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“Well, since you hadn’t said yes when I RSVP’d for the dinner, I thought it was safest.”
“Did you have a backup plan?”
“Not really. I don’t have a long list of women I trust to do this with me.”
He’d said he trusted me before, and yet, hearing it again softened my heart a little.
Before I could do something stupid, like reach over and pull him close for another kiss, I cleared my throat and said, “They’re going to ask about our backstory. You said you’d write one, and it was too long for texting, so let’s hear it.”
“Just a second.”
He walked away, toward a door on the far side, and I couldn’t resist looking at his ass. Yep, firm and round and probably biteable, just like I’d thought.
Strange how I’d never noticed him in that way until recently. Nolan had always just been Abby’s big brother, the one nearly seven years older than us. The famous movie star that all the students in high school had begged Abby to bring to a dance.
And he did go to prom, as dates to all of us in the BFF Circle. We’d all been dateless and had vowed to dance with each other. But once the famous Nolan Drake had danced with each of us in turn? Well, to say we became the envy of the school was an understatement.
Even the bullies I’d managed to avoid for most of high school had started harassing me again.
Nolan strode back into the room, and I banished my bad high school memories. I was twenty-six—nearly twenty-seven—and hadn’t seen my former bullies in years.
He held up a binder. “I typed it all out and categorized it with color-coded tabs.”
After he placed it in front of me, I opened the binder and smiled. “Organization was always your thing.”
“Hey, it saves time. And be careful with this—the media would die to get their hands on these documents.”
“Of course, I’ll be careful.” I flipped through and scanned the summary:
Two childhood friends reunite at a family party. The movie star who longs to be normal, and the small-town girl who never saw him as more than her friend’s annoying older brother. But some wine and conversation around a flickering fire soon changes everything…
I met Nolan’s gaze. “Staying as close to the truth as possible, aren’t you?”
“The easiest way to keep lies straight is to do just that.”
I closed the binder. “Are you sure you want to do this, Nolan? It’s a rather big lie to tell your family.”
He shrugged. “They’ll understand. Eventually. Besides, Beck and West are busy with their girlfriends. Zach is busy with his new traveling sales-type job. Zane is who the hell knows where on assignment. And Abby…well, Abby has secrets of her own that she won’t share.”
I knew a little about them, but not the whole truth. Some asshole had manipulated her and broke her heart. But no matter how much Amber and I tried to get her to talk, Abby would always brush it off and say she’d get over it soon.
But since she’d given up her dream of teaching as soon as she returned to Starry Hills, after initially accepting a teaching contract, I sensed the two were related.
I said, “I’m still worried they won’t forgive me.”
Nolan leaned over and took my hand. His was so much bigger and warmer than mine, and I couldn’t help but squeeze his back as he said, “I’ll make sure they know it was all my idea and my fault. They won’t hate you, Katie. I promise.”
I bit my bottom lip and searched his blue eyes. It was crazy, but I believed him. Almost as if Nolan always kept his word, if at all possible.
And considering he’d kept some rather ridiculous ones to his sister and me throughout our childhood, he should be able to carry this one off too.
I nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll go through the binder before Thanksgiving and memorize as much as possible. And don’t worry, I can get out of my family’s dinner provided you promise to see them at Christmas. It’s always a bigger deal for my family, especially when it comes to decorating. I mean, you really don’t want to know how many blow-up creatures my dad has collected in the after-Christmas sales over the years.”
I shuddered dramatically, and Nolan chuckled as he removed his hand. “I’m curious now. While I see my family every Christmas, I usually have to go right back to L.A. or my latest shoot and don’t get to see the decorations around town.”
“Oh, they can be amazing, Nolan. Maybe you can see some this year.”
Crap. There I went, inviting him to do things as if I really were his girlfriend.
