After meeting in South America, Nina Taylor follows up-and-coming Hollywood actor James Saylor back to LA. As their relationship intensifies, they hot foot it to Las Vegas, where they spontaneously marry. The next morning, however, reality sets in.
...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
James Saylor is a drug. The kind that, once you've had your first taste of it, you can't get enough of it. That night at the bar was unforgettable for so many reasons, not least the fact that it was the first time I realised that maybe love at first sight could exist. James insisted on walking me back to the hostel and on the way, he had me cracking up from all his cheesy pickup lines, all of which totally endeared myself to him. When we got to the door, I found myself staring into his eyes and wondering, "Is he going to kiss me?"
It was just like a scene from a film, much like A Place in the Sun when Elizabeth Taylor and Monty Clift dance around a kiss after they've been dancing. The almost touching, the breathless whispering, the cupping of the face... and then, finally! A kiss.
While I'm not a pro at modern dating, I've seen enough movies to know how to give him the signal that I want him to pucker up. Lean against the wall, make sure my neck and shoulders are on show (erogenous areas, check), drop my chin, lift my gaze, flutter my eyelashes, bite down on my lips, and smile. The signs were all there but at the end of the evening, James shoved his hands into his pockets, looked up at the sky and swore as he brushed his fingers through his hair.
"God, I really want to kiss you goodnight but I feel like, if I did that, I'd ruin things," he explained, a pained look on his face as he spoke. Pushing myself away from the wall, I wrapped my arms around my core and let my hair curtain my face as embarrassment took hold. "No, seriously, this is all about me. Look, Nina, I'm going to be honest, I'm not a good person, especially when it comes to girls. Literally, I hook up with girls and then I'll leave before she wakes up but you're different, you know? In every way, you're the opposite of what I go for and it scares me that I like you as much as I do. Which is why I can't kiss you tonight. I want to get to know you."
Nodding, I turn my gaze to the door behind me. "Well, we have a roof terrace and there's a bottle of wine in my room. We could always go to the roof, drink and talk."
"Just talking, though," he said rather more forcefully than was really necessary. Agreeing, we enter the building using the keycard I have, quietly stopped at the room I share with Alba to grab the bottle of wine I'd been hiding from the other girls and nab two spare blankets before heading to the roof, where we threw ourselves down on the tattered looking deck chairs and huddled. James nestled in and turned to me, tilting his head and looking thoughtful. "What part of the UK are you from? I don't want to just assume that you're from London."
While I was thankful that he wasn't making assumptions about me, he was right about me being a Londoner. Born and raised. He was intrigued about the city since he'd never been to London, although it was on his bucket list of places to go. He made a cryptic comment about maybe going there soon but it would depend on his schedule. I could be his tour guide, he suggested.
He asked about my family, which is always interesting, considering what a fuck up it is. I had to explain the family tree quite a few times before James finally understood. I opened up about being raised for part of my childhood by my father's first wife and how I was extremely close to not just Ruth but to my brother as well. James cringed when he learnt that I was the second youngest in the family and the eldest of the five siblings was a boy. Or a man, rather.
"Is your brother the over-protective type?" James asked, wincing away from me as he waited for my answer.
I shrugged. "Not particularly." I paused to think of what type of brother Michael was, considering that he had four younger sisters. "He's like a big brother, slash father by-proxy. Michael gives great advice. Sometimes. He's always there, always ready to listen, never judging you. He can be protective at times if he thinks we're on the verge of getting hurt but on the whole, he'd rather that we just screw up, learn from it and move on."
"Fair enough."
We spoke about his family. He's the middle child. He's from Massachusettes. His father is a big shot closer at some law firm in New York City while his mum is a former advertising executive turned trophy wife (James' words). His older brother works for a start-up tech company in San Francisco while his younger sister is a freshman in high school.
He asked about my plans for uni once my gap year was over. What did I want to study? Mechanical engineering. He looked impressed. I wanted to design cars. Or if I could have my dream job, I'd want to create engines for Formula One cars.
"Beauty and the Brains," James grinned.
"I try," I laughed. "What about you, what do you do? You're here for work, right?"
James winced. "Yeah, about that. I'm an actor. We're here shooting a movie. An action one. Baby Bond style."
"Ok."
"That's all you have to say?" James wondered aloud. "Girls usually get all, you know, crazy when they hear that."
I shrugged. "No offence but you're not that great."
"But I totally am," he assured me. "Just you wait."
