Unbound [Actor Celebrity Romance] - Olivia Leighton Page 0,1

them. Son of a bitch. They were film critics (one of which, I knew, would tear me down regardless of how he felt about the movie because his publication felt that I was nothing more than a blond, poor man’s Ryan Reynolds) and there were journalists. The journalists looked sad because more often than not, they were from respected newspapers and would rather be writing political pieces.

Then there were the fans that had won contests. They were standing to the side, watching us with wide eyes. I walked through it all, seeing yet another poster for tonight’s movie on the wall behind me. It was creepy. Devlin Stone in the action film of the summer!

I was vaguely aware that Aubrey had stopped. We were holding hands and she was tugging on me subtly, trying to get my attention. I turned towards her. When I did, she kissed me eagerly, slipping her tongue into my mouth. Cameras snapped like crazy and people gasped. Between the flashes and Aubrey’s tongue, I wasn’t sure which to pay more attention to. I had no interest in a relationship with Aubrey, but she was hot and sexy as hell.

With the kiss over and the cameras settling down, I led her further inside the theater.

“What was that about?” I asked gruffly, not looking at her.

“What?” Aubrey asked in that shy, innocent way that drove teenage boys insane, blinking her big blue eyes rapidly.

“The kiss.”

She shrugged and waved at fans farther behind the flashing bulbs. “Well, beyond my wanting to, the reporter for Daily Snark was there. He’s the one that wrote the article about how I was probably a lesbian.”

Good God. “Oh,” I said, not really caring.

An over-eager attendant led us through a large lobby and into the theater. A few people were already filling some of the seats—mostly film critics and more contest winners as far as I could tell.

When we took our seats, I let go of Aubrey’s hand and relaxed. I sensed that she was looking at me, but I didn’t turn in her direction.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her delicate fingers coming to rest on my shoulder.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sucked in a deep breath. “Of course,” I said with a shake of my head. “Just tired.”

“Are you upset about the kiss?”

I sighed. In all honesty, I was. We weren’t dating. We had met on the set, as she had a bit part in the movie. We got along well but I knew that we wouldn’t be compatible in a dating scenario. She was far too involved in building her career. But now a picture of us kissing rather deeply would be everywhere tomorrow. Hell, in the age of Twitter and Facebook, that photo probably had made it around the world by now. Everyone would make assumptions about us.

I brushed away the thought. “No,” I lied. “It's okay.”

“Then what's up?”

“Nothing.” My voice was gruff and short. Even though I wasn't looking at her, I still caught the quick flash of hurt cross her face and then she turned away and looked back to the screen.

I only felt bad about it for a moment. By the time I thought I should apologize, the lights were going down and the screen was being lit up.

Jack in Alaska, I thought. Yeah, that could work…

The running time for the movie was two hours and twenty minutes—about forty-five minutes too long in my opinion. It's strange seeing yourself up on the big screen. It's like watching a different version of you act out a different life. I never liked it. I tended to beat myself up over small things... things I thought I could have done better. Regardless, the packed theater seemed to have loved it. The applause was uproarious and I got several pats on the back from those sitting behind me. One of these gestures came from Adam Parker, my agent.

“Looks like I landed you the role of a lifetime,” Adam said over my shoulder.

I stood, faked a smile and shook his hand. Aubrey slide up next to me, placing an arm around my waist. I leaned into her, more out of support than anything else, and enjoyed the warmth from her body. I knew that when we exited the theater, there would be more flashbulbs and over-enthusiastic reporters. But all I wanted was to get back to the hotel room, have a few too many drinks, and not wake up until the cleaners knocked on the door and forced me