KATE
I heldmy phone up backstage to catch Drew's interview live for Alexis. Alexis didn’t want to wait for it to air all the way in California, so she'd instructed me to video -call the interview to her in real time.
But Alexis had nothing to worry about. Drew had charmed Clary Haskins with his smart wit and good looks from the moment he'd stepped on stage.
Drew was undeniably attractive. I'd always thought so. He had brilliant blue eyes and a strong, masculine jaw that rivaled a Greek god's. And his smile. It was disarming.
Even after all these years, I still felt like a little schoolgirl with a crush on my older brother's friend every time he smiled at me.
And I wasn't even interested in datinganyoneat the moment. Imagine what it would be like for all the women in the audience who were.
"So how was it dating twenty-five women at the same time?" Clary asked Drew. "I have a hard-enough time telling my husband and my boyfriend apart." She covered her mouth and looked to the audience with an exaggerated embarrassed look. "Oops, I guess that's not a secret anymore."
"Now Clary…" Drew chided, playing along.
"Okay, fine. My husband is the one with the beard. But sometimes it gets confusing when we're all in the same house."
Drew laughed, and Clary blushed.
"In all seriousness though, how in the world did you remember all those girls’ names?"
"It was actually quite difficult, but the producers have a few tricks that helped immensely."
In other words, they fed them to him.
But of course he couldn't ruin the movie magic for all those ladies in the audience.
"Do you and your fiancée see each other often?" Clary asked innocently.
"Who said I had a fiancée?" Drew said, not missing a beat.
To someone who didn't know him well, it would appear like he'd maintained his unruffled exterior, but I noticed a slight crack in his facade.
We'd need to work on that question a bit more. His guilt over not getting engaged might be the thing to ruin it all.
"Come on, Drew, give Auntie Clary a hint. I promise I won't tell." She winked at the audience.
"Sorry. It's top secret." He did better that time. No truth shining through the cracks.
"Are you at least happy?"
Drew nodded. "Very happy. It was an experience I'll never forget, and I got to know a lot of really great women."
They continued to talk for a few minutes more with the audience hanging onto every word.
"Well, I can see I won't be getting any information out of you today," Clary said. "It was great to have you on the show." She turned to the audience. "Make sure you tune in tonight at eight, seven central, to ANB for the two-hour premiere ofFinding Your Soulmateto watch Drew on his incredible journey to find love."
She thanked Drew for coming, and then he walked offstage to the applause of hundreds of fans.
"That. Was. Awesome!" I threw my arms around him in a congratulatory hug.
Then, realizing a supposedly married woman probably shouldn't be throwing her arms around a supposedly engaged man—especially not in front of a bunch of strangers—I stepped back awkwardly and cleared my throat. "Seriously, you did so great out there.”
"Thank you," Drew said breathlessly. "It was actually fun. Talking with Clary was like talking to my grandma…the nice one, that is." His mouth quirked up in the half smile that always did funny things to my stomach. "Let's just hope the rest of the interviews go as well as this one."
Which reminded me that I still had Alexis on the phone.
Oops.