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“I’m starting to think I might. This whole experience has been far more intense than I expected, and we aren’t even a quarter of the way through. I mean, have you seen your schedule? It’s overwhelming. Just keeping up with how many times in a day I need to make sure your hair is perfect is ridiculous.”
“It’s nothing. It’s kind of been a relaxing week compared to some.”
I scoffed. “Ifthisis relaxing, I don’t want to see what normal looks like for you.”
“Normal isn’t half bad all the time.” He seemed to hesitate before standing and crossing the room. He took the case from my hand and put it on the countertop again. “If you want to see my normal, you can come to the fundraiser tomorrow night.”
Wait, WHAT? Was Rhett Myers asking me on a date? Someone get me a chaise longue and some smelling salts, because I was about to faint like a nineteenth-century heroine.
He cleared his throat. “I realize it’s a stuffy fundrais—”
“That’s not the problem. I can’t make it. I already have other plans.” The Empire State Building, remember? “Besides, you probably have to claim a net worth higher than I will make in a lifetime to score one of those tickets.” I laughed.
“It’s not that exclusive. Just some New York City socialites.”
“Then why are you going?”
“My cousin asked me to. Her new boyfriend is one of the fundraiser organizers.”
“The same cousin you canceled dinner with?”
“No, that’s her brother. They both live in the city.” He gave a tight smile.
He didn’t look happy, so I went out on a limb. “And they are part of the reason you’re not expecting to enjoy your time here?”
“How did you know?”
“Your face.”
“Guess I’m not as good of an actor as I hoped,” he said with a sad smile.
I reached for his arm, squeezing right above his elbow softly. The way he was looking down at me like I was the only person in the universe brought me a weird amount of confidence. And it wasn’t that long ago that he’d gone from angry in the car to happy in front of fans in a snap. “You’re an excellent actor. But you did not look overjoyed when you talked about them.”
He shrugged, his arm moving a little in my clasp. “Yeah, but this is family. We do what we must to make them happy.”
“I think that depends on your definition of family.” My biological father was technically considered family, but I hadn’t seen him since I was a baby. There was no part of me that did anything in an attempt to make him happy—wherever he was. Ohio, last I heard. But that was ten years ago. “It should be give-and-take, not just give—”
Bridget poked her head through the door. I dropped my hand immediately, but not before she noticed it. She raised her brows. “Are you coming? Rhett takes a few minutes of quiet before he goes live.”
I lifted my case and shot Rhett a smile before following her out, and I felt his eyes on my back until the door closed behind me.
Chapter Eleven
Sold out. The Empire StateBuilding’s website taunted my poor planning and lack of securing my time slot yesterday in the flurry of rushing outside after sleeping late. I did not have a ticket, but I had a plan. I just needed to wait until we were finished working for the day before I could implement it.
We popped down to Soho earlier that morning for a series of interviews, made a stop in Brooklyn for a luncheon, had to pick up Rhett’s tux on Fifth Avenue, and were now dragging ourselves up to our hotel rooms in the late afternoon. My bed called, screaming at me to nap for thirty minutes, but if I was going to take advantage of the Empire State Building employees’ pity, I needed as much time as possible.
I couldn’t risk falling asleep and missing my chance. I had a plan: it was called begging. Forcefully. With movie quotes and a tear-stricken explanation of my single mom’s hard work. Then once they let me buy a ticket, I was going to find an overpriced mini sculpture of the building to take to my mom.
She’d done so much for me over the last twenty-seven years that it was literally the very least I could do for her. It hadn’t been easy on her being a single parent my entire life, but she never made me feel like I was lacking for growing up without a dad. Though, it could explain why some of my favorite sitcoms—Rhett’s included—modeled what I believe a good father should be.
My mom worked hard, and while she flew in and out of LaGuardia frequently enough, she had never actually stopped in New York City or visited the Empire State Building herself. Someday I hoped to bring her here, but until that day, a little sculpture would have to suffice.
Adalyn sat at the vanity table and applied more makeup than I’d ever seen her wear. She slipped into the bathroom and returned in a short, shimmery dress.
“Are you going to the event?” I asked.
She made a face. “Like I could get into that. We both have the night off, actually. I’m meeting up with a college friend for drinks.” Adalyn leaned closer to the mirror to fix her eyelash extensions.
