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“Thanks, Beth. Can you be here always?”
“Yes,” Rhett said from across the aisle.
I looked over at him, lifting one eyebrow.
He shrugged as if it hadn’t been a big deal, but to me it had. He didn’t usually show me any special attention in front of the team. “My hair has never looked this good. Beth won’t be leaving at the end of the charity tour if I can help it.”
My chest constricted, the idea of staying on as his personal stylist sending bursts of warmth through me. “What about my poor little salon and all the people who are counting on me to return?”
“Eh,” he said, unworried. “I’ll find a way to make it worth your while.”
The air was thick. Bridget, I’d noticed, hadn’t said anything. She’d gone still, and her gaze was hovering just above her phone. She was either really distracted or listening intently to our conversation.
“Or you can fly out to Bellmead every six weeks for a haircut.” I held his gaze, challenging him.
“That seems like a lot of work when you could just stay with me.”
Stay with him. The words I wanted to hear. The context was iffy, but we could probably address that later.
“Hey, I won’t complain if you want to join us full-time,” Adalyn said. “I need more of these tips.” She dug around in her bag and pulled out a liquid eyeliner, tilting her head to the side and offering me an overly cheesy grin. “What can you tell me about this?”
I laughed, but even while I helped her accentuate her shape with a half cat eye, the words bouncing around in the back of my mind belonged to Rhett:stay with me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The team was tense whilewe waited in Rhett’s dressing room for him to be interviewed by Jimmy Fallon. Adalyn spent the last half hour arranging the next virtual check-in withBreakfast with Juliana. I stood at the long counter, pulling my comb and pomade out of my case, Rhett waiting to be styled on the chair behind me.
“She wants Sunny to join this one,” Adalyn said, not looking up from her screen.
Rhett turned on his chair, and his knee pressed into my leg. “Juliana does? Hasn’t she been keeping up with Instagram?”
“I’m sure she saw your posts with Karina,” Adalyn said.
Bridget had been keeping up with the relationship illusion and had Adalyn post again today, despite Karina’s relationship exposé that was about to come out.
Bridget set her phone on her lap. “I bet it has to do with the promo you and Sunny did together on her show. The premiere is coming up, so Juliana probably wants to follow up about that.”
“It could be good for the movie,” Adalyn suggested.
“True,” Rhett agreed. He faced forward again, his knee brushing me. I shot him a look, and he smiled. He was doing it on purpose.
“I’ll reach out to Sunny’s people and see if she’s available,” Adalyn said.
“Why are we still doing interviews with Juliana?” Rhett asked.
“Continuity,” Bridget said. “The more we can do to show your willingness to be consistent, to show up, to be reliable—all of those things are going to aid your image.”
I slipped behind him and ran my fingers through his hair, spreading the pomade. He looked at me through the mirror, and I had to avoid his gaze so I wouldn’t be caught staring at him.
“Sunny is much more likely to agree to a virtual interview,” he said. “We might as well ask.”
“I don’t know what more they could possibly think to talk to you both about,” Adalyn said. “Your last interview was pretty thorough.”
I finished styling Rhett’s hair and retrieved a wipe to clean my hands.
Bridget stood, and everyone else did the same to follow her out. I put my pomade back in my case and turned the lock. When I moved to go, Rhett pinched the waist of my jumpsuit.
“Uno tonight?” he whispered. Despite the uneasiness he felt, the uncertainty with how the interview would go, and all the tumultuous things in his family, he wanted to spend his night with me, and I loved that.
