Page 76 of #Moonstruck

“You were right.” I dropped my bags.

“I’ll let you get settled. When you’re ready, come downstairs and I’ll feed you.” He backed out of the room, grinning at me. “My bedroom is the third door down the hallway, on the right. Just in case. I want to make sure you know where to find me. If you want me.”

I chucked one of the pillows at him and listened as his laughter trailed down the hallway.

I kicked off my shoes and let my toes luxuriate in the expensive rug that covered the hardwood floors. I decided to take a very long shower and get changed.

When I went downstairs to the kitchen, I saw that Ryan had done the same. He was so beautiful that sometimes he stopped me dead in my tracks.

“What are you staring at?” he teased as he pulled the casserole out of the oven.

“I was just admiring what a good job I did on your hair,” I responded, sitting down at the kitchen table. “Or maybe I’m just in shock at the sight of you actually cooking.”

“I can cook. As long as there’re very detailed instructions and somebody else has done all the preparing and putting it together first.”

“Which means you can reheat things. Not cook.”

“What about you? Do you cook?” He took out a metal spatula and cut some square pieces for us. He put them on plates.

“I’m lacking that particular gene. The only thing I’m good at is brownies.”

He brought me one of the plates and a fork. “Why brownies?”

“My mom has a secret recipe that’s been handed down for generations. She promised to pass it along to me, but she had her accident before she could. So I’ve been trying to re-create them for years. Nothing’s ever quite right.”

“I’d like to meet your mom.”

I had a bite of food almost to my wide-open mouth when his words made me freeze. “Why?”

Ryan shrugged. “She’s someone important to you, and I’ve already met everyone else who’s important to you. Just like you’ve officially met everyone important to me.”

That caused a hysterical panic that I hadn’t felt since ... after I’d kissed him onstage. He seemed to bring out that feeling in me a lot.

Probably because his request indicated a level of seriousness and commitment that shouldn’t have existed in our fake relationship.

Was it still fake, though? We were kissing. Being affectionate. Spending all our free time together. I was eating dinner with him in his house after traveling with him halfway across the country to get here. And I’d be sleeping here tonight.

“I have to meet with my agent and my dad tomorrow, and then there’re a few rehearsals for the USMAs starting the day after that. Maybe closer to the end of the week, before we head back and meet everybody in North Dakota?”

“Okay.” Much as I’d agreed to stay there without thinking, now I did the same thing about him meeting my mom.

Admittedly, some part of me wanted them to meet, even if she would immediately forget.

“Do you want to come to the rehearsals, too?”

That I definitely wanted to do. “Absolutely.” Not for any business purpose. I should be doing my best to network and make some new connections in the industry. Instead, and despite the fact that I’d already seen him a bunch of times, I wanted to watch Ryan perform.

I wanted to be where he was.

My phone rang before I could finish my potential freak-out. I didn’t want to interrupt our first dinner together, but if it was one of my brothers, they would call until I picked up. I glanced at the screen. “It’s Angie. Excuse me a second.”

I walked into the family room and answered. “Hey! Guess who’s in LA?”

“You and Ryan De Luna. Yourboyfriend.”

“How did you know that?”

“I read ENZ every day, thank you very much.” She sounded insulted that I’d questioned her knowledge of the movements of pop stars. “Ryan’s supposed to perform at the USMAs this week. I figured he would come. I just didn’t know you’d be here, too. This is excellent.”