Gone With the Nerd (Nerds, #4)(3)
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

He nodded. "That makes sense."

"She’s been very helpful. She’s volunteered to help keep the residents from knowing who I am." Zoe felt lucky to have reconnected with Margo Taggart after all these years. The last few months of e-mails and phone calls had been like old home week. Margo had followed Zoe’s career with enthusiasm, apparently, and was only too happy to do this favor.

"Sounds as if you’ve thought of everything."

"I have your airline ticket and the car rental arrangements tucked inside your copy of the script." She mentally crossed her fingers. He seemed to be going for it.

"My copy?"

"I thought we should both have a copy to read. That way you’ll know what I’m going for. I also thought…" She hesitated, not at all confident that he’d like what she had in mind. "It would be so great if you’d read through some scenes with me."

He stiffened up immediately. "I’m no actor, Zoe. Not even close. There’s a reason I got into contract law. I had no desire to be a trial lawyer and spend hours in the courtroom."

She didn’t try to argue with him about whether he could act or not. Chances were he’d be terrible, but that was okay. "It doesn’t matter. I just need someone to read the lines so I can deliver mine in response."

"So no pressure to read them well?"

"None whatsoever. We can read a page or two once we get there. If you really hate doing it, then we’ll stop." At least she had him debating whether he’d read the script out loud with her instead of debating the merits of going, period. "So you’ll go to Long Shaft with me?"

He didn’t answer right away. Finally, he nodded. "I will, on one condition."

"You name it." Victory! "If you want your hourly rate, I’ll gladly pay it."

"That’s not the condition. I wouldn’t feel right charging an hourly rate when I’m not giving you legal advice. My condition is that I get to tell Kristen what we’re doing. I think she has a right to know."

"Kristen is her name?"

"Yes. Kristen Keebler."

"Like the crackers?"

"Uh-huh, although she’s not related to that Keebler, and she hates that reference. She was called Kristen Crackers all through school. I’m sure she’ll be happy to get rid of that last name when we … well, assuming that we …" He paused and cleared his throat.

Marriage. Yikes. "You’re really serious about her, huh?"

"I am. She’s heading to a conference in Chicago this weekend, so I’d like to call and tell her about this before she leaves."

Zoe didn’tlike the idea at all. She didn’t know Kristen Crackers and hadn’t the foggiest if she could be trusted not to blab. "How about telling her after we get back?"

"I don’t want to take that chance. What if, in spite of your disguise, somebody recognizes you and takes a picture of us together? You know what the tabloid headlines would look like. And Kristen would be completely unprepared. She’d feel betrayed, and I wouldn’t blame her. For that matter, I think you should tell Trace, too."

"I’m definitely not telling Trace." He’d been acting possessive lately, and unless she told him all about the project, he might throw a jealous fit and bring in an army of reporters to break up whatever he might think was going on. She should clear the air with him but not right now. He’d get suspicious of her reasons.

"That’s up to you. It’s your relationship on the line. But I have to tell Kristen. That’s my condition." He pressed his lips together and set his jaw, which made him look almost soldierlike.

In the five years she’d known Flynn, she’d noticed in passing that he was an attractive guy—thick dark hair, squarish jaw, good cheekbones, and a well-proportioned nose. But at the moment he looked more than okay. He’d morphed into absolutely hot.

She’d never seen him take a resolute stand before, and as he stuck up for his lady love he was extremely cute. Zoe felt a pang of envy and wished she could be the woman whose tender feelings he was protecting.

Yet she was reluctant to have him give away their hiding place. "I don’t mean to insult Kristen, but after many years in the business I’ve seen how normal people get goofy when it comes to movie stars. I would hate for her to accidentally spill the beans during the conference cocktail hour."

"She won’t. I’d trust her with my—"

"Okay, okay." Now Zoe was truly envious. No man had ever said he’d trust her with his life, not even in a script, and she didn’t want to hear Flynn saying it about Kristen, either. She was starting to take an unreasonable dislike to the woman. "So tell her. But can you keep the details vague?"

"No."

Zoe sighed. "Oh, all right. Tell her everything. Read her parts of the script if you want. Take pictures with your cell phone and beam them to her cell phone. Just so you understand that she could sink the whole project with one careless word."

"It won’t happen."

"Then we have a deal?" She held her breath.

"I guess so, if you’re convinced I can help. I have serious doubts about it, myself."

Turning off the motor, she handed him the keys. "I have no doubts whatsoever." She picked up her cell phone from the dash. "Come on. Let’s get your script and tickets from the Boxster. Then we can each be on our way. I can’t speak for you, but I have plenty to do before Friday."

"I have a few loose ends to tie up myself." He took the keys and opened the car door.

"Flynn, before you go." She put out a hand to stop him and ended up touching his arm. He felt warm and surprisingly muscular under the fabric of his dress shirt. When he turned back toward her, she immediately ended the contact. She really didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. "Listen, thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate this more than you know."

He smiled at her. "You can thank me at the Golden Globes. Until then, we don’t know if I’ll be an asset or a liability."

"You’re already an asset." And she was only beginning to understand how great an asset he was. Funny how much more appealing a man looked when some other woman had staked a claim. Not that Zoe was romantically interested in Flynn. But he was far more intriguing to her than he had been a couple of hours ago.

Flynn dodged a Frisbee as he walked over to the Porsche with Zoe to get his copy of the script. Venice Beach was its usual crazy self, filled with bodybuilders and bathing beauties of every sexual persuasion. Most members of the crowd were hooked up to their own private music system, but a few old boom boxes hung around pouring rap into the atmosphere and obliterating the sounds of the surf and the gulls wheeling overhead.

Flynn stood out like a sore thumb in the array of color and noise, but he liked the place anyway. He’d never stopped to examine why, either. It might be the same reason he’d specialized in entertainment law. It wasn’t his world, but it sure was fun to watch … from a safe distance.

That safe distance had just been eliminated in regard to Zoe. He still couldn’t believe he’d agreed to spend the weekend with her. But at least now he knew exactly what she thought of him. He was her token nerd.

He hadn’t been called a nerd since college. Yeah, he supposed the label still fit, but he’d stopped thinking of it years ago. Was Kristen a nerd, too? Probably, which was why they belonged together. Still, he wasn’t entirely happy knowing Zoe’s true opinion of him, even if her opinion was pretty much on target with the truth.

The weekend should prove… intriguing. At least he wouldn’t be immersed in some Hollywood pleasure palace, which might have freaked him out. Instead he’d be staying in a place that would feel reasonably familiar if it lived up to its name. It might turn out to be something like the ratty Arizona mining town where he’d grown up.

Only these days his hometown was a cutesy tourist trap, and his retired father regularly dressed as a gun-slinger and joined his buddies to stage shoot-outs on Main Street for the greenhorns. His mother wore hoop-skirts and ran a bed-and-breakfast. Their Wild West shtick earned them a comfortable living, which was a good thing, because the mine had gone bankrupt and left them with no retirement income.

Flynn had tried to give them money, but they wouldn’t take it. He supposed in their shoes he wouldn’t have, either. But their situation was another reason that he was so big on saving money. If he had to stage shoot-outs or run a bed-and-breakfast in order to make it through his golden years, he’d starve to death.

Zoe reached the car and turned back to him. "Keys?"

He reached in his pocket, pulled them out, and handed them to her.

"Thanks for putting up the top. This sun turns the seats into little hot plates. I would have roasted my tush getting back in."

"No problem." He’d never considered doing anything else. You didn’t leave a Porsche sitting at Venice Beach with the top down. Anything could happen. But he supposed not roasting Zoe’s tush was also a consideration. The world’s male population would likely thank him for protecting Zoe’s tush.

As she beeped open the locks and leaned down toward the passenger door, he got a full view of that valuable fanny and his mouth went dry. He’d better get a grip. Once they were tucked inside that cabin together, he’d be spending a lot more time within touching distance, and he absolutely could not be caught reacting. He’d just told her he was in a relationship, for God’s sake. Now he needed to make sure he acted like he was committed to another woman.

Zoe turned and handed him the script she’d picked up from the seat of the car. "Here you go. I’ll try to glance through it before we get there, but I might not have time. You might not, either."

Flynn looked at the title page. "’The Billion-Dollar Pill. What’s it about?"

"I read the treatment. She’s working on a drug that combines weight loss, antiaging, and sexual performance in one pill."

"Whoa."

"Yeah, it’s kind of a spoof. I need to be an over-the-top nerd. Anyway, the company she’s working for thinks she might sell out to a competitor, so they hire a bodyguard, supposedly to protect her but really to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t try to smuggle the formula."

"Interesting." And he’d be reading the part of the bodyguard, no doubt. "Is she going to smuggle it?"

"No, she’s very ethical and she’s insulted by the surveillance. Plus, she thinks the bodyguard might be a double agent trying to steal the formula. Then they become lovers, which complicates the whole thing."

He wondered what kind of scenes she’d want to read aloud. Probably not a love scene. If she picked a love scene, he was in serious trouble, but she wouldn’t pick a love scene.

They’d probably read an opening scene, not a love scene. She wouldn’t expect him to get into that mushy stuff. "Sounds like a good story," he said.

"It’s my ticket, Flynn. I feel it in my bones." Her enthusiasm for this career move was contagious.

"I think you’re right." Maybe at first he’d been insulted by her request for geek tutoring, but that had worn off. Now he felt damned good knowing that she’d turned to him. Beginning Friday night, he vowed to be all the nerd she needed.

Chapter Three

Flynn didn’t have a chance to look at the script again until he was on the plane to Sacramento. The first scene opened with Vera Parsons working late at night in her lab as her bodyguard Tony Bennetti showed up for the first time. Flynn tried to picture himself reading it with Zoe.

TONY

I’m Bennetti. I guess Peterson told you I was coming.

VERA

He told me. And it’s a total waste of company funds and your time.

TONY

Looks to me like you need babysitting. The door was unlocked. I could have been anybody.

VERA

I was expecting you. But you bring up a valid point. You could still be anybody.

Tony looks her over with an obvious male appraisal. TONY

Yeah. Maybe I’m some weird guy who gets turned on by flat-chested women wearing white lab coats and sensible oxfords. Maybe all I can think about is throwing you down on that table and steaming up your wire-rimmed glasses.

VERA

See this beaker of liquid? One flick of my wrist and you’ll be needing a genital transplant.

TONY

No shit?

VERA

No shit. Now go sit somewhere where I can’t see you, hear you, or even smell you. I have work to do.

Flynn stared at the page. He was very afraid this movie was all about sex. And Zoe wanted him to do a read-through with her. Closing the cover of the script, he stared out the window of the plane at the fading afternoon light. He’d told Kristen this was strictly a business trip. Which it was. So how come he already felt guilty as hell?

Probably because Kristen trusted him so completely. That would be his buddy Josh’s doing. A year ago, before Flynn and Kristen had never met, Josh had, been doing the matchmaker thing. Flynn guessed that Josh was still at it, telling Kristen that she’d latched onto a paragon. Flynn hated to think what Josh would make of this weekend, if he knew.

Zoe flew first class and bought herself two seats for the privacy. So maybe it wasn’t the nerd thing to do, but she didn’t want to carry this transformation too far. With two seats to herself, she didn’t have to worry about a nosy neighbor and she had a chance, finally, to start reading the script.

As she scanned the first scene, she started to laugh. The flat-chested part would be hard to pull off, but she’d packed an Ace bandage and would practice binding her boobs. She’d special-ordered some glasses with clear lenses, and luckily they were wire frames.

She flipped to the second scene, which took place in Vera’s apartment after she and Tony had left the lab.

TONY

Someone followed you home.

VERA

It was you, and you were tailgating.

TONY

I stayed close so that the car tailing you couldn’t get between us.

VERA

It was probably one of my neighbors coming home from the convenience store, but you have to turn it into a stalking incident to justify your existence.

TONY

Suit yourself.

VERA

Tomorrow I’m calling Peterson. Either he gets rid of you or I’ll go on strike. I can’t live like this, being shadowed at every turn.

TONY

I was completely quiet while you were working.