Billion Dollar Boyfriend (Celebrity Love)

Chapter Two

"What do you do, Shelby? Are you a writer like Emily?"

Shelby tried to paste a smile on her face. The night had been going well so far, right up until the question Olivia had just asked. It felt like being pelted with ice cubes just when Shelby had finally relaxed. There was nothing wrong with her career, really, but it wasn't her favorite thing to talk about. That went double in her current company.

The party had moved outside to Raine's backyard after dinner, and now Shelby sat next to Aiden on a cushioned wicker loveseat, where she'd been enjoying her conversation with him and the view of the city they had. She shifted her gaze to that view now, focusing on the millions of twinkling lights that dotted the horizon so she wouldn't have to watch Olivia feign interest once she answered her.

"I'm an accountant," Shelby replied. She didn't offer any more details. It was obvious everyone else here had much more glamorous careers. Raine was an actor with a string of hit movies, of course, and Olivia had told her she was a casting director in New York City. Her husband, Matt, was a literary agent, which she had figured out when he'd told a story during dinner about one of his celebrity clients who had a book coming out in a few weeks. That had piqued Emily's interest since she was a writer, although not yet a novelist. Emily had started a fashion blog called Zeeked during her last of year college and had turned it into a popular and profitable website. Until this week, she'd also written a celebrity fashion column for Wally Hood Goes Hollywood, a top entertainment news and gossip site.

And then there was Shelby. Her job allowed her to make a decent living, and she was grateful for being employed, but most of what she did involved staring at financial information and talking to clients about it all day. She was certain it would be snooze-inducing to anyone in this crew.

"Are you at an accounting firm, or working for a company or one of the studios here?" Olivia asked.

Aiden looked up from something he'd been typing on his phone, his attention now clearly on Shelby.

Great, she thought. He was listening. His career hadn't come up in conversation, but she imagined he worked in the TV, film, or music industries L.A. was known for, or had some sort of successful business career. She knew she was stereotyping him based on his looks, but it was more than that. He was effortlessly charismatic and had the ability to draw people into conversations. She could picture him closing deals before anyone even knew they were agreeing to something.

"An accounting firm," Shelby told Olivia. "I promise it's more exciting than it sounds."

"It sounds interesting to me," Aiden chimed in. "I have mad respect for anyone who can work with numbers all day."

His eyes locked with hers. Olivia must have noticed, because within a moment, Shelby heard her ask Raine for another glass of wine. Olivia turned to Emily next and began chatting with her about their plans for the next day when they'd be getting ready to attend Raine's premiere for After It All, his latest film.

That meant Shelby was on her own to answer Aiden. She'd become less tongue-tied around him during dinner and now felt like something resembling her normal, sentence-forming self.

"I'll take a guess that you aren't also an accountant?"

Aiden grinned. "No—math isn't my thing. I'm a songwriter."

Ha, she thought. He was part of the music industry, which meant her silent guess about his career hadn't been wrong. She was almost relieved to find something that could be a red flag, since she had dated musicians in the past. There were a lot of them in this city, and it wasn't just her relationship with Darren that had made her swear off dating for a while. Her dates with a couple of indie musicians had also counted as spectacular disasters.