Just because she’s famous doesn’t mean she’s happy.
Freshman Lianne Challice is known to millions of fans as Princess Vindi. But sometimes a silver screen sorceress just wants to hang up her wand, tell her manager to shove it, and become a normal college student. Too bad that’s harder than it looks.
She’s never lived a normal life. She hasn’t been to school since kindergarten. And getting close to anyone is just too risky — the last boy she kissed sold the story to a British tabloid.
But she can’t resist trying to get close to Daniel “DJ” Trevi, the hot, broody guy who spins tunes for hockey games in the arena. Something’s haunting his dark eyes, and she needs to know more.
DJ’s genius is for expressing the mood of the crowd with a ten second song snippet. With just a click and a fade, he can spread hope, pathos or elation among six thousand screaming fans.
Too bad his college career is about to experience the same quick fade-out as one of his songs. He can’t get close to Lianne, and he can’t tell her why. And the fact that she seems to like him at all? Incredible.
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She grabs her purse off the table and tucks the strap over her shoulder. Lianne is making a getaway but I don’t even have her number yet.
She tries to slip past me but I catch her hand in mine. “One sec. There’s one thing you forgot.”
Those long eyelashes lift, and she’s staring up into my eyes. Looking…nervous. That can’t be it. Nobody gets nervous about flirting with me. “I did?” she asks.
“Yeah. If I’m meeting you for dinner Thursday, then I need some way to contact you.”
“Oh,” she breathes. “Okay. Hang on.” She digs into her bag, hopefully to find her phone.
“Hey, Deej?” My brother Leo—or Trevi to everyone in this room, as if he’s the only one with rights to our last name—is suddenly at my elbow.
“Take the pizza,” I hiss. And then fuck off. His timing could not be worse.
“Dad needs you to phone him tonight,” Leo says. “He says you’re not taking his calls.”
“Fine,” I say, my eyes on Lianne. Her phone is clutched in her small hands, and she’s tapping her passcode into the screen with shiny pink fingernails that remind me of candies.
Can my brother not take a hint?
“Okay, ready?” Lianne looks up and smiles at me.
With an open hand, I lay my palm across my brother’s face and nudge him away until he melts back into the Capri’s crowd. Then I pull my phone out of my pocket. “Okay, shoot.” She rattles off the number and I test it to make sure I’ve got it right. When I’m done, my phone notifies me that I’ve missed another call from my dad. Big surprise.
“I’m heading home,” Lianne says.
“Let me walk you out,” I say.
Lianne makes a sound that I can’t quite interpret. A squeak, almost. But she waits for me. So I cup her elbow in one hand and lead her to the side door.
“I didn’t know there was a door here,” she babbles.
We step outside. The side street is quiet, as always. Her eyes are wide in the glow of the streetlight, and I smile for no reason at all.
“Um, thanks for the pizza,” she says.
I shrug. “Don’t thank me yet, smalls. Thank me after I introduce you to Gino’s.”
Her eyes narrow. “Really? We’re doing short jokes now?”
“Hey!” I lift both hands in surrender. “I thought that was something we had in common.”
She cocks her head to the side. “Why?”
Seriously? “I don’t exactly tower over people, either.” Though it’s kind of her not to notice.
Lianne lifts her chin and looks into my eyes. “Everyone towers over me.”
This is surprisingly true. I actually have to look down to see her properly. And when I do, I see that her expression has shifted to something dreamy. There’s a stirring in my chest I haven’t felt in a long time. And it’s not because the girl looking up at me is famous. Right now I don’t see Lianne Challice, star of stage and screen. I’m looking at a girl who’s ambivalent about pizza but awesome with rock music trivia.
And she wants a kiss.
For the first time in months, my mind goes quiet. I hope the moment lasts, because the stillness is as beautiful as the hopeful eyes of the girl in front of me. My hand extends to catch her cheek in my palm. The air around us is cold, but her face is warm to the touch. “I’ll see you on Thursday,” I whisper.
Her nod is almost imperceptible. She’s quiet. Waiting. The moment yawns open. We both know what’s supposed to happen next, but I hesitate. After all that’s occurred, I still know the steps but I no longer trust the dance.
I sweep the pad of my thumb across her perfect cheekbone. Then she leans into my hand. It’s slight—almost imperceptible. But it’s there. A sign.
It’s a short journey to her mouth, but I say a little prayer along the way. Please.
On the first pass I’m still cautious. I take just a brush of her soft lips, landing on her jaw. She smells of berries, I think. Something sweet. I pause there, pressing a kiss to her skin, and she shivers. Then instinct kicks in. I slip my fingers to the nape of her neck and pull her closer to me. The warmth of her small body finds mine, and I have to kiss her. I turn my head a few degrees and find her soft mouth with my hungry one.
The noise she makes is a whimper. I kiss it away. Her lips taste as sweet as they look. I angle my head, deepening the kiss just slightly. Maybe because I haven’t done this in a long time, or maybe because it’s Lianne Challice I’m kissing—but all my senses are dialed up to eleven. I feel every inch of her body where it touches mine, and the sweet scent of her hair is making me crazy. I’m a loose wire sizzling through the air, humming and electrified.
But still wary. That’s probably never going away.
Her lips part, and I take only a little taste, my tongue finding hers for a split second before retreating. She groans, and leans into me. It’s one of those moments where we’re either going to stop, or things are going to rapidly escalate.
And I know what I need to do.
I kiss her one more perfect time, and then ease back. She releases me reluctantly, her chin dropping, her teeth on her lower lip.
Catching her chin in one hand, I tilt her face up to mine. She looks…embarrassed. But I don’t see why that should be. I kiss her perfect forehead, her sweet scent enveloping me once again. “Sure glad I came out for pizza tonight,” I whisper.
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