“He’s obviously not going to call,” I moaned.
Dallas pulled her sunglasses down long enough to stare at me. “Run by me again what he said.”
“I shall call you,” I repeated, for the twentieth time that morning. We were lazing on towels in my backyard, enjoying the Sunday weather.
She made a face, like what Cole said was a bad thing. “I shall call you? Who talks like that? What are we, in the olden days or something?”
“He’s polite.”
“He’s a weirdo. Cole Newton is officially a weirdo.”
I didn’t think he was a weirdo. I did, however, think he wouldn’t really call. If he wanted another date, he would have kissed me. He was in the zone, I was a willing partner, he had the go-ahead. A guy that likes a girl doesn’t not kiss her.
I shrugged. “Maybe he changed his mind? Perhaps I was just a distraction to pass the time while he was between concerts.”
“It’s a pity. I had already picked out the dress I was going to wear to the Grammy awards.” Dallas sighed.
I pushed her playfully. “Wouldn’t I have been the one going to the Grammys?”
“You’d need a date, because Cole would be busy with the rest of the band. Oh, and he would introduce me to Nick at the after party and he’d instantly fall in love with me.”
I laughed, so that was apparently how it was going to go. If Cole had kissed me anyway. He wouldn’t be calling now, but at least I had that one day. I would always remember the perfect day we spent in a deserted amusement park.
“What happened to being in love with Reed?” I asked. Dallas changed her mind more than her hairstyle, and that was quite a feat.
“I didn’t feel the connection when we were on stage. Plus, he kind of smelt like BO.” She wrinkled her nose at the memory. “I want someone more sophisticated, like Nick.”
“Cole said Nick has a girlfriend. Sorry.”
She swatted me with both hands. “Don’t say that! You’ll break my heart.”
“Better to know now than get hung up on a dream that can’t happen.”
She stopped, mid-swat to stare at me. “Nobody should take dreams away, how can you be sure they won’t come true?”
I was going to say that dreams generally didn’t come true but it sounded too depressing to say out loud. I guessed some of my disappointment at the way Cole had ended our date was manifesting itself in my mood.
I shall call you. I should have asked him when. I would have expected the next day to be a good time, but apparently he didn’t. No matter how many times I checked my cell phone, it hadn’t changed with a message or missed call.
“Melly, I’m hungry,” Jemma whined. That was my reality, not swooning around with a superstar.
“Come on, I’ll make you a strawberry smoothie,” I said, leading her inside. Dallas trailed behind, raiding the refrigerator for anything that was suitable for her diet.
“Do you have anything besides chocolate spread and bread in here?” She asked, her head still in the fridge as she rifled around.
“My dad hasn’t gone shopping for a while. I can make you a smoothie.”
“I don’t do dairy.”
I rolled my eyes at Dallas’s latest fad. So far, she had given up meat, gluten, sugar, and now apparently dairy. There was normally something different she was trying. “Have a strawberry then.”
She shrugged and grabbed one of the juicy berries. I threw some in the blender with milk and ice cream, hitting the button as the machine whizzed to life.
“You know, when we tell everyone at school what you did yesterday, your cool factor is going to go through the roof,” Dallas started, her lips slowly turning red with the berry’s juice.
“I’m not telling anyone.”
Her mouth formed a perfect O. “Why not? Cole Newton closed down an entire amusement park for you. If someone did that for me, I’d scream it from the rooftops. Or at least put it on Twitter.”
I wasn’t entirely sure why I wanted to keep all the details to myself. I guessed a part of me knew once the news was out, the inevitable humiliation would come after Cole disowned me. I was used to people leaving, I wasn’t used to them sticking around. There was no reason for me to believe Cole would be any different.
I made up a lie instead of telling Dallas the truth, it was easier that way. “Cole said not to tell anyone. He could get in trouble if people found out about us.”
“Trouble from who? He’s a superstar, he can do whatever he wants.”
“What are you talking about?” Jemma asked. I’d forgotten she was there and listening into everything we said.
“Nothing, here’s your smoothie. Go and eat it outside in the sun.” I slid the drink across the bench for her. She took it, giving me a suspicious look before leaving. Jemma was a smart kid, she was probably already working out how to use the information she gleaned to blackmail me later on.
“Melrose?” Dallas clicked her fingers to get my attention again. “Why wouldn’t he want people to know about you?”
I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts to make some sense. I was not good at the whole lying thing. “Because he’s supposed to stay single. His fans don’t like it when he’s got a girlfriend.”
“But Nick has a girlfriend.”
“Yeah, and you wouldn’t have known that if I didn’t tell you.”
“Point taken.”
It wasn’t enough, I needed Dallas to give me her word that she would keep her mouth closed about Cole and I. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone and you’ll keep my secret.”
A look of pain crossed her face. For Dallas to keep the juicy gossip to herself was a big deal. She pursed her lips together as if determined not to make a promise she couldn’t keep.
“Dallas, promise me,” I begged.
She threw up her arms in defeat. “Fine. I promise. But I want you to know that you owe me. If anyone else breaks this story at school, I am going to hunt you down and skin you alive.”
I didn’t doubt she would. “If I’m ready to go public, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Good.” She took another strawberry and we returned back outside.
I wondered what Cole was doing at that moment. Was he somewhere enjoying the beautiful day? Was he cooped up inside doing interviews? Was he thinking about me? I had no idea what he was doing.
I still had his number, I could call him. Then I would be able to know exactly what he was doing, I could ask him myself.
But that was desperate. I didn’t want him to know I was waiting for his call. I was an independent young woman, I wasn’t supposed to be dying for a guy to call me. How did other girls handle this whole dating thing?
“You should have kissed him,” Dallas said to break the silence. “That would have given you a better story to tell everyone when you’re allowed to.”
“So I was supposed to grab him and just lay one on him?” I laughed, the thought was crazy. I could never take a guy by the shirt and plant a kiss on his lips. Even the thought of doing that made me blush. Add Cole being the guy to the mix and I would die of embarrassment.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s the guy’s job to kiss the girl first. I can’t go against hundreds of years of tradition.”
“Yes you can! I would, especially when the guy is Cole Newton.” She pouted her lips and kissed the air. I laughed, there was nobody like Dallas in the world. She really was unique.
“Well, maybe he should have asked you out instead of me. That would-” I was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Jemma jumped up. “I’ll get it!”
I grabbed her before she could get away. “No, Jem, stay here. I’ll get it.”
I hurried inside and checked the peephole on the door, well aware of both Dallas and Jemma hovering behind me. They were just as bad as each other, I may as well be babysitting two kids.
Standing on the stoop was a delivery guy, a huge bunch of flowers in his hands. I opened the door and accepted the delivery.
“Who are they from?” I asked the man.
“I only deliver them.” He shrugged after handing me the heavy flowers. The bunch was full of bright colors, everything from gerberas to lilies to peonies. They were gorgeous, bright and happy. “Check the card, it might give you a clue.”
I thanked him before he left. I waited until the door was closed before I grabbed the card. I was scared about what it was going to say. I assumed the flowers were from Cole, but they could have been a nice way of fobbing me off. It was less likely I would go to the media if he had done something nice for me, right?
“Well, what does the damn thing say?” Dallas asked, as impatient as usual.
“Come on, Melly. The suspense is killing me,” Jemma added.
I pulled the small card out of the envelope. I would rather have done it without an audience. I plastered on a steady face and prepared myself for the worst. At least I had a nice day out and a bunch of flowers, that was more than I had on Friday even if I didn’t have Cole himself.
I braced myself as I read through:
Miss Melrose Morgan,
Thank you for your company yesterday. I still haven’t taken off my gift shop t-shirt because it reminds me of you. I hope these flowers are as beautiful as you are.
Talk soon, Cole xoxo
I read it out for my audience. They gave a unified “Awww” when I reached the end.
“Oh my God, Rosy. Cole Newton really is in love with you,” Dallas gushed.
Jemma’s eyes practically popped out of her head. “Cole Newton? That’s who you’ve been talking about all day? He’s like famous and stuff.”
I knelt down so I was at her eye level. “Yeah, he is. But it’s a big secret, Jem. You can’t tell anyone, especially Dad.”
“Dad doesn’t know?” She looked scandalized, like it was the worst crime in the world to keep something from our father. I guessed in her young world, it was.
“No, he doesn’t. I’ll tell him when the time’s right. Can I get your pinkie swear?” I held up my little finger, praying she would do the same.
Jemma gave me a cheeky grin before finally complying. We linked our pinkies and shook on it. That was as much of a promise as I was going to get from the kid. Even though she was likely to forget about it and blurt everything out to Dad the moment she saw him. I made a mental note to tell him before too long. After all, I was going to have to explain the flowers somehow.
“This is so huge,” Dallas said as she took the flowers from me and headed for the kitchen. She started to go through the cupboards. “Where do you keep your vases?”
“Um, we don’t have any?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously. It’s not like any of us get flowers all the time. Or ever, for that matter.”
She rolled her eyes and filled the sink with water. “If you’re dating Cole, you’re going to have to get a vase. Everything I’ve read about him says he’s so romantic. You are a lucky girl, Miss Melrose Morgan.” I liked the way Cole said my name much more than Dallas did.
As I watched her preen the flowers into the perfect position, I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my lips.
Cole might not have called yet, but he was thinking about me. Judging by the size of the bunch of flowers, he thought about me a lot.
Perhaps he wasn’t going to leave my life as easily as he had come into it. Perhaps Cole might stick around long enough to get to know me.
Or perhaps he would move onto the next town and completely forget about me. I still wasn’t comfortable with pretending everything would end happily. I wasn’t prepared to let my guard down. Not for Cole Newton and not for anyone else.
Still, there was one thing I did know for sure. I was completely, utterly, stupidly, star struck.
The Star Kissed Series:
Book 1: Star Struck
Book 2: Star Kissed
Book 3: Starburst
Book 4: Star Bright
Read them all now.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Jamie Campbell grew up in the New South Wales town of Port Macquarie as the youngest of six children. A qualified Chartered Accountant, she now resides on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Writing since she could hold a pencil, Jamie’s passion for storytelling and wild imagination were often a cause for concern with her school teachers. Now that imagination is used for good instead of mischief.
Visit www.jamiecampbell.com.au now for exclusive website only content.
Also by the Author:
A Hairy Tail
Cinderella is Evil
Saving Rapunzel
Killing Snow White
Ashes to Ashes
A World Without Angels
Angel’s Uprising
Gifted
Ignite
Unite
Divide
Conquer
Dark Eyes: Cursed
Through a Tangled Woods
Trouble
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