Read Online The Princess and the Porn Star by Lauren Gallagher - Free Book Online

on the table and pressing her chin into her palm. “If you tell me you play Call of Duty, we might have to take a detour to Vegas.”
    I leaned closer. “Your car or mine?”
    Rachel threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, it’s on. Do not let me leave here without your gamer handle.”
    “Well, that assumes you can handle playing against—”
    “Oh, please.” She waved a hand and rolled her eyes. “I grew up playing against three older brothers. You don’t stand a chance.”
    “Is that right?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    And just like that, we were lost in gamer talk, carrying on like we’d just bumped into each other in a Game Stop or something. Comparing trophies, talking trash, bitching about campers and the twelve-year-olds who used the game chatter to try out all their new curse words.
    Before either of us knew it, the coffee shop had mostly cleared out, the baristas had all switched out with the next shift, and the clock above the stage said it was quarter past eleven.
    Next thing I knew, we were out on the sidewalk in front of the coffee shop. We punched each other’s gamer handles— PrincessBadass? Awesome —into our phones, but I didn’t quite work up the nerve to ask for her number too. Even if we had just spent the entire evening talking like the geeks we were, she was still Olivia Taylor and I was still Buck Harder. There were certain lines people just didn’t cross in this business, though we’d already crossed a few just by being here.
    “Where are you parked?” I asked.
    She gestured down the street. “That way. About a block and a half down.”
    “I’ll walk you back to your car.” I paused. “If that’s all right?”
    She smiled. “Sure. I don’t mind at all.”
    We didn’t talk on the way down the sidewalk. Side by side, lost in our own thoughts, we walked along the mostly deserted street.
    We stopped beside a parked car. Keys jingled, and Rachel gestured at the car. “Well. This is mine.”
    “Right. Okay.” I slid my hands into my pockets. “Well, I guess I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    “Yeah.” She fingered her purse strap. “Thanks again, by the way. For that topical you gave me earlier.”
    I smiled. “Glad it helped.”
    “It did. A lot.” She laughed, though it sounded forced. “I’ll probably need some more tomorrow.”
    “If you need more,” I said, “I’ve got plenty.”
    “Well, thanks. I owe you.”
    “No, don’t worry about it, I—” I paused. “Actually, there is one thing…”
    Rachel’s eyebrows rose. “Hmm?”
    “Listen, um…” I looked down at the pavement but finally met her eyes. “I know this is probably the last thing you want to deal with, but my sister is a huge fan of yours.”
    “Really?” She smiled, sending a shiver through me. “I didn’t think I had any left.”
    “You do,” I said. “And when she finds out I was working with you, she’ll have my head on a stick if I don’t bring her something that you’ve signed.” I raised my eyebrows. “Would it be too much trouble or out of line?”
    “Not at all,” she said. “I’ll bring something to the set in the morning.”
    “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
    “You’re welcome.” She lowered her gaze. “Oh, and I have to apologize, by the way.”
    “For what?”
    “I guess I had some…preconceived notions about you. Because of what you do.”
    I laughed. “You and everyone else.”
    “Maybe, but…” Her cheeks colored again. “If I was a bitch to you in the beginning, it—”
    “No, you weren’t.” I waved a hand. “Trust me, you were fine. I probably had a few preconceived notions myself. You…weren’t what I expected.”
    “What did you expect?”
    “Well…”
    She held my gaze just right to make my heart beat faster, and that smile—a little shy, a little cocky—didn’t help.
    I broke eye contact and shook my head. “I don’t know, to be honest. Just not you.”
    “Guess that makes us even,” she said.
    “Yeah. I guess it