My Life With The Movie Star (6 page)

Chapter 7

The next few weeks were a blur. I
had plenty of things to do.
Lisa gladly went shopping with me and was able to help me find a bunch of fantastic new outfits to wear. Lisa was pleased when she hit my limit on my credit card. She assured me that I would look fabulous. I also had hair appointments and nail appointments. I hated the fake nails Lisa made me put on, but she pointed out how thin they made my hands look. I had never seriously thought about whether my hands looked fat or not. The fake nails made it almost impossible to type at work, which drove me nuts.

Finally, my momentous day arrived. I
arrived at
the airport about an hour early. I paced around nervously, waiting for his plane to arrive. I think I looked at the monitor over one hundred times. At last my patience paid off; his flight was showing up as arrived. I hurried over to the TSA exit and waited for him to come.

One by one, I scanned the crowd for any sign of him. Had he changed his mind but not call me? That would be my luck.  Then I could see him in the far back of the c
rowd walking towards the exit.
He was wearing blue jeans and a gray T-shirt. Sunglasses covered his eyes, and he had on a baseball cap again.

He saw me waiting and shot me one of his perfect smiles. I smiled back, my heart racing. I could only hope that I would still be able to speak to him normally. We had formed a strong relationship over the phone the past couple weeks. I had found him so easy to talk to, but in person, it would be different. Over the phone, he was just Gray, but in person, he was Grayson Edwards’s star of
Texas High
. He was so out of my league that I wasn’t sure how to act around him. I also did not know if he thought of me as anything but a friend. I guess I would find that out
over
the weekend.
Before I knew it, he had reached me dropped his backpack and put his arms around me for a big hug.

“Hi,” I said shyly.

“Hi there,” H
e said in his smooth voice.

I let him hug me for a whole minute and wondered if I should kiss him. Just as I was wondering what to do, we were interrupted by a shy girl who looked about nine years old. She was too scared to speak to Gray but came up to me.

“Excuse me,” the girl said. “Is he Grayson Edwards?” Her voice shook as she spoke. I wondered how she had recognized him, but I guess sunglasses and a baseball cap just can’t hide his smile.

“Yes, I am,
” said Gray politely. When he crouched down beside her, her eyes welled up with tears, and she started to shake. Gray reached into his backpack and pulled out an 8.5 x 11 glossy headshot and a pen. “What’s your name, darling?” He crooned.

The girl could barely speak. “Sssmantha.”

“Well,
it’s nice to meet you Samantha,
” Gray said as he quickly jotted his signature on the picture and gave it to her.

“Thank you,” she said. “I love you.”

Gray gave the girl a hug and looked for her parents. He briefly signaled them. They thanked Gray and apologized for the interruption, pulling the girl away with them.

“Wow! Do I get an autograph?” I teased.

“Only if you’re good
,
” Gray sa
i
d and gave me his sexy smile.

“Let’s go find your bags before any more fans come out of the woodwork
.”
I said.

“Sounds great.” He put his arm over my shoulder as we walked towards baggage claim. My mind flashed back to
Texas High
and how he had put his arm around the girl in the movie the same way. This made me feel so unique, as if he had made a secret claim on me.

We found all of Gray’s bags without anyone else noticing who he was. I was glad to get in my car with him. I was nervous, but I didn’t want him to know; I had to quickly become calm and play cool. He didn’t want to date some obsessed fan.

I took a deep breath, started my car and turned onto 43-North, towards home.

“On the right, you will
see Milwaukee and Lake Michigan,
” I said, playing the cheerful tour guide.

“Very nice,
” he said, looking around at all the old buildings that line 43 North.

“Small huh?” I asked with a laugh. “Nothing like LA or NYC”.

“No, it’s beautiful,
” Gray said. “I love all the old buildings.”

Over the next thirty miles, I found myself trying to make as much small talk as I could. Gray got a kick out of all the farmland and cows. We finally made it to my street and pulled into my driveway.

“Before we go in, I just wanted to remind you that I don’t make movie star money. Mos
t of my things are hand-me-down
.”

“I prefer hand-me-downs,
” he said. “They have more charm.”

“Well, my house is full of charm then,” I said.

I brought Gray into my house and gave him the grand tour, which ended with the guestroom. I took Melanie’s advice and put his bag down. He looked at me funny but seemed to get the point that he would be sleeping in there.

“This is my guestroom,
” I said.

“Oh, it’s nice,” he said
looking around the room. My guestroom was honestly just a room with a bed. I desperately needed to decorate it but was lacking in time and money to get it done.

“I have to show you my guest bathroom.” I walked down the hall and opened the door to the bathroom. “Ta-da!”

“Wow! It’s really pink
,
” he said.

“Sorry, I
don’t
ha
ve
the money to re-do it yet.”

“No need to apologize.
I will feel extra manly in here.” H
e said with his sexy movie-star smile.

“Let’s go for a walk, and I can show you why I bought the house.” I opened my front door and we both started walking the two blocks to the Upper Bluff Park. It was a warm summer’s day; the wind was mild, and the sky was clear. I brought him to the edge of the bluff, so he could see the lake and the lighthouse.

“I see why you love it here.” Gray gently put his arm around me as he spoke to me.

“Thanks.” I looked up at him and caught him looking down at me.

“You know, we haven’t even been on
a proper date yet,” He said, “B
ut I feel like we have known each other for years.”

“Me too,” I admitted.

Grayson looked into my eyes and brushed a lost strand of hair behind my ear. I could tell that he wanted to say more but wasn’t sure if he should.

“This might not be entirely proper, but this is
a great place for a first kiss,” H
e whispered to me. He slowly closed his eyes and leaned in towards me. I let myself go and enjoyed feeling his lips on mine. I counted the seconds the kiss lasted.

“Wow
,
” I said quietly. “It’s been a while for me.”

“How long?” he asked as he brushed my hair back from my face again.

“Four years,
” I admitted.

He smiled and kissed me again. “I guess w
e have to make up for lost time,
” he said. “How can you not have had a boyfriend for four years? I’m sure there are plenty of guys beating down your door on a regular basis.”

“It’s not that easy to meet new people in a small town. That’s why I a
lways volunteer for trade shows,
” I said.

We walked down the bluff towards my city. I was excited to show Gray around. Most of the buildings in Port Washington date back to the 1800s, which gave
P
ort a cool, old feeling. I showed Gray our butcher shop and our bakery. After strolling through the downtown business area, we made our way back to my house and into my den.

“Thanks for the grand tour,
” Gray said, giving me another hug.

I wanted to do a little celebration dance. I loved it that he couldn’t keep his hands off me. I was enjoying the embrace when my doorbell rang.

“Hmm, I’m not expecting anyone.
” I said. “Wait here.”

I walked down the hall and opened my front door to find Lisa there, looking extremely excited.

“Is he here?” She asked in a quiet squeal.

“Yes,
” I said in an unusually matter-of-fact voice. Drat, I thought to myself. He ha
s
only been here for a couple of hours, and now I would have to introduce him to Lisa? I had hoped to get more time with him alone before she came over. Now I would have to compete for his attention. Lisa was dressed for the occasion wearing a slinky, sexy tank top and an extremely short jean skirt. Was she actually trying to outdo me?

“C
ome in,
” I said with a sigh.

“Ooh, someone’s hair is already messed up
,” S
he teased.

“We walked down t
o the lake. It’s just windblown,
” I stated.

“Sure, windblown,” S
he said with a roll of her eyes.

We walked down the hall to the den. Lisa was a pile of nerv
es
. She was barely holding it t
ogether. I had never seen Lisa
not in control of a situation –
especially
not one that involved a guy.

“Gray, this is my best friend Lisa. Lisa, this is...”

“Grayson Edwards!
” she shrieked. “OH, I love you in
Texas High
. I can’t believe you are here!” She ran over to Gray and threw her arms around him.

Gray looked at me as if he didn’t know what to do. I was sure he normally handled things differently but didn’t want to hurt my feelings.

Lisa could not resist him. She exploded into tears and tightened her grip around his neck, almost choking him. I did my best to pull her off him and drag her down the hallway.

“We’ll be right back,” I said and pushed her into the kitchen. I closed the door behind me.

“What are you doing?” I asked her in a loud whisper.

“I’m so sorry,
” Lisa said. “I just lost control.”

“Well, get it together,
” I snapped. “You look like a mess. Go get cleaned up in my bathroom and come back when you can hold a conversation.”

Lisa ran off down the hall to my bedroom, and I went back to find Gray, hoping that he hadn’t run down the road screaming.

“I’m really sorry about that,
” I started to say. I was beyond embarrassed. He had opened up to me about how much he hated all the attention on him, and I had let one of his biggest fans into my house.

“No problem. It h
appens to me more than you know,
” he replied.

“I h
ope you are still glad you came,
” I said. I would have killed Lisa if he had decided to leave.

“I am. In
fact, I have a surprise for you.
” Gray said with his sexy smile. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a charm bracelet. I immediately realized where I had seen the bracelet before. It was like the one in the
Texas High
movie that his character gave his girlfriend. It had a silver H on it, and a silver State of Texas charm dangling from it.

“This might seem really corny, but this is one of the prop replicas from the movie. They always make four or five in case you lose one. I thought you might get a kick out of a movie prop.”

“Thank y
ou,
” I said and watched as he put the bracelet on my wrist. I should have gotten him something.  I gave him a hug, and my lips met his again.

“You’re so cute; I may not be able to c
ontrol myself around you either,
” I teased.

“Well,” he whispered in my ear, “I’m not stopping you.”

Just then, Lisa reappeared a bit more together. I let my arms slide down from around his neck.

“Sorry about before,
” she apologized. “I have never met a famous person before.”

“No problem,
” he said. “Would it help if you just thought of me as Abby’s boyfriend?”

“That might help a little,
” she said and shot me an excited face.

I was surprised that Gray didn’t even seem to notice her cleavage, or her lovely looks. I couldn’t believe that he wanted to be referred to as my “boyfriend.” My head was spinning.

I noticed it was getting a bit late, and I was sure that Gray was getting hungry.

“Are you hungry?” I asked, hoping that Lisa would take the hint.

“D
o we have any plans for dinner?” he asked

“No, I thought we could go to Beanies in town. They have great Mexican food.”