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“Oh my God,” she said. Then she squealed, and turned to her mother, grabbing her hand. “Mom! It’s Ryan McDonnell.” She turned back to me. “You’re Ryan McDonnell!”
I was rarely recognized these days, and Maryland was the last place I’d expected someone to know me. Surprise and a hint of embarrassment washed through me, and I felt the color rise in my neck. “I am,” I said. “Or was, last I checked.”
Tess stepped slightly away as the family bunched closer together, staring and smiling.
“Can I take a selfie?” The girl asked, holding out her phone.
“Sure,” I laughed, shooting Tess a quick look. She stood to one side, looking amused.
The girl moved in close and I leaned in over her shoulder as she took the picture, and then the woman pulled something out of her purse. “Will you sign this?” she asked, handing me a pen.
“Of course,” I said. As I signed my name on an envelope for the lady, her husband found his voice. “That last movie you made, the one in Antarctica? With the zombies?”
I cringed and braced myself for him to tell me how awful it was. I knew how terrible it was, but it hurt any time someone agreed with the critics’ assessment, and for some reason I didn’t want him to say it in front of Tess. “Yeah?”
“I loved that movie, man.” The guy grinned at me and slapped me on the back. “Don’t listen to those Hollywood jerks man, you’re good. Really good.”
Now my blush grew hotter. I was definitely not used to praise from unexpected places. “Wow, thank you. That really means a lot to me.” It did. It was almost embarrassing how much.
“You’re awesome, dude,” the other kid said, maybe feeling left out.
The mother looked at Tess suddenly, as if realizing for the first time I wasn’t here alone, just waiting for them to find me in the woods. “Oh, guys. We’re interrupting. Sorry,” she said to Tess. “We’ll let you get on with your day. Come on,” she said, gathering her family together again. “So nice to meet you. Have a good visit.”
The teenaged girl followed her mother, but kept glancing back over her shoulder and smiling, and finally waved at us as they disappeared around a stand of thick trees.
I turned to Tess, stuffing my hands in my pockets and hoping it hadn’t ruined whatever might have been building between us so far.
“You were so nice to them,” Tess said, smiling at me. “That was really good of you. I bet you made that girl’s year. Her mom’s too.” She stepped back to my side, closer than she’d been before, and we continued walking in the direction the family had come from. “Does that happen a lot?”
“No,” I said. “Not like with your sister. I can still stay under the radar most of the time. Especially lately.”
“Does it bother you? Do you wish you were more famous?” She looked up at me over her shoulder, her brows wrinkling as she posed the question. I wanted to make her smile again, make the line ease away.
“Not really,” I said. “Honestly, I’d rather have the anonymity, but fame does kind of equal success, and I don’t think anyone starts out at something and doesn’t wish to be successful.”
She bobbed her head. “Fair point. So it’s kind of a tradeoff. Your privacy for money and good roles.”
“I guess so. The money is really the key thing, unfortunately. But I kind of hope I can save enough to take care of the things I need to take care of, and then maybe do something else.” I thought about my dad, stopping myself from wishing things were different. He was family—the only I had—and it was my responsibility to take care of him.
“Something else, huh? Like what?”
“I used to think I might open a restaurant,” I said, feeling like I was making a confession of sorts. I didn’t talk about it often, but I missed the quiet meditation working in the kitchen had always brought me.
“A restaurant?” Tess was smiling up at me, almost leaning into my side as we wandered beneath the arching green trees, flowers blooming at our feet on either side of the trail. It was almost like walking through a painting now.
“Nothing big. Just a small fine dining place. A few signature dishes. Just a few tables.”
“Hmm,” Tess said, and I wondered what she was thinking. I glanced down at her, glad to see a look of calm contentment on her smooth pretty face. My blood warmed at the perfection of her profile, my nerves jangling as I thought about what it would be like to touch her, to kiss her.
“Hey,” I said, stopping our progress.
She turned, a question in her eyes, and I realized I had nothing specific in mind to say.
“I just … thanks for coming out here with me today,” I tried. My voice was lower than it had been a moment ago, almost a whisper.
She stared up at me, her dark lashes lush against her pale skin, her plump pink lips slightly apart as she considered me. “Yeah,” she said. Her lips parted like she was going to say something else, but no words came out. Instead, she stepped a tiny bit nearer, and every nerve in my body went to full attention.
“The park is really …” I trailed off, my mind going blank as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and then let it go. My skin was buzzing and my dick was suddenly straining inside my jeans, no doubt thinking about those perfect lips the same way I was.
