Page 22 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

Hell, maybe he did, too.

The thought slammed hard against him, and he tried to pushit away. But the harder he tried, the more it clung to him. Love?

No way. Respect, sure. Like, absolutely.

But love?

No way.

Or at least, not yet.

“You hanging in there?”

Simon looked up to see Trevor approaching with two Styrofoamcups of coffee. Stark Security had sent a team, of course, and Leah and Jasperwere on the other side of the open area, both wearing blue jackets withSECURITY stenciled on the back. He’d hoped that Renly would be workingtoday—after all, he’d once dated Frannie back in his Hollywood stuntcoordinator days—and Simon would have loved to hear Renly’s thoughts on her.

Now he turned to Trevor. “Thanks,” he said, taking thecoffee. “So do you know Frannie? Damien and Ryan said something about you beingtoo known in this world to play her fake boyfriend.”

Trevor’s brows raised. “Is that what you are? A fakeboyfriend?”

“Excuse me?”

The other man shrugged. “I’ve been watching you all day, myfriend. There’s some serious sparks flying between thetwo of you. Either you’re as good an actor as Frannie is, or something’s goingon.”

Simon sighed. “Would that be bad? You know her, right? Sotell me. How much trouble will I be in if I let her under my skin?”

“Seems to me it’s a little too late to be asking that.”

Simon scowled; Trevor wasn’t wrong. “Are you going to giveme grief or answer the question?” He glanced at the line of fans. Only a fewleft, which meant he only had a few moments to get answers.

“Frannie’s a good egg,” Trevor said. “My aunt’s been in theindustry for years. She’s a script supervisor, and she’s worked on a lot offilms with Frannie, and she was on the crew for Bright Eyes,too.”

“Frannie’s break-out show.”

“She always laughs when there’s stuff in the news thatsuggests Frannie is a stuck-up bitch. She says shebelieves the sex stuff—Frannie seducing her co-stars. I guess the woman’s gotcontrol issues.”

“That she does.”

“But the stuff about Frannie being a bitchin general? No way. Says she’s as professional as they come.” He cocked hishead. “Want to tell me why you’re asking?”

“Nope.”

Trevor laughed. “Good luck. I get the impression she’s ahandful. I also think she’s probably worth the effort.”

“Thanks. And thanks for hanging. Weren’t you supposed to beoff an hour ago? I thought you were meeting a friend. Going to go be anattendee at the con. Not just a working guy.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Turns out he’s running late.”

“Date?”

“I wouldn’t kick him out of my bed. But,no. He’s straight and just a friend. Ollie McKee.”

“The FBI agent,” Simon said, remembering meeting the man whowas a lifelong friend of Damien’s wife, Nikki. “He had that on-again-off-againengagement for a while, right?”

“Yeah. Before we met, but yeah. I heard about that.”

Simon shrugged. “Maybe he’s ready to move on to you.”

“Don’t tease me, man.”