better the second movie is than the third movie. Like, that director understood how to make Aliana a fully rounded heroine who is allowed to want a soul mate and a family in addition to beating up most of the bad guys. She doesn’t have to be one or the other. And he also understands the female gaze when it comes to Malec. He lets us love him where the first director saw him as a two-dimensional bad guy. If you don’t want us to love the villains and root for their redemption, then why do you give them soulful eyes, muscled chests, disheveled hair, and heartbreaking backstories? I’m just not that strong.”
“You know I agree with you.” We’d had this same sort of discussion many, many times. It frustrated both of us that the trilogy had ended up as a tragedy instead of a literal fairy tale because the director and writer of the third movie had done such a poor job.
“So that long-winded explanation of mine was just a setup so that I could say . . . speaking of Noah Douglas’s soulful eyes and muscled chest, how did it go? I would very much like to have all the details, please and thank you.”
“I need to get changed.” Even though I’d had the whole ride home to sort through my feelings, my nerve endings still felt a little raw, and my stomach had that sunken feeling in it like I’d made a mistake. Much as I loved her, I worried that Shelby would make it worse.
“Are you trying to up my anticipation here? You don’t have to. I’m already dying. Spill!” she said, following me into my room as I peeled off my wet clothes, threw them into my laundry basket, and changed into my pajamas.
“There’s not really much to tell,” I said carefully. I didn’t lie to Shelby. Other than that one thing I never told anyone, she knew everything about me. “Oh! Except for Lily Ramsey was there. She let me in.”
“What?” she shrieked. “I am so torn. I both adore the idea of them having a torrid affair in real life because I loved them together in the movie and am outraged that he would be cheating on you!”
I laughed and tugged up my pajama bottoms. “They’re just friends. Their dogs like to play together, and she seems very happily married. Sorry to both burst your bubble and reassure you.”
“Come into the kitchen,” she told me. “I went out and got rocky road ice cream.”
I knew it was a bribe to ensure I’d fess up, but when chocolate was involved, I did not care. “I’m right behind you.”
“So . . . then what happened?” she asked, getting the ice cream out of the freezer. I grabbed bowls and spoons and met her at the table.
“Well, after Lily obviously became my new best friend, then I washed and brushed Magnus.”
“And . . . where was Noah while this was going on?”
“He was taking a shower.”
She grinned mischievously at me. “With you watching?”
“What?” I laughed, banning the images that conjured up out of my mind. “No! I’d prefer not to go to prison for being a Peeping Tom, thanks.”
“I kind of think it would be worth it. He’s in fantastic shape. There was this article in American Weekly that said he still works out like he did when he was in the military.”
I’d seen him up close. I could believe it. “Sounds about right.”
“He’s so massive. It’s like he’s a reverse Beauty and the Beast character.”
“What do you mean?” I asked after I’d taken a bite.
“You know how all the servants in that movie are people who were turned into objects? He’s the opposite. Like a sexy refrigerator that was turned into a person.”
That made both of us laugh.
“He’s definitely not making a servant’s salary,” I said. “He tried to tip me over four hundred dollars and I had to talk him down to forty.”
“You did that the wrong way. In business you’re supposed to get as much money as possible. Plus, he’s a celebrity, which you seem to have forgotten. If I’d been you, I probably would have swiped something from his living room as a memento.”
“I think he would have noticed if I stuck his Golden Globe down my shirt.” She had a point about the money thing. I recognized that it didn’t make sense, but I hadn’t wanted to take his money.
Maybe it was because part of me didn’t want our relationship to