Page 20

She smiled warmly at me in response. “Teagan says you’re at school with her.”

I nodded as I passed the cash over to pay. “I started today. Zeke here graduated a few years back, though.”

She put the money through the register before handing me the change. “Well, it’s lovely to have a couple of new faces in the neighborhood,” she said. “I look forward to seeing you both here again soon.”

“You will,” Zeke replied before we turned and left the store.

“I think that lady might just be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said, as he walked round to the driver’s side door of the shiny black Escalade.

“I don’t know. I swear she could see all my deepest, darkest secrets with just one look.”

Zeke rolled his eyes at me. “You don’treallyhave any deep, dark secrets.”

“Well, I stole a trident from the set ofOcean Deepwhen I was ten, and I swear she knew about it.”

Zeke laughed. “That trident you keep in your bedroom back home?”

“That’s the one. Though I guess it’s not such a secret anymore.”

“Not now that me and the old lady know all about it,” Zeke agreed.

We climbed into the car and started the short drive back to the house I was renting. It was a nice enough place, but it wasn’t nearly as flashy as my penthouse back in L.A. It was the only house we could find in the area with half-decent security though.

We were halfway down the street when I noticed a familiar blonde walking up ahead. I could see she was straining to carry the bags she was holding, and a small wave of concern shot through me. She clearly needed help, but I highly doubted she wanted it from me. Everything about me seemed to set her off, and I knew I should be keeping as far away from the little spitfire as possible.

My mouth seemed to have other ideas though, and I told Zeke to slow the car down before my brain had a chance to intervene. Zeke threw me a knowing smile, that I decidedly ignored, and I wound down my window as he pulled up along side Teagan.

“Do you need a lift home?” I asked her.

She jumped as she turned to look at me. The startled expression on her face was immediately replaced with a frown. “No, I’m good.” She kept on walking without another look back.

I huffed out a breath before jumping out of the car to go after her. Teagan might not want my help, but I couldn’t just drive off and leave her. Apparently, I was a glutton for punishment.

“You know, stalking is illegal, right?” she said, hearing me come up beside her.

“I’m not stalking, I’m helping,” I said, taking a hold of the nearest bags she was struggling to carry. She slowly released them to me, and I could easily see the distrust in her eyes. “I think this is where you say thank you.”

Her frown only deepened at my comment. “My house isn’t far from here. You really don’t need to help.”

“It’s a bit late for that now, isn’t it?”

She gave a defeated sigh before continuing down the street. I quickly caught up with her, and we walked side by side. Neither of us spoke, but she kept sneaking glances at me. Each time I met her gaze, she quickly looked away and bit down on her lower lip as if she were embarrassed at being caught.

“Why are you helping me?” she asked, breaking the silence. Her curiosity must have finally outweighed her animosity.

“I’m carrying your groceries. It’s really not that big a deal.”

“But you’re not really the kind of person I imagine doing something like this. Don’t Hollywood movie stars have people to carry their groceries for them?”

“Wow, you really hate me, don’t you?”

She didn’t respond. Instead, her expression grew puzzled like she wasn’t sure what she felt. Her face seemed to betray her every thought, and she was actually an incredible person to watch. I could study her expressions for days and not grow tired of them.

“I don’t hate you,” she begrudgingly admitted. “But I don’t particularly like you either.”

I scoffed out a laugh. “Wow, you’re pretty ruthless, aren’t you?”

“More concerned by the impact you’re going to have on our drama production.”