I tore my gaze away from Vaughn—who was now glaring at Dane—and nodded as I answered, “Yeah, I probably should’ve broken in my new shoes before tonight.”
“Women and their shoes.” He glanced down at my heels and chuckled. “Do me a favor and be careful in those. The last thing we need is for you to trip and break something right before principal photography on When the Rain Ends starts.”
“Dude, don’t jinx me.”
We got to the top of the stairs, and he shook his head, laughing again as he joined Morgan and his mom while I stayed off to the side with the assistants. Vaughn’s gaze slid over to me a few times, and his interview got off to a rocky start, but he pulled himself together pretty quickly and went about charming Morgan and Gloria. My lips curved up at a few of his questions, and I appreciated that he came up with some interesting questions they hadn’t gotten at the rest of the stops. I was even more grateful for the glass of champagne one of his production assistants offered me because I was beyond parched.
Garrett Riordan, Dimming Her Light’s producer, and his wife, Shaelyn, joined in on the second half of Vaughn’s interview. Once it was done and our crowd headed down the steps, I gave Vaughn a lingering, last look. His dark eyes were locked on me, and I shivered at the crackle of chemistry between us. We hadn’t said a single word to each other, but that didn’t dim my reaction to him in the least. But Morgan needed me at her side in the theater since Gage couldn’t be here, so I couldn’t explore it right then. This was my best friend’s big moment, and I wasn’t going to let her down.
Reluctantly following after the group, I kept glancing back at Vaughn until we headed inside. Each time I looked, his dark gaze was locked on me. My reaction to him still had me keyed up when we made it to our front row seats. Morgan noticed, and she leaned in to ask, “What’s up with you? You’re being weird.”
I wasn’t one to normally blush, but my cheeks filled with heat. Biting my lip, I tried to come up with an explanation she’d accept because I didn’t want to talk about Vaughn while we were in the middle of Dolby Theatre for the Oscars. Shaking my head, I answered, “It…um…there are a lot of famous people around.”
It was a lame excuse, and Morgan wasn’t buying it. Not even for a second. “I have to let it go because the show’s about to start, but don’t think I’m not going to dig to the bottom of this later.”
I tried one more time to throw her off track. “I swear, I’m fine. I’m nervous for you, okay? I really think you’re going to win this thing.”
“If you say it again, I’m going to barf from nerves.”
At her soft admission, I squeezed her hand. I couldn’t do anything else because we were given the sign that the show was about to start. The show was incredibly long, and I had plenty of time to ponder my reaction to Vaughn between cheering for Gloria when she won the Oscar for Best Director and waiting for Morgan’s category to be announced. I’d almost convinced myself that I’d imagined how strong the chemistry between us was when my jaw practically fell open as they announced Gage—who was supposed to be filming a movie in Georgia right now—as the presenter for the category of Best Actress.
I had to elbow Morgan in the side to get her to paste a normal excited expression on her face instead of the one that made it obvious how much she wanted to rush the stage and jump Gage’s bones. And then it happened. Gage announced the winner for the Best Actress category. “The Oscar goes to Morgan Kelly for Dimming Her Light.”
My grin was huge as I turned to my best friend and found her sitting there, completely stunned. I leaned over to give her a big hug, and she asked, “Am I awake? Did Gage show up to present the award, and was it my name he called?”
Nodding, I helped her stand and looked on as she gave everyone hugs before she headed toward the stage. When she made it to the podium and gave her super-secret boyfriend a hug, I got the sensation of being watched. The theater was huge, and I had just spotted him when I heard Morgan say, “Holy shit.”
Turning my attention back to the stage, I listened as my best friend accepted her Oscar. Through it all, I was hyper-aware that Vaughn was watching me. Only when Morgan left the stage did I allow myself to look back at Vaughn. I got so wrapped up in exchanging looks with him that I didn’t notice Morgan hadn’t returned to her seat until Dimming Her Light nabbed the Oscar for Best Picture. The reason I finally realized it then was because everyone around me jumped up to celebrate before Gloria, Garrett, Shaelyn, and everyone else who had a major hand in the film as they headed on stage to accept the award, sans Morgan.