Love Signals: An opposites-attract, forced proximity, only one bed, revenge romantic comedy (Love St

8. Noisy Furniture, Homemade Hooch, and National Television Debuts…

Allie

“It’s starting!”Grandma yells, which causes a rush of people from the kitchen to the living room.

I somehow allowed myself to get roped into going to Nonno and Grandma’s house to watch tonight’s episode of Entertainment Nightly with my entire family. They’ve got the most seating space in their living room, so it made sense to come here. Zia Fernanda, who lives with them, is a celebrity gossip hound, so she’s over-the-top excited that her niece is on the show.

Zia turns up the volume and shushes everyone.

“Welcome to Entertainment Nightly. I’m your host, Rock Simons. Tonight, an exclusive on-site interview with Hudson Finch as he prepares himself for his next role. But first, let’s take a look at this week’s make-ups and break-ups…”

Zia mutes it and jumps up from her armchair. “Quick! Let’s go get the grappa!”

Oh God, not the grappa. It’s a digestivo—or after-dinner drink—that is supposed to aid digestion. All it does for me is up the temperature of my face by ten degrees and makes the world spin a little. It’s homemade, therefore the actual alcohol content is a complete unknown, but let’s just say it’s somewhere between forty percent and strong enough to burn a hole clean through your esophagus.

The plastic cover on the sofa squeaks as my relatives get up and race to the kitchen. I stay put on the floor, where I strategically planted myself when we arrived. I’m sitting here so it’ll be hard for my relatives to see my face while we’re watching the show, on account of being terrified of allowing any sort of expression that shows one of the following two emotions: a) hurt feelings, because I know they’re going to pick me apart, and b) attraction to Hudson, because if they sniff that out, it’ll be a whole thing I don’t want to deal with.

I look over at Nonno, who winks at me. “Are you excited, tesora?”

“Not really. To be honest, I don’t have time for this. I need to get back to work.”

He nods, then says, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” with a sigh. “You work hard, you make a lot of money, life is good when you’re old.”

Grandma, who is returning to the room with a tiny glass for her and Nonno, makes a pfft sound. “Money. She doesn’t need more money. She needs to find a nice man to settle down with.”

“She’s a modern woman,” he says, taking his drink from her. “She’s making her own way in the world.”

“Thank you, Nonno,” I say, sitting up a little straighter.

“We can give you money, tesora,” Grandma says. “It’s time you find a good man. Money won’t keep you warm when you’re old like us.”

On the screen, a commercial for Ozempic is playing, which will inevitably be followed by another Ozempic commercial. The rest of the relatives pile into the room, taking spots on the sofa and kitchen chairs that have been brought into the room. Lucia flops down onto the dusty rose carpet next to me. Vinnie and the kids aren’t here on account of soccer practice, so she’s all-in on the grappa. She takes a big sip. “So? Other than being a liar, what’s he like?”

“I don’t really know. I only spent a couple of minutes with him today,” I tell her.

She bumps her shoulder into mine. “Come on, what’s he like?”

“Well, we’ve established he’s a liar, so I’d say that’s all we need to know about him.”

Lucia shrugs. “A little white lie for the cameras. So what?”

The show starts up again and Zia jacks up the volume to ‘about to blow the speakers.’

Rock Simons grins into the camera. “And now for our EN exclusive with Josie Pedlar…”

The video starts and my heart pounds a little harder, seeing the front of the building I’m at every day. Hudson is standing, holding the box of pastries from the shop. “There’s our big box!” my father yells. The ladies in the room are all clearly more interested in Hudson. They collectively make a loud ‘oooo’ sound, which pretty much drowns out what that obnoxious Josie and Hudson are saying.

My dad shushes them. “Come on, we’re going to miss it if you don’t stop that.”

Hudson’s holding the door open for Josie, then the camera pans to the staff, all waiting and looking super awkward. I get a glimpse of myself and my face heats up. Oh God, I look weird. My family cheers. “There she is!!!”

“Shhhhh!!!”

“You shush. Your shushing is making it so I can’t hear.”

“You should’ve come to the shop for a hair mask.”

“Stop talking already! We’re missing it!”

“He’s so handsome, I can’t stand it!” Zia whisper-yells.

“Is he Italian?” my grandma asks.

“He must be,” Zia answers. “Look at that strong jaw.”

Meanwhile, on the screen, Hudson is working his way down the line, until he’s talking to me. My heart is in my throat, even though I know exactly what’s about to happen. I watch as we shake hands and my face turns bright pink as I say, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oooh!!!! You like him!” Zia says.

“I do not!”

Lucia snort laughs. “You do! It’s written all over your red face!”

“Sssshhhhh!!!!!”

Dr. Edwards is talking now. “Allie’s a radio astronomer. You’ll be shadowing her while you’re here.”

Zia gasps. “Look how happy he is to hear that!”

“He’s just being nice,” I say, not wanting to let myself believe he would actually be happy about it. Although he did hold my hand for a long time, now that I think about it. And his face is lit up.

And now I’m trying to look professional as I say, “Yes, I hope I’ll be able to help you out.”

“I’m sure you will,” he answers in that buttery voice of his.

I watch as he glances down at the box of pastries. “I brought some treats for everyone. They’re from a cute little Italian bakery near my condo.”

The rest of the family squeals with delight at being mentioned on national television, while I watch in disgust. He never even saw the bakery.

Chad snatches the box while Dr. Edwards says, “How thoughtful of you.”

“It was nothing,” Hudson says.

“What a phony,” I mutter to Lucia.

“Oh, Allie, look,” Dr. Edwards says. “These are from your parents’ bakery!”

I see the surprise on my face. “Oh wow, they must have been shocked when you came in.”

Hudson looks a little awkward as he says, “Um, well, you know.”

“Damn. They didn’t get a shot of the logo on the box,” Pop says.

And now, Josie is telling me not to come along on the tour, so I say, “Well, that’s it for me for the rest of it. I might be on for a few seconds at the end.”

“Shhh! We’re going to watch the whole thing,” Grandma says. The tour of the building starts and Keenan is explaining what it is we do, which clearly, my family has no interest in whatsoever.

“He’s so handsome!” Zia says. “Is he that handsome in real life, Allegra?”

“Pretty much.”

“Because you don’t look like that in real life,” she adds.

“Fernanda,” my dad says, sounding annoyed.

“What? It’s true. She looks more sophisticated on TV.”

“That’s because she’s dressed up to go to work. She looks very sophisticated when she’s at work,” he says. He’s totally wrong, but I appreciate him sticking up for me.

“Does he have a girlfriend?” Lucia asks Fernanda.

“Not that I’m aware of, unless it’s the mysterious blonde who came into the store, but I have to think she works for him because if he was with someone, there’s no way he could keep it a secret,” Fernanda says. “The paparazzi follow him everywhere, and then there’s that Ferris Biltmore guy who somehow knows his every move.”

“Why wouldn’t a man like that be married at his age?” my mom asks.

“There’s got to be something wrong with him,” my dad answers. “Otherwise he’d have a wife.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to get married,” Lucia says. “It’s not for everyone.”

Fernanda makes a smacking sound with her lips. “He’s a serial dater. He picks a woman on every set and stays with her until filming wraps, then he moves on.”

“Like a PR thing?” Lucia asks.

“I don’t think so because sometimes the women he chooses are a bad for his career, like that redhead from the Beach Cops movie who likes to strip everywhere she goes,” Fernanda says.

“Oooh! What if he picks Allegra to date while he’s in town?” Grandma asks, sounding far more excited than she should about her granddaughter being serial dated, then dumped.

“He’s not going to…” I answer, cutting myself off before I finish a sentence that sounds too insane to even be considered. “Besides, I’m not interested. We know he can’t be trusted and I’m far too busy with Frank right now.”

“Forget Frank. If you can get your hands on that, you totally should,” Fernanda says, pointing to the screen.

My face heats up. “I’m not … no.”

“Think of the stories you’ll have to tell!” she says. “Besides, if you can date a man like that, all the other men will come running when it’s over.”

“Again, work colleagues only. Discussion over.”

My dad speaks up. “My little girl is not going to date that man. He uses women, then dumps them, and he’s not good enough for my Allegra. No. Allegra is right. The discussion is over.”

“Enzo, if a big Hollywood star isn’t good enough for Allegra, then who is?”

“Someone who is not him. A good Italian boy.”

“Like Vinnie,” Lucia says.

My dad wrinkles up his face. “Meh…”

“Enzo! We love Vinnie like a son,” my mom says.

“Yeah, but…” He tilts his head as if to say, ‘yeah, but Vinnie’s not that great.’

Lucia rolls her eyes and tsks loudly. “Whatever, Pop.”

“Shhh! It’s Allie again!” Nonno shouts.

A quick pan of my office shows me sitting at my desk. A slight sense of pride swells in my chest. There I am doing my very important work. The video cuts to show Hudson at Gwen’s desk, smoothing his hands over it. He smiles at the camera. “So, this is where the magic is going to happen. Dr. Cammareri here is going to be my guide as I fully immerse myself in the world of radio astronomy.”

“Awesome,” Josie says. Turning to the camera, she adds, “We’ll try to make it back here to check on Hudson sometime in the next few weeks, so make sure you stay tuned because you won’t want to miss it. From Mountain View, California, this is Josie Pedlar signing off.”

The video ends and my family erupts in applause, while I sit, slightly disappointed that they cut everything I had to say about the actual job.

“Wonderful, Allegra! You did wonderful,” my nonno says.

“Dad and I are so proud of you, sweetie,” my mom adds.

“You did it,” Grandma tells me.

“I can’t believe you were on national TV,” Zia says, shaking her head. “And with that dry hair.”

“Yup. I certainly was.” I was on national television, and what’s more, Hudson Finch—an A-lister if ever there was one—just said my name on TV. A hot, rich, charming-as-hell, lying-his-ass-off, A-list celebrity who can have any woman he wants is going to spend the next six weeks with me. And it is going to be almost impossible not to fall for his act, even if I can see right through him. If there ever was a man to keep at arm’s length, it’s this man.