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Figures, she told herself. He’s seen the city a million times. The view probably isn’t spectacular to him. Not anymore.

But the view of her sure seemed to be.

Was she just imagining that?

He didn’t say anything but appeared to simply be giving her the space she needed.

She went on.

“After my parents died, there wasn’t much holding me back home. I have some people I love. Dear friends. But all my family is gone now. Just a few cousins, but they’re scattered in Philly and up into New York and stuff.”

“Did you consider Mountainville?” Damon asked.

“Sure did,” she replied with a smile, the thoughts of the fabled city just for Littles and Bigs flickering across her mind. “And I’ll visit one day. But when I combined my desire for a community with my dreams of working in the movies, L.A. was just kind of a no-brainer. And when I met Iris and the others online, everything clicked and fell into place.”

A comfortable silence settled over them. Tessa wondered if Damon felt as close to her right now as she did him.

Or as content.

The universe could freeze her in that moment and she’d be happy.

Time would inevitably bring heartache. Or perhaps that was too strong a word. Could one’s heart ache for someone they barely knew, mourning the loss of something they never really had?

It was safe to say it would bring sadness, at least.

Damon would end up with Lissa, and Tessa would end up with memories.

But they’d be good ones. That was worth something.

Don’t focus on what you’ll lose. Focus on what you have right now. Be present in the moment so you can make those memories, Tessa!

“What about you? I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever read anything about your upbringing. You know, I follow the industry as much as a girl like me can.”

Damon shook his head with a good-natured grin. It wasn’t lost on Tessa that he hadn’t once removed his eyes from her the whole time they’d been standing there. Even when she wasn’t looking at him, and was soaking in the gorgeous view, she could still sense his rapt attention.

“Even if you had read something about me there’s a good chance it wasn’t true.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Publicists hired by the studios work hard to craft the images they want. It’s not as bad as it was in the old days. Try writing a biography about one of the old-time stars like Gable or Lombard. It would be damn near impossible. Most of the material is studio-approved garbage. You’d really have to dig deep to uncover the truth.” He nodded. “It’s not as bad as back then. But it’s still pretty fake.”

“Well then,” Tessa said, turning to the side and leaning her hip up against the railing. “I guess you’re just going to have to tell me. If we’re going to be friends, I want to know the real you. Not the social media version.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Their eyes remained locked and it seemed like Damon was trying to figure out if he could trust her.

Tessa could see it in his eyes, the exact moment he decided he could. She’d won him over.

“I’m an open book. But I might have to swear you to secrecy on some of the things. Lots of stuff is out there on the internet, but the studio does a pretty good job at keeping most of it buried. Someone would really have to search. I don’t know. Maybe one of these days someone will think I’m interesting enough to write a book on. But it hasn’t happened yet.”

“You mean I’m going to be the first to know some of this stuff?”

He laughed. “I don’t know about first. Maybe there’s something I’ve never told another living soul about. But you’ll definitely be in a very small and select group who knows this stuff.”

“This is going to be fun!”