“Do you suppose it worked? We didn’t say much. And I think my smile might’ve looked kinda goofy.”
“You did fine. I’m sure they’re happy; they got their money shot.”
She glanced down at his chest where her hand still rested. She gave it two awkward pats and jerked it away. “Right. I, uh, should go in now.”
“Have a great night at work.”
“See you on set tomorrow.”
He watched until she slipped inside, then put the Camaro in Reverse and pulled from the drive, the corners of his mouth lifting.
Chapter18
The money shot ended up being a fairly adorable picture of Liam and her gazing at each other. Meghan texted the photo to Chloe, who saw it once she arrived home from work. She grabbed a shower and sprawled on her bed, wearing her favorite pajamas.
Buttercup jumped up on the bed, gave her the stink eye, and curled up on the edge of the mattress.
“I’m sorry. I know I’ve been gone a lot.” Even though she’d been at home this week, she was out back where the movie was filming. “At least I’ve brought friends over for you. Don’t act like you don’t like all the attention.”
Buttercup blinked and glanced away.
“Oh, stop it.” She dragged the cat closer, her body a deadweight. “You know you love me.” With one hand she petted Buttercup and with the other she clicked on the link Meghan had sent.
The photo was captioned “Life with Liam” and below it was an article expounding on today’s outing. Somehow they’d constructed a whole piece about the brief moment, including every word they’d spoken and plenty of speculation about their relationship.
Even though Meghan might be in bed by now, Chloe texted her back.They got your logo in the photo! And they didn’t say anything negative about me. Yay!
She hopped over to another tabloid site and found a similar picture and article. This one was even more complimentary about her—suggesting she might be a good influence on Liam. Becausethey’d been shopping at a bookstore? That was a reach. Chloe rolled her eyes.
ApparentlyI’m a positive influence on you.??Chloe sent the text along with the link to Liam, then put down the phone before she was tempted to go poking around the internet for more news.
She gave Buttercup a scratch behind her ears. “Better quit while I’m ahead, huh?”
She hadn’t spoken to Liam since he’d brought her home this afternoon. But when she reflected on the way he’d responded to her apology, the day’s tension rolled off her shoulders. He could’ve closed himself off from her. Could’ve given her the silent treatment—Evan had been a master at that. But he’d forgiven her instead. That said a lot about him.
A text dinged in. Liam.Our evil plan is working. Bwa-ha-ha.
She tipped her lips up in what was probably a silly grin.Oh, the pressure.
You’ve even got the illiterate actor reading books.
I’m just a good influence like that.??Those guys went in the bookshop after we left and tried to extract from Meghan the titles you bought.
I’d like to say I’m surprised.
You can’t even tell by the photo that I’m freaking out.
We look like a couple of lovebirds.
Yep, somehow they’d pulled it off.I believe that was the goal. I only went snooping around two sites. I hope our strategy will fix your image problem.
Don’t worry about the gossip. Spencer will keep an eye on it.
How will he know if it’s working?
Because producers will start sending some decent scripts my way.
She hadn’t realized things had gotten that bad.You haven’t had manymovieoffers lately?
