“For what?”
“Babe, dinner. I made a reservation.”
“You did? I thought we were just going to order in like always.”
“I knocked.”
“What?”
“I didn’t use my key. Here.” She held out the single red rose she’d picked up earlier that day from the florist across the street from her shop. “I got this for you.”
“Oh, thank you,” Lacey replied with a smile. “I didn’t know.” She took the flower from River’s outstretched hand. “Can you come in, and I’ll get dressed?”
“Yeah, sure,” she said, the wind taken a little out of her sails.
River sat down on the sofa and watched Lacey put the flower in a water glass before setting it on the counter. Then, Lacey disappeared into her bedroom, and she looked around the room, feeling nervous, for some reason, when her eyes landed on Lacey’s laptop that was open to her email. River didn’t mean to read what was on the screen, but she saw an email subject line that said something about a double date raffle entry.
CHAPTER 5
Cameron
“He got you an audition?” Jessie asked Kennedy as Cameron sat down next to her girlfriend on the sofa, with Jessie on Kennedy’s other side.
“Yes, but not one I’m excited about,” Kennedy replied.
“It’s still something,” Cameron said. “And something is better than nothing, right?”
“It’s not even a role I want. I think they’re just doing it as a favor to Zane. He probably sent them a bunch of really good booze or something. I can’t believe I still even have to audition for things like this. I’ve been doing this for over twenty years.”
“Maybe you won’t have to audition as much or even ever again once we rehab your image,” Jessie suggested. “Cameron threw the glass, in everyone’s minds, but you were the one who walked up and yelled at your girlfriend in public, so you both have work to do.”
“I know. I’m here, aren’t I? Let’s get this over with.”
When Kennedy held out a bowl of popcorn, Cameron took a handful and ate it.
“No butter?” she asked.
“Make your own if you want butter. I’ve been eating way too much butter, cheese, and everything else that’s bad for me in large quantities recently.”
“But it’s just dry popcorn. Did you even put salt on it?”
“Cam, do you want to get a bowl, take some of this, and add salt and butter to it?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Here.” Kennedy placed the bowl into her lap. “Jessie, can you put whatever you want to show us on the TV?”
“Sure.”
Cameron took the bowl into the kitchen, pulled another from the cabinet, put half into that one, and got butter out of the fridge. After putting it in the microwave to melt, she found salt and pepper, loving a little kick to her popcorn; nothing major, just a little pepper in the mix. She finished preparing it just how she liked it and put everything away. Then, she stood there in her kitchen as if she couldn’t move.
They were about to review all the couples who had submitted an entry. That meant that soon, they’d be sharing a house with one of them for a weekend, and Cameron would have to smile, laugh, and pretend that everything was okay with her girlfriend. Filming the ad for the whole thing had already been hard enough. Kennedy hadn’t been happy with the script they’d given her at first, and they’d gone through many revisions before they’d gone through even more takes to get it right. They had come home after, and Cameron had been so tired, she’d passed out on the couch. Kennedy had gone to bed and hadn’t even bothered waking Cameron up to go with her. When Cameron had woken the next morning, Kennedy had been in the shower, so she had decided to ask if she could join her, thinking they could reignite something there.
“I’m almost done,” Kennedy had replied instead.
They still hadn’t touched each other, and she was now less sure that they’d make it through the weekend intact as a couple if they couldn’t even fall asleep next to each other or share ashower in private, when no one was watching them, expecting them to be the world’s most perfect couple.
“Here you go,” she said when she returned to the living room and handed Kennedy back her popcorn.
