Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss(51)

“Oh, then whatever is good.”

He slowly nodded, wrote something down, and walked away.

Grant said, “That’s your tutor, right?”

“Yes,” Amanda said. “And her future boyfriend.”

“Shh,” I hissed. I watched Donavan stop at the other table and talk to them for a moment, then I said, “I’ll be right back.”

“You going after him?” Amanda asked with a smile.

I didn’t answer, just slid out of the booth and walked down a long hall where I saw Donavan disappear through a set of double doors. When I reached them, I pushed my way through as well, finding myself in the kitchen. Donavan picked up a plate of salad off a metal counter, then turned around. He jolted to a halt when he saw me.

“Hi,” I said. “Is this okay?”

He looked at a guy who stood behind the stove, stirring a big pot of sauce. “Is what okay?”

“Us being here.”

“Customers aren’t typically allowed in the kitchen.”

I smiled at the cook, who gave me a nod.

Donavan smirked. “Of course the rules wouldn’t apply to you.”

“I meant us being at your restaurant.”

“Yes, it’s fine, Lacey.” He held up the salad in his hand. “But I do have to work.”

He started to brush by me when I said, “Wait.”

He stopped, inches from me. Now was the time where I told him the realization I had today about him, but my crushed spirit was making everything feel all wrong.

I caught my breath and tried to concentrate. I met his eyes, thinking that would help, but his seemed guarded, and I found myself saying, “There was an article written about me today. It talked about all these things that have been happening on set. Things nobody off set would know about.”

He seemed to calculate what that meant, just like I had. “You think the person who was talking to your director the other day tipped off a reporter?”

“You tell me,” I said. He was a journalist, after all. He had to know something about tips and sources.

“I’d guess yes.”

I quickly filled him in on the other things that the article had said. “Do you think it’s all related?”

“One too many accidents begin to look a lot like evidence,” he said. He wasn’t acting like this was all in my head, like Grant and Amanda had.

“Will you help me try to figure out who’s doing this?” Because whether it was a case of absentminded crew members or someone with ill intent, I didn’t want to be caught off guard if someone really was trying to sabotage me for some reason.

“Absolutely,” he said, then left the kitchen in a hurry.

When the door swung shut behind him I whispered, “And I really like you.”





Twenty-Three


“Lacey,” a voice called from behind me as we were walking out of the restaurant. I turned to see Donavan, so I slowed down to wait.

“Thanks for being our waiter tonight,” I said. “You were awesome.”

He had three twenties in his hand and held them out to me. “Tell Grant that a hundred-dollar tip is excessive.”

I hadn’t realized Grant left that much. “Just take it. Grant can afford it.”

“It feels weird.”

Grant must’ve overheard what we were talking about, because he joined us, putting one arm around my shoulder. “I don’t need people calling me cheap online.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Donavan said.

“Well, maybe now you can brag about how three actors sat at your table tonight and tipped you well.”

“I wouldn’t do that either,” Donavan said.

“Why not?” Grant pulled me close. “You know who this is, right? It’s Lacey Barnes. She’s going to be really big one day. If you post about it now, you can say you knew her back when. Do you want a selfie? We’ll take one with you.”

“Grant, stop,” I said.

“Seriously,” Amanda said, taking Grant by the arm and trying to pull him away.

Donavan took my hand and put the sixty dollars in it. “I’ll see you later.” With that, he turned around and left.

“You’re kind of a punk,” I told Grant.

“A really handsome one.” He put his other arm around Amanda and led us toward the door. “Come on, let’s go.”

I looked over my shoulder to where Donavan was helping another table. Now wasn’t the time to talk to him.

“That did not help your ‘actresses are just people’ argument at all,” Amanda said.

“I just screwed that all up,” I said.

“Don’t worry. You can make it better,” Amanda said.

“Maybe I don’t deserve to. You know what I did in the kitchen when I chased after him? I panicked about my career. Instead of needing to tell him how I felt, I asked for his help. It’s obvious that I will always put my career first; he doesn’t need someone else like that in his life.”

Amanda squeezed my hand. “It’s just a habit. Bad habits are meant to be exchanged for good ones.”

“Donavan is a good habit?”

“I’m sure he can be,” Amanda said.