Tall Cool One Read Online Free PDF Page B

means?”
    “Which means you want to believe in love just as much as I do.”
    He was right, of course. But Cammie couldn’t decide if that was good or scary.
    “How do you know?” she asked him.
    He draped an arm around her. “You’re here with me, aren’t you?”
    True. It was all true. It was like he saw past all her bullshit. Cammie didn’t know how, but he managed it. Once again, she realized she had to change the subject.
    “Here’s the star of tonight’s show,” Cammie announced. Kyle had just stepped onto the patio. He waved to Cammie, then beckoned to her in a way that asked whether she wanted to dance. Cammie shook her head and leaned into Adam.
    “I feel I should point out that you just turned down a guy who’s going to be really famous in about four months,” Adam said.
    “I feel I should point out that he’s got nothing on you.”
    He tilted her chin up to him. “How many people know you, Cam? I mean, really know you?”
    “One-half,” she whispered. “You half-know me.”
    He held her closer. “The other half of me is still in the learning curve.”
    Amazing. He even got that.
    Another gust of wind blew some of Cammie’s curls dangerously close to her MAC lip gloss. “That’s sweet.”
    Adam laughed. “Did the word
sweet
just pass Cammie Sheppard’s lips without sarcasm attached?”
    “Funny.” She gave Adam a friendly punch. Just then, a jocular voice sounded behind her.
    “Cammie, my dear.”
    She turned to see her father, Clark Sheppard. He looked tanned and rested, and though he was dressed far more formally than anyone else at the party—an impeccable hand-tailored-in-Hong-Kong jacket with a white Yves Saint Laurent shirt underneath and a maroon and silver tie—he still looked cool and relaxed. Which made sense. The movie was still months away from being released. There were no box-office numbers yet to deal with, no pirated editions of
Taster’s Choice
available on the Internet, no crooked distributors in Malaysia who weren’t paying for their prints, no critics with vendettas ready to rip his client a new sphincter.
    “Hi, Dad,” Cammie replied, on her best behavior in front of Adam. “Great party. Thanks for having us.”
    “Sure.”
    Cammie could see that her father’s eyes were already flicking over the crowd of dancers like a hyperactive metronome—to see if there was someone more important than Cammie who he should be talking with.
    “I bought a pound of cocaine in Echo Park today,” Cammie said, her tone conversational, just to see if her father was listening.
    His eyes went back to her. “Very funny. Just remember where you got your sense of humor,” Clark quipped. His eyes rested on Adam for a moment. “So who’s the date?”
    “Adam Flood, sir.” Adam extended his hand. “I go to school with Cammie.”
    “Nice. And will you be graduating this—hold on.” Clark’s eyes bounced twenty feet past Adam’s right shoulder. “There’s Quentin. Shit. I’ve gotta talk to him about Kyle’s next movie. I’ll check back with you. Nice meeting you, Alan.” Clark moved off and within ten seconds had his arm around the slouched shoulders of one of the hottest directors in Hollywood.
    Cammie grimaced. “Sorry about my dad,
Alan.
”
    “Yeah. He’s kind of lacking in the listening department. If he ever paid attention to what you had to say, he might just learn something.”
    God. Adam was just so . . . so everything. The more time she spent with him, the harder she fell for him.
    “I’ve got an idea,” she whispered, leaning toward his chin. “Let’s get out of here.”
    She crooked her elbow, and Adam took it. Together they headed for the weather-beaten wooden staircase that led from the Geoffrey’s dining platform down the rocky cliff to the Malibu beach below. As they descended the staircase, the raucous sounds of the party faded almost to nothingness; ochre light from the rising moon illuminated the beach.
    They walked north a few hundred