Page 51 of Never Date a Celebrity

“And you pair can’t fancy her either.” She glanced at their dismayed faces and relented. “Or if you really must, then do it in private.”

“Fine,” Piper said like it was the hardest thing she’d ever been asked to do. “No blatant drooling over Amelia Whitlock along with the rest of the world.”

“Thank you.” She realised it wasn’t an easy ask. Imogen was going to have to find a way to play by those rules too.

“I still can’t believe she was just in here,” Piper said in amazement, still unable to let it go. “Amelia Whitlock was in our pub. Amelia Whitlock is your fucking friend, Immy.” Her eyes widened. “Does that mean she’ll be back again? Can we meet her for real?”

Imogen rolled her eyes and walked over to pick up her stock list again, more than ready to focus on something else for a while. Imogen was the type of person who needed time to digest things quietly and talk about them later. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

She could see Niamh hushing Piper out of the corner of her eye before she approached her. “Seriously, Im, are you okay?”

“I will be.” And she would, wouldn’t she? Her life was going to go back to the way she liked it. Ordered. Predictable. Solitary. Safe. At least being friends with Amy wouldn’t disrupt the quiet life she cherished so dearly. Imogen should be relieved really. Amy had been a prospect that she hadn’t planned for, and Imogen often floundered without a plan. Besides, she hadn’t even been looking for anything romantic anyway, so it would be ridiculous to miss it. Wouldn’t it?

Except, ridiculous or not, she already did.

Chapter Ten

Today has been the longest day. We had to delay filming by nearly an hour because these little squirrels kept darting across the grass during takes. They were really cute too, I don’t know why they didn’t just leave them in the shot. Continuity issues, apparently. How is your day going? Tell me everything that’s been happening in the Wishing Well.

Amelia found that asking direct questions was the best way to get Imogen to reply to her texts quickly. Whenever she left the conversation open, Imogen could take hours to text again. Amelia understood. They were navigating a whole new dynamic to their relationship, and honestly, she wasn’t sure how to work it either. All she knew was she desperately wanted to talk to Imogen all of the time—that hadn’t changed. So, she took whatever she could get. It wasn’t like Amelia’s feelings had evaporated just because she had been forced into the friend zone. No, the feelings were still there, alive and well and pining. But she accepted that being relegated to the friend zone was better than being in no zone whatsoever.

It had now been four days since Friday’s big reveal, yet Amelia felt like the weight that had been lifted off her shoulders had only made its way as far as her chest. She might not have to keep secrets anymore, but it hurt like hell that Imogen had pulled away from her. Amelia totally got it, but it sucked.

“You’re never off that phone,” Bridget said snarkily. She leaned on the wall beside Amelia and took a long sip from her water bottle. “Girlfriend again?”

“I already told you, she’s not my girlfriend,” Amelia replied, unable to keep the glumness out of her voice. It took energy to keep her mask up around Bridget all the time and lately, Amelia didn’t seem to have much of that left. “We’re just friends.”

“You sound miserable when you say that.” Bridget didn’t sound very sympathetic, more like she was stating a fact.

“Because I am.”

Bridget rolled her eyes. “Do you want to go out somewhere tonight? Get drunk and let people take lots of embarrassing photos? It can be great publicity to let your hair down. And maybe you’ll meet a fan up for some fun. Take your mind off your friend. Win-win.”

Now Amelia felt like she was in some kind of parallel universe, because when had Bridget started asking her to socialize? She could also think of nothing worse than any part of her entire suggestion. When Amelia finished filming all she wanted to do was hole herself up in her hotel room and cling onto any conversation with Imogen she could get. “I’m too tired tonight, but thank you for the offer.”

Bridget gave her a pained face, as much as her Botox allowed. “Suit yourself. Wallow in self-pity. Although, I do have to give it to you, this depression of yours has done wonders for your acting abilities.”

Amelia looked at her in surprise. She should really be offended by the backhanded compliment, but that was high praise coming from Bridget. “Glad you think so.”

“Seriously. That scene where Eve panics and breaks things off with Scarlett was really, very believable. Your Scarlett was flawless.”

Amelia wasn’t surprised that Bridget was referencing that particular scene. Drawing from the pain of recent events, her tears had been all too easy to come by. “Me and Scarlett had more in common than I’d like in that moment.”

Bridget turned and gave her a bored look. “Thank God, I’m not a lesbian. I find men so much easier to work around. Usually, a quick bang does the trick.”

Amelia tried not to look taken aback, but Bridget Clemonte talking to her about banging was not on her 2026 bingo card. “I don’t think that’s going to work for me.”

“Hmm. You never know,” Bridget replied slyly as she turned to walk away. “Happy moping, Amelia,” she called back over her shoulder.

Amelia almost stuck her tongue out at Bridget’s retreating form, but there were about eighteen camerapeople who might see her do it, so she stopped herself. She really did not know what that woman’s deal was. It was clear that Bridget enjoyed toying with people, and recently it felt like Amelia in particular. Did she get a kick out of it? Maybe it was a control thing. A way to keep herself feeling like she was the alpha-actor on set—a role she was more than welcome to.

Amelia’s phone buzzed and her heart flipped. Then it sank again because it was only Veronica pushing her for an answer about the action flick, Don’t Cross Her. An answer that Amelia wasn’t ready to give. The script looked good, but did she want to commit to another six hectic months of filming? The travel itself was going to be insane, with locations including the US, Japan, and Morocco. Plus, the shape that she would need to get into for the part was astounding. Amelia would have to train about three times a day and be miserable about all the things she couldn’t eat.

Then again, another project to keep her busy did sound appealing too given her latest set of circumstances. When Amelia’s personal life wasn’t going the way she wanted, she tended to throw herself right into her work—a habit that had done great things for her career. And she had always wanted to get into action roles. Hmm.

She flipped her phone screen back to her conversation thread with Imogen. Did she really have to wait for a reply before she could text again? Who made those rules up anyway? Could you see me in an action movie? Kicking ass and all that kind of thing? Single-handedly saving the world?

That was another change in their dynamic since Friday. Amelia made a point of being totally open and transparent about her work now. There was no more dancing around the topic. She told Imogen everything that was going on, whether Imogen asked about it or not. Was she trying to prove herself? Maybe a little. Yes, Imogen had gracefully forgiven her, but Amelia had messed up and she was still going to do everything she could to put it right. If that meant putting herself out there, her whole self, then that’s what she would do.