Page 28 of #Starstruck

And the gorgeous outer shell didn’t hurt things, either.

His phone buzzed. “Sorry, I have this meeting down in Studio City I have to get to. Can I walk you out?”

We went inside, and he shut and locked the glass doors. When we got to his front door, I stepped outside and expected to turn and say goodbye, but the expression on his face made the words die in my mouth.

“There’s something I want to say to you. And I’m not sure how you’re going to react.” He paused, as if waiting for me to give him the go-ahead or do something besides stand there like a fan caught in a movie star’s headlights. “California’s sexual harassment laws aside, I really ... I like you the exact amount that won’t freak you out. I’d like to spend time with you. Not as employer/employee, but as Chase and Zoe. What do you think?”

At first my only thought wasChase Covington likes me?, but what I said was, “I think I don’t trust in things I don’t understand.”

Now he looked confused. “What’s to understand? You’re beautiful, funny, smart, and kind, and I want to hang out and get to know you better.”

It was like he was talking about someone else. He couldn’t possibly think those things about me, right? “Because you could date Amelia Swan.”

“Amelia Swan?” he repeated, sounding disgusted. “She’s the world’s biggest diva and the most self-centered person I’ve ever met. And I work in Hollywood, so that’s saying a lot.”

“There’s something you don’t know about me.”

His phone chirped at him again. “I really do want to talk to you more about this, but if I don’t leave now, I’m going to be late. And contrary to the actor stereotype, I like to be on time. We can talk more. Later. If that works for you.”

I nodded. Chase walked me to my car and opened the door for me. I could just picture the faces of my women’s studies classmates, but I liked when guys were gentlemen. I didn’t feel like he was implying I was incapable of opening my own door. He was just being polite and thoughtful.

“This is your car? If you’re going to be running errands for me, I should just buy you a new one. I don’t want this to give out on you and strand you someplace.”

“You’re not buying me a car. You can’t just buy people cars.”

“Why not?” he asked, his expression earnest.

“Because nobody buys cars for people they hardly know.”

“Oprah used to.”

He had me there. “True, but don’t buy me a car.”

After I sat down, Chase leaned his head in the car, and I hoped he might kiss me. Instead, he just said, “See you soon, Zoe.”

He headed around the corner to what I assumed was his garage, and I drove off quickly, not wanting him to pass me on the road and see me driving with a confused, goofy look on my face.

Chase Covington liked me. He had, in Gavin’s words, manned up. He’d said he wanted to spend time with me and get to know me.

It was every daydream, birthday wish, and fervent prayer I’d ever said about him all coming true.

With a sinking feeling that made my stomach ache, I remembered we had no chance at a relationship. This would all end.

Especially once I told him I wouldn’t sleep with him.

CHAPTER TEN

“What’s so funny?” I asked my giggling roommate as I set down my purse.

“Oreo has started putting jokes on the side of packages. Listen to this—‘Serving size: three cookies.’ That’s hilarious,” Lexi said before shoving said serving size into her mouth.

I wanted to discuss the Chase situation, especially because I had no one to talk to about it. I had this fear that if I said anything to my mother, it would trigger something in her and make her regress into that person she used to be where fame mattered more than anything else. And I couldn’t deal if she did that again.

And I knew I should tell Lexi. She was my best friend. My only real friend. We had stayed up late so many nights discussing every minute detail of the boys she liked. How they’d looked at her, the things they said, and what they actually meant. Now it could be my turn. I could confess all my fears to her. Lexi knew why I was so gun-shy when it came to boys.

I wanted her input and wisdom. I wanted her excitement and enthusiasm.

Which was the problem.

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