Silence surrounds us as we settle down from the rush of escaping the paparazzi.
Finally, I ask, “Is this what your life is like all the time? Constantly running from them?”
He shakes his head, causing his hair to whack him in the face. “Forgot I took the half-bun down.” He chuckles, then continues. “No. Not really. I usually don’t mind and have grown accustomed to never having a moment alone. That is, besides my time here in Mississippi.”
A thoughtful expression crosses his face as he narrows his eyes. “I’m not sure how they found me, but I’m sorry you had to endure that. If they somehow got your picture and you end up unintentionally famous for a while, I’m very sorry, Vroom.” Hisvoice lowers as he concludes his sentence, letting me know he means what he’s saying.
“Everything will be okay. I don’t think they got a picture of me because I don’t ever remember making eye contact with them. You protected me well.” I smile at him and he practically beams back at me. “Even if… we grew up together. At the very least we can take control of the narrative by stating we are childhood friends reconnecting. We can tell the truth that you’re helping me out by filming a commercial.”
His hand slides down the steering wheel and rests in the open middle seat between us. I desperately want to grab it and weave my fingers between his, but I don’t.
I can’t.
Right?
“So much for bridging the last gap for our friendship,” I dramatically sigh. “Guess we will have to forever remain on the outskirts since we couldn’t go to the diner.”
Mason glances my way with a raised, thick brow. “We can head to Dallas right now. Say the word.” His voice tightens as we roll up to a stop sign and he pierces me with his eyes. “I would like to show you how that night three years ago should have gone.”
The truck lurches forward. “What do you mean?”
Mason shrugs and under the street light, I notice a ghostly smile paints his face. “Another time.”
Chapter Twenty
Mason - Present
The boutique has beentransformed to a lovers' paradise of sorts. Between the hearts and the classic Valentine’s Day colors of red, white, pink, and black, this place screams “season of love.” Even a soft, feminine scent—something akin to a vanilla cupcake—infiltrates the air.
Even clothes on display are a contrast of Taylor Swift’s Lover and Reputation.
Yes, I know Swift’s music. What kind of musician would I be if I didn’t know the most famous woman on the planet?
“Houston, we have a problem,” Karoline says as I enter the employee area in the back. I look in her direction by the fold out table, and mercy… With the way she looks in those ripped skinny jeans and black long-sleeved baggy crop top, with her hair braided to one side, I’m almost to the point of dropping to my knees and begging for her affection. Yesterday, though it didn’t go according to plan, was good for me and Karoline. After she made her feelings clear and I made my intentions known, we were able to look past the hurt for a moment to cut up and laugh. She even let me get away with flirting…
And that’s a huge win in my book.
“What’s wrong?” Hadley approaches, wearing a similar outfit to Karoline, though my Karoline rocks it better in my opinion. I suppose Braxton would say otherwise.
“Genevieve’s manager just sent me a text telling me that Genevieve has the flu and can't make it to the filming. She, uh…” Karoline stammers, tugging at her braid, her eyes shifting from her phone, to Hadley, and then land on me. “She suggested that I take her place in the commercial.”
My brain is throwing a party—confetti, cake, pointed paper hats, the whole nine yards. The script for the commercial is quite romantic, and it involves up-close and personal relations with the female lead. While I was comfortable performing the script with Gen, as she’s a good friend, doing this with Karoline instead can only do one thing: help me continue to win her cold, hardened heart back to me.
“I’m fine with that,” I pipe up. Both women stop the conversation they were having and swivel their heads to me. My manager, Rob, rolls his eyes from his position beside Hadley. I don’t even hide the smile creeping up my face as I focus my attention on Karoline. “We have good chemistry. Better than thefriendship type I have with Gen. Doing this with Karoline is the best option out there.”
“And what do we tell the press when this is released and it basically verifies that you have a woman here in Mississippi? And everyone will connect the girl in the pictures to Karoline. With Gen, everyone knows the two of you are friends. But the world now knows that you were with a woman last night, and it wasn’t Genevieve Rhodes.”
I shrug, still keeping my eyes locked on Karoline. To my thrill, she hasn’t taken her gaze away from me. The images were online and circulating within an hour of our frenzied escape last night. I messaged Karoline to make sure she knew, and she called me and we sat on the phone scouring the internet to make sure her face never appeared. We got lucky. All the images and headlines reported I was secretly dating someone, but no one knew who.
That, my friend, is something I can live with. Go on and let the world think I have a girlfriend because, hopefully, it won’t be a lie for much longer…
But for now…“We’ll tell them the truth: Karoline and I are childhood friends.” The sound of relieved breaths fills the silence around me, and I simply can’t resist. “But I want so much more with her, and I plan to get it.”
Rob chokes on something, probably his own spit. Hadley’s smile resembles the Grinch’s when he’s plotting to steal Christmas, and Karoline’s face flushes redder than the hearts hanging from the ceiling in this boutique.
“All right, I see you,” Hadley says, walking a few steps over to me and patting me on the back. Then she turns to Karoline. “Let’s get you ready for the camera.”
While the ladies walk away, I send a quick text to Gen.
