A Little Less than Famous (45 page)

“I hate you,” I said, laughing with him.  He raised his eyebrow at me, waiting. “I love you, Jake Kennedy.” I plunged on. “And I hope you realize that this was not an easy thing for me to say and that it took a lot of courage and…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Jake said, his smile growing even wider.

“And you?” I asked, feeling a little apprehensive that he hadn’t said anything yet; he hadn’t said
it.

“Hey now, I said it in front of the entire country on national television,” Jake said, laughing.

“That was four months ago, Jake!” I protested.

“McKinley.”

“Come on, now, I said it! You should say it too,” I said, feeling like I was being cheated.

“McKinley.”

“I mean, sure, yeah, I totally recorded the show where you said, but that is
so
not the same thing, and besides, you’ve never actually said it in person…”

“Kinley!”

“What?” I said, looking up at him.

He had that stupid smile on his face, that stupid Jake Kennedy smile that was half genuine and half of a smirk but was a smile that I couldn’t help but love. “I love you, Kinley.”

A smile spread across my face. It was amazing at how different it felt hearing it this time around than the first time I heard it back in January, when he had said it on television. It was strange to me how he could be absent from my life for so long and yet show up and tell me those three words and kiss me like I had never been kissed before and everything was okay. “You better,” I teased.

“So…how do you feel about spending some time in Washington?” he asked, slipping his hand in mine. I had never seen him this happy in the entire eight months I had known him. I started leading him back into the diner. I wanted everyone to know. I wanted to show him off; I wanted to call up all the magazines and scream it to the world.

“Washington? While you’re filming?” I asked, as we walked in. Luke and Crystal immediately looked up, Iris peaked over the top of her laptop and Oliver peeked out of his booth. To say that they all looked surprised would be an understatement.

“Yeah. You’re always more than welcome to come. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” he said, hastily. “You can come for a week or something.”

“You know, that would actually be really awesome,” I agreed. Then I remembered. “Oh, wait. I’m going to be in Boston for a month.”

“Boston?”

“Yeah, I’m filming in
The Idea of Being Me,
“ I said.

He looked at me blankly. “Wait, you got the part in that movie?”

“Not the lead,” I said, quickly. “I’m playing…I’m playing Emma Pierce’s older sister. It’s not a big part.”

“That’s seriously awesome, Kinley, wow,” Jake said, sliding into the Jimmy Stewart booth.

“Thanks baby,” I said, sliding in next to him.

“All right then, I have another question then.”

I raised my eyebrow at him, smiling thanks at Luke, who had brought over drinks in the most nondescript way possible. He was the worst actor in the world; obviously I hadn’t learned any tricks from him. He had a huge smile on his face at the sight of the two of us together.

“I’m going to invite my parents over. To the diner. Right now.” 

“No!” I shot out, and then immediately shut my mouth, knowing that I had definitely said something wrong. “I mean, if you’d like to…”

Jake burst out laughing. “You reacted exactly the way I figured you were going to react. I think that it’s a good idea, Kinley. I’ve met your family, you should meet mine.”

I took a moment to look at him, trying to push away the panic that was beginning to build in my stomach. I had never met a boyfriend’s parents ever, in the entire time I had been dating. Jake Kennedy was different though and I had already taken one step into discovering that. It was time to take another.

Epilogue to the Epilogue

I looked down at him, feeling my heart begin to swell. This was a moment that every girl looked forward to in her life. It was a moment that I had never expected to be experiencing and yet it was happening right in front of me. I could see Adrienne at the corner of my eye and I saw how happy and satisfied that she was. I focused on the man in front of me, who had all of his attention on me, who only saw me and no body else.

“I love you,” he said, the emotion so obvious in his voice.

I felt a smile spread across my face. “I love you too,” I answered.

He backed up for a moment and got down on one knee. I gasped, surprised and not yet surprised at all. “Baby, what are you doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing?” he asked, amusement coloring his voice. “I’m asking you to marry me! So, will you marry me?”

“Of course not!” He looked at me, his eyebrow raised and I laughed. “Of course I will.” His face broke out into a huge smile and he stood up, gathering me up in his arms and kissed me.

“And cut!”

Alex Morrow and I pulled apart, and looked over at our director, Ryan Lynch. He started making his way over to us, a script in his hand. He neither looked pleased nor pissed but I had learned that this was just the general way that Ryan looked. You just wouldn’t know until he came up to you. I glanced at Adrienne, who was on the phone but giving me a thumbs up.

             
Almost had you fooled didn’t I?

             
Don’t get me wrong; I love Jake but let’s take this one step at a time, right? It took me twenty-three years to care for someone like I care for him. Marriage is a whole other ball game and besides, we’re still too young for that. There is so much waiting for us out there.

             
Jake and I had been back together for about six months. We had survived being away from each other while filming
Going Home
and
The Idea of Being Me.
We had survived filming new TV shows as well. Jake had continued on
Crime Scene
of course and I had started a new pilot on the same network, as a supporting character in a new comedy about college roommates.

             
I had even survived just being with Jake. It was hard at first. I kept Jake at an arm’s distance but as time went on, I learned what it was like to be a girlfriend. I even met Jake’s parents, Rosie and Henry, who were some of the nicest people in the world.

             
I had gotten a few emails from my mom, and though I always replied, we never really developed a relationship from it. It was as if I was talking to a stranger. However, I continued to email her and fill her in on the basic details of my life.

             
I had also emailed Brendon, way more times than my mom. It was definitely weird talking to him but I had no hard feelings toward him in the slightest and was open to starting a relationship with him. My grandma and I had talked about me coming out to Raleigh for a visit when I had a break and I was definitely considering it; I was actually looking forward to meeting him, my sisters and the rest of the Evans family.

             
Things weren’t perfect, of course. Jake and I still fought like crazy (the make-up sex was always worth it though) and there were times when I still held back, still scared of the overwhelming feeling that came with being with someone you loved but we were doing great. Our careers were good, there was definite Oscar talk for Jake from
Going Home
and we were together. At the end of the day, there was nothing else that mattered than that. 

Please check out my website at:

www.whatanerdgirlsays.com

Thank You to Everyone Who Contributed to This Novel Via
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Lavonne Dominguez

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Zwirn

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Zipay

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Hudgson

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Lesso

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