Page 11 of Becoming Cinderella

“I can turn you into a passable Derek Hough for one dance, but seriously, it’s been five years with Jared. I just don’t think he’s going to suddenly see me as the girl of his dreams after what, a month or two? How long are you here for filming exactly?”

“A month and a half.”

I drop my head. “Great. That’s just in time for Homecoming. He’s probably already planning how to ask Penn.”

“Hey now, have some faith. He’s not even going to remember Penn’s name when we’re done. Now, tell me about this guy. What is it about him that has you hooked?”

Where do I even begin? He is loyal to his friends and his family. He is one of the smartest guys in our grade, and we are always goofing around at work. He’s gorgeous and has a smile that often stars in my daydreams.

“If I said he was perfect, does that count?”

He chuckles. “No. Because I doubt he’s actually perfect.”

“Honestly, I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s like when love songs make sense or they consume ninety percent of your thoughts. He makes me laugh and everything is just easy with him.”

“Wow. Sounds like he should be playing Prince Charming.”

I sigh. “He really is a real-life Prince Charming and I’m that faceless background character barely getting any screen time.”

“I don’t know, you sure seemed like the leading lady yesterday with me. You even rescued a prince.” He wiggles his eyebrows flirtatiously but I try not to notice.

“Trust me, I’m no leading lady. I’m not the girl guys fall in love with. If my life was a romantic comedy it’s no romance and just comedy.”

“Trust me Carter, you are not a side character. I’ve only known you for 24 hours and I can already see that. Maybe Jared’s the one with the problem, not you.”

My heart skips a beat at his words, like it either wants to stop beating all together or start beating really fast. Surely if Liam Taylor thinks I’m a leading lady, then I am.

Then again, Liam doesn’t really know me. All he sees is a girl who pulled him free from a bunch of screaming girls.

“You’re not going to make me over as some pop song plays, are you?”

Liam barks out a laugh, a pleasant sound that makes me feel good for causing. “No, I promise nothing like that. More like I’m going to put you both in situations that force him to see you in a new light. To set up your own rom-com scenarios”

“Situations like what?”

He gives me a slight shake of his head. “Leave those details up to me.”

“You really think this will work?”

“Of course. Don’t you know I’m the rom-com expert?”

“Oh sure, you star in a couple of rom-coms and suddenly you’re the expert.” I reach over and bump my shoulder with his. I freeze and look at his shoulder. Am I allowed to do that? To just hit his shoulder? Liam seems un-phased though, so I quickly keep the conversation going. “Now your turn. Dance lessons. What’s the plan there? Haven’t you had lessons with a choreographer on set?”

Liam pulls a face. “Well, based on where they think my dance abilities are, they only sent me a video of the dance for now. About two weeks before we film the dance, Olivia and I will rehearse together.”

“Can you bring that video to our first lesson?”

“Yeah, it’s on my phone.”

“Great. So, when are we going to do these lessons?”

Figuring out the dance rehearsal schedule isn’t easy. Liam’s shooting schedule changes a lot, but we can meet at my mom’s studio or the gym at his hotel. We’ll make it work. Besides, the waltz is easy enough. Of course I don’t tell him that. He’s definitely getting the harder end of our deal. Or that’s what I think until I pull him to his feet for him to show me what I’m working with.

“Ouch,” I say as he steps on my foot for the third time.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I probably don’t need all my toes anyway.”

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