Page 97 of #Starstruck

He pulled a ring box from his tuxedo jacket.

“I already have one of these,” I said as I opened it, waggling my left ring finger at him.

But there wasn’t a ring inside. It was a set of keys. I held them up. “Is this for the house?”

“For your new car. Now that you’re my wife, I get to buy you one.”

That was so Chase. “I love you, Mr.Covington.”

“I love you, Mrs.Covington.”

I kissed him as a thank-you, and his intoxicating lips almost made me forget my plan. Breathing hard, I promised him I’d be right back. I closed the bathroom door behind me. Considering I was able to step out of my unfastened wedding dress, it didn’t take long to do as my new husband had suggested and slip into something a little more married.

When I came out, he’d taken off his vest, tie, and jacket and was in the process of undoing his cuff links. He stopped cold when he saw me.

“Like it?” I asked, twirling around in the awful blueLittle House on the Prairienightgown I’d worn the first night I’d stayed at his house. I put a hand on my hip, posing. “I was thinking tonight maybe we could just cuddle. Or get a bundling board.”

“That is not funny.” He crossed the room in a few long strides, picked me up, and tossed me on the bed while I giggled.

“Don’t rip this one,” I warned him.

“I won’t. I plan on taking my time,” he said as he climbed onto the bed next to me. “This nightgown seriously drives me crazy.”

And then, to my great delight, he proceeded to show me just how crazy it made him.

Two years later

“Are you nervous?” I asked him.

“I’m fine,” he said, squeezing my hand. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Where else would I be?” I leaned over to kiss his cheek and then wiped away the lipstick I’d left behind. “What do you think about Zeth?”

“I am not naming our son Zeth,” Chase said, but my distraction seemed to be working. His grip felt less tense.

“You don’t even know if I’m having a boy.”

“I know. And he’s not going to be named Zeth.”

I had no intention of using that name, either. I just liked to tease Chase with outlandish possible boy names like Zadam or Zefron because of how panicked he looked each time I did. He was partial to Oscar, his maternal grandfather’s name, and I thought it was cute. Especially paired with Zev, my grandfather’s name. But I let him sweat it out a little. Considering I was the one doing all the puking and peeing, he deserved some suffering.

My phone buzzed with a text from the CEO of the nonprofit Chase and I had started together dedicated to ocean conservation. She was wishing him good luck. I was the CFO and had raided Ocean Life Foundation for the good, dedicated employees for our staff, and things were going really well. We had a fund-raiser planned for next month.

I showed Chase my phone, but he just nodded, distracted. He was nominated for Best Actor for the movieSpectrum. It was the one I’d encouraged him to do while we were dating, the one he’d invested his own money in that had almost fallen apart. It had been a long labor of love, and Chase desperately wanted it to succeed.

It had already won Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Chase’s category was up next.

The presenters came out and ran through the list of nominees. Chase’s fingers tightened around mine.

“And the award goes to ... Chase Covington!”

The audience erupted around us in applause. He leaned over to kiss me, his face full of shock and excitement.

“You have to go up there!” I said, beaming at him. He kissed me again and then went up to accept.

He started by thanking the Academy, and the producers, writers, director, cast, and crew—everyone involved with the project. I saw one of the mobile cameramen point his camera at me, wanting my reaction. After we’d announced our wedding and how we met, social media turned in my favor. Suddenly I was the poster child for every girl out there who’d ever had a crush on a celebrity. Which meant I got a lot of unwanted attention, too.

I ignored the camera, focusing my attention solely on my amazing, talented husband.

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