“Hi, Florence,” he said. “Where’s Anna?”

“She’s swimming. You got the agenda, right?”

Florence had sent him an agenda for today. Yes, he’d gotten it. Had he read it? Well, that was a different story.

“I got it, yeah,” he said. “Are we . . . supposed to be somewhere soon?”

Luckily Florence seemed like she frequently dealt with people who didn’t read their agendas.

“Not for two hours.” That was soon, from his perspective, but okay. “The limo will pick you up here and take you to the hotel—your premiere clothes are already there, and the glam squad will meet you there. I’ll be there, too, a little later, to take some candids for social, and then you’ll go from the hotel to the theater.”

What she didn’t say, but that he already knew, was that his job was to show up, wear what they told him to wear, and not act like an asshole. He could manage that.

“Great. That sounds great. Thank you for making this so easy for us,” he said.

Florence picked up her bag and opened the front door.

“That’s my job,” she said. “But working with people like Anna—and you—makes everything easier for me, too.” She stepped outside. “Okay, I’m taking off. See you over there. Text me if anything comes up.”

Ben set his bag down and walked into the backyard to find Anna. She sliced through the water quickly and cleanly, a black swim cap on her head. She didn’t see him yet, so he sat down to watch her. She’d told him that she loved to swim, and that she got this house partly because the high walls around the pool made it so she could swim anytime, without worrying someone could see her. Last week, they’d gotten in together late at night and spent hours floating there. But he’d never seen her swimming in it like this before, like she could go back and forth forever.

After a while, she surfaced at the shallow end and saw him.

“Ben! When did you get here?”

The smile on her face was so warm, so genuine.

“Not too long ago. Florence let me in, but I didn’t want to disturb you.”

She pulled herself out of the pool, and his eyes widened.

“You . . . do you always . . .”

She pulled off her swim cap and shook her hair. The water streamed over her breasts and ran down her legs.

“No, I don’t always swim topless.” She grinned. He knew she knew what this was doing to him. “But I do when I have something big coming up and I’m swimming during the day—swimsuits give me such distinct tan lines, no matter how much sunscreen I put on. There’s body makeup that can deal with all of that, but it’s a pain in the ass. I’d rather just make sure I don’t have tan lines in the first place.”

She walked over to him, and he pulled her down onto his lap. She swung her legs sideways and kissed him.

“You like that, I see.”

He ran his lips down over her warm brown skin.

“I like it a lot.”

They made it to the hotel in the nick of time, though they kept the limo waiting for a while at Anna’s house. As soon as they walked into the suite, it was like he didn’t exist—one person immediately started blow-drying Anna’s hair, another reached for her nails, and a third patted cream on her face.

She winked at him from across the room. At least there was plenty of space in this suite. He had an hour to sit on the couch and work—he was “working from home” today, but since all this was going to end soon, he’d better actually get work done. He had to prove he was more than just a famous person’s boyfriend.

You know that as soon as the premiere is over, she’s done with you.

He shook that off. At least Simon wasn’t there today.

“Ben,” Florence called from across the suite. “They’re ready for you.”

He closed his laptop and walked over, ready to put his tux on, until someone beckoned him into the corner.

“Makeup time.”

Right. He’d forgotten that someone would probably want to put makeup on him.

Anna grinned at him from her own chair, where two people were twirling her hair around scary implements.

“It’s just a little lip balm and moisturizer,” she said. “Did Florence warn you about that?”

He shrugged.

“Probably? She’s very detailed, but”—he lowered his voice—“I only skimmed her instructions.”

Anna laughed. She looked happy and excited about tonight, which relieved him. She was a great actress, yes, but by this point, he could sense her emotions, even if she was trying to hide them. That she didn’t seem anxious about tonight meant he could relax, too.

Though . . . if he saw that photographer from last weekend, it would be hard not to trip him.

Finally, their hours of grooming ended just as Devora walked into the room.

“Anna! Ben! Tonight is going to be amazing.”

She unzipped one of the enormous garment bags on the clothing rack and handed Ben his tux.

“Here you go—let me know if you need anything.”

He appreciated how everyone who worked for Anna was very helpful and polite to him while at the same time making it clear that Anna was their only priority. He was sure none of them would ever just hand Anna a dress and tell her to let them know if she needed anything.

He ducked into the bedroom and pulled on the perfectly fitted and pressed tux and shirt. At least there was air-conditioning in this room so he wouldn’t swelter on this summer day in long sleeves, but he had a feeling he was going to be hot as hell on the red carpet. Maybe someone had a solution for that. He walked out of the bedroom barefoot, jacket over his arm.

“Devora, I just realized . . .” He stopped cold.

Anna turned at his voice. Despite everyone with them in the room, he knew her smile was just for him.

She was in the red dress. He’d been sure she would wear the dress Simon had liked. He hadn’t even asked her about it; he didn’t want to make her feel bad when she had to tell him. But she was wearing the dress he’d told her he loved.

“The dress,” was all he could say. “It’s . . . you look so beautiful.”

Beautiful wasn’t even the right word. He didn’t think he could be surprised anymore by Anna, or his reaction to her, but in that dress, with that thrilled, happy, proud look on her face, she shone so brightly it was almost hard to look at her. She beamed as she looked back at him.

“Thank you,” she said. “You look pretty great yourself.”