‘Fuck.’ His gaze dropped to the table.
‘Why?Is that why you’re here?Are you hoping to meet an aspiring singer or actress?’
‘I was… I just… We should order more drinks.’ He wiped the sweat from his brow.
This was weird.Now he seemed nervous.Whenever I’d seen him in interviews, he’d always seemed confident.And when we’d first sat down, he was full of cocky comebacks.But his body language had suddenly changed.
Maybe that woman had given him an earful when she found out he wasn’t free for a booty call.
‘Good idea,’ I said.
As Jake studied the drinks menu, I caught myself scanning his face.
I’d met a few celebrities in my time, thanks to the ex who won’t be named, and sometimes they didn’t look how I’d imagined them in real life.
All that retouching in magazines made them look so flawless.But in reality, celebs were still people with scars and breakouts, just like us.
Well, that wasn’t strictly true.I’d never seen a celeb with a breakout because they probably had facials that cost hundreds of dollars every week to prevent them.
Anyway, the point was, they didn’t always look as perfect as we were led to believe.
But as much as it pained me to admit it, Jake was as ridiculously handsome as he looked on those billboards, TV adverts and music videos.
He was tall with thick dark brown hair, tanned skin, hazel eyes and a muscular body that belonged on the cover of a fitness magazine.
If he was a regular person with a normal career like me and I discovered that a man that looked like him was my date, I’d be doing cartwheels and backflips.But looks weren’t everything.And if I wasn’t already put off by his reputation, after spending less than half an hour in his company, I knew with absolute certainty that he was not the man for me.
Which was a problem.I didn’t pay to be matched with a walking red flag.
I had to voice my concerns, right?Even if they couldn’t give me a refund, surely they could arrange an alternative match instead?
Either way, I was not going to waste two weeks of my life with a narcissist who was more interested in taking photos than getting to know me.
No way.
I’d decided: once I’d finished dinner, I’d find Sammie and get this resolved.
She might think he was a catch, but I was ready to toss him right back into the Pacific Ocean.
Yep.A replacement was the best course of action.Here’s hoping the next man they had lined up was better than the first.
6
JAKE
I’d been on a lot of awkward first dates in my thirty-six years on this earth, but this was one of the worst I’d ever had.
We’d been here less than an hour and it was already a shit show.
The conversation sucked.
Not that you could even call it that because a conversation involved both parties talking.
Whenever I tried to ask a question, Halle either glared or gave monosyllabic answers.And that was before we got to the fact that she wasn’t even remotely in the public eye and, most critically, didn’t want to be.
Ordinarily, meeting someone who had zero interest in fame would be a breath of fresh air, especially after what happened to me before.I hated the whole ‘celebrity scene’.I’d spent a lot of years wishing that people would see me as a person instead of someone who could get them into parties or give them a leg up in the industry.But in this case, Halle not wanting to raise her profile was a disaster.
Wilma assured me that I’d be matched with someone who had the same agenda.In other words, someone whohadn’tcome here to fall in love.
