Free Rising Star by Karen Webb Page A

changed,” Betsy called out.
    Selena handed the reins to the handler,
Jake, and then turned back to Matt.
    “ He can come too if you
want,” Betsy yelled over the pounding surf.
    Selena’s face reddened as she realized all
eyes were on her.
    “ Do you mind?” Matt asked
gently, still staring down at her with that intense way he
had.
    “ No, of course not,” she
answered shyly.
    Matt took her arm as they started up the
hill toward the house. “How do you walk through this sand in those
shoes?”
    “ What shoes?” Selena was
confused.
    “ Are you wearing heels or
what with that evening gown?”
    “ Oh.” Selena felt her face
redden again as she lifted the hem of her gown. Matt saw that her
feet and legs were bare underneath.
    He laughed, his beautiful, musical laugh
ringing out across the beach and instantly putting Selena at ease.
“I should have known,” he said as he put his arm across her
shoulders. Selena almost felt like one of these rich movie stars as
she reveled in the feel of his strong arm around her. She leaned
into his side as she trudged through the sand. She was wet with
salt water and uncomfortable in the dress, yet she was wishing this
moment would never end.
    Matt sat on a stool and watched as Betsy
freshened Selena’s makeup and combed her hair.
    “ So, why are you here?”
Matt asked.
    Selena explained how she’d come about the
modeling gig through Don Broward. She tried turning her head to
look at him as she talked, but Betsy quickly turned it back as she
brushed Selena’s hair.
    Matt couldn’t believe his good fortune at
finding her here. “Seriously, it looked like something from a
fantasy movie,” he told Selena jovially. “You all in white on that
white horse with your dark hair flying. I thought I was dreaming or
something.” Matt closed his eyes for a second as he pictured the
sight. She had looked to him like one of the Greek Goddesses, come
down from Heaven to race across the ocean on her mystical horse. He
was pretty sure the sight would keep him awake nights, picturing it
in his mind.
    “ Yeah, her handler was
right. She is quite a handful,” Selena giggled.
    “ Is that why you ran her
into the ocean?”
    “ Yeah, I had to do
something to slow her down.”
    “ How long you going to be
here?” Matt asked.
    “ I fly out Thursday
morning.”
    “ Really, so
soon?”
    “ Yeah. If we don’t finish
up here today, then I have to come back tomorrow. Besides, I’ve
gotta be back home Friday for graduation.”
    “ Oh yeah, I forgot. Can I
take you to dinner when you’re finished?” Matt leaned closer,
staring deep into Selena’s eyes as he asked the
question.
    Selena felt the strange tingle in her
stomach again as Matt stared at her with such intensity. “Yeah.
Sounds great,” she said, her face reddening as Betsy combed her
hair. Did we have to discuss dinner in front of Betsy? How
embarrassing. She was not used to being asked out in front of a
makeup artist—or at all for that matter. She wasn’t exactly Miss
Popularity at her school.
    Selena changed into a different evening
gown, a shiny black number with spaghetti straps and a long,
flowing hem.
    Matt’s mouth dropped open when she emerged
from the bathroom. She looked even more exotic in the black
dress—it hugged her curves perfectly and made her hair and eyes
appear even darker. “You look beautiful,” he whispered in her ear
as he held out his arm and escorted her across the balcony and down
the steps, as if he were taking her to the prom. She was a little
embarrassed by his gentlemanly moves, but she had to say, she
really liked the royal treatment when it came from him.
    Matt hung around the rest of the afternoon
as Selena sat on Catalina in the surf while the cameras snapped
picture after picture. They had her lope the horse along the beach
and trot her through the waves. How many pictures can they possibly
need? She thought as they had her turn the horse this way and then
a different way. Catalina