Chapter 7

The knockon his door was expected, and Dusty shifted from where he'd been curled up on the couch daydreaming to answer it.

"Coming!"

"Good to hear you're awake, kiddo," Ann called back through the door, the unmistakable scent of Chinese food preceding her.

He opened the door and leaned on it. "Hello."

"Uh-oh. What does that smile mean?" Ann looked at him suspiciously and went straight for his coffee table to set the food down. "Are you drunk?"

"What? No. Although could you blame me if I were? After the night I had?"

"I guess I should be glad you're out of bed."

"You have no idea."

Ann turned around, eyeing him. "You got laid."

"Ann! That's…personal."

"Who was it? Not Jack, he's hot but he's married."

"Oh my God, no. Jack? Ew! That would be like sleeping with my brother."

"Then who? Not the pretty escort…what was his name? Cameron? His office was clear he didn't do that."

"He clocked out in the limo on the way to my place."

Ann plopped onto the couch, eyes wide. "No! Do tell, kiddo. Do tell!"

"Well, you know how I was mad at you?—"

Ann started opening cartons and handing out chopsticks. "Yes, do I get to say I told you so?"

He rolled his eyes. "I know you live for that, so go for it."

"I told you so!" Ann clapped her hands gleefully and he laughed. She really was good to him, so he let her have her moment.

And she was going to love this. "There. Now. What you don't know is that part of the reason—the main reason, really—that I was so stubborn about it was that I knew Cameron from before last night."

Ann leaned forward as if she were making sure she'd heard that right. "Wait. You knew him, or you knew him?"

"I knew him. He's an ex."

"Oh, no." Ann sat back again covering her mouth in horror. "What are the chances? Lordy, only I would have that luck. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you?" Dusty snorted. "You might as well have had football padding on and cotton in your ears. You were unmovable."

Ann grinned sheepishly, tweezing up some lo mein with her chopsticks. "I can get like that."

"Tell me about it."

"It usually serves you well, though." Ann slurped up the noodles, then winked at him. "It sounds like it turned out very well, so I'm standing by my smug refrain. How long ago did you break up?"

He knew exactly because he'd had a call back the very next day for Archie, and that had been the day he'd first met Jack. "Two years ago."

"So, long enough to be over him."

"But not long enough to not be mad anymore. He was so mean to me when he walked out. It was ugly, Ann. Ugly, I tell you."

"Oh!" Ann gasped—she'd just put the pieces together. He braced himself. "That was when you started therapy! When you got Archie. You were such a mess. I didn't know you'd had a breakup."

"You didn't know I was with anyone, either."

"Wait a minute. You're right. We'd only just begun working together a few months earlier, and we hadn't had our ‘Mama knows best' talk yet."

"It's okay. You'd have told me to break up with him. We weren't good for each other then."

The sex had been good. Too good. Good enough to keep them together when they really shouldn't have been. It was all they'd had by the time it ended. "I was very self-involved, and he was so fucking superior." He picked up a container and peered in. "Ooh, sweet and sour chicken."

"Of course. Good for hangovers and day-afters."

This was definitely a day after. Or maybe a day of. "I'm not hungover, not from alcohol, but he did only just leave an hour ago."

"So you had a good time last night?"

His first thought when she asked that had nothing to do with Cam, and that was probably good. "It was surreal. Just…like a dream. The red carpet, the ceremony?—"

"Winning." Ann sucked in another bite.

"Right? What was that? I'm a total newbie, I'm nobody. I was still stunned to even be sitting there, but to win?"

"You deserved to win, kiddo."

"No, but—I mean maybe, but all those other amazing actors that were nominated too and they picked me? I was just…I'm still just…" He didn't have the words.

"It'll sink in. The press is already lining up for interviews. I pushed everyone off today, but the insanity begins tomorrow."

"Oh, wow. I hadn't thought about that."

"It doesn't have to be a slog. Just stay patient, and understand you're going to get asked the same questions a hundred times."

"Do we need to work on answers?"

"Tomorrow. We'll do that in the morning, and in the afternoon you have two interviews."

"Just two? I can handle that."

"Two tomorrow. Another on Wednesday; then you fly to New York."

"New York? Oh, fun!" He loved New York. And he loved going back east. He'd grown up out there, and even if home hadn't been so wonderful, he still had Jersey in his veins.

"Cameron was lovely. The two of you looked great together. I thought he was just doing his job, but I suppose it must have been deeper than that."

That was the million-dollar question. "I don't know when the shift happened for him, but yeah. He had my back all night. He was friendly and totally professional. He had this great cover story about being a personal chef. He had all these details—nobody ever doubted him."

"This is what his agency does. High-profile people are his bread and butter."

"Well, he was great. I was so nervous and he wasn't at all."

"I'm glad to hear it. You wouldn't believe the questionnaire I had to fill out for you. So many questions. They really want to match you with the right person."

He snorted. "You make it sound like a dating service."

"Well, it kind of is. You needed a date that was going to make you look like a Hollywood power couple, and that's what they gave you."

"I don't know that I needed?—"

"Pfft." Ann rolled her eyes at him. "Dustin Harding, I know you very, very well."

"Wait." She wouldn't have…he put his food down. "Did you deliberately set me up with my ex?"

Ann looked horrified. "Oh, God no. I told you, I had no idea. They don't tell you much, to be honest. You fill out this form, and they respond in a few days. Now, I don't know what they know…"

"You think they set me up with Cam on purpose? Did Cameron know?"

"I don't know about that, kiddo. It's possible. After all, you are a big name around here. I did mention you weren't serious about anyone."

Cameron had to have known. Of course he'd known. And he'd come anyway. Why?

Dusty picked up the Chinese food container and dug in, not sure what to do now that he was sure that Cameron had known. Ann let him stew in his thoughts for a bit while they ate, but not long enough for him to work out any answers.

"If he knew," she finally said, carefully, "he either wanted to see you again, which is sneaky but sweet, or his employer insisted, in which case you still can't be mad at him."

"I'm not mad." But he was sulking and she knew it.

"It doesn't matter, kiddo. You invited him home last night. It seems like it was a good thing."

He nodded. That was the truth, right? Cameron had left just an hour or so before Ann was due. Long enough for him to shower and change the sheets they'd been lying in since last night. "It was good. He's a different person, I'm a different person…"

"We all grow up a little more every day. You put the work in, and maybe he did too." Ann made it sound so logical and…not weird.

"I love that he had a cover story. That's so James Bond." Ann did a little chair dance.

"Oh, this agency he works for is serious business. He wouldn't tell me anything about anyone else he's worked with. There could have been other people there last night that were once clients, and they never would have said a thing to me. They have to sign all this paper work."

"Oh, yes. I signed all of those on your behalf, kiddo. So mum's the word if you ever?—"

"Oh, God. I hope I don't."

"You will have to keep it a secret."

"Oh, it's not that. I can keep a secret. Queer folks never out each other. I'm used to that." He chuckled. "I just think it would be so weird."

"Especially if you're sleeping together in his real life."

Oh, man. What a mess that would be. "I don't want to talk about it."

Ann laughed, her smile turning coy. "So, you're going to see him again?"

"We haven't made any plans but…I think so? We're going to talk later. He said he'd call."

"Listen. If it turns out that he's just a very good liar, don't beat yourself up. There's nothing wrong with having a good time. He's sexy and charming. Who wouldn't want to take him home?"

But it wasn't a lie. It couldn't have all been a lie. "I told you he was off the clock, Ann."

"Sure, but does that mean he was looking for a relationship? Or just sex?"

He scowled at her. "Don't ruin a good night, buzzkill."

"Okay, okay. He certainly could be sincere. But don't daydream yourself into a happy ever after made of clouds, kiddo."

He stared at her for a long moment. If it was a lie, he'd know soon enough. Right now it felt real. He was sore in all the right ways, and that was absolutely real. "Fine. I'm grounded but hopeful. Happy?"

"I want you to be." Ann touched his knee. "Honestly. I'm hopeful too."

"Good." He let that make him feel better. "Toss me a fortune cookie."