Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Oh, look at this thing sparkle,” I whispered. “And it’s so elegant. Who is your lucky guy, Jennifer? Point him out.”
Calvin Kenneally was standing by another fireplace in the game room, talking to Kim, the woman who’d sat in Ash’s lap the night before.
I squinted at them, then turned to Jennifer. “Sweetie, Kim pissed me off last night and—” I turned to look at Ash, and found him smiling at me. “Hey, you, did you eat something?”
“I’m snacking, but I would like to talk to you.”
“One sec,” I told him. “I need Bitsy.”
“Oh,” she said, giggling. “Yes, sir, what may I do for you?”
I pointed to Kim. “We’re not crazy about Kim, are we?”
“No,” she agreed, and her eyes narrowed before her attention went to Jennifer. “My cousin is a whore, Jen. Get over there.”
“He would never,” Jennifer told her. “And I trust him.”
“Which is great, and good,” I told her. “But maybe because Calvin is a really nice guy, he’s stuck, and he can’t get away.”
“Ohmygod, she plopped herself down in Ash’s lap last night. I was so embarrassed,” Bitsy told her.
Ash only smiled and took that opportunity to get up, carrying his drink and a roll, and came to sit across from me, beside Jennifer.
“It’s a beautiful ring,” he told her.
“I have seen Love is Complicated so many times. I could do dialogue with you.”
His smile lit his eyes, and really, there wasn’t anyone or anything in the room as breathtaking as him. He outshone every diamond around him. “Oh, I’m so glad you love it.”
“Promise me you won’t leave before I get back.”
“Cross my heart. Can I have some of the cheese?”
“Yes. Eat whatever you want,” she told him, and was out of her seat and moving gracefully but quickly across the floor.
The waitress, Tori, was suddenly at our table because Ashford Lennox was and she wanted to see him as much as everyone else.
“Please bring me a very big sandwich,” he told her.
“What kind of sandwich, Mr. Lennox?” she asked hesitantly.
“Do you have a favorite?”
“The one I like has head cheese and blood sausage. I’m thinking that’s not for you.”
He turned to me.
“Roast beef?” I asked her, and she nodded. “Great. Would you make that for me, and please bring a French dip for him.”
“Yes,” she said happily, turning back to Ash. “I will have that right out, Mr. Lennox.”
“Thank you.”
Tori was beaming at him. “We have hand-cut fries too. I’ll add those as well.”
“You’re a very good person,” he declared. “I think we should take a picture.”
The way her face lit up, I couldn’t help but smile as well. I loved that he could instantly bring that much joy. He was one of those celebrities you felt like you knew from his movies and socials, and you hoped like crazy that if you ever met him in real life, he would not disappoint and actually be warm, engaging, and kind. I knew from looking at Tori that he had exceeded all her expectations.
Once she left, he met Bentley, who offered him sangria, Jackie, who immediately showed him what Campbell Covington had bought her, and finally he got reacquainted with Sienna.
“Nice to see you again,” he greeted her.
“I’m thrilled to tell you that I have been a fan since the beginning. You had me with Blood Tracks.”
“That’s very kind.”
“I know you probably hate taking pictures with—”
“No, I love it,” he said with a grin. “Let me come over there.”
He took several with Sienna, Bentley, and Jackie, and when Jennifer returned with her fiancé in tow, he took pictures with them as well. Cunningly, when we all retook our seats, Ash somehow ended up next to me. He sat with his knee pressing against mine, and was gracious, and charming, and everyone was spellbound. His stories had all of us riveted because he was talking about other celebrities, huge stars who were his friends, like it was all so normal. Like they were our friends as well as his. I listened to him talk about Daniella Russo and Evan Brandt—whom I’d had very unclean thoughts about when I saw him for the first time on the weekly show Cape Cod, then all the way through his newest movie, Amalfi, which had gone completely over my head.
“Two years ago, Ev and I are in the diamond district in New York City, learning, watching, memorizing what the brokers say and how they present things, when all of a sudden, I turn around and Ev is showing a customer an antique ring that was worth around two hundred thousand dollars.”
I smiled, listening.
“Oh,” Sienna gasped, “you guys were doing research for—”
“Glass Diamond,” Damien said, taking a seat across from Ash at the table, where people were now gathering. “That was a great movie.”
Ash nodded. “Thank you.”
“Finish the story,” I urged him, sliding my hand over his thigh under the table.