Page 38 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
“Are safety standards low on set?”
“Is it true that neither of you is sticking to the intimacy guidelines?”
“Are you worried about the Linford Curse, Afric?”
Cameras continued to flash as Robert started to drive away.
Afric looked over at Robert. “You’re the guy who got Diva for me that day.”
“Robert, yes.” His voice sounded tight.
“Yeah, I remember.” She sighed. “Diva doesn’t really like men.”
“So you said.” Robert met Jess’s eyes in the mirror again, and she smiled.
Afric sighed, leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes.
Robert drove the rest of the way to the hospital with half a dozen paparazzi and reporters in tow.
CHAPTER 20
@starzwatch: Spencer Torres flew to London early this morning, no doubt to catch up with girlfriend, model Megan Wilson. After Afric Brooks’ unfortunate accident on set where she burned her hand, filming of their latest movie is not expected to resume until Tuesday at the earliest.
“Well, that was an eventful week.” Robert clinked his wineglass gently against Jess’s in Kilshanley’s new tapas restaurant.
God, he didn’t know the half of it! Jess drank some wine and let her gaze wander around the restaurant, relieved not to recognise anyone from Linford. She loved the village, but seeing the same people all the time felt a bit stifling. Still, she was grateful he’d been around the previous day.
“Thanks again for driving Afric to the hospital. You were a star!”
“My pleasure.” He studied the menu for a few moments before looking up. “You know, I still don’t know very much about you.”
“Um, how do you mean?”
“We haven’t really talked about our past, that’s all.” He grinned. “For all I know you could be keeping lots of dark secrets from me.”
“What?” She put down her glass and turned away for a moment to cough hard into her sleeve.Very attractive, Jess.“Ha-ha, no, not keeping any secrets.”Not any dark ones, at least. She suppressed an uncomfortable memory of Adam once saying the very same thing to her. At the time she’d been keeping so many secrets from him, trying desperately to keep her distance. And for a while it had worked. Until everything had blown up in her face.
The problem now was that she wasn’t sure how much to share with Robert. She’d only known him a couple of weeks, and she had no idea how far their relationship would go.
Not to mention if shewereto tell him about anything that actually mattered, or that had happened to her since … where would she even start? Last July? Any time after that? Robert would run a mile. It was safer to stick to work stuff. Except that they seemed to talk about work a lot. Still, Robert was interested in what she did. Which was a good sign.
“What did you think of Afric?”
He laughed. “She barely said two words to us in the car or at the hospital. Although I don’t think we were seeing her on her best day.”
“That’s true.” Jess put the menu down. “Hey, do you know she was in Trinity College around the same time as you? She was in the Lir School of Acting.”
Robert blinked. “Have you been looking her up?”
“Nope.” Jess smiled. “If you want to know anything about celebrities just ask Emily.”
“I once bumped into Paul Mescal at a party.” Robert poured some more wine.
“Seriously? I’m so jealous!”
A waiter approached and, after they gave their order, Jess sat back in her chair. “Have you been looking at all the movie gossip on social media?”
Robert shook his head. “Not really.”
