. In fact, I’m so happy, I could kiss you.”

  I leaned forward despite the pain and presented my lips. Matthew kissed my forehead.

  My forehead? So lame. You’d think a hero would warrant a big-time kiss.

  “Getting shot for you was the least I could do,” I said. “Now you can’t blame me for messing up your case, right? I made your case for you.”

  “You really did. And as a reward for your service, I’m granting you a full-access, exclusive interview. It’ll be great for your station and for your career. You got shot for the story. Who wouldn’t want to hear about that? Your ratings will skyrocket.” He was ebullient.

  Matthew had come so far from the surly lawman I’d first met. He was practically glowing with goodwill. My heart warmed. But what had he done with the sexy broodiness I fell in love with? I sucked in a startled breath. No, that’s not what I meant. I meant…I loved Gavin. I’d loved him all my life, right? I just liked Matthew and appreciated his body, obviously, and his sincerity. His genuineness in saying what he meant and not posing. For being the real deal and not someone pretending to be something he wasn’t all the time. Or being someone who didn’t even know when he was pretending and when he wasn’t.

  Huh.

  I smiled. “Thanks for the offer. But I’m not going back to my job. You want to know something? I hate the news. I don’t even watch it. It’s boring and depressing. You sit around waiting for bad things to happen, and when they do, you exploit the hell out of them for maximum drama. A school bus crash? Are our children safe? Let’s get the grieving parents to cry on camera. It’s better news, right?” I realized I was practically tearing the top of my sheet with hand twisting. I made myself let go. “It’s not for me. I never tried to be a very good reporter because the truth is I didn’t want to be a good reporter. I don’t want to fight other people to get the story. I don’t want to exploit every personal drama to make fodder for sensationalized taglines.”

  I collapsed back on my bed, exhausted. I thought about what I’d just said. I hadn’t actually known I felt that way until I’d said it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but being with Gavin had made me realize that I wanted something authentic. Something real and true that wouldn’t ask me to bring the guy I was dating along to an on-air interview so they could get the sound bite. And yes, I owed thanks to Gavin for making me realize this. Because nothing in his life felt authentic to me. I wouldn’t live like that.

  “Okay, no interview then.” Matthew played with one of the roses in the vase on my bedside table. A leaf fell off.

  “No, no interview.” I gathered the top part of my bed sheet back in my hands and folded it back and forth like a fan.

  “Well, there goes my excuse to see you again,” he said. My heart skipped a beat.

  “Do you need an excuse to see me?” I peeked at Matthew from under my eyelashes while ostensibly concentrating on the folding pattern I was making with my sheet.

  “Don’t I? I heard you had some kind of awesome boyfriend whose ego gets in the way of your seeing other people.”

  I laughed. “You know, I heard this awesome boyfriend and I were breaking up.”

  Matthew picked up the leaf and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger. I wondered if the green would rub off on him. “Does there need to
be a mourning period for this?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  Matthew’s eyes were smiling. I could swim in their dark blue depths. “Then I think I know someone I’d love to introduce you to.”

  “Jonathan? We’ve already met.” I released my hold on the top of my sheet and watched it flutter down onto my lap, falling into rounded mounds.

  Matthew laughed. “Me.” He grabbed my hand, electrifying me with his touch. He held my hand between his. His hands were larger and rougher than mine, warm and comforting in the air-conditioned room.

  “When you were shot, I was terrified.” Matthew’s eyes were wide. “I realized I hadn’t had time to tell you how much I care about you. I know I was an ass to you when we met. You didn’t deserve it. I wish like hell we could start over.”

  “I think I’d like to pick it up where we left off at Versailles,” I said, sounding far more cool than I was feeling. Inside I was doing a happy dance to the tune of “Eden and Matthew sittin’ in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

  He stared at my lips. “Oh, yes. I’d like that too.”

  A thrill went through me, knowing he was longing for more kisses as much as I was. But the path wasn’t exactly clear for us yet. Gavin and I hadn’t had an official break-up talk. And I needed that for things to feel finished between us. Yes, he was thousands of miles away, and I didn’t know when I’d talk to him again, if ever, but I still felt like it would be disloyal to move on without at least a conversation marking the end of the relationship. I needed that, even if Gavin didn’t. I wasn’t the hussy my sister thought I was. I needed closure before I could move on in good conscience.

  Matthew’s face split into a grin that lit the room and set my little heart to pitter-pattering. “I think…” he began, but he didn’t get to finish because at that moment the door burst open and about fifty million people who were all speaking at top volume crowded into my room. And oh, no. There were cameras.

  “Gavin! Gavin! What did you think when you heard the news?” A pushy brunette screamed louder than the rest. Oh, no. Jessica Downing. And Gavin was here! And his entourage. And a bunch more press people. And my parents. There they were! I wanted to hug them, but unfortunately they were lost in the throng of people—all of whom were way more aggressive than my poor parents—as they pushed into the room.