What had happened just now in the breakroom made Ashley feel as if she lived in a dream. Well sort of. In her dream, Matt never offered her cash and asked for a pretend girlfriend. He would ask her out for real.
At least she’d uttered more than just one word.
Her heart pounded and she wanted to jump up and down, but she kept her cool as she carried the coffeeto Jennifer. She’d had a whole conversation.
Now if only she could make sure that she was on the best path to somehow making one conversation between them transform into true love.
She slipped into Jennifer’s room without knocking and closed the door. Jennifer had changed into a blue slip dress with spaghetti straps. Her cousin said, “My coffee will be cold.”
Right. Ashleyput the still-warm cup in Jennifer’s hands. “Jennifer…”
Her cousin sipped and then stared over the rim at Ashley. Once she finished, she declared as if she could read her like an open book, “You saw Matthew.”
The thrill she had going on under her skin must have shown on her cheeks. “I made him a cup of coffee.”
Jennifer snapped her fingers. “That’s why you’re late. You probablyshouldn’t cook… no, you should cook for him, you’re good at it. He doesn’t remember you, does he?”
Once when she’d been young, she looked up to her cousin, but that faded with time. Her mother used to carry on how Jennifer was the perfect daughter and howsheshould have had the beautiful one. Until Ashley’s father had left, she’d steal time on the porch with her dad as he smoked his tobaccopipe and find solace in the fact that she was a Romero. Ashley shook off the memory and focused on Jennifer, who set the coffee on her dressing room table. “No. He didn’t know who I was.”
Jennifer crossed her hands before her in judgment. “But he knows your cooking, because he’s eaten it at his sister’s house?”
Yes, she’d been a maid who’d often moonlighted as the chef for breakfasts.Then she’d been the accidental surrogate. And now she should be Morgan-free for life, except for Matt.
This was her chance. She nodded at Jennifer. “He ate there three times a week last summer.”
Jennifer picked up her script. “Good. When we get him to go out with you-”
“He asked me to move in and be his pretend girlfriend,” Ashley blurted, overriding whatever Jennifer intendedto say next.
Jennifer stopped and her mouth parted. For a second she didn’t move until she asked, “What?”
Ashley’s heart pounded. She needed someone to talk sense into her. Perhaps Jennifer wasn’t the best choice but she was all Ashley had here. So she explained, “He wants some role and needs to look like he’s into plain girls for his agent who thinks the studio is hedging becausehe isn’t connecting to normal every-day people.”
Jennifer’s lips closed and her eyes softened., “But you want to be his for-real girlfriend. This might be a place to start.”
Really? This could be the start of something special? For years she’d dreamt about untying her maid’s apron and telling him how she felt. But that was the stuff of movies.
Then her life had become a soapopera when she gave birth as a surrogate last year. She couldn’t exactly tell Matt or anyone so she’d just hidden her face, hoping her life returned to… well, boring.
But the day she was presented with mortgage papers for a house she shouldn’t be able to afford her own mansion, but as her pen was over the deeed, it was like a trap… she’d decided instead to chase her own dreams.
If she had a chance at finding out if they could really fall in love, flying out here was worth it.
“I spoke to him today—I thought that was good.”
Jennifer finished hercafesitalike it was water and placed the empty cup to the side. “This will be better. At least you don’t need me coaching you via Bluetooth to say hello.”
The image of Jennifer whispering in her ear as Ashleyate spaghetti with Matthew was like a bad nightmare in the middle of her day. “No…”
Jennifer crossed her arms and pouted. “So are you taking his job and leaving me without an assistant?”
Her skin jumped like she was still cleaning floors and being thought of as less important. She raised her eyebrow. “I don’t know.”
Jennifer’s lips quivered as if she was fighting a smile.“You are a horrible assistant. You didn’t get hair or makeup.”
Oh. This shouldn’t matter but her face felt like she’d been slapped. “So I’m fired.”
Jennifer dropped her hands to her sides as she shook her head. “No. You’re the closest thing I have to real family. I need you.”
