Falling for a Star (Complete)

Chapter 8 - Shopping on Rodeo Drive

Brenley was 5'6 and thin, with a small bust and a slight curve to her hips. Her pale skin looked like it had never even seen the sun, so Melissa told her some of the light dress colors made her look washed out. I thought they all looked good on her, but what do I know? Shopping for dresses wasn't my thing. A couple times I caught my head hanging low and my eyes closing, but I sucked in air and woke up with a start, looking around and realizing I was still in the dress shop.

At some point I did completely fall asleep, because I felt a shake on my shoulder and Melissa said, "C'mon Dylan. It's time to pay."

I opened my eyes and blinked, rubbing them as the store came into focus. I wondered what time it was, because it felt like we had been there for hours. I stood up and stretched with a groan before walking up to the counter and swiping my Amex black card. I noticed the bill was only six thousand dollars when they handed me my receipt.

"Why was it only six grand?" I asked Melissa.

"Well, she ended up finding a sales rack hidden way in the back that had discount dresses on it from last season and she insisted on getting dresses from there. They actually looked great on her, so I caved," she said with a guilty look on her face. "I promise you, I wouldn't have let her buy them if they were going to embarrass you."

"No, I trust you. I'm sure they're fine. Let's just get out of here," I said with a yawn, shoving the receipt in my pocket and heading outside. Three store attendants followed us out carrying the large dress, shoes, purse and accessories boxes piled high in their arms.

The camera crew said their goodbyes and drove away in a white van, leaving us standing there on the sidewalk with all these boxes.

"My Lamborghini has no backseat or trunk space, so I guess you'll have to take all of this back to my house in your car Melissa."

"Yeah, that's fine. I was heading over there anyway to talk to Scott about tomorrow. I'll see you later," she told me before walking over and giving Brenley a hug and a warm smile, saying something to her before walking away. Melissa never hugged people and smiled like that.

'She's gotten to her too,' I thought, remembering how Brenley had won over Rita at breakfast. The lady had never spoken more than two words to me, but Brenley shows up and suddenly they're best friends? What was it with this woman?

"Are you hungry yet? Melissa made lunch reservations for us at my favorite restaurant," I told Brenley, sliding into the driver's side and slipping my sunglasses back on. That's when I noticed there were paparazzi on the sidewalk next to my car taking pictures of us. They were shouting and I could see the flashes from their cameras going off. I looked over and saw her trying to hide her face from them, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh don't worry about them. They're harmless," I said, starting up the engine and pulling out onto the street. "It's no big deal. It's just some pictures," I told her, but she didn't seem convinced.

I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a paparazzi van following behind us.

"They're following us. Do you want me to lose them?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Okay. I can do that," I said, sliding my sunglasses down my nose and giving her a wink before pushing them back up. I shifted downward, hearing the growl of the engine as I sped down the road and onto the interstate where I weaved between cars. Pretty soon the paparazzi van was far behind us.

"There. We lost 'em," I said proudly.

I was expecting some kind of gratitude or a smile or something, but there was nothing. She just sat there looking out the window in silence. My flirty wink hadn't even had an effect on her and that always worked. That's when I remembered my conversation with Melissa and Scott. I wasn't supposed to be seducing her. I was supposed to be trying to be her friend.