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“Hey,” she said in that breathy voice she’d become famous for. She pulled me into a tight hug, smiled at me, and then took a step back, ducking her chin a tiny bit as she said, “I want to introduce you to someone.”
A pair of long jean-clad legs slid out of the car behind her, attached to a broad tall body that I already knew too well was Ryan McDonnell. I was more than familiar with this particular ‘someone.’ He’d been my on-screen crush forever, though I hadn’t seen him in anything lately. There had been a movie I hadn’t seen—one that hadn’t done too well, but it included zombies, which were not my thing, even if you added in Ryan McDonnell hotness.
The object of my movie star affections had bright blue eyes, perfectly tousled dark hair—cropped close now, I noticed—and a body that appeared to have been carved from stone, or so I’d thought in the last role I’d seen him in as a comic book hero reimagined as a dark avenger. God, he was hot.
“Tess?” My sister’s voice cut through my stupor.
“Sorry,” I said, shaking off the dreamy haze. “Yes.”
“Yes?” He asked me, a smile spreading slowly across the perfect lips I couldn’t stop staring at. He chuckled, and I realized he hadn’t asked me a question. Embarrassment surged inside me, making my stomach churn.
“No,” I said, covering my affirmative declaration with an equally unnecessary negative word. “Or, I … um, hello.”
“I apologize for the short notice,” Ryan said letting my idiocy slide. People probably acted like loons around him all the time. I tried not to look at him, but there were parts of my body that were not listening at all to my brain. Ryan’s smile was like a speeding train coming right at me and freezing me to the spot where I stood, stupid and dazed. “I hope it’s not an inconvenience having us both here,” he said.
I watched his perfect full lips as he spoke, almost unable to process the actual words. I was having trouble being human, thanks to his actual existence right in front of me.
“Sure,” I said, my voice higher than I remembered it being.
More answering questions no one asked. My sister was smiling at me, shaking her head. Juliet knew about my long-time Ryan McDonnell affliction, and it was pretty obvious at this point. I hated that she undoubtedly knew I was flustered just trying to form actual words around her new boyfriend.
I forced myself back to sanity.
“Can I help get your things?” I had no idea if it would be weird to acknowledge his status as my favorite actor or if it was rude to pretend I had no idea who he was.
I settled for a moronic silence on the topic.
Juliet put her arm around me. “You don’t need to get the bags,” she said lightly, as two of the men from her security team emerged from a second car, all black T-shirts and muscled arms pulling suitcases from the trunk.
Of course not. My sister had people for that.
I’d given the security guys a few rooms in the east wing of the house. With only Gran and me here, we barely even went into most of the rooms on that side, but I’d managed to get a few rooms decent. The house was hardly celebrity material the way we usually lived, the two of us moving mostly through three or four rooms. Gran had talked me into setting up her gaming computer in what had once been the formal parlor because it was the warmest room in the house and Gran was always chilly. The setup—with her dual monitors and the noisy fan-cooled computer coupled with her gigantic ergonomic gaming chair—hadn’t really contributed much to the general décor or historic feel of the place, though, and I’d spent the last hour moving it since talking to my sister about some magazine feature Juliet thought would be happening this weekend.
I couldn’t wait for Gran to wake up to find I’d moved her beloved computer.
“I wasn’t sure where to put you,” I said, looking at my sister as we entered the house and headed upstairs to the west wing after pointing out the east side to the security crew. “They’re over there, and I set up the two rooms across the hall from each other up here for you.” Those rooms had been ours when we’d come to visit as kids. “I wasn’t sure if you and, er … Ryan, would be sharing a room.”
There was a question in my voice, and I wished I could reel back time and sound a bit more confident, but there was an unfamiliar feeling ricocheting around inside me.
I was having a hard time believing that my sister was dating Ryan McDonnell. And that she hadn’t mentioned who exactly she’d be bringing, just that she had a new boyfriend who’d be joining her. If I hadn’t seen the Internet video, I’d have been far less prepared than I was now for meeting Ryan. At least, with a bit of notice, I’d been almost verbal. If I’d had no idea and he’d just popped out of the car like that, I probably would’ve fainted.
“We’ll take them both and play it by ear,” she said, smiling at Ryan with her eyes aglow, shimmering like they shared ten thousand secrets together.
My stomach churned with what I was horrified to admit was jealousy.
Ryan reached out and traced a gentle finger down her cheek, returning the look.
“Um. So.” I wasn’t sure if I was intruding by speaking when he was looking at her like that. I cleared my throat. “Are you hungry? I mean…it’s late, but you’ve been traveling.”
“I’m okay,” Juliet said. “Tired mostly. Ryan?”
He shrugged and smiled at me, “I can always eat. But if it’s any trouble, I can wait until breakfast.”
“No trouble,” I said, something multi-legged spinning around inside me, making it hard to stand still as it jigged and jumped.
“Do you mind helping him find something?” Juliet asked. “I might just go to bed early.”
“Yes, well, sure…” I was still not coherent. This wasn’t good.
