Virtuous(29)

“Why does being cautious and reasonable make me insane?”

“Because the hottest man in the world asked you to go to one of the biggest events in Hollywood, and you said you have to think about it? What’s there to think about?”

“To start with, do I want to use one of my precious personal days to spend three days with a man I barely know?”

“Yes, you do want to use one of your precious personal days—what better use will you ever have for them? And it’s three days with Flynn Freaking Godfrey!”

“Will you please stop screaming before the neighbors call the cops?”

“If I told the neighbors Flynn Godfrey asked you to the Golden Globes and you told him you have to think about it, they’d call the cops on you, not me.”

“You’re being ridiculous! I just met him. How do I know if I want to spend three days in California with him?”

“I honestly don’t know what to do with you, Natalie.” Leah looks at me with what appears to be genuine concern. “I know there’s shit in your past that you don’t talk about, and I respect that. It’s just… If you don’t do this, if you don’t go with him and have this amazing adventure, you’ll always regret it.”

“I can’t jump in with both feet the way you do. I have to take my time and think about it. That’s just the way I’m wired. I’m sorry if that annoys you.”

“It doesn’t annoy me. Most of the time. But this is Flynn Godfrey. Flynn Godfrey!”

I can’t help but laugh at the faces she’s making to go along with her pleading tone. “Yes, I know his name.”

“Every single woman in America would like to be you right now. Hell, most of the married ones would like to be you, too. You know that, don’t you?”

“I’m aware that women find him appealing, yes.”

Leah snorts with laughter. “Appealing. You crack me up! He’s f*cking sexy as all hell, and I’d do him in a New York minute, as would most women. I bet most men would, too.”

I take my pillow and stuff it into her face, hoping to shut her up.

She pushes it aside and throws it back at me. “You have to go.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes! You do!”

“No! I don’t.”

She moans as if she’s in severe pain. “If you don’t go, can I?”

“Shut up, Leah! Go away and let me sleep, will you?”

“When are you going to see him again?”

“I don’t know.”

“You let him get away without making plans for another date? What am I going to do with you?”

“Go away and let me sleep?”

“Fine, but we’re going to continue this conversation tomorrow, and you are going to LA if I have to take you there myself.”

“Good to know. Nighty night.”

She makes a big dramatic production of getting up and out of my bed. At the doorway, she pauses and then turns to me, her face serious. “I’d hate to see you have regrets, Nat. Something like this… It’s right out of a fairy tale. I don’t know what happened to you, but whatever it was… You have a right to be happy just like everyone else.”

“Thanks for caring, Leah.” I mean that sincerely. She’s been an incredible friend to me in the short time I’ve known her. And she makes me laugh even though she can be a pain in the ass.

“I do care. I really do.”

“Likewise. Now go to bed.”

I hear her in the kitchen, fixing a late-night snack that she takes to her room, closing the door.

In the quiet that follows, I have to admit that Leah is probably right. I’m crazy not to jump at the chance to have my very own Cinderella moment with an amazing, handsome, sexy man who makes me feel things I’ve never felt before. But in the back of my mind, always, are the memories of another man who took everything from me long before I should’ve had to face such a horror. I’ve spent a long time—years—putting the pieces back together without ever letting another man get close to me.

Until tonight. Until Flynn Godfrey.

And now he’s offering me things right out of a fairy tale while making me laugh and feel for the first time in what seems like forever. I just wish I had Leah’s daring and her courage. What I wouldn’t give for even a small bit of her ballsy approach to life and men and dating and sex.