I smile, and when I don’t immediately answer her question, she moves on to the next one.
“We haven’t seen you around much lately. Where have you been?”
“Here and there,” I say loudly, so she can hear me over the deafening sound of the crowd. “I’ve been relaxing.”
“It’s good to get away every once in a while, but your fans are dying to know if you’ll be back.”
“I’ll be back. I’m just not sure when. I’ve been a puppet to the industry for the better part of my life, and it’s time for some changes.”
“What kinds of changes can we expect?”
“I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” I shoot her a wink and step back, choosing to end the impromptu interview on my own terms, and it feels damn good.
“You heard it, ladies and gentlemen,” she says to the camera. “We haven’t seen the last of Nora Hayes, and hopefully we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of her mystery man.”
“Mystery man?” Grayson whispers, guiding me farther down the red carpet.
“I kind of like it.”
“Me too.”
28
Grayson
“The movie sucks, doesn’t it?”
I turn and come face to face with a beautiful woman draped in diamonds.
“Oh, uh…” I don’t want to lie, but she might not like my answer if I tell her the truth.
“It’s okay.” She laughs. “I’m not a fan of it either. Why do you think I’m out here raiding the food table? The crab cakes are delicious, by the way. Eat up.”
I take a small plate and grab a crab cake as she suggested, as well as a few pieces of fruit.
“Do you come to a lot of these things?”
The woman looks at me like I’ve grown an extra head. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”
“Not a clue. About the only celebrity I would recognize on sight is Mickey Mouse, and maybe a few of his friends.”
She laughs and takes a step toward me. “You have a kid?”
“I have three. How about you?”
The woman shakes her head. “None. I don’t have time.”
“That’s a shame. You’re missing out.”
“Someday.” She shrugs as if the thought of having a child doesn’t really cross her mind much. “Who are you here with?”
“Nora Hayes.”
“Ahhh. You’re the mystery man everyone has been talking about. I can see what the fuss is about. You’re a very attractive man.”
Wow. Are all women around here this bold? “Thank you.”
The woman whose name I still don’t know takes another step toward me and trips. Her wine glass clatters against floor as she tumbles forward. I manage to catch her with one arm.