Small Town Girl Read Free Page A

down my spine as he reached over
and flipped on the lights. One king-sized bed rested smack-dab in the middle of
the room along with a sofa, nightstand and dresser. Floor to ceiling curtains
covered the far wall and hid the sliding glass door that led out to a private
balcony.
    “Nice suite,” I said.
    He smiled and said nothing.
    I stood with my arms crossed awkwardly
down at my hips, almost paralyzed with anxiety.
    “Make yourself comfortable,” he said as he pointed to sofa.
    I walked over and took a seat, crossing
my legs and trying to appear relaxed and comfortable. I was pretty sure I
looked like a complete, nervous moron.
    He pulled his keys and wallet from his
pockets and splayed them out on the dresser before walking over to the sofa and
sitting down next to me. He widened his hips and leaned back as he placed his
hands behind his head, fingers interlocked. Every move that man made was so
smooth, so fluid.
    “This is much better,” he said. “Now I
can actually hear myself think.”
    “Totally,” I said. I was tongue-tied and
couldn’t think of a better response.
    “So,” he said as he took a deep breath.
“You have a boyfriend or anything?”
    “No,” I said. “Not at the moment.”
    “And you’re how old now?” he asked as he
raised one eyebrow.
    “Twenty-three,” I replied. “How old are
you?”
    I pretended not to know.
    “Thirty,” he said with an exasperated
sigh. “Getting old.”
    I laughed. “That’s not old at all.”
    “It is in Hollywood,” he replied. “It’s
ancient. All these young guys keep coming in with their jacked bodies and
chiseled faces. It’s hard to keep up.”
    “I doubt that,” I argued. “You’re, like,
Hollywood royalty. You’ve been around a while. People know you. You’re a
household name. You have staying power.”
    “You’re beginning to sound like my
manager,” he laughed. “Anyway, we don’t have to talk about me. I get tired of
talking about myself. Tell me about you.”
    He lowered his arms down to his lap where
they rested confidently. He turned his entire body and shifted towards me.
    “What do you want to know?” I asked with
a half-smile.
    “Anything,” he said. He seemed captivated
by me, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it was all an act. He was a famous
actor after all.
    My face turned ten shades of crimson as
the spotlight fell upon me. I didn’t usually like talking about myself or my boring little Iowa life .
    “Don’t be shy,” he said with a laugh.
Again, it was like he could read my mind. “So I know that your name is Brynn,
you’re twenty-three, you waitress, you have a couple friends, and you’ve lived
in Rock River your entire life. What else can you tell me?”
    “God, when you say it like that, it makes
me sound pathetic,” I huffed. I placed my hands on my cheeks, which were
burning red by then.
    “I doubt you’re boring, and I don’t think
you’re pathetic at all,” he reassured me as he reached over and pulled my hands
away from my face. He inadvertently pulled me closer to him in the process.
    “Do you get a lot of random women
approaching you when you’re on location?” I asked, changing the subject.
    A smile spread across his full lips, and
he tossed his head back and nodded while I tasted the irony in my question.
    “I didn’t want to be that girl,” I said.
    He shrugged as he if he understood.
    “I have something really silly to tell
you,” I said. I looked up at him to gauge his receptiveness. His eyes honed in
on mine with an intensity that burned even brighter than before. “It’s really
embarrassing actually.”
    “What?” he said. “Now you have to tell
me.”
      “Maybe I shouldn’t say anything. It’s
really silly.”
    He reached over and grabbed my hand,
playfully swinging it and inadvertently pulling me closer to him. “You have to
tell me now. You brought it up.”
    I bit my lip and opened my mouth, waiting
for the words to slip out. He was leaning towards me,