Read Online Cut to the Chase by Lisa Girolami - Free Book Online Page A

well.
    The film started as she and Avalon shared the dim sum. When the police questioned the little Ellison girl, she suddenly came out of her catatonic state and screamed, Avalon tilted toward her, pushing her shoulder into her. “The delivery of your line was much better.”
    “Why, thank you.” She was floating in her own B-film fantasy, costarring Avalon and Paige. Who knew what adventures they could have.
    They both pointed to the screen when the shadow of a sound technician’s microphone boom came into view and commented on all of the continuity gaffs, which were plentiful in that type of low-budget movie. It was as if they’d watched this movie together many times. They mimicked lines throughout, and when Jensen got frustrated at the military general, she and Avalon simultaneously bellowed the rest of his lines.
    By then, she noticed that Avalon had moved closer to her, and with every laugh, their bodies touched as if completing a magical and exquisite connection between them. She tried not to read much into it, told herself not to make anything of it, but she found it almost impossible.
    By the time the police had firebombed the giant mutant ants, the dinner and dessert were long gone.
    She stretched as Avalon cued up the next film.
    “Can you stay for one more?” she asked, almost childlike. Paige wondered if she was feeling vulnerable for some reason. They’d just laughed through an hour and a half of bad science fiction and now Avalon didn’t want her to go just yet.
    “I don’t think it’s healthy to watch only one dreadfully classic movie at a time. And you promised a double feature.”
    Avalon brightened. “I did, didn’t I?”
    “What is it?”
    Avalon smiled mischievously. “An isolated desert laboratory.”
    “I need more clues than that.”
    “1955.”
    It wasn’t enough. “More…”
    “An experiment with growth hormones to increase the world’s food supply.”
    “Oh, shoot! It’s familiar but I can’t place it.”
    “One more clue. A pretty doctor’s assistant whose all-time best line is, ‘Science or no science, a girl’s got to get her hair done.’”
    “Oh, my God! You’ve got Tarantula !”
    “In the flesh-eating flesh.”
    “Score!” This was one film she hadn’t seen since she was a teenager, spending a flu-stricken weekend at home with her two younger brothers. But at the time, she had laughed so hard at the “Science or no science” line that she’d coughed herself into a frenzy.
    Halfway through the film, Avalon reached for a quilt and wrapped it around them. The night had gotten colder and Paige welcomed the comfort. And when the credits rolled on Tarantula , she was surprised that it was after ten o’clock.
    She told Avalon that she needed to get home. In truth, nothing was waiting for her there. Her attraction to Avalon had grown, and halfway through the second film, Avalon was no longer the famous actress, but a comfortable and exciting woman who seemed to be responding to her presence. But somehow, it just seemed appropriate that they end the evening there. If she’d read more into the evening than Avalon intended, she didn’t want to burst her own bubble just yet. The night had been too perfect.
    Avalon walked her to the front door. “I can’t remember the last time I had such a great evening. I can truly say that it was better than the Oscars.”
    They both paused while Paige nervously dangled her keys. Suddenly, the awareness of Avalon’s Hollywood status crashed back into her brain. “Tonight wasn’t exactly a red-carpet event.” Damn it, she thought. She hated demeaning their time together, but even more, she would hate it if Avalon was just being cordial.
    “That’s different.”
    “How?” She’d gone this far, so she might as well find out.
    “The food was better,” Avalon said. “The films were more entertaining than a lot I sit through, and the company was unrivaled.”
    Paige didn’t know what to say. She wanted to kiss Avalon,