At First Hate (Coastal Chronicles)

“How do you keep him on a string? Martin is…” Josie waved her hand.

I snapped my eyes back to her. She’d only married Martin eight months ago. Was it already going poorly?

“Is he cheating on you?” I asked, my voice lowering.

“No, of course not!” She laughed. “It’s just Hollywood, you know?” She looked at my blank face. “Or maybe you don’t. He has a lot of fans, and they’re pretty aggressive. The spotlight isn’t always the best place to be.”

“I can imagine. Derek gets a lot of attention just because he’s Derek. I don’t know if I could handle fans.”

Josie patted my hand. “You couldn’t.”

I swatted at her. “Bitch.”

She cackled. “I missed you so much. I need more time with people who will call me out on my bullshit.”

“That’s very clear.”

Derek came back then, balancing three drinks in his large hands. He passed Josie a beer and me a sidecar. He winked. “I told them how you like it.”

I flushed and took a sip of the drink. “It’s perfect.”

“Stop. You’re adorable,” Josie said.

Derek slipped into the booth next to me. He took a sip of his beer and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “We try.”

“Well, at least someone can make my girl happy. I never thought I’d see the day,” Josie said.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Dramatic,” Josie corrected. “It’s part of my job.”

“Didn’t you just win an Emmy?” Derek asked, changing the subject.

Josie arched an eyebrow. “Did you Google me?”

“Maybe.”

I rolled my eyes. “I suppose you’re perfectly Google-able.”

“That I am,” Josie said with a wink. “And yes. Best actress actually.”

“Congrats,” Derek said. “Quite an accomplishment. And this is the third year of Academy?”

“Correct.”

“You and your costar finally going to hook up?” He leaned forward for the scoop.

She snorted. “Ship has already sailed.”

The biggest part of Academy, the supernatural show that Josie had premiered, was the will-they, won’t-they between her and her costar. Especially considering she’d married him at Christmas, everyone was wondering when they’d finally get hot and heavy on the show.

“Not on-screen,” he pointed out.

“A girl never kisses and tells.”

I nudged her. “Liar.”

“I mean, obviously,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll just say, the tension is hot on set.”

“On and off set,” I said into my drink.

“Touché!” she cheered.

A few girls scurried over then. The boldest of them stepped forward and cleared her throat. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear you discussing the show Academy?” She said it more like a question. “Are you… are you Cassie Herrington?”

Cassie Herrington was Josie’s character’s name on Academy.

Her friend giggled. “Josephine Reynolds,” she corrected.

Josie’s eyes revealed to me how much she hadn’t wanted this to happen. But it was just a split second of annoyance, stripped away so quickly that no one else would have ever seen it. A smile split her face, and she nodded.

“That’s me. Are you fans?”

“Huge fans!” the first girl gushed.

The second nodded. “I can’t believe you eloped with Martin Harper!”

“He’s the hottest,” a third piped up. “I love him as Cord!”

Derek and I watched in awe as she handled all three of the girls, taking a few pictures, signing a napkin, and then sending them on their way.

Josie plopped back down in the seat as if nothing had happened. “What were we talking about?”

“Damn, you’re famous,” Derek said with a chuckle.

“It’s a pain sometimes,” she admitted. “But gotta love the fans. They got me here.” She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder as if that was done with. “So, tell me all about you, Derek. Mars is so tight-lipped.”

I didn’t want to admit why that was as Derek dived into an explanation about what he did for a living. After graduating in May, Derek had decided to stay on with his advisor to be a legal researcher. We’d spent every day together all summer—lost on his sailboat along the Charles River, sneaking kisses in the Law Library, him bringing me food in the lab. It was easy. Tinged with a worry I couldn’t ignore or get rid of.

My anxiety was driving me crazy. Misty had laughed at me. She said it was just the first real relationship I’d ever had. Real being the operative word because every other guy I’d dated had gone up in flames. Derek was my constant. Somehow, it should have made it easier. But no matter how effortless it was to be with him, I couldn’t brush aside what had happened to us in college. The words he’d said to me, the pain of his loss.

Everything had changed when he took care of me after Gramps died. And nothing had.

I was his.

That should have been enough.

Derek smiled over at me, pausing in his conversation with Josie. “What?”

“Nothing,” I said automatically.

“That’s not a nothing face,” he probed.

“Come on, Mars. We’re having a good time,” Josie teased. “Sometimes, I think you’re the mysterious one.”

I laughed. “Yeah, right.”