From the moment we met, he’s given me everything. That luxurious Advent calendar isn’t just an Advent calendar - it’s proof things don’t have to stay the same. Nate’s comforted me when I’ve been at my lowest. Soothed my shattered soul and reinstated my confidence just by being him. Which is exactly why, if he needs me, I won’t hesitate.
He exhales wearily. ‘I need to tell you something. Something that might change the way you see me.’ His serious tone churns my stomach.
‘Go on.’ My heart jack-knifes in my ribcage.
He clears his throat. ‘There’s a reason Max offered you the extra role. We weren’t really short, per se.’
Oh God. Maybe Max wasn’t the only one who saw the video of my bouncing boobs.
Maybe they all thought it would be hilarious to have a busty waitress in his movie. Clichéd, but hilarious. Finally, something for the poor unfortunate men. The ones whose wives insist they sit through Hallmark movies year after year.
My throat is too dry to speak.
‘Max offered you a role as an extra because my whole demeanour changed when you ploughed across the set chasing your teeny tiny dog,’ Nate confesses.
‘Changed?’ I squeak. Where is he going with this?
‘Yes. Max said my face lit up like a fucking comet when you arrived.’ He pauses for a second, allowing this snippet of information to sink in.
Is this what this is about? I help his mood?
Am I his crutch in the fallout of Celeste cheating on him, or what?
Resting the phone between my shoulder and ear, I pull open a drawer, looking for something to put on. ‘I don’t get it.’
His sighs. ‘This is going to sound really weird, given we don’t know each other very well, but I’m different around you. I don’t have to pretend to feel Hallmark-y when you’re on set. I don’t have to pretend a thousand hummingbirds are whirring round my stomach. I don’t have to force a super cheesy smile. It’s just a kind of by-product of seeing your stunning face.’
I pull out a pair of skinny navy jeans and a white blouse while I try to formulate a reply that isn’t so gushing and girly that he changes his mind. ‘Er, thank you. I guess…’
‘This thing between us, this friends with benefits, well, it seems to be good for my performance as well as my penis.’ He keeps his voice low as a familiar teasing edge creeps back in.
‘Glad to be of service.’ And relieved he hasn’t discovered my shameful secret. Yet.
‘Look, Holly, it boils down to this. I need you.’ His voice cracks with a raw honesty and my own hummingbirds flutter and soar in my stomach. ‘Technically, it’s cheating. I’m supposed to be an actor. I shouldn’t need my girl around to put the feels on me. But I do. Turns out I am a one-trick pony.’
My girl?
Holy fuck, my knees are weak.
My mind wanders back to this morning’s work, painting the face of the man on the other end of the phone. Bizarrely, it seems we inspire each other. ‘You’re not cheating. You just need a little inspiration. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.’
‘You will?’
‘I’m on my way.’
‘Holly?’ That deep gravelly voice pauses.
‘Yes?’
‘Thank you.’
ChapterTwenty
NATE
When Holly arrives at the castle with her glossy hair windswept, peeping from beneath her bobble hat, my shoulders slacken with relief.
I stride across the mosaic floor, bursting with gratitude that she came, and how well she took the news that I’ve basically been using her as some sort of fucked-up muse.
