“Are you...are you Isaac Dunn?” a hesitant, but excited voice asked.
He turned to find a young girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen, hands clutched under her chin, eyes wide. She was too young to have watched the show when it originally aired, but the publicity around the reboot had drawn in both old and fresh crowds. Her mom, he assumed, stood behind her. Closer to Isaac’s age and watching him with the same starstruck admiration, if a bit more reserved than her daughter’s.
“I am.” He turned on a grin and took the notebook the young girl offered. He wasn’t approached on the street on a regular basis back in LA, but here, where the show was being filmed, that hadn’t been the case. Fans had flocked to the luxe mountain town of Dunn in the hopes for a peek at the formerly famous cast.
“I have a pen,” the girl’s mother said, her smile shaking at the edges. Isaac chatted long enough to learn their names and sign an autograph, and then posed for a photo.
All in a day’s work.
He angled toward his rented apartment, his home away from home as of two weeks ago, perched above a deli and furnished to the nines. He didn’t make it off the curb before his phone rang.
“Kendall,” he answered his agent’s call. His agent, his brother’s girlfriend, probably his future sister-in-law—he wasn’t sure what to call her now. Surely a proposal was forthcoming. Thing was, he didn’t know if Kendall or Max would be the one to pop the question.
“Hi!” she chirped. “Are you done filming?”
“Yep, just wrapped.”
“I know we said seven, but we’re at Rocky’s early. Is it too soon for you to come out?”
“Not at all. I can be there in five minutes.”
“Great! We’re all here, in the corner by the patio.”
Isaac said goodbye and pocketed his phone, tracking up the sidewalk in the direction of the sports bar rather than toward his apartment. Rocky’s was outfitted with plenty of noisy televisions and bing-ing arcade games. The cast and crew had frequented the bar after filming for the day, so he’d been there more than a few times. Today, though, he was going to meet Kendall’s baby sister.
Evidently, his agent’s sister was a huge fan of the show, and hoping that an interview with Isaac would build up her podcast following. Like he’d been gracious to the young girl asking for an autograph, he didn’t mind showing up to help a struggling podcaster, either. Kendall had worked hard to boost Isaac’s career—including that brief stint posing as his girlfriend—so he figured he owed her.
The short walk was scenic, the backdrop of tall pines and mountaintops a view straight out of a Bob Ross painting. Inside, he scanned the restaurant for his bearded brother, his agent and her younger sister. He skipped over a trio in the back corner, only to snap his head around for a second take. That was Max, all right, and Kendall. The woman tossing her head back and laughing, red lipstick highlighting her sensual mouth, was not the college-age student he’d assumed she would be.
Kendall’s reference to her “baby” sister had him picturing a young girl like the one he’d just encountered. This blonde, wearing a floral dress that hugged her very womanly curves, was closer to his age than he’d previously assumed.
“Isaac!” Kendall waved him over. When he arrived, she gestured to the beautiful creature on the opposite side of the table. “This is my sister, Meghan.”
Meghan’s hazel eyes twinkled as she flipped the length of her blond hair over one shoulder. Her cheeks stained a soft pink, her smile tenuous and completely captivating.
“The podcaster,” Isaac finally managed. He hadn’t expected a woman half as stunning as Meghan. He hadn’t expected the blast of sexual awareness, either, but it saturated the air around him. So thick he swore he could taste the honey-sweet richness on his tongue.
“Oh my God, it’s really you.” Her mouth split into an adorably crooked grin, showing off straight white teeth. Dark lashes batted as she stared up at him as if in awe. “I thought meeting Max was cool, but...wow. Isaac Dunn.”
He had to laugh. He’d been flattered plenty in his career, but never had he remembered the answering drop in his gut when it’d happened.
“Thanks a lot,” Max grumbled.