The pen scratches across the paper before getting handed off to Trent who’s sitting across from me. Simone beams with pride and excitement as she takes the now-signed contract from Trent and tucks it away in her project folder.
“Well, gentlemen, we can’t wait to see how it all turns out. There’s a lot riding on the success of this documentary, so no pressure.”
Robbie stands and reaches his hand out to shake with Simone. “We’re excited about this opportunity.”
Today was more of a formality with Fletcher, the documentary director and only Robbie and Trent present to represent the band, since the entire band already signed the initial contract. This was an addendum added regarding promotion expectations and finalizing details for filming.
The rest of our team stands from the table and starts to make their exit when Trent’s voice catches my attention.
“You got any plans right now?”
I glance at him to make sure he’s talking to me, and our eyes lock instantly. “Nope, I was just going to take my lunch break.”
His smile grows, lighting up his gorgeous blue eyes. “Perfect. I’m starving and was going to see if you wanted to grab a bite and catch up some more.”
His smile is infectious, and I feel my lips pull up. “Give me two minutes to set my stuff down at my desk. I’ll meet you down in the foyer.”
“Sounds good.”
I exit the room, quickening my pace so I don’t keep him waiting when a tall blonde steps in my way, her eyes alight with glee.
“Simone. What’s up?”
“Did I just overhear Trent Bridger ask you out on a date?”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Bullshit it’s not. And while I should be discouraging you from hooking up with someone we’re currently working with, I also can’t blame you because that man is fine with a capital F.”
“I swear, Simone. It’s not like that at all. Trent and I are friends. We grew up together in the same small town in Texas. We’ve known each other too long for me to find him attractive.”
That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever told her, but Simone can be like a dog with a bone when she thinks she’s got the juicy details on gossip. I need to kill that notion immediately.
She stares me down, searching for the lie. I swear she missed her calling working as an FBI interrogator.
“I don’t know whether to be disappointed in you or thrilled that he’s still available.” She arches her brow, her gaze still staring me down like she hopes I’ll crack at any moment and confess my undying love for him.
Not a fucking chance.
Pointing behind her in the direction of my office, I say, “If you don’t mind, I need to drop this off so I can get to lunch.”
As if just now realizing she’s completely blocking my way, she steps aside. “Of course. Don’t want you to be late for your lunch with your friend,” she says with a wink.
Oh good grief. She didn’t buy it at all.
Trying to push the interaction aside, I rush to my office, drop all my papers on my desk, grab my purse from my bottom desk drawer, and then hustle to the elevator, praying that I don’t run into anyone else.
Trent is waiting for me in the foyer, sunglasses resting in the neck of his T-shirt, a brown leather jacket fitted to his body like he should be on the cover of a men’s magazine. Women walk by, their eyes hungry as they drink him in, while he stands there oblivious as he looks down at his phone. The giant looming bodyguard behind him isn’t oblivious in the slightest. He gives the women a menacing glare that warns them not to even think about coming within two feet of Trent.
I wonder where his bodyguard was hiding while we were all in our meeting.
Before I have a chance to think any further on the logistics of Trent’s life and what it must be like to have someone following him at all times, he glances up, and a heat spreads through my body as his gaze connects with mine and his face lights up with the brightest, most genuine smile I think I’ve ever seen.
Once again, I find my own smile spreading across my face to match his. “Sorry for taking so long. I ran into Simone in the hall.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind waiting. I just didn’t want to miss an opportunity to catch up some more. Have you tried that Thai place in the Promenade? It looks amazing.”
“It is amazing. Best Thai food in Southern California hands down.” My mouth waters just thinking about their chicken pad Thai.
Instead of walking the few blocks, Trent ushers me to a Range Rover with black tinted windows. His bodyguard opens the door for us and then sits in the passenger seat next to the driver.
“This is intense. Are you sure you don’t want to just order in and eat in my office? They’ll deliver it.”
He looks at me, confusion filling his handsome features before his gaze shoots to the front seat and then back to me as understanding dawns. “I guess this does seem pretty over the top just to go get lunch a couple of blocks away, but we’d be hounded if we tried to walk there. I figured this was the easiest way to get there without being followed.”
“Do you have to do this everywhere you go?”
He shrugs. “Pretty much.”
“Wow, I can’t imagine living like that.”
“Doesn’t Will have to deal with this when you guys go out?”
I shake my head. “Not really. Sometimes fans will recognize him and ask him for an autograph, but he’s never needed security detail or a fancy driver to go to lunch.”
“He’s a lucky guy,” he says, pursing his lips and looking down at his lap before glancing out the window at the people walking along the sidewalks.
I let the conversation drop because I feel like I just inadvertently touched a nerve. My own gaze looks out my window just as we take a turn.
“Uh, we should’ve stayed straight. The restaurant is up there on the right.”
Trent looks over at me. “They know. We’re going in the back to avoid too many people seeing me. With publicity ramped up for the tour, my face is plastered everywhere. Case in point,” he says, pointing to a poster displayed in the window of a music store across the street of the band and the dates for their latest tour. “When it gets like this, I usually try to go in the back whenever I eat out just to avoid as much chaos as possible.”
I glance back at him just as he looks ahead and see him with new eyes. He looks so much like the Trent I’ve known for so long, but I can’t imagine the burden of having to meticulously plan every action. He’s not that simple boy who grew up in a small town in Texas. Not anymore.
We pull up behind the restaurant, and his bodyguard guides us inside. A waitress is ready to direct us to a table tucked away in the back and with a privacy screen that mostly shields us from the other lunch patrons.
We place our order, and I decide to keep the conversation light, wanting to veer away from anything that might give him that melancholy look he got ever so briefly in the car. The conversation shifts effortlessly between my job, the band and their upcoming tour, Will’s career with the LA Wolves, and Will’s new dog, Rex, that I’m hopelessly in love with.
By the time lunch ends and we’re on our way back to my office, my heart feels light from laughing so much. It’s been so long since I was able to talk with someone of the opposite sex without any pressure of a date. We were able to just connect and catch up like two friends who forgot how easy it always was with us. There are no expectations except to listen to the other person. To really hear him and have him hear me in return.
It was the best friendly lunch I’ve had in a very long time.
He drops me off in front of the building, and I lift my hand in a wave as he drives away, my smile still glued to my face.
By the time I’ve made it back to my desk, I’m already hoping we can do that again before he leaves for tour.