doesn’t matter. Don’t you remember when that palm reader warned us about dating a guy with two first names?”
“That was my reading, not yours. You’re free to date him.”
“You know that’s not going to happen. Tell me you know that I’m not actually going to date Noah Douglas.”
“Probably not,” she agreed. “But isn’t it fun to daydream?”
Personally, I’d found daydreaming to be overrated and a waste of energy. Real life demanded too much of my focus. I had gone into the kitchen to search for my keys. I had a bad habit of dropping them places and forgetting where. “Have you seen my keys?”
“They’re on the table. But before you go, take these.” She handed me some business cards, both hers and mine. “Just in case.”
It wasn’t worth arguing about. “Thanks. I need to get on the road. Wish me luck!”
“I wish you kisses and a new boyfriend!” she said as I walked out our door.
Ha. Fat chance of either one of those things happening.
It took me a bit longer to get to Noah’s house than I’d anticipated. He lived in a gated community, but the guard was expecting me and just waved me through. Then it was dark and the roads were winding and Google Maps was being strangely coy about where I should be going.
I eventually found it, and he had a long driveway with no lights. I turned on my brights and inched my way up the incline. I was surprised when I reached the top and found a tiny little bungalow that was well lit both inside and out. I’d expected a mansion, to be honest.
There was a strange lump in my throat as I turned off the van, climbed down from the driver’s seat, and made my way to the front door. I heard a dog barking loudly as I stood on his porch, and for some reason that sound made me feel better. I rang the doorbell and braced myself for impact.
But to my surprise, it wasn’t Noah who answered the door.
It was Lily Ramsey. His Duel of the Fae costar. She was holding a small white terrier that was yipping away with all his might, wriggling to get free of her arms.
“You must be Juliet!” she yelled over her dog. “Come in!”
While I adored her as Aliana Morningsong, she didn’t have the same effect on me that Noah had. I was not bewildered and shocked like I’d been with him. I wondered what she was doing there and how she knew who I was, but my brain stayed fully engaged, and I was pretty sure I’d be able to have a conversation with her.
I followed her into the house and was even more surprised. This house was dark and small, with wood paneling and avocado-colored carpeting. I wasn’t sure what he’d been going for, but the decor was log cabin meets 1970s shagadelic. The kind of place where after he’d been arrested for murder the neighbors would tell the media, “He was quiet and kept to himself.”
Shelby would wail and gnash her teeth when I told her about this.
Lily led me into a living room that had a couch and nothing else in it. Not even any pictures. She sat down on one end of the sole piece of furniture, and I sat on the other.
“I’m going to let him go. He’s harmless,” she assured me in her lilting British accent. She and Noah had insane chemistry on-screen. Lots of online fans stanned them in real life and wanted them to be together, despite the fact that she was married. They would probably freak out if they knew they were friends who had playdates with their dogs.
I was a little in awe of how stunningly pretty she was, even without any makeup on and her long blonde hair up in a bun. Her features were delicate and her frame slight. She didn’t seem so tiny on the big screen. She possessed one of those infectious smiles that made you smile in response, and I found myself feeling even more at ease.
I nodded, and she released him. He finally stopped barking and immediately ran over to me to sniff my hands. “And who is this adorable little fella?”
“This is Blueberry. I would scold him for the barking, but he’s quite deaf. It was the reason I adopted him. I figured if anyone needed a home, it was him.”
This made me like her even more. “That’s really neat.”