Page 34 of The Actor and His Secret

Spoiler alert: I was not good.

I’m actually not sure how I made it through the day. I spent a lot of time tapping idly at my keyboard whilst not producing any real words. When I don’t text Nikos back, lost in the panic of the call, he sends another message through.

Adonis

Meet you after work like we agreed?

I bite my lip hard enough to bleed when I see that. I want to see him badly enough that my whole body aches with it, but I’m clearly putting him in danger. Still, if I want to avert the disaster that is this anonymous caller, I need to nick his watch.

Then, I should probably tell him that we should stop seeing each other. If this is what happens after just a few days of knowing each other, what would happen after a few weeks? There are an untold number of batshit insane fans out there. I like Nikos far too much to risk him.

But that doesn’t take away from the issue at hand. This stalker wants his watch, otherwise career-ending photos will be leaked.

I’m on the tube, and my mind keeps flashing back to the way he’d looked so sad and lost during our filming. The gentle, caring, vulnerable side he’d showed me on our date. The way he’d let me fall asleep on his shoulder in the car.

This must be why he’s so guarded. Shit like this must happen to him all the fucking time.

It makes me sick enough that I want to throw up again.

One more date. One more night. I’ll tell him while we’re out that we’re going to fuck one more time and that’s it. I’ll tell him I’ve changed my mind. I’ll get the watch and he’ll never see me again. I can’t handle the pressure of keeping this a secret. It will be close enough to the truth.

Except when I see Nikos sitting on the steps to my building, his head in his hands, I feel a physical pain in my chest, bad enough that I wonder if I’m having a heart attack.

It’s the way he smiles, genuine and unguarded, when he looks up and sees me.

‘Hey,’ he says as I walk up the steps to meet him. ‘I missed you.’

I don’t touch him until I unlock the door and we step inside. Then I fall into his arms, letting him hold me tight. Being this close to him makes me feel safe, like everything is going to be alright.

‘I missed you too,’ I mumble against his chest. Even the smell of him steadies me.

How the fuck am I going to let this go?

‘Are you alright?’ He pulls back and looks at me, frowning. ‘You’re really pale.’

I shake my head, trying to act normal. ‘I didn’t have time for lunch. It was a wild day at work. I’m starved.’

That excuse works, because his frown rights itself into a grin. ‘That, luckily, is something I can help with. Do you think you can wait about an hour? I had a plan for tonight.’

‘Yeah,’ I say, because honestly, I’m not sure if I can eat at all. ‘I can wait.’

‘Good.’ Nikos smiles at me. ‘Drop your stuff in your apartment and we’re going out. We need groceries.’

‘Huh?’ The power of words has honestly deserted me. ‘What for?’

He flicks me on the nose, grinning impishly. ‘I’m going to cook for you. A special family recipe. I hope you like Greek. And I’m even dressed for the occasion.’

Nikos gestures down to himself, and I notice that he’s shed his normal high-end wardrobe. He’s wearing a worn-down hoodie and broken-in jeans, a baseball hat on his head and sunglasses tucked onto the neck of the hoodie, running shoes on his feet. I’ve never seen him look this casual - I wouldn’t know he was a celebrity if I didn’t know him.

‘That’s in public,’ I say stupidly. ‘Is that safe?’ The only thing filling my thoughts are the threats that the caller made this morning.

‘That’s the trick,’ he says, giving me a wink. ‘No one expects a celebrity to be in Aldi.’

If he’s not worried, I determine not to be worried. ‘We’re coming back here?’

‘I’ll even stay the night.’ Nikos smirks.

It’s perfect. He’s got a watch on - I can see the flash of it under the cuff of his hoodie. I can’t tell if it’s the same one from the premier, but who the fuck cares. This person just wants something that touched Nikos Ridge’s skin. He’ll stay with me, we’ll get undressed, the watch will conveniently get lost, and the next morning I’ll call it quits. We don’t have to speak ever again after that.

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