When Dreams Come True (The Star Series Book 1) (5 page)

She couldn’t believe what he’d said and couldn’t say anything, so she settled for nodding.

Tilting his head to one side to look at her, he gave her a half-smile. “Did I leave you speechless?” When she nodded, he continued. “Excellent. I’ll have to continue to keep you on your toes then.”

When she narrowed her eyes at him, he threw back his head and laughed.

“Miss Loring,” Beau said, offering her his arm. “If you’ll please come with me, I’ll take you inside now.”

She released Will’s arm and held onto Beau’s, allowing him to lead her into the theater to wait for Will. “Oh, where’s Hannah?” She mentally kicked herself for not keeping track of her friend.

“She’s already waiting for you. They went through the line quicker than you two did.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Will loves talking to people, so I’m actually surprised he made it that far. They’ll do some shots together for the press and join us soon. Meanwhile, is there anything I can get you?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, can I get some water?”

“Of course. If you wouldn’t mind staying here with Miss Mills so I know where to find you when they’re done, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure. Thanks.” Lissa could see Hannah grinning while looking around at everyone. She was having the time of her life that was for sure.

Once they were alone, Hannah grabbed her hands and tried not to jump up and down from the excitement. “Can you believe this? I just walked the red carpet with Royce Rivers…
The
Royce Rivers, you know, the one I’ve had a crush on for like, ever. And everyone is going to see it. And you, girl, you two look so hot together. Major sparks flying.”

“Ha. Anyone would look hot next to him, assuming they’d be looking at me at all. As for the sparks, well, it’s just static electricity because it’s so hot out.”

“Don’t you play that way. I know you, Melissa Loring, and I saw the two of you.” She pointed to a big television screen. “Looks like you were having an intense conversation.”

“Shit.”

Hannah laughed at her. “You were going to be a household name before you two were making goo-goo eyes at each other, and now… mmmhmmm… I wonder what mashed-up name they’re going to give the two of you.”

“How about Lissa-kills-her-assistant?”

“Nah, too long. Besides, it has to have part of ‘Will’ and ‘Melissa’ in it.” Hannah frowned then smiled. “Aha! I have it! Whilst! Will, Lis, but with a ‘t’ on the end. And as an additional score, he’s British!”

Lissa laughed and shook her head. “No, and don’t quit your day job.”

They watched the guys on the red carpet pose for pictures, and Lissa hoped to change the subject. “Will you look at all of them?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m looking,
and
memorizing. I’d love to be in that sandwich.” Hannah nudged her.

“How was Royce?”

“We didn’t have much time to talk.” She looked out of the corner of her eye at Lissa. “Not like some people.”

“Give it a rest.”

“So, what exactly did you talk about?”

“What a nosy assistant I have.”

Hannah bumped her shoulder. “No, seriously, what did you talk about? It looked really intense there at the end.”

“It was.”

“You’re not going to say any more?”

“No, not here.”

Beau came up to them with a water bottle in each hand. “Sorry it took so long; I had to take care of something for Will quickly.”

“Oh, no problem,” Lissa replied.

“These events must be a lot of work for you,” Hannah mentioned.

“It’s not too bad. After we arrive and go through the line, I can relax a little bit. Then we go from here to the party, and following that I’m free to do as I please.”

“Have you known Will long?”

“Oh, yes, we went to school together. I’ve known him for ages.”

“Ohhh…” Hannah rubbed her hands together. “Tell us all the good stuff about Will. What was he like as a kid? Got any embarrassing stories?”

“Hannah…”

“What? Like you don’t want to know.”

“Be that as it may, don’t pump the man for information.” Lissa closed her eyes after the words came out of her mouth. She couldn’t look at Hannah, because she knew exactly what was going on in Hannah’s mind, and she would end up laughing.

“Want to tell me what you are dreaming about to put that smile on your face, darling?” It was strange how quickly she could recognize his scent and the feel of his body next to hers. With his hand resting on the small of her back, his long fingers hooked around her waist and pulled her in. She could feel the sparks Hannah spoke of flowing between them.

Lissa opened her eyes and looked up at him over her shoulder. “Can I get back to you on that?”

“Will, it’s time,” Beau said.

“What’d I miss?” Royce came up full of energy. “We ready to go in yet? Cool. Hey, Hannah, baby, come sit next to me?” He offered her his arm.

“I’d love to.” Hannah placed her hand on his arm, grinning like a fool.

Lissa was trying not to look Hannah in the eye. For both of them, this was so surreal and if they looked at each other, it would all be over. They’d both been on their best behavior; neither one had made a fool of themselves yet, and they certainly didn’t want to start now. ‘The Dork Sisters’ was what they called themselves.

Since they weren’t in the spotlight, she started to relax a little bit and didn’t worry as much about tripping. They both made use of their long legs and were at their seats in no time. Sitting down in the row with Hannah on one side of her and Will on the other, she suddenly remembered what it was like to be a teenager on her first movie date. Was he going to want to hold her hand? Would he put his arm around her? She mentally scolded herself; they weren’t on a date, and she needed to keep her head out of the clouds and her feet planted firmly on the ground.

A few minutes later, both Will and Royce went up on the stage along with the other actors and director from the movie. Their speeches were short and they had the audience laughing. Cameras flashed and there was a festive atmosphere in the theater. As Will walked back to his seat beside her, their eyes locked and neither could look away, even when he sat down. Soon enough, the lights dimmed and the movie began. Her attention was torn between the movie and the man sitting next to her, his legs spread wide to accommodate their length in the small space. Every time she moved, she knew he was right there.
What would he think if I accidently touched him?

It was a little chilly in the theater, so between that and her nerves she was shaking a bit. She thought she’d hidden it well since Hannah wasn’t giving her strange looks. Hannah was the one who was always cold, not Lissa. Hannah always brought a sweater with her, even when it was a hundred and ten degrees outside in the desert.

She should have known better, though. He seemed very observant, because he took his suit jacket off and tapped her shoulder. When she looked over, he held it up and motioned for her to lean forward. Carefully, he draped the jacket across her shoulders and made sure the front was pulled as close together as it could get.

Leaning over, he whispered in her ear, “Thank you for not arguing.”

His warm breath tickled her neck and gave her the chills. Turning to him, she whispered back. “I don’t argue.” Settling back in her seat she enjoyed his warmth which was left on the jacket, knowing she’d be smelling his scent on her for the rest of the night.

Soon, she was lost in the action and depth of the movie. She’d always rooted for his character, the villain, as did thousands of women around the world. He brought a fragility to the character. He’d done his homework, and somehow you knew every little thing he did on screen, every subtle little thing was meant to give the viewer insight into his character. To make him more ‘human’ so the viewer would sympathize with him, to understand why he did what he did. There was something about his swagger in the movie which was so sexy. He could be doing the worst things, yet it was so graceful; a refined power which came from deep inside him.

Before she knew it, the movie was over and she sat there blinking when the lights came up. When she looked over at him, he was smirking at her and had a raised eyebrow. “What?” she asked and raised her own eyebrow at him.

“Well, I guess you could say you enjoyed the movie.”

“What gives you that idea?”

“You were completely caught up and lost in it.”

“Well, yeah. I did tell you I liked the movies, and we’ve been waiting for it to come out.”

“I must say it was almost as enjoyable seeing you
watch
the movie as to make it.”

Hoping her face wasn’t turning red again at the fact that he’d been watching her throughout the whole movie, she said, “I find that hard to believe. Who wouldn’t want to be able to fly around, have superpowers, and do bad things with no repercussions or feelings of guilt, without knowing right from wrong.”

“Isn’t that what you do with your writing, though? You can explore that inner part of you without having to worry about right and wrong.”

Lissa smiled at him. “Yes, totally. I really don’t like to hurt people, and I actually go out of my way to make sure they’re happy. When I write, I don’t have to worry about being nice all the time. I can be evil, and I can say whatever I want and not have to think about their feelings.”

He stood and offered his hand to help her up. She started to shrug out of his jacket but he stopped her. “Unless you’re warm, you can keep it on for a while.”

“Thank you, but here; I’m fine now.” She returned the jacket to him and watched as his long arms slid into the sleeves, amazed something so simple could be so sexy.

Lissa had no idea what was going to happen next. There was an after-party, but since he hadn’t specifically said anything about that, she didn’t want to assume they were invited. She glanced at Hannah who was deep in conversation with Royce.

“So…” she said, truly at a loss as to what to do.

“So…” he mimicked.

“Thank you for inviting me out. I really enjoyed the movie, and the company.”

“Oh, darling, the night’s not over yet.”

Lissa tried to keep the smile from spreading across her face but was unable to stop it. “It’s not?”

“Not unless you’d like to call it an evening.”

“No, no, I wouldn’t.” Unable to stop the grin along with the butterflies from happening, she gave in and let it shine.

“Wonderful.” He held out his hand for her. Once she laced her fingers through his he started walking up the aisle, waving to the fans screaming his name from the balcony. When they reached the lobby, he continued. “You’ll enjoy it a lot more. We’ll be able to relax, and both of you can talk to the other cast members.”

Once Hannah and Royce caught up to them, they walked out of the theater and to the car waiting for them. Climbing in, Lissa took a seat next to Will all the way in the back while Royce and Hannah took the captain’s chairs in the middle. Both men rolled down their windows and waved to the crowd waiting for a glimpse of the stars.

It was a short ride to the venue, and once again Will helped her out of the SUV. However, this time he kept her hand in his and didn’t stop on the way up the red carpet; he just waved to the press and fans who lined the sidewalk.

They walked through and found a table to sit at, but Will and Royce had to make some rounds before they could relax. Since they were left alone, the two of ladies were finally able to talk.

“Quick, now
you
pinch
me
,” Hannah said. Lissa reached under the table and pinched her leg. “Ouch. Yep, I’m not dreaming. Holy cannoli, Batman! Can you believe we’re here? We just saw that movie with two of its biggest stars and now we’re sitting at a table where the rest of the cast is in the same room, and we’re going to be able to talk to them, too. Us, just a couple of friends from Tucson, here with all the glitz and glamor. Oh, and we’re both looking fabulous. Seriously, Lissa, this is crazy. I don’t think I’d believe it if this happened in one of your books. My mind is going a mile a minute, and I can’t focus on one thing at a time!”

“Me, either. It
is
crazy, Hannah. Totally and utterly crazy. He’s… I… We’re…” She threw her hands up in the air. “I have no idea. How can two people know so much about each other?” When she saw Hannah’s frown of confusion, she said, “I’ll explain everything later; just stay with my thinking here. How can these two people know so much about each other, and then when they meet it’s even better than they expected? And to have feelings, right away. We’ve got to be crazy. Well, they do say there is instant attraction between people; it’s the chemicals, pheromones, something. But to think ‘Hey, if I ever meet this person, I know we’re going to friends, or more, or something with a connection’ and then bam, it happens. I’m crazy, right?” She pointed at Hannah. “Don’t answer that.”

“Breathe.”

“I don’t want to breathe. I’m in the middle of a freak-out here.” Lissa’s hand beat a quick tempo on her leg which was also moving at a fast pace.

“Well, you’re going to have to because they’re on their way back here.”

“Shit, shit, shit, shit.”

“Lissa, Lissa! Look at me.”

Slowly, she turned her panicked eyes to Hannah. “What?”

“You’ve got this. You’re beautiful, smart, funny, brilliant, talented, and wickedly twisted. He’s obviously smitten with you. Kick back, relax, and go with the flow. Isn’t that what you’d tell me?”

Lissa smiled at her friend. She didn’t know where she’d be without Hannah, and she always knew exactly what to say to Lissa. “Almost. I’d leave out the funny.”

Hannah shoved her shoulder. “Ha. I’m funnier than you.”

“So you say.” Lissa leaned over and gave her a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered in her ear.

“Any time boss.”

“Shut up,” she giggled.

“See, I’m funny.”