7. Wesley
CHAPTER 7
WESLEY
T hree days — that was how quickly Wesley had to go from failing one event to attending another. How did one person have so many big events on her calendar? The way Lauren spoke about this one, it was more important than all the previous events, and probably more important than all the future ones, too.
This time, they were going to an audition, and Lauren was an absolute mess. She kept redoing her makeup for some reason, changing her shoes from boots to heels to platforms and back to boots again. Wesley watched in the background with amused interest. He finally decided to say something about it after repeatedly advising himself not to.
“You’re worrying for no reason,” he said.
She whirled around and gave him a chilling look. “What did you say?”
“They’re not going to choose an actor based on the shoes she wears to the audition.”
“Oh, you have no idea how this sort of thing works, do you?” She waggled a finger in his face. “They’ve cast actors based on little more than the makeup they auditioned in.”
He sincerely doubted it. “That makes no sense. Are you auditioning for a role as a clown?”
She turned her back on him and went back to getting ready. “What’s it to you either way? It’s not like you care.”
“True,” he said. “But I have to pretend to care if I’m going to play your boyfriend, don’t I? And you suggested that the best way to be believable as an actor is to add some sincerity to your performance.”
She froze where she stood and slowly turned toward him. Her eyes and mouth were wide open. Wesley had no idea what he might have said to shock her, but she quickly made him aware. “You actually listened to me?”
He cocked his head at her. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know, I…” She shrugged and looked away. “I guess I’m just used to people not hearing me.”
The look on her face broke his heart a little. He supposed that, for Lauren, living in her mother’s shadow was probably a lot harder than she allowed most people to see. He didn’t know what to say to her about it. Everything he thought of was borderline unprofessional. He fumbled a bit. “Well… It must be… I mean… Listening is important when you’re protecting someone.” He groaned at his own awkwardness.
She didn’t seem to see it the same way. “It means a lot,” she said. “Seriously.”
“Oh, yeah. No problem.” He glanced at his watch and stood. “You look great, princess. The boots are perfect. Your hair is cute. Your makeup looks great. Let’s get you to that audition on time, okay?”
* * *
Lauren spent the entire ride to the audition going over and over her lines. Wesley didn’t see how she could possibly get any new insight after the number of times she’d already been over them.
“Don’t you think you should take a breather before you wear out your vocal cords or something?” he asked.
She shot him an angry look and went right back to her lines. Wesley decided not to push her when she was clearly an inch from snapping.
It was odd to be driving a client around, especially one who sat in the passenger seat and chatted at him. That had to be the reason he had such an instinct to ease her mind. It was all so highly unusual, and his brain was tricking him into thinking this was just another friend going through a rough time. But he had to remind himself this wasn’t a friend. This was a client. Not even that. This was a client’s daughter. He reminded himself that his job was to play the boyfriend in public. Doing so in the car would only confuse things for both of them.
At the audition, she finally put her script away. A good number of people were waiting for their turn, all lined up in the hall in various stages of panic. Compared to everyone else, Lauren appeared to have all her ducks in a row. It was a complete switch from how she was in the car. Wesley was impressed. As far as acting went, she was a natural. She just had to take the survival instincts she used in her real life and apply them to the stage. Maybe that was why she connected to acting so much.
He realized he was sitting beside her, coolly psychoanalyzing her when he was supposed to be acting like a boyfriend. So he took a deep breath and put an arm around her shoulders. “You’re going to crush this,” he said. “I know you will.”
Lauren turned to him, her cheeks going pinker than he’d ever seen them. He wondered if he was maybe playing his role a little too well. Maybe this acting thing wasn’t so tricky after all. He pulled her closer and gave her a squeeze, and she looked up at him with the most adorable eyes, which he did his very best to not appreciate.
“Lauren Bartlett,” someone called out to her from a newly opened door.
She stood, and Wesley squeezed her shoulder. “Break a leg, princess” he said.
She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, preparing herself. “Here goes nothing.”
Then she was gone, and Wesley was left waiting. It surprised him how nervous he was for her. Weirdly, it mattered to him whether she got the part. He was even wringing his hands while he waited.
After several minutes passed, he began to sweat for no good reason. This audition was taking way longer than it should have. The wait got so excruciating that, when Lauren finally reappeared in the waiting area, Wesley actually shot to his feet.
“How did it go?” he asked, hoping Lauren would ascribe his urgency to the boyfriend act. But it wasn’t. He really did care.
“I think it went okay,” she said. “They said they’d call later today.” On their way out, she added, “I think I need a drink and a cheesy romance movie. Let’s go home.”
“Sure thing.” He opened the building’s door for her, and draped an arm around her as she passed by. As soon as they got into his car, he dropped the pretense and started the engine. Part of him didn’t want to drop the pretense, though. Part of him wanted to keep it going for the rest of the day, but he shut that instinct down as quickly as the inclination arose, every time the inclination arose, which was every few minutes, unfortunately.
Halfway to the apartment, Lauren’s phone rang. Wesley couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation because Lauren hadn’t put it on speaker, but by the nervousness in her mannerisms, he suspected it was related to the audition she’d just had. That was quick. If it was a rejection, the quickness of it couldn’t feel great. He immediately began thinking of ways to comfort her if she took it too hard. Maybe another ridiculous movie? Maybe taking her out for a drink? Something to help her forget and have a good time instead.
She ended the call and said, “Pull over,” without even looking at him.
Oh, no. This was exactly what he’d worried about. He found a spot to park, and Lauren leapt out of the car, screaming. He leapt out after her. It took him a second too long to realize her scream was from excitement and not anger or sadness. He only realized it seconds before she threw her arms around his neck, and he instinctively caught her by the waist.
She was off the ground, in his arms, and shouting, “Yes, yes, yes!” into his ear. Her body against his was too soft and too warm, and he was reacting to it way too much. “They said it’s between me and one other person. They said I was basically a shoo-in for the part. Narrowing it down to two or three people is just a formality, but they all liked my performance the best. I got it! I basically got it!” She dropped back to the ground and grinned up at him. The way her eyes glittered with pure joy and the hint of happy tears had Wesley’s heart beating a mile a minute. “My whole life is about to change. This is it!” she cried, still grinning.
Without even thinking about it, he ruffled her short, already messy hair and said, “Can I take you out to celebrate? Buy you a drink and dinner?” He quickly realized he’d taken things beyond what would typically be considered professional, so he amended it. “Because it’s what a good boyfriend would do, right? It would look pretty weird if I didn’t at least take you out after you got such good news.”
“Oh, why not? I’m in a good mood. Let’s do it. You pick the place.” She gave him a knowing smile and a quick wink as she got back into his car. When he joined her, she handed him one of her credit cards. “I’m not making you pay for my ruse, though. Use this.”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “I’m not destitute, you know. I can afford to pay for one dinner.”
“Yeah, but you wouldn’t feel the need if I hadn’t made you pretend to be my boyfriend. Don’t worry.” She nudged him. “I’ve got this one.”
He decided not to argue with her and pocketed her credit card. “Do you like pub food?” he asked. It was suddenly clear how few romantic restaurants he had in his back pocket. Considering how seldom he dated, it made sense, but he suddenly felt inadequate. He began to formulate an apology and explanation, but she answered before he could get it out.
“Do I ever!” she cried, bouncing in her seat. “It’s been forever since I’ve been to a good pub. Let’s go, farm boy. This is going to be fun for both of us, right?”
He refused to give her the answer he knew she wanted, instead preferring to let it linger in the air between them as he drove her to one of his favorite pubs. It wasn’t a sports bar, more like a classic Irish pub with a cozy aesthetic and delicious comfort food. He often came here when he just wanted to relax without having to put up any kind of front, and for some reason, he thought it would be perfect for Lauren, too, especially considering the kind of roles she had to play almost constantly in her life.
What Wesley couldn’t have predicted was just how right he’d been. Lauren was in some kind of heaven as soon as she saw the place. “This is amazing,” she said, sliding into their booth, her head swiveling left and right. She noted all the trinkets and signs on the walls and then asked, “Do they ever have live music?”
Wesley smiled at her. “In about twenty minutes, in fact.”
“Ooh, yes!” Her smile was infectious. He didn’t want to love it as much as he did, but as soon as she smiled, he found it impossible to look away from her. She hypnotized him with her happiness. That had to be what it was.
When their server came she ordered a sampler platter and a flight of beer. “We’re tasting everything,” she said with a hint of childish rebellion. “I haven’t eaten a whole plate of fried food in a long time! But this is a celebration, right? I’m splurging tonight.”
Wesley leaned back in his seat and grinned at her. “I never expected a little princess like you to be into this sort of thing.”
“Are you kidding?” She laughed. “Compared to the sort of places I used to hang out, this is downright wholesome.”
“Not too tacky for you?” he joked.
“Oh, come on. The tackier the better.”
When their food came, Lauren was positively ravenous. She shared her beer flight with him, and they ordered a couple more drinks. The band arrived, set up, and started playing some lively, folksy music.
An hour later, they were both laughing, tipsy, and Wesley was well beyond thinking straight. It wasn’t the alcohol that intoxicated him now — that he knew for certain, regardless of whether he was prepared to admit it. What intoxicated him was Lauren’s happiness, her smile. Without thinking about whether or not it would be a good idea, he blurted out, “Do you want to dance?” He paused and realized that he needed an explanation. “You know, since we’re in public and all. Seems like the natural thing to do.”
She didn’t seem as worried about it as he was. “Totally!” She jumped up and grabbed his hand. They were on the tiny dance floor in seconds. Her arms were around her neck, and once again, her body was pressed against his.
Wesley was too buzzed to protest or care. She smelled so good. They swayed and he held her waist with both hands, bowing his head over her and appreciating the warmth of her skin.
Some instinctive part of him, a part that refused to listen to reason, wanted to hold and protect her this way forever. It was primal, this feeling. No one would touch her. No one would hurt her if he had anything to say about it. She was fragile and precious, and he didn’t want to admit how much he had grown to like her — to like just being here with her, having a good time, and hearing her laugh for the smallest reasons.
He never wanted it to end, and that worried him more than anything else. Because, no matter what else happened, he knew it would be one of the biggest mistakes he’d ever make to actually fall for her. The problem was that he couldn’t seem to convince his own heart of that fact.