Only in Your Dreams (Gossip Girl #9)(15)

Not like she had any choice.

“Great, cool.” Serena winked at Vanessa, who was now busying herself with some serious-looking equipment.

“And I’m Thaddeus,” a sexy voice announced as the star strolled in from the adjacent bedroom.

Thaddeus Smith was taller than Serena had expected, and his thick dirty blond hair stood on end, giving him an extra inch or so. He was wearing an unremarkable outfit of dark jeans and a faded black Lacoste polo, collar standing up with a sort of dorky deliberateness. Serena had the impression that she already knew him, and in a way she did: she’d watched him romance a sweet-faced Southern starlet in the two romantic comedies they’d done together, she’d seen him flee a homicidal maniac (who turned out to be his long-lost twin brother, also played by him in a challenging dual role). She’d even seen him in a skintight white bodysuit, playing a mute otherworldly creature awakened by the sun’s alignment with an ancient Mayan ruin. She’d heard that familiar baritone before, as he flirted and bantered on the talk shows, and of course she’d scoped out his signature abs in countless Les Best underwear advertisements. In person, he more than lived up to the hype: he was gorgeous, from the golden stubble on the sharp planes of his face to his tanned and perfect feet.

Thaddeus took Serena’s hand in his and shook it firmly. “It’s so great to meet you at last.” His light blue eyes locked with her dark blue ones, or was she just imagining it?

“You too,” she breathed.

“I’m glad we’re all here, now,” Ken began, lighting another cigarette. He hugged his knees to his chest, perching on the windowsill in his slippery-looking royal-blue bicycle shorts. “Scripts out. And Thaddeus, from now on she’s Holly, not Serena.”

Thaddeus plopped down on the cracked leather sofa, tossing the throw pillows carelessly onto the floor. “Have a seat, Holly.”

Serena dug into her bag to retrieve her script, then sat on the couch, resisting the urge to immediately snuggle closer to her costar.

Because that just wouldn’t be professional.

Ken closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, his nostrils flaring. He spread his fingers out in front of him like insect feelers, hopped off the windowsill, and staggered toward the center of the room. His eyes popped open when he bumped into the chipped wooden coffee table and a mountain of script rewrites slid to the floor. Then he leapt onto the table and crouched on its edge, leaning in very close to the twosome. “We’re going to start with the big climax. This is the emotional heart of the movie and I want to nail this before we get to any of the other stuff. Everything builds to this moment.”

Ken was crouched so close Serena could smell his dank-cigarette breath. She held up her script as a barrier and started to page through it. She’d assumed they’d read from the beginning. She knew her lines in the first few scenes but was a little shaky on the second half of the movie.

“So we’ll read through once and then let’s get up, get moving, find our space in the room, and get this going, okay? Vanessa’s going to roll, just to shoot some test footage so you guys can study up on it later. Sound good?” Ken asked, still crouching like a gargoyle on the coffee table.

“Let’s go,” nodded Thaddeus, tossing his script aside.

“Almost ready,” interjected Vanessa, who was linking her handheld camera to one of the director’s laptops.

“And Holly?” asked Ken, resting his chin on his hand while his finger appeared to be up his nose.

“Ready when you are,” Serena muttered. Shit, shit! She didn’t know a single line. She took a deep breath.

“Darling. You’re always rescuing me. How can I ever repay you?” she began, waving her right hand slowly, deliberately. It felt like a sexy mannerism. A little flair.

“You don’t have to repay me,” replied Thaddeus as Jeremy Stone, in his famously sexy baritone. They were standing by the window, and he leaned in close, the afternoon sun hitting his rugged profile as he took Serena by the wrist. “It’s me who should repay you. I owe you everything, Holly. You showed me how to be . . .” He paused intently. “You showed me how to be me.”

Maybe it was because he was a talented actor, or maybe it was because he was just gorgeous, but somehow he made the dorky dialogue sound almost normal. He was standing so close to Serena she could smell mint on his breath. Was he really just perfect?

Yup.

“I ...I ...” Serena faltered. “I just don’t know what to say.”

Across the room, behind the camera, Vanessa cleared her throat.

“Don’t say anything,” Thaddeus-as-Jeremy cooed. “Just stand still and let me look at you.”

Serena didn’t move. She couldn’t help but believe everything Thaddeus was saying.

“I’m going to stop you here,” announced Ken Mogul. “Holly, babes, remember: you’re not Serena. You’re Holly.”

“Okay,” Serena whispered. She didn’t feel like Holly Golightly. She felt like herself and like the perfect guy was right in front of her. She’d spent her whole life not acting fake around guys: it was kind of hard to act around one, especially one so ... cute.

“And quit with that hand stuff,” Ken whined, sounding like a big baby. “Looks like you’re swatting away mosquitoes.”

“Sorry.” Through the open window Serena could hear the sound of traffic whizzing by. She kind of wished she were out there instead, window shopping on Mercer Street in Soho with Thaddeus or maybe letting him feed her sushi on the roof of Sushi Samba, just a few blocks downtown. Thaddeus leaned out of the large window and inhaled deeply. Was he reading her mind?