My Life With The Movie Star Read Free Page B

me help you,” Gray offered and took my laptop case from me. “Are you heading back to your booth?”
    “Ya,” I said. “Should be a big turn out today. How was your dinner last night?”
    Gray chuckled softly to himself. I rearranged my purse and coffee, now free from my bulk laptop case. We started walking down the long corridors again. I was much too nervous for any kind of conversation other than small chit-chat.
    “Oh, I guess it went well,” he replied, looking down at his feet and then back up at me as if he had some sort of secret.
    “Where did you end up going?” I asked.
    “A steak house. Where else would you go in Texas?”
    I agreed with him, and we walked on. Before I knew it, we are back at my booth. Gray set my laptop down. “Would you like some help setting that up?” he offered.
    “Sure. Thanks!” I replied.
    Gray took the laptop out of my bag and searched around for the power cord. He then was struggling to find the outlet. I walked over and pointed it out to him, all the while wishing I had brought a camera. Lisa would never believe my story about this guy.
    “So where are you from?” Gray asked. He finished plugging in the computer and turned it on for me.
    “Oh, I’m from a small town in Wisconsin called Port Washington. It’s thirty miles north of Milwaukee.” I always feel the need to say how close to Milwaukee I live. Somehow being thirty miles from a recognizable city makes me feel less like a small-town girl. I had always considered myself a city girl growing up in Atlanta, but now I wouldn’t move back to a big city for anything.
    “I have never been to Wisconsin,” Gray stated as he sat down in one of our chairs. “Isn’t that the dairy state with the happy cows?”
    “California has the happy, warm cows. We have the cold, miserable ones.” I thought it was funny that he brought up the happy cow commercials. I remember seeing them on TV a few years back and thought they were hilarious.  A great depiction of cold Wisconsin winter.
                 
    Gray had an accent, but I could not place where it was from. It could be British or Australian. He sounded almost American; as if he had spent a lot of time in the states it was barely noticeable anymore.  “Where are you from,” I asked.
    “Well, I was born in England, but I have lived in New York City and LA most of my adult life,” he said.
    That explains why he lost his accent. New York was such a melting pot; I’m sure it would be hard to keep it for long.
    “Wow, NYC and LA! Where do you live now?” I asked.
    “My house is in LA, so I spend most of my time there, but I do like to go back to London when I can,” he replied.
    Great, I thought to myself. I finally meet a cute guy without having Lisa and Rachel around to charm the pants off of him, and he lives on the other side of the country.
    “I have never been to Europe.” I said. I walked over to the other chair and sat down. I had about twenty minutes until the conference started, so I might as well be comfortable. I knew the rest of the day I would be on my feet, demoing our new software.
    “Well, you should go sometime. It’s an incredible place to visit,” Gray stated.
    “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
                 
    The convention hall was starting to get busy. Vendors were showing up at their booths and getting ready for the day. I know that Melanie would be down shortly. I also knew that she wouldn’t mind Gray keeping me company. She would probably be happy that I was talking to him again, even if I had to bring her down to reality and tell Melanie that he lived in LA.
    “I should be going,” he said.  “Do you have any lunch plans today?” My heart skipped a tiny beat.
    “No,” I said. “We break for lunch between 11:30 and 1:30.”
    “Would you like to grab a bite with me?” He had a twinkle in his brown eyes.
    “Sure!” I said, hoping that I didn’t sound too desperate.
    “Would you mind if we ate