From Fame To Shame

Chapter Six

Our lips touched, feather-light. He shifted his body and brought his thighs against mine, but he didn’t deepen the kiss. He just skimmed the surface, gently teasing my mouth until my nerve endings hummed. Seconds stretched and my lungs stilled as I ached for more.

Then, slowly, he withdrew, keeping close enough that I still felt his warm breath against my skin.

A thick haze clouded my brain and I worried he might ask me something, anything, that required a response and I’d slip up. I couldn’t catch my breath. Fear that I’d blow it for Kelly paralyzed me.

Oh, my God! Kelly! If she knew I’d just kissed the guy who dumped her, she’d feel hurt and betrayed and what had we just talked about? Kelly didn’t need this, on top of everything else.

“I…” I had no idea what to say. I only knew that if someone didn’t say something soon and break the trance, I would let Kelly down worse than I already had. Because, more than anything, I wanted this guy, no matter how nice he was.

“Yes?” His gaze locked onto mine.

“You said it was just coffee.”

He blinked.

“Last night, you assured me it was just coffee,” I repeated.

An uncertain expression crossed his face. “I thought that at the time.”

“But it should be. Just coffee, I mean,” I whispered, as if saying it any louder would make the truth more painful and more real. I wanted to be with him, with nothing in our way. That wasn’t going to happen though. “We’ve already been there, right?”

He stared at me, silent, like he couldn’t quite go where I was trying to take him. Maybe he found it incomprehensible that a girl might say no to him.

“That’s what my head keeps telling me,” he said, brows drawn. “But I keep getting this feeling like we’ve just met and it’s all new.”

“You…” You what? You’re right that I’m a liar and a fake?

He frowned and I inwardly cringed. I knew I should tell him right then and save him from the confusion he had to be feeling, but I chickened out. It wasn’t my place to tell Kelly’s secret and I’d made a promise.

“I can read those lines with you later. Sarah will be here soon, so I should probably take off.”

No idea if that was true or not, since I’d totally lost track of time and wasn’t wearing my watch. I sidestepped and backed away.

“You’re leaving?”

“Well, yeah. That appearance, remember?” Maybe he had intended to kiss me again. Maybe not. I wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

He looked disappointed and I didn’t want to come off bitchy. Not after he’d fed me, then laid dessert on me against the kitchen counter. So I slid my hand down his arm as I passed him — an intimate gesture while keeping my lips off him.

In the clear and a few feet away, I picked up my pace. “Thanks for the awesome breakfast,” I threw over my shoulder.

“Sure. See you later.”

Yes, he would. Tomorrow night. I shouldn’t be thrilled at the thought of seeing him again, but I couldn’t stifle it.

When I returned to my own life, I’d miss David. There was something about him, something so not Hollywood. Except for his extreme hotness, he was down to earth, not full of himself or anything. What would it be like to have him as a boyfriend?

That would never happen. I was the kind of girl who guys liked, but never liked quite enough. They thought I looked good on the outside, but they lost interest once they realized I was a nice girl. And I don’t mean the David kind of nice — super hot and sexy. I mean the real kind of nice that didn’t give it up for just anyone. And, idiot that I am, I fell for the wrong type of guy every time.