Chapter 10

Saturday

(Gabe Parker: Shaken, Not Stirred—Part Two)

Then

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Now

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Sunday

(Gabe Parker: Shaken, Not Stirred—Part Three)

Then

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Now

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Monday

(Gabe Parker: Shaken, Not Stirred—Part Four)

Then

Chapter 28

Now

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Dedication

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Epigraph

“The course of true love—”
“—gathers no moss.”

—THE PHILADELPHIA STORY

Prologue

Prologue

“HE REQUESTED YOU,” ALEXANDRA SAYS.

It’s a good thing we’re on the phone because I’d bet the editor in chief of Broad Sheets magazine would not appreciate the death glare I’m giving my screen. And I know she wouldn’t understand why.

“Bullshit,” I say.

I’m half hoping she’ll prove me wrong, and I’m embarrassed to realize that I’m holding my breath while I wait for her answer.

“Okay, okay,” she admits. “His people requested you.”

That makes sense. The article I did on Gabe Parker ten years ago had been a PR team’s wet dream. It gave Gabe the kind of publicity that people would buy if they could. Which is, in essence, what they’re attempting to do now.

I can’t blame them. Hell, I’m sure my own publicist is kicking herself for not thinking of it first. Stars aligning and all that.

That article is the reason that ten years later, no matter what I’m promoting, no matter what I’m being interviewed for, I still get asked the same, exact question.

And I always offer the same, exact answer.

“Nope, nothing happened,” I’ll say with a big smile. “Don’t I wish, though.”

My ego still takes a hit when people accept that answer with an easy, relieved nod. But I get it. That’s my brand. Being the kind of woman who spends a platonic weekend with a Hollywood heartthrob in his prime. Readers didn’t have to be threatened by me. Instead, they could sympathize with how I—a “regular girl”—had gotten a chance with someone like Gabe Parker and whiffed it.

It also helped that Gabe’s immediate reaction to the article’s release—running off to marry his gorgeous, former-model co-star—proved emphatically that I wasn’t his type.

A bruising but necessary public rejection. One that had done wonders for me professionally.

It made me lovable. Accessible. Relatable.

It sold articles.

It sold books.

It made my career.

“They want you two to re-create as much of your weekend as you can,” Alexandra says. “He arrives in L.A. in a few hours.”

I mentally scoff. I’ve never had an interview like this happen when it was supposed to. Even that first weekend had been rescheduled at least twice. Still, it’s surprising how quickly they’re trying to pull this together. It doesn’t give me any time to research, to prep.