on his arm and only pulled her back to him.
“Oh, there’s someone I want you to meet. He’s a great guy.” They walked up to a dark-haired, tall, muscled reporter. “Tate Graham. Long time, buddy.”
“Will Martinsson, you son of a bitch. How the hell are you? I didn’t know you’d be here.” He laughed at his joke.
Will joined in laughing with him. “Yeah, I had to beg to be here. Not too many people like my character.”
Lissa laughed softly to herself; he had to be the most loved villain to ever hit the big screen.
“Are you ready to start?” Tate asked.
“Go for it.”
Lissa listened, interested in the fact he was answering the same questions over and over, yet he still made it sound like it was the first time. His energy and enthusiasm were infectious. He was an actor, but it seemed to go so much deeper. He was truly enjoying himself, and she was so enthralled with him she almost missed the fact the questions had turned to her.
“And who is this beautiful lady you have with you tonight?”
“This would be the remarkably talented author, Melissa Loring. You’ll want to remember that name. She’s absolutely brilliant.”
She hoped the heavy makeup she had on would hide the fact she was blushing at the compliment. Looking up at him, she raised an eyebrow as she turned back to Tate and smiled. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” Her grip on Will’s arm became tighter and tighter as the focus switched to her. She prayed she wouldn’t say anything too stupid.
“Melissa Loring. I’ve heard of you. You’re rumored to have a script almost ready to start shooting that’s based on one of your books.” Tate looked over at Will. “Can you tell me if that is true and if any actors have shown an interest in any of the roles?”
“Oh, I’m hoping the actors I had in mind while I was writing the book will be available.” Melissa smiled at him.
“What brings you to L.A.?”
“A little of this, a little of that.” She casually waved her hand around. “Tonight, I’m very fortunate to be here, and I can’t wait to see the movie.” She had hoped to bring the direction of the interview back to Will and the movie since they were there for that reason.
“And how did you end up being Will’s date tonight?”
Not exactly what she was hoping for. How should I answer? She looked at Will from the corner of her eye and noticed he was grinning at her. He’s enjoying this.
“A mutual friend introduced us, and he took pity on me when he heard I loved the previous movies.”
“Pity on you? Really, darling, haven’t we already had a discussion about that?” Will started to pull her away from the interviewer. “If you’ll excuse us, please.”
“Sure, talk to you later, Will. Oh, and nice to meet you, Melissa. I’m sure we’ll be talking again very soon,” Tate said.
Will stopped her a couple of feet away and leaned down into her ear. “ Pity on you , really?”
“What else was I supposed to say?” she whispered, trying not to get distracted by his scent and how the waves of his hair curled around the back of his ear.
“Whatever you want to as long as it’s not a lie. I did not take pity on you.” His tone almost sounded hurt to her.
She turned her head and looked into his eyes. She could tell he was upset, either by her words or that she thought he took pity on her. “Will.” She placed her hand on his heart. “I’m sorry, but this is all new to me, and I have no idea what to say or do. I know everything is being recorded and could potentially be played over and over, thousands of times. The last thing I would ever want is for us to have a misunderstanding, but I also truly didn’t know what to say.”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry also, but I couldn’t bear the thought of you thinking I pitied you in any way.” He brought his hand up and placed it on the side of her neck, gently rubbing the tight cords in the back of it. “I’m not sure when it happened; maybe
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