Page 77 of Anyone But the Superstar

‘Who?’ The K-pop astronaut floats to mind. ‘Oh. The hot astronaut who saved you?’

‘He didn’t save me.’ His crossed arms, added to the pout, making him look like a mutinous toddler. ‘He helped me save Mike.’

‘Yes, of course.’ I fail to fight my smile, causing Felix’s eyes to narrow.

I know I shouldn’t, because obviously Felix is upset, but I find his blatant jealousy kind of thrilling. No one has ever been jealous over my attention before, unless you count Mike Hunt. Previous boyfriends may have been jealous over my family’s holdings, or others may have been jealous over not having me on their arm. But not because it wasme. The girl I see smiling in the mirror right now. They wouldn’t have cared less about me if it weren’t for my name and everything it came with.

Felix wantsme.

And oddly enough, in this moment, I want to tell him who I really am.

I chuckle, correcting myself. He knows who I am. Probably better than I do. He knows I can hold a grudge. He knows I can be vindictive. He’s seen me sunscreen a cat without a hint of shame and he’s seen me fail in the kitchen.

He’s seen me at my worst, seen all the things I’ve always had to hide as Elizabeth Moore.

He knows me.

And still, he wants me.

‘Felix, I?—’

‘What’s so great about astronauts anyway?’ If possible, his bottom lip gets fuller. ‘I mean, sure, they’re smart and all, but I?—’

‘I like you.’

His pouty lip drops.

It isn’t what I was going to say, but now that I’ve said it, it’s what I needed to say. More so than my real name. ‘I like you.’ Forcing myself to hold his gaze, I step forward. ‘I like you a lot, actually. And I was thinking that maybe, after the filming, if you wanted, maybe we could…’ My courage only goes so far before anxiety makes me second-guess every word coming out of my mouth. A quick glance tells me Felix is still trying to recover from my confession. ‘Uh, never mind, I?—’

‘I like you too.’ His words fall fast from his lips, his hand cupping the side of my cheek. Myfacecheek this time.

I snort, trying to hide the well of emotion and relief with a laugh. ‘We sound like a couple of teenagers.’

‘You make me feel like one.’ He waggles his eyebrows, his eyes dropping to the deep V of my robe.

Laughing outright, I allow the tension from the moment to ease. There’s a lot more I could say. But right now is not the time.It might lead to more sex or fifty questions, and we don’t have time for either.

‘Meow.’ With unusual perfect timing, Mike jumps up on my bed, visible through the open bathroom door.

Distracted by the call, Felix turns. ‘Is he wearing a tuxedo?’

‘Yes.’ I take the opportunity to guide Felix the rest of the way out the door. ‘But he still needs his rhinestone collar.’

With heavy steps, Felix allows me to push him toward the bed and its occupant. ‘I thought he was staying in the limo? I paid extra for a driver who doesn’t mind looking after cats.’

‘Yes, but Mikey’s feelings will be hurt if we don’t dress him for the occasion.’ Or so my brother says. Grabbing the collar from my nightstand, I dangle it on one finger between us. ‘Be a dear, will you?’

‘What?’ Felix’s horrified expression ping-pongs between Mike and my hand. ‘You’re kidding, right?’

I toss the collar next to Mike, then lean up on my tiptoes to plant a glossy kiss on Felix’s cheek. ‘Go get ’em, cowboy.’

Ten minutes later, I step out around the corner of the hallway and into the living room where Felix is waiting. Along with a properly collared Mike Hunt.

Taking a breath, I hold my hands out. ‘What do you think?’

Felix looks up from his phone, his eyes going wide. ‘Damn.’ But as he looks me up and down, from my gladiator heeled sandals to my tangerine lace dress and up to my hair brushed and braided to one side, Felix’s expression flattens.

‘You don’t like it?’ I smooth my hands over the long-sleeved, minidress. I hadn’t packed much in the way of dinner party outfits, but I had prepared to look nice in case I managed toarrange a meeting with my sister. It’s a dress my mother’s personal shopper sent to me right before I flew to Houston.

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