The Sidekick Celebrity: A Sweet Celebrity Romance (Crystal Springs Celebrities Book 2) Page 9

  “Let’s go out tonight, my treat,” Colt said.

  “Huh?”

  “You get a job offer and I’m getting promoted? C’mon, we have to celebrate,” he insisted.

  “Won’t someone recognize you?”

  Colt’s pointed at his haircut. “I’m not too worried about it at the moment.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Jill hedged, unsure if she wanted to tempt herself further.

  “Between both our weeks, I think we deserve a little fun. Besides, it’s Saturday night and we’re young and on vacation, all that stuff. Let’s go out on the town.” The grin on his face was contagious, and Jill felt herself smiling back.

  “Out on the town?” she repeated. “Where is there to go in Crystal Springs?”

  “Well,” he said, elbowing her playfully as he passed by to the kitchen table, “I heard there was a packet.”

  Sure enough, Rosie’s list included a list of places where they could go for great drinks, listen to live music or even go dancing.

  “Wow, they’ve got salsa and line dancing here,” Colt said, genuinely impressed as he checked through the notes.

  “Maybe we skip dancing,” Jill said, unsure if she trusted herself to be in his arms in any capacity. At his quirked eyebrow, she fibbed. “I’ve got two left feet.”

  He stared at her a beat longer than necessary, but moved on to the next line item. “There’s a little music venue nearby. I can’t remember the last time I saw a concert.”

  Jill quickly looked up the spot on her phone to see who was playing that night. “Oh wow, I actually love this band. I think they’re about to get big. Turns out the singer is from Crystal Springs, so they put it on their tour.”

  Colt grinned at her. “Well, that’s just meant to be. Let’s go see them!”

  Jill laughed, butterflies of excitement dancing in her stomach at the thought of so much time with Colt. “That could be fun … it’s not for a couple more hours, though.”

  “How about we try dinner first at that place Jack and Rosie love so much?” He pointed to the name on the list and she glanced at it.

  “LUSH?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, let’s go get dinner first. We can’t stay inside after news like ours.”

  “Okay, okay,” she said, laughing a little.

  “I’ll call ahead and get a table,” he said, phone already in hand. “Take whatever time you need to get ready.”

  Colt was like a big kid, as giddy as if someone had told him Christmas came early. But his enthusiasm was contagious, and she couldn’t get the smile off her face as she raced upstairs to change. Colt was right, she decided as she rifled through her clothes; getting a big job offer like she had – well, like they both had – was worth celebration.

  Jill chose a blue dress from Rosie’s closet that matched her eyes, pairing them with her favorite brown boots; she was grateful she’d thought to pack them. She took a few minutes to style her long hair, and quickly dashed on a bit of makeup.

  She also shot off a quick text to Rosie about the outing, who replied within minutes: “Tell me everything when you get back!”

  When she returned downstairs, Colt was waiting for her. He’d chosen dark wash jeans and a black sweater; along with his new haircut and the scruff of beard he’d grown, he looked incredibly handsome.

  “You look great,” he said, staring at her a beat longer than necessary. It only made her heart beat faster.

  “Thank you. You know, you’re almost unrecognizable now,” Jill teased him as she came to a stop at the end of the stairs.

  “Almost, huh?” Colt ran a hand through his hair, clearly still a little surprised at the new length.

  “I mean, I can see it’s you, but I think you’ll be pretty incognito for the rest of your vacation.” On the way to pass him to get her coat, she gently tapped his chin. “It’s the beard.”

  He chuckled, his own fingers lingering on the spot she’d touched. He helped her slip her coat on before putting his own on. They stepped out of of the house, the cold air swiftly taking their breath away.

  They wasted no time heading to the popular restaurant; Colt must’ve dropped his name earlier, though, because they had a table already waiting. Jill admired the beautiful (and completely packed) bar and interior, with exposed brick and beams and the open kitchen where the red-headed chef – Chef Thomas Finnegan, according to the menu – instructed orders to his team.

  LUSH was a terrific spot, and while Jill enjoyed every sip and bite, she enjoyed Colt’s company even more. They were enjoying a charcuterie board appetizer and tasty cocktails when Colt raised his glass in a toast.

  “Cheers to our exciting new adventures,” he said.

  “Well, if I take the job offer,” she reminded him, still lifting her glass to join him, “but it’s very exciting to even have a week like this one.”

  They clinked glasses, never breaking eye contact. Beneath the table, his knee brushed against hers. She set her glass down, nerves fluttering, but kept her cool.

  Jill lowered her voice, even though no one could hear her over the restaurant noise. “Does it feel real yet - knowing you get to be the next General?”

  His grin could’ve lit up a small city. “No, but I doubt it will until I actually like, walk onto the set in full costume and I’m halfway through a monologue about heroism.”

  Jill rolled her eyes, laughing. “Hopefully it won’t be written exactly like Jack’s version.”

  “Oh, I hope not. I want to make it my own, you know? I want to be more than just some sidekick celebrity,” Colt said, rubbing his jaw.

  “But you’re not,” she said. “You’re not some sidekick even now. You’ve been in plenty of your own movies, too.”

  “Not everyone is going to think I can do it.”

  “That shouldn’t matter, as long as you think you can.” Jill took another sip of her drink, hoping she didn’t sound like she was scolding him. “Why do you think you have anything to prove? Who are you trying to impress? Isn’t your career enough as it is?”

  “I used to think it was, but I just don’t know anymore.” For the first time since Jill had known Colt, he seemed unsure of himself, lacking the confidence he usually carried.

  “Colton, you need to know yourself before anything else. Neither I nor anyone else can give that to you.”

  The statement looked as if it’d hit him like a brick over the head. He sighed, a wistful little smile on his lips. “It’s not that I didn’t know that, but to have you say it out loud like that makes me think about it in a new way.”

  She chuckled, savoring the peach puree from her side of their shared plate. “Well, sometimes you have to hear it from someone else when you’ve been thinking about it too much.”

  “True. All right,” he said, gray eyes twinkling, “your turn.”

  “My turn?”

  “What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours when you say ‘if’ you take the job offer?”

  Ignoring the zing that went through her at his compliment, she offered a weak chuckle. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s such a big decision. I don’t even know if I’m ready for it.”

  “‘Ready for it?’” Colt’s eyebrows show up into his forehead in surprise. “Are you kidding? I watched you save a guy’s life without breaking a sweat.”

  “But that’s different! This would be in the ER, constantly pushing myself.”

  “And what about that is a bad thing?” Colt put his hand down over hers, squeezing it earnestly. “Jill, I haven’t known you long, but you are a lot of things, and ‘timid’ isn’t one of them.”

  Jill giggled. “I guess you have a point.”

  “You’ve followed your lifelong plan down to the last detail and somehow you still aren’t where you want to be,” he continued, his warm hand still covering hers. “Don’t you want to make the leap?”

  “I’m beginning to think you know me better than anyone else,” Jill said without thinking. A quiet moment passed between them, the impact of her
words settling.

  Colt cleared his throat, pulling away to snag a piece of cheese from the plate. He popped it into his mouth. “It’s okay if it scares the daylights out of you, ya know. All that studying, all these plans … Jill, from what you’ve told me, you’ve barely lived your life. And now you have an opportunity to get away from home and be whoever it is you want to be, which I know is this incredible, unstoppable woman, but you’re too scared to actually see if it works out.”

  “You think I’m incredible?” she asked playfully, not wanting to truly address what he was saying.

  As though he could read her mind, he quirked an eyebrow at her, lips twitching. “You don’t need me to tell you that.”

  He’s right about being scared. Jill pursed her lips, not wanting to admit it, but he was totally right. All this hemming and hawing over a job offer was because she was downright terrified to up and move her entire life somewhere else.

  “Easy for you to say, when you stand there now with everything you could ever want right there in front of you.” She smiled to let him know she was teasing, and his easy grin darkened to that smolder he did so well.

  “I feel like it took me longer than it should’ve to see that what I wanted was right in front of me.” Colt caught himself, picking up his drink and tapping the rim absentmindedly as he talked. “You know how hard I had to work to get here, though. And I have a long ways to go, but that’s the beauty of it, right? Pushing ourselves to constantly learn and grow?”

  “Can’t argue with that,” Jill said, smiling into her cocktail. His attitude didn’t surprise her, and she tried to ignore the twinge in her chest.

  The conversation eventually turned into shared stories of their childhood, of growing up in relatively small towns where everyone knew one another.

  “Kinda like here,” Colt said, giving the restaurant an appreciative look.

  “I have to say, I’ve enjoyed my stay in Crystal Springs even more than I imagined I would,” Jill said.

  “That’s a good sign for why you should take the job and move here,” Colt said, clinking his glass against hers.

  “Maybe,” she mused, eyeing him over the rim, “but I think it’s also the company.”

  Perhaps it was the cocktail giving her liquid courage, but she couldn’t help wanting to forget their platonic agreement, even just for one night.

  Colt leaned forward as he set his glass back down. “I have to agree; this week has been amazing, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun without you.”

  The candlelight danced in his eyes, his gray eyes like a stormy sky that drew her in. The intensity on his face, the slight pull at the corner of his mouth, and their close proximity nearly took her breath away.

  Is he flirting with me? Jill wasn’t quite sure she’d ever hoped for anything more. And what do I do if he is?

  “There are only a few days left together, you know,” she said, finishing the last sip of her drink.

  “That fact has crossed my mind,” he admitted.

  “And?”

  “And I’d hate to have any regrets.” He looked directly at her when he said it; goosebumps broke out across her skin, while in her head, a little voice screamed at her to stay calm.

  Their server, a pretty girl named Natalie, brought the check as he’d requested, effectively pausing things. Colt took care of the it, though Natalie quickly brought out a final plate before they could leave.

  “A gift from the kitchen,” Natalie said, setting the dessert between them. She placed two small spoons on the table. “Thank you again for having dinner with us!”

  “Man, going out with you gets the VIP treatment, doesn’t it?” Jill said, laughing even as she dug into the ice cream portion.

  He shrugged, bemused at her reaction. “Every job has its perks.”

  “Thank you for dinner tonight. And, well, for everything.”

  He paused. “Everything? What do you mean?”

  “I dunno, just for being so cool about having to accidentally live with me in Jack’s house while you’re on vacation,” Jill said, suddenly wishing she hadn’t opened her mouth.

  “I could thank you for the same thing,” he said, his voice low enough that she had to lean in further to hear him. She suspected he’d done it on purpose; not that she minded, of course.

  “I can’t help but think this trip has been life-changing in a way,” she said without thinking, too busy gazing into his eyes. “Even without the job offer.”

  “Maybe it’s the Universe proving to you that we were supposed to be here together.” The corners of his lips quirked, but his tone was completely serious.

  They stared at each other, dessert long forgotten. The way he looked at her, Jill nearly forgot to breathe, too busy forgetting she wasn’t supposed to let her guard down again.

  It’s way, way too late for that.

  “C’mon, let’s head to the show so we can get a good spot,” he said, helping her slip on her jacket. His hands lingered on her shoulders, by her hand, before he pulled away.

  “The show,” she echoed. “Right.”

  Meanwhile, her heart raced, full of a hope she’d been trying so hard to squash down. She tried not to plainly stare at him as they left their booth and went back into the fall night.

  Warmth flooded over them as they entered the venue’s doors a few minutes later. Up front, the stage was lit up, all the equipment ready to be used by the band.

  Colt and Jill grabbed drinks at the bar and found a little spot by a bistro table in the back of the balcony that still offered a great view of the stage. The band went on soon after, their first few faster songs drowning out any chance of conversation.

  Colt stayed close enough to her that they brushed against each other more than occasionally. Each contact set her on fire all over again, and she could feel her resolve slipping further. When a few people squeezed by them to gather with their friends up ahead, she leaned in so that she was right up against him.

  He didn’t shy away, and Jill felt more confident than ever. The band played a slower song, the crowd quieting down to hear the lead singer croon sadly about lost love. Colt’s hand was on the table by his glass; she sipped her drink, placing hers next to it, and settling her hand so that it lingered by his.

  Scarlett’s voice practically sang inside her head. A-B-B, Jillybean!

  “What do you think?” Jill asked, deciding to go for it. “Should we throw our rule book out just for one night?”

  He turned to look down at her, his expression downright smoldering. On the table, his pinky finger covered hers. “Just the one?”

  Jill’s breath caught as she considered the question. Is he asking me what I think he’s asking me?

  Somewhere off in the distance, the song ended and the lead singer spoke into the microphone, interrupting them. “Thank you, thank you everyone. We’ve got one more before we take a quick break.”

  Colt hesitated before motioning at their empty glasses. “Let me grab a couple fresh ones before they leave the stage and the bar gets swarmed.”

  She nodded and he stared into her eyes a bit longer, that hungry look still in his eye, before he took off. Jill took a moment to reset, running a hand through her hair and straightening her dress. I’ll give in if he does. Now they just had to somehow forget that Jack would never forgive them. Would that be worth it?

  Jill caught sight of Colt downstairs by the bar, leaning over to pay for their drinks. His hair fell casually by his eyebrow, and his muscles were apparent even beneath the black sweater. Every woman in the vicinity eyed him with extreme interest, but he didn’t appear to notice it. Instead, his gaze roamed back to the balcony until he found Jill and smiled at her. When he’d returned back upstairs, he didn’t break eye contact even as he walked to her, and his stare made her knees wobble.

  The band took a break just as he returned. He placed their new drinks on the table, and his hand brushed against Jill’s hip. As predicted, the crowd had rushed to the bar, leaving
them with more privacy as no one paid them any mind.

  He gave her a wicked grin. “Now, about what we were discussing before…”

  Jill leaned in, eager to continue the conversation, but before she could so much as suggest anything, a shocked female voice interrupted them.

  “Colton?”

  Colt stiffened, slowly turning as his expression went strangely slack. Jill peered around him to see a beautiful brunette staring at Colt, who sounded as shocked as the young woman. His gray eyes widened and Jill’s heart plummeted somewhere around her ankles before he even opened his mouth.

  “Gwen?”

  Colt’s mouth fell open at the sight of his ex-girlfriend. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

  Gwen Taylor, now a household name in the country music industry, stood in front of them. He hadn’t seen her in person in nearly a decade, but somehow it was like no time had passed at all. Her chocolate brown eyes sparkled, while the lights bounced off her shiny, rich brown hair with caramel highlights. She’d chopped off several inches, he noticed, and looked better than ever, as much as he hated to admit it. Her bracelets jangled as she waved a hand up at the front stage.

  “I’m thinking of adding the band to my next tour, as the opening act,” Gwen said, flipping her hair behind one shoulder. “I wanted to see one of their shows, and Crystal Springs was the closest one that worked with my schedule. What are you doing here?”

  “Ah, well, Jack got married here, so I’m … taking a few extra days to relax.”

  “It must be working.” She gave him an obvious, appreciative once-over. “Wow, I almost didn’t recognize you! You look terrific. Love the haircut.”

  “It’s new,” Colt said automatically. “I see you got one, too. Must be a new album coming up.”

  Gwen, who’d initially lit up, lost her smile at his dig. Colt knew she picked up on what she meant – how Gwen always had to change something anytime she wanted to shake things up. Just like she when broke things off with me.

  It was only when blond hair caught the corner of his eye and he jumped, realizing Jill was at his elbow. Horrified at his behavior in front of her, he stammered out an introduction. “Sorry, I – Jill, this is Gwen Taylor. Gwen, this is … Jill Bennett.”