CHAPTER SEVEN
To be seen together by the town, they had to hang out in public. It was Saturday night and they were both hungry, so it was only natural to head to a local restaurant for dinner. They were both dressed casually, having decided to hit a popular place on the beach that Riley assured him served great food. He was wearing khaki slacks and a cotton button-down, the sleeves rolled up and out of the way. She was wearing a light blue sundress that showed off the tanned golden skin of her arms and legs. Tonight she’d left her hair down around her shoulders and the light behind her seemed to create a halo around her head, the strands like spun gold. If she was wearing makeup, it was undetectable to his expert eye. She had a natural, fresh beauty that would capture any male attention easily.
Whoa there, tiger. This is only business. The last thing you need is an emotional entanglement. Leave the poor girl alone.
The restaurant was open to the water, and if you stepped out of the back door you’d be walking in the sugar white sand of the Gulf beaches. Sam could smell the salt in the air and the slight tang of rum and coconut from the bar where tropical drinks were whirring in the blenders. The aroma mixed with the wafting fragrance of charred meat and fried fish, drawing a growl from his empty stomach.
The building was weathered with graying planks on the floors and walls, along with beaten-up metal tables and chairs that looked like they’d seen their best days back in the 1950s. This wasn’t a place that tourists hung out. This was a place for locals.
They were shown to a table by a wide-eyed waitress that quickly took their drink orders before disappearing back behind the bar. Sangria for Riley and a beer for him.
“This is very…authentic,” Sam said, taking in the decor around them. They’d only been inside for a few minutes, but he already liked it. It had a good vibe and kind of reminded him of some of his favorite places in New York City where no one bothered him. He could just go and be himself. “Very Florida. Do you come here a lot?”
Riley smiled and for the first time he noticed that she had dimples in her cheeks. Was this the first true smile he was getting from her? Her blue eyes even sparkled when she was really happy.
“Believe it or not, this is your mother’s favorite restaurant. She loves their homemade Sangria. We come here on Sundays as often as we can. They make a great brunch.”
“I should have known. Mom loves a good Sangria, almost as much as her Cabernet.” He opened the menu and perused its contents. “Looks like they specialize in burgers and seafood. I haven’t had a good cheeseburger in awhile.”
Because he was always getting ready for a role. It was a luxury right now that he didn’t have to worry about his weight. The next movie he was going to work on wasn’t action-packed. A few pounds would be acceptable.
“They do make a great burger,” Riley agreed with a nod, closing her own menu. “But you might want to try the smothered chicken, if you like cheese and mushrooms. I highly recommend it.”
The description of the dish sounded right up his alley. Anything that was smothered in melted cheese just had to be delicious.
“I think I will.”
The waitress, much calmer the second time, came with their drinks and took their order before disappearing into the crowd. The tinkling of plates and silverware along with the din of conversation made the room rather loud and boisterous. There was a television on over the bar in the far corner and a group of young men were watching a basketball game and cheering every now and then. Was it the NBA playoffs? Or maybe the NCAA? He never had much time to follow teams anymore, so he couldn’t be sure.
He was aware however that they were being watched. Closely. The other diners often turned their heads and stared for a few moments and then looked quickly away as if not to get caught. Passersby headed for the bathroom or the exit weren’t that sly, slowing down and gawking before eventually walking away. Sam was used to it, but he was also hyper-aware of the attention and he noticed it before Riley did. Eventually, however, she was shifting uncomfortably in her chair, her gaze darting around the restaurant and then back to him.
“I kind of feel like we’re on display.”
“That’s an excellent way of describing this particular phenomenon. We do seem to be capturing the interest of the citizens of this town. The news should get back to Chad and Monica by morning.”
Being seen was the whole point, though. This wasn’t a real date.
“Does this happen to you all the time?”
“It depends.” He shrugged casually, pushing the basket of rolls the waitress had dropped off closer to Riley. Cheese was one thing, but bread was a bridge too far. He’d already had garlic bread since he’d arrived, and he needed to use some common sense while on vacation. “In places like Los Angeles and New York they are far too cool – or at least think they are – to notice a celebrity, but yes, sometimes it’s like this. I just try not to dribble the soup all over my chin. Otherwise I just ignore them and live my life.”
Her glass paused halfway to her mouth, her gaze following a couple who weren’t making much effort to disguise the fact that he and Riley were the topic of their conversation. They’d stopped in the middle of the restaurant and were huddled together whispering. They even went as far as taking out their phones and snapping a few photos.
Those were going to end up on social media. No doubt about it.
This. This right here was what his mother hadn’t thought through. He could squire Riley around town for a few days, take her to the party, and then exit at the end of the week with a story about long distance relationships. But that didn’t mean that she would be insulated from what it meant to be in his orbit. Luckily there were no paparazzi here, but there were people with camera phones. That usually meant Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or some other media platform. He didn’t comment on his relationships and he wasn’t going to start now, but her picture was going to end up on the internet.
He should have warned her, but dammit, sometimes he just forgot about it. He’d been doing this so long half the time he didn’t even register the attention. He’d long ago learned to tune most of it out.
“I’m sorry about this. When I said we should be seen I meant by the people in town, not the world on Twitter. Do you want to leave?”
Her eyes widened and she took a gulp of her drink. “We’re going to be on Twitter?”
“I don’t know that for sure, but when people take a photo they often post it online. I’m serious, we can leave if you want to.”
She paused for a moment but then shook her head. “No, it’s not a big deal, I guess. If strangers see it they won’t know who I am, will they? So it doesn’t really matter.” She frowned and signaled the waitress for a drink refill. “We’re not going to end up on the cover of a tabloid, are we?”
Sam chuckled at her naïveté. “Doubtful. I hate to burst your bubble on Hollywood hype, but most of the people you see on the covers of magazines and supermarket tabloids are on there because their publicist made a deal with the editors. They tipped off the paparazzi that they were going to be coming out of such and such restaurant at a certain time with a certain person. Sure, there have been occasions when I’ve been hounded by the press, but you’d be shocked at how much is all staged to look spontaneous.”
“Do you do that?”
“Yes,” he replied honestly. “I have in the past, although I don’t have to do it as much anymore, thank goodness. It’s harmless stuff, really. My publicist would tell TMZ that I’m getting off a plane at LAX so they’d be there to take pictures and ask me questions about an upcoming movie. Or maybe I’d be coming out of a nightclub and the paparazzi would be there. It keeps my name in the press, especially if I have a film coming out. Otherwise, all those tabloids wouldn’t have much to put in their pages. Most actors and actresses are boring as hell. I know I sure am.”
“You say that with such pride.”
“Damn straight. I’ve seen too many people get caught up in the partying and the money. They end up burnt out in rehab or dead. That’s not going to be me.”
Her head tilted as she studied him, and he wanted to ask what she was seeing. She smiled a little, so it must have been good. “No, that wouldn’t be you. You’re far too down to earth for that. Were you always that way? Even when you first went to Hollywood?”
“I like to think so.” He leaned forward so he could whisper. “Courtesy of one Paula Collins. She never let my head get too big. Her mission in life was to keep me humble and hardworking.”
“It appears to have worked.”
Chuckling, he nodded in agreement as the waitress slid their smothered chicken in front of them. It smelled heavenly and his stomach gurgled with expectation. This was going to be way better than a humble cheeseburger. The butterflied chicken breast was covered with cheese, mushrooms, bacon, chives, and a few other items thrown in for good measure. The first bite was delicious and practically melted on his happy tongue.
“Damn, this is good. You know your food.”
Laughing, she cut into her own chicken. “I know my cheese, anyway. I’m glad you like it.”
“Do you come from a long line of cheese lovers?”
“How did you know? My parents were originally from Wisconsin, but they moved here when all of us kids were small so that they could be closer to my aging grandparents. I was about four and I thought that living next to Mickey Mouse would be the coolest thing ever.”
“I think you were right,” he teased. “Although I can’t remember the last time I went to Disney World. Did you go a lot when you were little?”
Snorting delicately, she shook her head. “I think we went once when I was growing up. I was one of five children, and even though both my parents worked there never seemed to be enough money for a vacation like that. Mostly they’d pack up the car and come to the beach for a week, which of course we adored.”
Sam tried to picture Riley as a little girl, maybe with long braids and freckles on her nose. She’d probably been a real cutie.
“Five kids? That sounds like a houseful.”
“Two parents, two girls, three boys, four bedrooms, and two bathrooms. Add in two Labrador retrievers and a rabbit named Fluffy and you’d describe our household. It was always busy and always loud. Sometimes I’ll just sit in my living room and enjoy the silence.”
It sounded like a wonderful, idyllic childhood. The kind he’d only seen on television.
“Are you still close to your family?”
She nodded, taking another bite of her chicken. “I talk to my mom about once a week and I see them several times a year. My brothers and sisters are sort of scattered all over and only one still lives in the Orlando area. Mom and Dad are talking about retiring in five or six years and they want to move back up to Wisconsin to be near my mom’s brother and his wife.”
That was different. Most people retired to Florida.
“What are they retiring from?”
“My mom is a high school history teacher and my dad works in the legal department at an insurance company. They say they’re ready to play golf and drive slow in the left lane.”
Sam couldn’t imagine retiring from acting, but maybe he’d feel differently in twenty or thirty years. Riley seemed to relax after that, ignoring the stares and whispers that came their way. While they ate their food, he found out a little more about her family and he talked about his own childhood, including a few funny stories with his mother. With her own mother being an educator, it wasn’t difficult to see why they’d hit it off and become friends.
She was easy to talk to even when they discussed what might have been controversial subjects. Luckily, she was polite even when disagreeing with him, presenting a well-thought out rebuttal. He was going to have to rethink his position on school funding after listening to her arguments. Usually the women he dated were in the business and that’s what he ended up talking about all night. This was a refreshing change.
He was having fun. Too much of it. She was the best date he’d had in ages and this was not a date. This was a favor because her ex was a jerk and her best friend a gold digger. He was already anticipating a good night kiss and there wouldn’t be any of that. No touching, no kissing, and absolutely no sex. He’d hold her hand in public, maybe even put an arm around her but that was as far as the evening was going to go. He needed to get his libido under control.
Placing her fork down on her now empty plate, Riley clasped her hands together. “That was wonderful. If Paula talks you into coming here tomorrow for brunch, I recommend the chocolate chip pancakes.”
That sounded like carb-heaven. Much tastier than an egg white omelet and a single slice of turkey bacon. He was glad he’d passed on the bread because pancakes were far superior.
“You must know that from experience. Do you come here a lot?”
“At least once a month,” Riley confirmed. “Me, Paula, and Tara.”
She didn’t have to add that Monica was part of that group at one time.
“I don’t think I’ve met Tara.”
“You’d know if you did. My friend Tara is one of your biggest fans. I should probably warn you that when you do meet her she is definitely going to want a selfie and an autograph. And if you give her half a chance, she’s going to want to know all the Hollywood gossip on her favorite stars. She especially loves Nate Mason.”
Sam chuckled at the mention of one of his best friends and co-stars. “I can truthfully say that Nate and his wife are living on very little sleep since the birth of their twins, and I can also say that I think they’re terrific parents. Nate took to the whole father thing right off the bat and of course Paige was already a mother. Annabelle and Andrew have him wrapped around their finger and they’re only a few months old.”
Nate and Paige had it all. True love, parenthood, and great careers. At one point he’d thought that maybe he’d have that too, but now he knew better. He wasn’t cut out for that kind of life.
“With parents that good-looking, I bet they’re really cute.”
The check came and he made a grab for it before she could. Wrinkling her nose at him, she tried to retrieve it from his fingers but he held it out of her reach.
“I’m getting the check. This is a date, remember?”
Her mouth was set in a mutinous line. She wasn’t going to give up too easily. It was actually kind of nice to have a woman that didn’t think of him as her personal ATM machine.
But he still wasn’t going to let her pay.
“Not really,” she said, keeping her voice low. “Let me at least pay for my half. It’s only fair.”
He placed his credit card down on the check and kept his hand there until the waitress took them both away as she breezed by.
“I am not letting a kindergarten schoolteacher who probably has to buy supplies for half of the kids in her class pay the dinner check. I’d lose my man card. I’m happy to get it, so I’m asking you to please allow me to do this.”
She nodded but there wasn’t much surrender in her eyes.
“Okay, but you have to let me cook you dinner one night while you’re here.”
“Deal,” he instantly agreed. “I don’t get much homecooked food, although Mom made me lasagna when I got here. Are you ready to go?”
The waitress had returned his credit card and the slip, so he scrawled his name on the dotted line.
Riley nodded toward the beach. “How about we walk off some of this dinner?”
A sandy beach, a moonlit sky, a beautiful woman. What could go wrong?
Say no, you idiot. You’ll try to kiss her for sure.
“That sounds like a great idea.”