At about ten, halfway through the third starring-role film, Barney gave Jordan a look of disgust and left the room, making it clear thatsomebodythought it was bedtime andsomebody elsewas staying up too late. Jordan, well into his chocolate-cherry-bomb ice cream, called, "I'll be there in a minute," afterthe dog, and at a quarter to eleven, now bundled up in blankets and exceptionally cozy on the couch, he mumbled, "It's not like I have to get up for work in the morning," and put the next movie on.
They all shared a basic plot: a woman living her best life in the big city was called home to small town America to deal with a family crisis. There, she re-met an old boyfriend or a childhood friend, and resisted the sparks that flew because she had a life—and often a boyfriend—to go back to. Sometimes the city boyfriend came to make a grand gesture, but in the end, the heroine stayed in her hometown with her first flame. Some were very funny, others more poignant, and—Jordan couldn't lie to himself about this—sometimes the scripts were just terrible.
But Kayla Walsh was luminescent in every single film. He believed, every single time, that she was the tension-ridden chef, the world-weary CEO, the ballroom dancer who'd given up on her dream, the slapstick personal assistant covering up an old emotional wound. There was one where her city boyfriend was genuinely a great guy and their lives just couldn't work together as she returned home that pulled at his heartstrings, and the country boyfriends were always decent men who were afraid they couldn't offer enough to this amazing woman who'd returned to their lives.
Jordan totally understoodthat, for sure. Every one of Kayla's lovelorn leading ladies was out of his league, and it might be nearly three in the morning, but he could still see the parallel between his accidental re-meeting of Kylie Quinn—Kayla Walsh, now—and the stories she played on screen. He might as well have 'Hometown Hero' stamped across his forehead.
Except Kayla really was out of his league, and the least believable thing about all those movies was that someone as bright, beautiful and successful as the roles Kayla played would throw it all away to marry a Christmas tree farmer, or whateverher hometown hero was. "At least they have businesses of their own," he said to the long-absent Barney. "Two dog-sitting gigs does not qualify as a career. I'm not the hometown hero, I'm…"
He had no idea what he was, really. The good-looking loser who might get to go on a date or two with the heroine while the real hero bided his time, maybe. As if Jordan had a chance to date somebody like Kayla Walsh at all. Although he guessed, technically speaking, that theydidhave a date on Saturday. If she'd meant it. If she called.
That was too many heavy thoughts for three in the morning. "I'm just gonna close my eyes for a minute," Jordan told the last two starring-role films, and leaned his head against the side of the couch.
He woke up about six hours later with a crimp in his neck and a dog sitting between him and the television, glaring ferociously at Jordan. Jordan rasped, "Don't judge me," and Barney leaped up and ran to the door, looking back at Jordan pointedly. "Oh, you need to go out. Okay. Okay, hang on a sec, boy…" He untangled from his blankets and staggered to the door, letting the patient Border Collie out and standing in the doorway, letting cold air hit his face and wake him up some while he waited on the dog. He'd had romcom dreams while he slept, all of them starring Kayla Walsh's deep blue eyes, and Kylie Quinn's terrible high school dress sense.
Barney came in and herded Jordan to the food dish, which he filled obediently, then ruffled the dog's fur. "I'm going to go shower while you eat. Don't let any bad guys in the house."
The dog huffed into his food bowl, obviously offended that Jordan had so little faith in him. "On the contrary," Jordan yawned on his way to the shower. "You'd have them all tied up and sitting neatly in a row on the couch by the time I got dressed." He stood in the shower a while, gradually waking up, and exited feeling perkier. Half the town would probably be outwatching the filming. It wouldn't be weird if he took Barney out for a walk and stopped to watch for a bit, either. Catching another glimpse of Kayla would be a bonus, that was all.
If he told himself that enough times, he would…still not believe it. Kayla Walsh, formerly Kylie Quinn, was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever laid eyes on, and he would love to just look longingly at her all day long. And probably would, since he had at least six more movies to watch, and that was just on the one streaming service. But the real person would be even better.
"At least she remembered me," he said to Barney as he affixed the dog's leash to his harness and checked it twice. "No more running off." The dog looked faintly guilty, as if he actually remembered the previous afternoon's escapades, and stuck with Jordan as they struck off toward town.
It was cold and clear, the sun shining brilliantly from a blue sky and making inches-deep snow gleam hard white. Jordan took his sunglasses from his coat pocket, checked his phone, and had it half put away again before he realized a message had come in while he was showering.Hi, Jordan, this is Kayla. I have 45 minutes for coffee this afternoon if you're still interested?
Jordan, a fully-grown adult man of thirty-seven years, punched the air and yelled "Woo-hoo!"
Chapter 5
The problem with Virtue was there was absolutely nowhere to go for coffee where the whole town wouldn't see them. Especially since she only had forty-five minutes, so couldn't seek out the most remote coffee shop available. And yet Kayla had texted Jordan as soon as she knew she had free time, because she was a huge dork, or an idiot, or both.
Jordan is our fated mate,her owl pointed out.Of course we want to spend time with him.
I know, but he doesn't even know about shifters! And I don't want to draw attention to myself! Or Virtue! And why would I be having coffee with him in public if I didn't want to make athingof it?
The owl went silent for a long time, finally volunteering,…murder?
No murder!
Then food!Food was exactly the reasontohave coffee out with Jordan, as far as the bird was concerned. The fact that she couldn't really argue with it caused Kayla to groan out loud.
The director, Cyril, and her scene partner, Anderson, both glanced at her. "Somethingelsewrong, Kayla?" Cyril's nasallytones had never bothered her when they were dating, but once the breakup had happened, she wondered how she'd ever found his pinched, accusatory voice charming.
You're an actor,she told herself.Act.
She smiled brightly at the director. Cyril was tall, slimly built, losing his hair and resentful of it, but unquestionably attractive in a classic French kind of way. At the moment he was also hunched in a warm jacket and big boots that did nothing for his usual European style, and he clearly hated every moment in which he had to choose warmth over fashion. Kayla was sure he sported a striped Breton shirt beneath the coat, and could see his dark jeans were insufficient to standing up to the weather. She almost felt sorry for him.
Then she remembered they had a wig she could be using to hide her appalling haircut, and that he'd decided to have the whole front half of the film rewritten to make sure she couldn't do that. Her sympathy evaporated. "I'm fine," she said briskly. "Your nose is dripping, though."
He swiped at it, glaring, and Anderson chuckled very, very quietly beside her. "You're putting him in a mood because you know I'm the one who has to deal with him for the next two hours."
Kayla grimaced. "No, if I'd been thinking about that I wouldn't have teased him at all. Sorry."
"It's all right." He gave her the warm sparkling smile that devastated men and women alike. "It's almost the only scene you're not in, and it's a short one. Did I see you have a date planned?"
"You know you're not supposed to read other peoples' texts, Anderson?"
"Yes, darling, of course I know, but what fun would that be. One more take, and then you can go make swoony eyes atthat extremely handsome man who crashed into you yesterday. Jordan, was it,Kylie?"
