Collision (41 page)

“Dinner tonight? Just the two of us?”

“Of course.”

I looked around. She did the same. Andrew was keeping Ben occupied with a conversation of their own.

“Gotta go,” I said quickly.

“See you in a little while.”

As soon as I walked off, as always, I was surrounded by a group of people who were leading me off to do the next item on my schedule.

I never got to have dinner with Kei that night. I got stuck watching the dailies with the director and didn’t get back to the hotel until well after midnight.

When I checked in on her, Kei was asleep on the couch next to a table stacked with sample-sized shampoos and conditioners, proof that Millie had done some damage to the housekeeper’s carts.

I quietly left the room and walked down the long corridor to my suite. Even just down the hall, Kei felt too far away.

C H A P T E R

33

Due to all the action sequences and battle scenes that had to be filmed, Jocelyn, the female lead, didn’t arrive on set until almost a month into shooting. Her arrival seemed to make Kei uncomfortable.

She tried not to be worried, but given my history with co-stars, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help but worry that if something was going to come between us, it would be this latest femme fatale that I had intimate scenes with.

Kei’s anxiety, however, lessened when she watched Jocelyn and me film our first kissing scene. Once she saw how technical it all was and how there was absolutely no chemistry between Jocelyn and me, she calmed and went back to enjoying her job in the background.

Kei took advantage of being on a movie set and took the opportunity to learn as much as she could about the process of filmmaking. She also got to be friends with a lot of the crewmembers. She ate with the same set of people every day, and from afar, her conversations seemed much more interesting than the ones I was having. I actually got jealous that some of the crew were learning things about her that I might not know yet.

Finally, one day during lunch, instead of sitting with the cast or going to my trailer, I walked over to the table Kei was sitting at and sat down next to her.

The crewmembers she was with were shocked.

“Kei, evidently you’re one interesting woman. You’ve got everyone hanging on your every word,” I said.

“You don’t know what you’ve been missing,” she teased.

“We’re trying to teach her the ropes,” a guy named Chris announced. “She’s a fast learner.”

“I find it all very interesting,” Kei said.

“Good,” I said.

“So, Kei,” Chris said. “Oliver told me that you’re wanting to put together a documentary on some footage you’ve taken in Uganda.”

“Well, I’ve got a lot of footage, but I don’t necessarily know what I’ll be doing with it or if it’s any good.”

“It’s all great,” I blurted, before I could stop myself. “Or at least that’s what Oliver has told me.”

Kei froze for a second and then covered my slip. “Yes, Oliver has been telling everyone about the footage. I can’t believe he even got to you.”

“He’s proud of you,” I said.

“I’d love to see it,” Chris added.

“Honestly?” Kei asked.

“Yeah. You should bring it to my trailer sometime. I’ve got my computer set up. We can look through it, maybe choose some of the best parts. I bet we can even get one of the editing guys to teach you how to cut it.”

“That would be splendid. And I would appreciate some pointers as well.”

“Sure. My wife and I went to Ghana a few years back and fell in love with it. She’d love to see the footage too. We’ll need to show it to her next time she’s in town.”

“I’d love to.”

I was being completely ignored. Everyone was much more interested in what Kei had to say than anything I could’ve come up with. It was nice.

“I’d like to hear more about what your family does there,” Chris continued. “And maybe if we can get something put together, we can have a showing with the cast and crew, raise some money for your ministry.”

“That would be amazing. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

I took a second to interrupt. “Well, I’ve got a little downtime, so if you want to come knock out today’s interview after lunch, it might be a good time.”

She glanced at our tablemates and then back at me. “If you’re sure you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” I stood up and put my hand on her shoulder. “I’ve got to go get some stuff done. Why don’t you finish up lunch and then meet me at my trailer. I’ll let Andrew know to be expecting you.”

“All right.”

I overheard the crew tease her as I walked away.

•••••

“What’s the highest honor that an actor can obtain?” Kei asked as she swept into my trailer.

“The Academy Award. Why?”

“Because I deserve one. I doubt you realize how difficult it is for me to pretend not only that I don’t like you but also that I hardly even know you.”

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the neck. “That makes two of us.”

“High drama. That’s our life. High drama.”

“Funny you should mention the Academy Awards. They’re getting close.”

“I know.”

“Which means you need to get a dress.”

“A dress? And just how do I go about doing that?”

“I don’t know. I’m a guy. But Jocelyn has had to get her hands on tons of fancy dresses through the years. She said she’d be willing to help.”

“You told her about us?”

“I figured it was about to come out anyway, so why not. Plus, she’s nice and she won’t say anything.”

Kei plopped onto the couch. “Wow.”

“Wow what?”

“You’ve gone from nobbing your co-stars to asking them to help your girlfriend purchase a swanky dress.”

“Times, they are a changin’.”

“Apparently.” She pulled her feet onto the cushion, rested her chin on her knee, and took a deep breath. “It’s all about to get batty, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. But I know where to go if I want to be spotted, and I know where to go if I don’t. We aren’t going to be able to avoid the press altogether, but we can do the best we can. All that matters is that we try to have a little bit of normalcy.”

“Normal? Like I’ve said, I don’t think we do normal.”

“Kei, we want to be together. We aren’t going to be able to hide this thing forever, so we might as well put ourselves out there and let people get used to us. It’ll be crazy for a while, but things will eventually die down.”

“I understand what you’re saying. I’m just frightened.”

I sat on the arm of the couch. “Here’s the deal. I really need you to go out of your way not to look at the weeklies. I don’t know how people are going to respond, and I don’t want you stressing about what people think.”

Her left eyebrow cocked. “How ugly will it get?”

“It could get bad.”

“Oh.”

“I called my mom. We’re going to stay at my parents’ instead of a hotel.”

“Moral support?”

“Something like that. And I think it’s just best if we try to make sure there are always other people around. You know, no staying someplace alone.”

“Am I too much to resist?” she teased.

I laughed. “Absolutely. And people will jump to conclusions otherwise.”

“Conclusions?”

“The next thing we’ll see are headlines about the former missionary who’s now nobbing her boyfriend in hotels all over the world. Your beliefs are import to you. And they’re important to me. And they’re important to the girls out there who have those same beliefs. The last thing we want is them thinking they should throw it all away for the first guy who comes a long.”

“You’re sounding like a parent. Or…wait. A real-life role model.”

“Scary, isn’t it?”

“Not at all. You fit the role perfectly. You’re a good man. This just solidifies it in my mind.”

“I’m not saying everyone’s going to believe it. But we surely don’t need to be giving them any more ammunition than necessary.”

She slapped her thighs and stood. “So this is it? This is where my life turns upside down?”

“My publicist is writing up a press release. We’ll put it out the day of the Oscars, ’cause they’ll want your name, and otherwise, all you’ll get all night is everyone asking what your name is.”

“What will this press release say?”

“That we’ve been dating for a few months and a little about you. The mission website probably won’t be able to handle the amount of hits it’ll be getting.”

There was a knock on the trailer door before it opened and Jocelyn walked inside.

“Well, Kei, I hear we have some shopping to do.”

Kei gulped.

“Don’t you worry about a thing. You’re going to look amazing. Any suggestions, Cabot?”

“Orange,” I said without hesitation. “She looks amazing in orange.”

C H A P T E R

34

The change in our lives was instant. From the moment we stepped through customs in Los Angeles, life got as crazy as I could ever remember.

I gripped Kei’s hand tightly and led her through the airport lobby. Andrew and a few other large men led the way. One of them, Scott, was her new protector, and I made sure she knew not to go anywhere without him.

The flashes from dozens of cameras were so bright that she kept tripping over her own feet. And the screaming—I’m pretty sure it scared her to death. Her hand was trembling in mine.

People were shouting my name and asking who she was, but I ignored them. My only thought was to get her through the crowd and into the safety and quiet of the car. We shoved our way through the masses while Andrew and Scott pushed them out of our way. The more we walked, the tighter my grip got. I have no idea who got our luggage or how it made it to the car, but we were in the vehicle and driving away from the airport in a matter of minutes.

My vision was still spotty after several minutes, and the photographers chased our vehicle all the way to my parents’ house.

“It’s already all over the Internet,” Cassidy said as soon as we walked through the front door. “Everyone wants to know who this girl is with Cabot.” She reached out and gave Kei a tight hug.

“I told you to stop reading that stuff,” I snapped.

“Oh, shut up,” Cassidy snapped back. “But Kei, you looked good in the pictures.”

“Pictures?”

“They’re all over the place.”

“Move out of the way,” Dad said. “Let me see this girl.”

Cassidy moved aside.

“Welcome to our home, Kei. I’m Aaron.”

She held out her hand for him to shake, but instead of shaking it, he used it to pull her to him in a warm hug.

We were safe inside the walls of the house, and we left the war with the paparazzi outside the gates, at least for a day.

Although Dad made a full dinner, Kei taught us how to make chapatti, the flat bread we ate in Uganda. The kitchen counter was crowded as the six of us practiced rolling the dough into balls and flattening it out. We were happy with the end result and vowed to make it again. She also introduced them to Ugandan tea with pure cane sugar and Nido dry milk. They all liked it a lot more than I did the first time I had it.

Kei seemed to enjoy herself and fit right in with my family. They, of course, couldn’t get enough of her. They asked her hundreds of questions, and she gracefully answered each and every one, until she finally wore out and escaped to Cassidy’s old room to go to sleep.

The next day, her fashion squad—Cassidy, Chloe, and Mom—got her dressed and ready for the Academy Awards.

“Do you want her hair up or down?” Mom asked as I sat on the end of the bed and watched them at work. “I like it down.”

“Down it is. Or maybe partially down.”

Chloe did her hair and Cassidy worked on her makeup while Mom fussed with the dress. “Ever been to a prom or a winter formal?” Cassidy asked.

Kei tried to shake her head, but Cassidy had a hold of it while she was putting some color on Kei’s eye. “No. Nothing of the sort, although I’ve heard of them.”

“Well, I guess some girls’ first experience in dressing up like this is prom. Yours just so happens to be the Oscars in front of millions and millions of people.”

“Aces,” Kei said sarcastically.

“They’re going to ask you who designed your dress. Just tell them it’s vintage,” Cassidy said.

“Vintage?”

“Yes. And the earrings are Neil Lane.”

“Neil Lane. Vintage, and Neil Lane. Got it.”

“Just follow Cabot’s cues. He’s done this a lot. He knows what to do, and he’ll lead you right through it. Won’t you, Cabot?”

I nodded.

“When you’re standing next to him, wrap one arm around his waist and put the other on your hip, with a little attitude.”