Relatively Famous (15 page)

“Well, she
is
blond. Shoulder-length hair. Pretty.”

Mark looked at Dani. She was so hopeful. One date wouldn’t kill him, would it?

“Is she old?” he asked.

“Just because she has a cane and a
few
signs of dementia, does not mean this couldn’t work out.”

“Seriously, how old is she?”

“Probably thirty or so.”

“She’s old.”

“She is not. You’re what? Thirty-five?”

“Fine, I’ll think about it,” Mark said, hoping to get Dani to drop the subject.

“Come on! You’ll like her. She’s very straightforward.”

“That sounds titillating,” Mark groaned.

Dani rolled her eyes. “I think you’ve had enough titillating to last you a lifetime.”

“Very funny. What was she wearing when you saw her?”

“I don’t know. Just a dress. Sort of a peasant dress. It was nice on her.”

A peasant dress?
Mark mouthed in disbelief.

“And she’s very bright.” Dani kept talking, but Mark tuned out. This woman was not sounding very promising to him. But maybe Renna would ease up on him if he went out with someone ordinary and boring. Who knew? Maybe she would be a hot soccer mom type that let her hair down at the end of the day. Or one of those women with a sultry librarian vibe…

“…and then her parents died and she took over the flower shop.” Dani was still yammering on about Olivia’s many fascinating traits. “Now, don’t take her to some showy restaurant. I think she might prefer to eat at a more low-key, out of the way place—”

“I’ll call her.” Mark couldn’t help giving in to Dani, and her face absolutely lit up at his words. God, this kid was easy to please, and he liked to see her happy. “One date. That’s it.”

Dani looked at Mark. “That’s what she said.”

Chapter 29

Mark turned off the ignition to his Mercedes and eyed Olivia’s front door hesitantly. Why had he listened to Dani? He did fine on his own. He checked his reflection in the rear
-
view mirror and walked up the path to the condo complex. He rang the buzzer and leaned casually against the archway. He looked in and saw Olivia coming down the stairs. There was not a chance in hell he’d ever go out with her again.

Olivia was wearing a blazer and pants, of all things. How was he supposed to tell what kind of body she had? She didn’t wear makeup. Yes, her hair
was
blond, but her waves were unruly and frizzy. There was nothing striking about this woman. Actually... Mark had to admit that she had the most spectacular blue eyes he’d ever seen.

The door to the building swung open. “Hello. I’m Olivia. Are you Mark?” She stuck out her hand.

Mark realized that she didn’t recognize him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said automatically. “My car is parked right out front.” Mark held the car door open.

“Oh. You’re a Mercedes kind of man,” Olivia said as she slipped into the passenger seat.

Mark got behind the wheel and started the car. “Is that a problem?”

Olivia sidestepped the question. “Dani told me you’re an actor, correct?”

“Yes. You don’t know who I am?” He pulled the car into traffic and headed for the restaurant.

“No. I do my best to avoid anything Hollywood. Forgive me.” She smiled apologetically and brushed a wild curl out of her face. “I’ve lived here all my life
,
and I know what Hollywood can do to people. Of course it’s impressive that you’re an actor, but I bet you’re not the same person that you were when you started out in the business. Mark, do you know that you’re not required to drive this thing as fast as possible?”

Mark eased up on the gas. “So why do you still live here?”

“This is my home. As much as I don’t fit in here, I wouldn’t leave my parents’ flower shop. Silly, huh?”

Mark glanced at her. “No, I can understand that.”

Mark listened to her talk about her business, but he noticed that Olivia wasn’t staring at him the way most of his dates did.

Olivia startled him by reaching over and turning up the radio. “Hey, I love this song! This sound system is incredible.” She began singing along, oblivious—or uncaring— about her tuneless voice.

When they got to the restaurant, he left the car with the valet
,
and he and Olivia were seated at a table in the back of the room. Mark did everything he could to be charming, but by the time they had finished their first course, Olivia still didn’t seem to be intoxicated by his presence. Mark wasn’t used to not being wanted, chased after, and fawned over. Maybe he’d win Olivia over just to prove a point.

He took a large drink from his wine glass and flashed her his most flirtatious look. “This is one of my favorite restaurants. I hope you’re enjoying your meal. I’ve been coming here since they first opened
,
and the owner always reserves this table for me. It’s nice and private, don’t you think? There is nothing more irritating than being interrupted during dinner by someone asking for an autograph. The price of celebrity, I guess. But when you’ve starred in movies with the people I have, it’s unavoidable.”

“Yes, this restaurant is very nice, Mark, and my meal is delicious,” Olivia said. She paused and looked at him intently. “I don’t suppose you’ve had a real relationship recently.”

“What makes you think that?” Mark asked, annoyed.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Just a guess. But I’m right, aren’t I?”

“I’ve had plenty of girlfriends.”

“Yes, well, your definition of having a girlfriend is probably different from mine.”

“What about you, Olivia? Have
you
had a string of long-term relationships?”

“No, not at all. In fact, I’ve been pretty lonely.”

Mark cleared his throat. He didn’t know how to respond to such an honest declaration.

Maybe changing the subject would help. “Do you know that I only met Dani a few weeks ago?” Mark explained how he found out about his daughter. “She’s amazing. It’s incredible having her in my life.”

“Yes, she seems like a wonderful girl. And very persistent,” Olivia said with a smile. “Although being a father must make it harder to pull off the sexy bachelor image.”

Aha! Olivia
did
think he was sexy! Not that he cared, because she was completely not his type.

“So, Mark,” Olivia began, as their main courses arrived, “what is it that you do for fun?”

“I work out quite a bit, as you may have guessed. Swimming, running, lifting at the gym, that sort of thing. I take vacations. Hawaii, usually. And, of course, my career takes up most of my time.”

“But do you spend time with friends? Visit family? Read the newspaper? Books?”

“Well, what is it that you do, Olivia?” Mark snarled. “I don’t know where you get off with this judgmental attitude. Most people would kill to trade places with me.”

“Would you trade places with yourself?”

“I certainly would,” he spat back.

Olivia reached for the wine, but Mark snatched the bottle himself and refilled her glass. “You were probably a gorgeous kid, great at sports, and unbearably popular, right? No wonder you love this town,” said Olivia.

“You couldn’t be more wrong.” Mark stared at her. “I was a scrawny, ugly kid who was teased mercilessly because I couldn’t catch a baseball or lift even half of my body weight. My best friend was a math geek who was a bigger loser than I was. I went stag to the prom and didn’t have my first real date until I was in college. Happy now?” he said angrily.

“No. I’m sorry. I never would have guessed. It seems we have more in common than I thought.” She peered at him curiously. “You’re quite interesting, you know?”

“And you’re quite odd.”

“I’ll give you that.” She grinned.

Mark got through dessert and coffee with Olivia and then promptly drove her home. He slammed the car into park and got out.

“Thank you for dinner, Mark.”

This was normally the part of the date in which he would kiss the girl, ask her out again, or even go upstairs. Obviously he wasn’t going to do any of those things. She couldn’t possibly want to go out with him again, either. “Well, I guess this is good night. Sorry you had to put up with me,” he said. “It must have been torture.”

Olivia tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled at him. “You surprised me.”

“Well, okay, then.”

He still didn’t like Olivia, of course, but a clear thought popped into his head: Renna would love her. In fact, he thought with a cringe, Olivia was not entirely unlike Renna. For the sake of his career, maybe he
would
ask her for a second date. 

Olivia unlocked the front door. “I think we should go out again. Would you like to?”

“Oh.” Mark said, taken aback. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Sure. I guess we could.”

Chapter 30

Dani wrapped her arms around the back of Jason’s neck and pulled him in closer. She liked kissing this boy. She had ten minutes until she had to leave for Kayla’s house
,
and she was going to make the most it.

Jason curled his fingers, running them down the length of her back, and then tucked his hand underneath the rim of her jeans. He pulled his lips from hers and moved to her neck, doing that delicious thing he did with his mouth. Dani leaned her head back and let Jason’s weight push her down onto the couch.

“Are you sure you have to leave? Kayla can wait,” he murmured in between kisses.

“She wants me to help her pick out her dress for Ava’s party
,
and she’s got the whole afternoon planned out.” Dani rubbed Jason’s back. “You’re going to the party, right?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah.” He raised himself up onto his elbows and kissed Dani’s cheek.

“So, maybe I’ll see you there?” she asked. Now that she was staying for the summer, Ava had insisted she come to the party.

Jason grinned flirtatiously. “Are you asking me to be your date?”

“Maybe,” she teased.

“Are you asking me to do something besides fool around on your father’s couch?”

“It
is
a thought.”

“I’m not big on official dates, Dani.” He wrinkled his nose. “But I’ll make an exception for you.”

“Oh, gee, don’t do me any favors,” she said, smacking him lightly on the arm.

She was sure she could get Jason to behave like a normal boyfriend. Even Mark was going out on regular dates with Olivia now. Apparently her matchmaking had been successful
,
since Mark and Olivia were seeing each other regularly. Mark hadn’t brought Olivia to the house yet, but he often asked Dani’s advice about what to wear on his dates. His closet was well stocked for fancy dinners and nights at trendy clubs, but Mark never knew what to wear when dressing for a day of extreme sports or antiquing with Olivia. Dani didn’t care what they did on their dates—she was just happy that her father was with someone his own age
, someone
who was smarter than his usual conquests. Mark hadn’t said much about how he
felt
about Olivia, but he kept seeing her.

Dani heard the front door open and close and hurriedly pushed Jason off. “Get up! Get up!” She ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed her clothes.

“Hi.” Olivia stood in the entrance to the living room, one eyebrow raised, and a big grin on her face. “Whatcha’ doing?”

“Hi, Olivia,” Dani blushed. “It’s nice to see you again. Um, this is Jason.”

“It’s nice to see you again, too. Good afternoon, Jason. Nice to meet you. Is your dad upstairs, Dani?”

“Yeah, I think so. I didn’t know you were coming over today.”

“Obviously, or you wouldn’t have been rolling around on the couch with your boyfriend, would you?” She winked. “I’ll go see if I can get Mark moving
,
because I suspect that I could be here all day waiting for him to finish styling his hair.”

“Where are you guys going this time?” Dani asked.

“Well, I’ve already taken him rock climbing, landboarding, and parasailing, and I’m amazed he survived. His idea of exercise is to strap himself into one of those shiny weight
-
lifting machines. He’s been a trooper. But we’ve also gone to my favorite bookstore and a museum exhibition. Anyhow, today is Mark’s day to pick what we’re doing
,
and so we are going—ugh, I can hardly believe I’m saying this—but we’re going to a wine tasting.” She opened her mouth wide and stuck a finger in as if this outing might be the most nauseating idea she’d ever heard of. “I agreed only on the condition that we go hiking in the Mojave National Preserve tomorrow. I thought we could go camping, but your father didn’t want anything to do with that.”