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“It’s nothing. You know what I’d love to do?”
What was he hiding? She wasn’t sure, but he obviously didn’t want to talk about it, so she let it go. “Love to what?”
“I’d love to take on a role that was more challenging. These romcoms are fun, but I want to see a script with more meat to it.” He pointed at the paused show. “Like the psycho in this one. I’d love to play a villain for once.”
Remi looked up at him. “You totally should go for a role like that. I think you’d kill it.”
Colton pulled open the popcorn bag and offered her some. “Yeah, I don’t think that will happen right now.”
“Why not?” She popped a kernel into her mouth.
“Because…my father…”
“Oh.” That explained it. She’d forgotten his father was still running his life. Just like back in high school. “Can’t you get away from him? Hire a new manager?”
“And fire my dad?” He raised his eyebrows so high they disappeared under his auburn hair.
“Okay. I can see why you’d feel like this isn’t an option. But listen for a second.”
Colton set the bag of popcorn on their legs and grabbed a handful. “Sure. Go ahead. Tell me how to fire my father. I’m all ears.”
She understood all too well why he was balking at the idea. Colton hated conflict. He would much rather just do what he was told than to make waves. Sure, he was sassy sometimes, but he always ended up going with the flow. “Just listen, okay? You know your father loves you and wants what’s best for you, right?”
“I do believe that.”
“Then all we have to do is convince your father that having a different manager would be better for your career. And that shouldn’t be too hard. There are some mega stars in Hollywood. I mean, really big stars.”
His mouth dropped. “Ouch, Remi. That hurts.” Colton pretended to have a knife stuck in his chest.
She reached up and pressed her hands on his cheeks. “Oh, you poor baby. There are actors who are more famous than you. I feel so sad for you.”
He shook her hands off, a hint of a smile on his face. “All right, you made your point.”
She grabbed another handful of popcorn. “Since you were a nobody when he began managing you, it wasn’t a big deal that he’d never managed a star before. But it’s possible he will understand that now you need a manager with more experience.”
Colton slowly nodded as he chomped on more popcorn. “You know, that’s not a bad angle.”
She gave him a smug smile. “Right? I’m a genius.”
He laughed, then kissed the tip of her nose. It was such a quick, spontaneous thing that it looked like he didn’t even think about it. But it created a tidal wave of emotion inside Remi. The softness of his lips on her skin, the tenderness of the gesture, and the closeness of their relationship that it represented almost brought her to tears again.
He stared at her, like the gesture took himself by surprise. She looked into his gray eyes. They were mesmerizing.
“Youarea genius,” he finally said. “You’ve proven it repeatedly.” He picked up the remote and clicked the movie back on, but there was no coming back from that for Remi. She could no longer concentrate.
Colton Drake just kissed her. And it was amazing.
CHAPTER9
Colton waited until the last scene had finished and the credits began rolling before he asked the question that had been bursting to get out of him. “Did you see that last twist coming?”
When Remi didn’t answer, he peered down at her. She was asleep. What the heck? How could she have fallen asleep during that intense movie? The first time he saw it, it had kept him on the edge of his seat the entire time. Even tonight he’d been holding his breath. It kind of annoyed him that she’d fallen asleep. What about their analysis? They always had great discussions after they watched movies.
But after his initial annoyance faded, he realized she was probably exhausted from traveling, and from all the emotions she had to be suppressing from her broken engagement. She totally wasn’t dealing with that at all. He knew avoidance and denial when he saw it. No one walked away from an engagement without an incredible amount of hurt and pain.
Instead of waking her, he settled back into the couch and slowly guided her until she snuggled into his chest. He positioned the throw pillow under his head and closed his eyes. Remi deserved to rest. He’d pester her to deal with her pain later, after he was sure she was ready to face it.
It felt really good to spend time with Remi again. He didn’t realize how much he’d missed being with her. The way they joked around with each other, how clever she was, and even the way she was herself around him. It was so nice. No one acted normal around him anymore. Especially women. He was so tired of everyone being fake. There wasn’t anything about Remi that was remotely false. What you saw was what you got.
