"Can you tell me more about what you're looking for?"

Antonio Adderly wouldn't meet my gaze. He'd asked for this meeting, but now he seemed hesitant to discuss the details. So far, we'd made small talk about Armand Taylor's new movie, the weather, car maintenance and the difficulty of finding a good mechanic, and Café au LA's culinary offerings. He'd paid for my latte and my carrot cake—the cream cheese frosting was divine—so at least the morning wouldn't be a complete bust even if he didn't hire me.

"You mentioned a wedding?" I prompted.

"My cousin's wedding. She's marrying some guy she met three months ago."

Was that better or worse than marrying her high-school math teacher? I'd reserve judgment for now.

"And your ex is invited to the ceremony?"

He shook his head.

Okay, so what was my role here? Antonio leaned forward, still refusing to look at me.

"I'm gay," he mumbled.

So were half of my friends from college. And Cooper was ace. But the way Antonio spoke about his sexual orientation, it was almost as if he was...embarrassed. All the little pieces began to click into place. Someone had drilled the shame into him, deep enough that he'd discovered a sudden fascination with his napkin. Society? Or his family? My money was on the latter since it was a family event he wanted me to attend.

"Your family doesn't know?" I asked.

"They think I'm dating a barista named Cindy."

"And you want me to be Cindy?"

He managed a tiny smile. "You went to a wedding with my buddy Kevin last year. He said you were a real professional."

Kevin... Kevin... "The hockey coach who dated his best friend's sister's best friend?"

"We all told him it was a bad idea."

The wedding had been at a ritzy hotel in Westwood, and the ex cornered me in the bathroom to warn me that Kevin was a jerk who put more effort into his job than his relationship, and worse, he left his socks on during sex. Then she called me a bitch and tried to throw a cocktail over me, but since she'd been taking advantage of the free bar all evening, she'd sloshed the drink over herself instead. I'd ended up blotting the mess with toilet tissue and sitting with her until a responsible adult shovelled her into a cab and took her home.

"A bad idea? Yes, I can understand that."

His expression turned sympathetic. "It was a difficult day?"

"She couldn't hold her liquor."

"My family aren't big drinkers, I swear."

Okay, so this wouldn't be my regular kind of gig, but would it hurt to expand my horizons? At least I'd be able to use the bathroom in peace. And although my own grandma—the only one I'd known, anyway—had passed away when I was in elementary school, I'd had plenty of practice dealing with Cooper's Great-Aunt Nora. I was hella curious why Antonio couldn't tell his folks that he was gay, but as Kevin said, I was a professional, and I wasn't paid to ask questions.

"When's the big day?"

"A week from Friday." Antonio grimaced. "I know, I know, I left things to the last minute. Until yesterday, I was dating this guy, and he wanted to come with me. There were fights, and yeah..." A sigh. "It's over now."

"I'm so sorry."

"I guess it was in the cards, but..." He wiped at his eyes with the napkin. "Sorry."

College was out for the summer, so I was able to work on Fridays at the moment.

"I'm available that day. Where's the wedding taking place?"

"Goose Neck Creek. It's about a half-hour drive from Boise."

"Idaho? The wedding's in Idaho?"

"That's a problem?"

Well, yes. I mean, how would I get there? I'd spent my whole life in California, and despite my ambitions to become a jet-setting fashion designer, I'd never actually been on an airplane before. Was it possible to drive to Idaho? Maybe, if I set off this afternoon, assuming my car didn't break down on the way. That little amber light on the dash probably meant something, but the owner's manual was missing, and I was too chicken to google.

"When it comes to work, I tend to stay in this area."

And even if I did have a burning desire to visit Idaho, I'd rather go by myself or take a friend, not take a trip with a stranger who was paying me to pretend to be his date.

"I'd cover the expenses—Kevin said that was the deal—and I'd also pay extra for your travel time. I just don't want to disappoint my grandma."

"Your grandma?"

"She's sick. The big C. Mom says she might only have months to live, and her biggest wish is to see one of her grandkids get married with all her family around her. Obviously that's not going to be me, so I need to do everything I can to support my sister."

I still remembered the day my own grandma had let me try on her wedding dress. Eight-year-old me had stood open-mouthed in front of the tall, gold-framed mirror in her bedroom, awed by the huge skirt and the delicate lace on the bodice. That was the day I'd decided to become a fashion designer. Before Sebastian broke my heart and pulled the plug on my dreams, I'd planned to incorporate the dress into my own wedding ceremony so Grandma would be with me in spirit. Not the whole thing—Grandma had been two sizes smaller than me, and no way could I rock puffed sleeves the way she did—but I'd planned to recycle the bow from the back as part of my bouquet.

If I'd had the chance to make my grandma smile in a big way before she died, would I have taken it? Of course I would.

I considered the man in front of me. Since that night with Sebastian in The Oyster Club, I'd learned to listen to my gut when it came to the opposite sex, and I turned down more clients than I took. Antonio didn't give off bad vibes, and he'd also come into my orbit via Kevin, who'd been a gentleman for our entire date and even insisted on reimbursing my dry-cleaning costs.

"Is it the overnight thing?" he asked. "I'm not expecting us to share a hotel room, I swear. Or do you need a reference? You could call Kevin. Or I could give you the number of one of my clients, which would at least let you make sure I'm not a complete jackass."

"What do you do for work?

"I'm an on-set electrician."

"You work in the movies?"

"Sure beats crawling around in dusty closets."

"Have you worked on anything big?"

"Earlier in the year, I worked on Hidden Intent, and I just wrapped up on a smaller indie film."

Hidden Intent? Wow. That was this year's hottest movie—in every way. I'd had to fan myself just watching it.

"Is Violet Miller as nice as she seems?"

For a star, she came across as incredibly down to earth. Hidden Intent had been filmed alongside a reality show giving viewers an insight into the movie-making process, and every time a new chunk of the script had been revealed, she'd looked as if she was ready to puke. And the off-set drama had been as exciting as the movie itself. At first, I'd thought the thing with the stalker was a part of the plot, but no, that had turned out to be real.

"Violet's a total doll," Antonio said.

"What about Mikki Moretz?"

"Momma always taught me that if I couldn't say something nice, then I shouldn't say anything at all."

But his shudder told me everything I needed to know. And I also realised that I kind of liked the guy. Antonio was easy to talk to, and if my instincts were correct, then spending a few extra hours with him wouldn't exactly be a hardship. Plus he'd offered to pay for my travel time, and I needed every buck I could make to get my new business venture off the ground.

"You were serious about providing a reference?"

"Sure."

"If it checks out, then I'll come to the wedding with you."

I'd make sure Cooper and Paisley both had Antonio's details, just in case, and I'd check in with them regularly. Maybe I was just being over-cautious, but Paisley spent half her life watching true crime documentaries, and it seemed real easy to get murdered or kidnapped these days.

Finally, I got a genuine smile from Antonio. "I really appreciate that."

"I'll be in touch tomorrow morning."

"You want more coffee before you go?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I need to run home and change."

"Another date?"

I nodded. "This one's a regular gig. Today, I get to ward off gold-diggers and pretend I understand golf."

"Have you ever played?"

"Only mini golf. I lost to my niece."

Maggie had outscored me on every hole except one, and that was only because it was shaped like a clown's mouth, so she'd refused to play it. Maggie hated clowns, a fact that had somehow escaped my sister until she hired Mr. Buttons to entertain the kids at Maggie's fifth birthday party. I'd been the one to coax her out of the coat closet that day while Virginia tutted in the background, more concerned with wasting money than with her daughter's wellbeing.

Antonio's smile turned into a full-on grin. "Well, good luck."

"Thanks."

I'd need it.

**********************

Fun Fact:

Hidden Intent is a real fictional movie 😂 It's filmed in another book of mine - Hard Lines. I get sad at the thought of saying goodbye to my characters, so I like to have them pop up in other stories 😁