Free Flirting With Fame (Flirting With Fame) by Samantha Joyce

I still think that’s how this story needs to go. Hopefully it has a happier ending. So how would you have her track the woman down? She grabbed the original picture off Google. It’s like trying to find a needle in the world’s biggest haystack.”
    “Well, couldn’t she just use the same search parameters to find the photo again and trace the website it came from? Or maybe a reverse image search? Chances are, the gal’s name is somewhere. Probably Facebook or somethin’ like that.”
    I rocked on my heels. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. It’s so freaking simple.”
    “Of course—”
    “Of course, what?”
    “Well, this gal has to go along with the idea of playin’ someone else. She could be hard to convince.”
    I thought back to the night at Bookworm and the mysterious woman who signed my books. “I don’t think it’ll be too hard. She’s looking for fame—er, love—as well.”
    “Well, then, I think you got it, darlin’.” He nodded to my dorm. “This your place?”
    “Yeah.” I started up the stairs only to find him right behind me. When I turned to say good night, my chest brushed against his, he was that close. “Uh, well, thanks for the company on the walk home. I really appreciate it. ’Night, cowboy.”
    If I were the kind of girl who’d been kissed a lot, I might have seen it coming. But I’d barely finished speaking when Clint’s lips came at me. His mouth was soft at first, then firming with each second. I gasped in surprise, and his lips parted along with mine, his tongue searching. He tasted like coffee and sugar cookies from the café—sweet, with a hint of something more exotic.
    Clint gripped my waist and pulled me closer, pressing deeper with his tongue. I placed my hands on his shoulders, marveling at their girth. He exhaled into my mouth, sending shivers through my body.
    My phone buzzed against my thigh, and I took that moment to push him away, my heart and my head racing in tandem.
    I pried my phone from my pocket as I tried to figure out how to respond. A text blinked up at me:
    REGGIE: Have you sent the hot cowboy back to me yet? I can’t wait to have him all to myself, lol!
    I bit my still swollen lips. Right. Reggie. It was obvious she liked him. Back at the café, she’d seemed ready to pick out wedding china. Or wedding hay bales. Whatever it was cowboys registered for when they got married. She barely knew him, but I was sure that my showing up in our room with him on my arm in the first week would be a bad way to start the year together. Not to mention the fact that everything was falling apart around me, and I had no clue how to handle it. I couldn’t exactly pull someone into all my crap when my future now relied on a simple Google search.
    “Clint,” I said. “I’m flattered, really. But . . .”
    The hurt in his eyes ran like jagged claws across my heart. “I’m not lovin’ the sound of that ‘but,’ Elise.”
    “But I . . . Things are just really complicated right now. I’m still trying to figure things out. I mean, I really like you. You’re an amazing guy, and I can’t believe I’m even saying this because guys don’t just kiss me like that, and I should probably shut up because my friend Jin would be furious at me for not taking a chance and—”
    Clint’s finger shot to my lips, cutting me off midsentence. “You’re ramblin’ darlin’.”
    I mumbled an apology against his finger and his hand returned to his side.
    “If time is what you need, time is what you’ll get,” he said. “But maybe decide sooner than later. Goods like this tend to get snapped up quickly.”
    He straightened his shirt and winked at me.
    I giggled, the tension easing out of my back at his understanding. “Got it. Thanks, cowboy.” Leaning forward, I planted a soft kiss on his cheek. “And thanks for the talk.”
    “It was my pleasure. Good night, sweet Elise. Sleep well, and good luck with your story.”
    “’Night, Clint.”
    I