Accidental Meeting (Accidental Hook-Up 3)

“You’re biased, but thank you.” I can’t stop my lips circling upwards into a grin. “God, I can’t believe it, I’m so excited. I’m actually nominated for an award. I’m going to a posh ceremony.”

“Who are you going to take as a date?” he asks me, innocently enough, obviously angling for an invite.

I roll my eyes. “You, of course, if you want to come with me. Otherwise, I’ll be going by myself.”

“I do, I do. And I bet you’ll win as well. You sure as shit deserve to win.”

“Win?” That makes my heart stop beating. “No, I don’t think I’ll win but that doesn’t matter. Winning isn’t what matters. I’m just excited that I have actually been nominated.”

“You were amazing,” he warns me, his hand rubbing up and down my spine. “And that’s not just me saying it because I’m biased. So, I think you should get a speech ready just in case.”

“Isn’t that a bit cheesy though? Planning to win when I don’t even know?”

“Of course not! Everyone prepares. Otherwise if you do win you might get up behind that microphone and have nothing to say. You don’t want to have a blank mind in front of everyone.”

I groan and slide my eyes closed. “Oh no, I didn’t even think about that. You’re right, I’m going to have to. You might have to help me though or I will get so stressed.” The stress is already building up inside of me.

“Yeah, of course I will,” he reassures me. “That’s what I’m here for. To help you.”

I smile up at him so grateful that he’s here. He has been so helpful to me through everything. He really has been my rock, even more since we have been living here. I love him more every single day and I don’t see that dying. We are perfect for each other, even more so because it was a journey to get to where we are.

***

“Do I look okay?” I ask Shane doubtfully. “And don’t look at me through biased eyes. Look at me like the photographers at this event are going to look at me because they are going to be critical no matter what.”

He examines me critically. His eyes run all over me and drink in every scrap of the midnight blue dress that I finally settled on just like I asked him to. Nerves zigzag through me as he looks at me.

“You look so beautiful,” he finally declares. “Honestly, I haven’t ever seen you so gorgeous. And I love the way you have your hair up.” He makes a point of shivering. “It’s really sexy to see your ears and neck like that. It has my mind racing. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to keep my hands off of you.”

I roll my eyes and smirk. “That’s you being biased again. What are they going to say about me?”

He steps closer to me and circles his arms around my waist. “They are going to say that you look lovely.”

I don’t know if that’s true but it feels nice to hear him say this regardless. “Thank you, that’s nice.”

“Have you prepared your speech? Or memorized it, I mean. I know that you’ve written it…”

I breathe in deep. “I don’t know. I think so. I don’t think I’m going to need it anyway.”

“It’s better to be prepared though.” He cocks on eyebrow at me. “Don’t you think?”

Shane is utterly convinced that I’m going to win and while I like his confidence in me, it’s pressure because I really don’t think I am going to win. I am up against some truly amazing actresses who have more experience than me, so it’s highly unlikely. I don’t care too much anyway, I’m just happy to be considered.

“Yeah well thanks to you I am more than prepared. You have drilled my speech into me.”

“Good.” Shane takes a moment to straighten his lime green tie. He’s brought it out as a little sweet confidence booster, an in joke for the pair of us, which I love. He shows how much he cares about me. “Because I think it might be time for us to go. The car is outside and everyone is waiting for us. Are you ready to face it?”

I nod cautiously. I am, I’ve had experience with the red carpet before, but I’m also not. This is new territory for me and it’s nerve wracking. Thank goodness I have my amazing man by my side, making me feel safe.

“Come on then. Let’s do it before I change my mind and I insist that we spend the night in.”

Shane takes my hand and we leave quickly, heading to the nice car. It’s time for the night to begin…

***

The red carpet passes by in a hurry, I barely even notice it. I have been worried about it, I wasn’t sure how it would be, if it was going to be different, but I survived it somehow. Probably because Shane was by my side looking after me the whole time. Then we were taken into a gorgeously decorated room. It’s all gold and silver, looking stunning and glamorous too, and everyone’s seats were labeled.