Free Opal's Wish: Book Four of The Crystal Warriors Series by Maree Anderson Page B

then.”
    “I’m busy all that weekend.”
    “You’re always busy.”
    “What can I say? I’m a popular girl.”
    No surprises there, Opal thought. She’d bet her right arm Desiree had more male attention than any woman could possibly want.
    “Following Saturday, then.” Roth got full points for persistence.
    “Sorry. No can do.”
    “Sunday. Matinee at the Iron Horse Theater.”
    Desiree’s eyebrows arched and a gleam of interest chased the assumed boredom from her eyes. “What’s playing?”
    “Special screening of The Fifth Element.”
    “You’re on.” Desiree grinned mischievously at him. “I adore Bruce Willis.”
    “And I love Milla Jovovich… and that outfit.”
    “The one that looks like a strip of bandages?”
    “That’s the one. Mmm hmmm. Bet you’d look hot in that outfit, my lovely. Not that I’m hinting what you should wear or anything.”
    “Don’t push your luck,” Desiree said, but she was smiling as she said it.
    “I’ll text you the details.”
    “Sounds good to me.”
    Roth looked smug as a cat that’d happened on a bowlful of cream and Opal couldn’t help but be impressed by the way he’d handled being turned down multiple times. In front of witnesses. But then, maybe that level of persistence was normal for singles these days? Not that Opal had any interest in flirting or dating. She was too busy raising her daughter. And avoiding men.
    Her gaze flitted to Dan… and surprised him staring back at her. And frowning, like she was a puzzle he couldn’t solve. Hah. Ditto. She suppressed the desire to stick out her tongue.
    “Hey.” Roth touched her forearm to snag her attention. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
    “M-M-Me?” Opal managed a light laugh. “D-D-Don’t th-th-think so.”
    “I never forget a face,” he said.
    God. She sure hoped that wasn’t the case. And that she was pulling off a credible “don’t be so silly” expression.
    It’d been almost a decade since “Jordan Cast” had featured prominently in the tabloids. She remembered jumping at the chance to reinvent herself when she’d been discovered by the modeling agency. At her mother’s suggestion, she’d taken her middle name of “Jordan” and combined it with her grandmother’s maiden name of “Cast”. And after she’d run away from a promising career, she’d been grateful for the anonymity her real name had provided.
    She didn’t want to lose that anonymity. She didn’t want to uproot the life she’d carved out for herself and Sera here in Philly. It was safe. Familiar. Comforting. With luck Roth would conclude she reminded him of someone famous and that would be the end of it. But if the worst came to pass, perhaps Desiree could prevail upon him to keep his mouth shut?
    Desiree did her spooky tap-into-Opal’s-thoughts thing again. “You’re thinking of that girl who fronted the Dion Vonette label, oh,” she waved a languid hand, “about a decade ago. You know, the one who got embroiled in a huge scandal when that tape of her and that skeevy photographer was leaked? I’m sure Opal’s been told she reminds people of that girl, like, a thousand times.”
    Opal screwed up her nose as if to say, “Yeah, and what a pain in the ass it is, too.” She had to admire her friend’s quick thinking. Especially since “Jordan Cast” had also been a skinny blonde who, ironically, had originally been offered the Vonette exclusive. And she would have taken it, too, if she hadn’t had to disappear from the public eye in a hurry.
    Roth shrugged. “Must be it.” He glanced at his watch. “Better head home. I’ve got an early shift tomorrow—we mere mortals who haven’t been blessed with the goddess gene need our beauty rest.”
    Desiree rolled her eyes at the compliment. “Nice try, but you’ll have to do better than that.”
    Opal summoned the ghost of a smile. “I th-th-thought it w-w-was a… a… good one, m-m-myself.”
    “Hey, Roth,” Desiree said, casting a