Read Online Catch A Falling Superstar: A New Adult Erotic Romance by J. Emily Steen - Free Book Online Page B

LuckyStop hat.
    Damn, I was still wearing it. I pulled it off and stuffed it in a pocket.
    “So what would I do? If I wanted to try?”
    “Get some experience. Try to get a part in some local productions. Go on auditions. Write some jokes and go to a comedy club and do a stand-up routine. See if you like the limelight. Just saying. Or make a YouTube channel with sketches or famous scenes or whatever. I see people doing that and slowly and surely building a name for themselves. Everything counts. Some things count more than others.”
    “Like being friends with Archer Stratton?” I smiled while I said it, to remove any possible misunderstanding.
    He shrugged. “Hey, couldn't hurt. Just something to think about.”
    He stretched luxuriously.
    “So, what's your story, anyway, Blue? Or do you prefer Ashley?”
    I was pleasantly surprised. That “Blue” thing was getting kind of old. Yes, I have blue eyes. But maybe I'm more than my eye color.
    “How do you know my name, all of a sudden?”
    He gazed levelly at me.
    “I have my sources,” he deadpanned.
    “Would your sources be that guy with the iPad at the entrance?”
    “I can't reveal my sources. Enemy agents are everywhere,” he confided, looking around the room suspiciously.
    I chuckled to show him I got the joke. He was referring to his famous role as Quiller, the super secret spy.
    We got our food. I got my chicken wrap in a very generous portion, while Archer got his tomato soup. It came with garlic bread.
    “Smells good, anyway,” he stated. “If you want to know if a restaurant is any good, order the tomato soup. If it comes from a can or is made from powder, that's no good. And if it's made from scratch, and it tastes good, then that place is worth revisiting to try some of their other things. That's been my experience, anyway.”
    “Eaten at lots of restaurants, huh?”
    “Oh, don't get me started. I haven't had a decent home cooked meal for years, probably. That's what happens when you travel a lot. But this soup looks promising.”
    He grabbed the spoon and dove in.
    I got started on my own wrap, which was a tortilla wrapped around fried chicken and salad and a sauce. Not the healthiest meal ever, but with a millionaire movie star taking care of the bill, there was no chance I'd sit here and pick at a salad.
    “This is okay,” he said between spoonfuls. “Nice and thick. It's not powder based. But there's canned juice in here somewhere. I can taste the acid.”
    He tasted a little slice of bread that came with it.
    “And this... may well have been baked here. But probably not. Just a little to floury. Good mix of spices, though.”
    “You seem to know a lot about cooking.”
    “Family owned a restaurant back in Concord. I started as a busboy, then was promoted to waiter. Washed dishes, did odd jobs, even cooked sometimes.”
    “I thought you were a successful child star since before you could even walk.”
    “Pretty much. But my folks wanted me to know what it was like to work for a living. They felt I got everything to easily. Which was probably true. I actually enjoyed the experience a lot. Well, parts of it.”
    “You did?”
    “You bet. I miss working with people. You know, just being one of the guys. Doing the same thing. Now, I'm so isolated. There's no camaraderie on a movie set. For the actors, at least. We're all doing our own thing, pretty much. And some actors are, like, seriously weird. You can probably imagine some of them.”
    “Not hanging out by the water cooler, talking about last night's Game of Thrones ?”
    “Nope. Doesn't happen much. I don't think we even have a cooler. Everyone drinks Evian from, like, crystal goblets. Nah, just kidding. They drink San Pellegrino. How's your wrap?”
    “It's good. Very... filling.”
    “Spicy?”
    “Yes, it's okay. It's got some Mexican thing going on. Taco-ish, I guess. Still liking the soup?”
    “Still good. About the right amount of garlic. And some coriander, I think.