other day, and I noticed that Ryan barely acknowledged the other girls’ presence.

I looked at the two actresses and gave them my best welcome smile.

“Hi!” I held out my hand to Suzanne. “I’m Taryn. Welcome to my home.” She barely took my fingers in hers and quickly shook my hand.

“I’m Suzanne,” she mumbled.

I got the distinct impression that I was supposed to acknowledge that she was famous and I was expected to already know who she was.

“It’s nice to meet you. And you must be Francesca,” I stated warmly, holding my hand out to her.

“Yes,” she said quickly, barely looking at me. Even though she only said one word I could still detect the French accent to her voice. She was as

unpleasant to me as I had expected.

“I didn’t have an opportunity to meet you both when you were in my pub, but I’m glad that you came today.” There was no way I was going to be

impolite, despite the less than warm reception I was getting in return.

I glanced over to Ryan, who gave me a smile and a nod. He was acknowledging my attempts at being cordial.

“Ladies, can I offer you a drink? We have a large variety of wines downstairs, or any other beverage you might prefer.” I was hoping they might

follow me down to the bar. I did not want to be carrying drinks up and down the stairs all night.

Much to my dismay, Suzanne wrapped her coat across her chest and plopped her ass down in one of the chairs. “I’ll have a glass of white wine.”

Francesca sat down next to her. My wishes for them to return to the bar were in vain. While I was running downstairs I was going to make it worth

the trip.

“Francesca, can I get you something to drink?” I asked nicely.

Before she responded, the rooftop door opened again and several new people joined us.

I recognized Shane Richards right away; he had come into the pub once before with Ryan and Cal. Next to him was a petite, twenty-something

looking woman with short blond hair and another man who was lanky with too much gel in his brown hair.

Ryan came to my side and he was smiling at our new guests.

“Hey everyone!” the young woman said. “Hey Ryan!” She came right over to us.

I didn’t know who she was, but it didn’t matter. She was all aglow and looking like she wanted to have a good time, not like the other two who

were glaring at me from their perches.

“Taryn, this is Kathleen Jarrett. She plays my wicked little assistant in our film.” He smiled and gave her a teasing arm hug around her neck.

“Kat, this is Taryn.”

“Hey Taryn!” Kathleen greeted me. I held my hand out to her but instead she gave me a hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you!”

“It’s nice to meet you too!” I said while hugging her back. I was curious as to what she meant by ‘finally;’ I looked over at Ryan, slightly confused.

He was just smiling.

“Ryan has told me a lot about you,” she whispered in my ear. “I’m just so glad to see him happy.”

“Taryn, this is Ben… Ben Harrison.” Kathleen motioned to the man next to her.

“Hi Ben. It’s nice to meet you.” I held out my hand, but the way Kathleen was bobbing around, I wondered if she would pull us all in for a group

hug. I was relieved when Ben shook my hand instead.

Ryan leaned over and whispered in my ear. “I’m allowed to tell you that they are together, even though their characters are mortal enemies. I told

Kat that you’re very trustworthy.”

His eyes flashed to look at Kat, but she was just smiling and bouncing with happiness.

“They’ve been seeing each other for a while, but it’s not public knowledge. They’d prefer if the public stays out of their private life.”

“I completely understand,” I replied. Apparently Ryan had been sharing his private life details with her. It didn’t matter; she looked like she was

trustworthy too.

“Ryan, do you think we can get everyone back down into the pub for a minute? That way I can get everyone drinks and we can start eating

soon.” I was also thinking about my friends, who were noticeably absent from the rooftop gathering.

Ryan made an announcement and ushered everyone towards the door. I was relieved that he took charge. I didn’t want to offend anyone,

especially the two that were still glaring at me. The more they glared, the less I wanted to wait on them hand and foot.

Kelly and Kat stopped as we proceeded through my apartment.

“What do you guys think?” Ryan asked them, looking around at my apartment.

“This is a really cool apartment,” Kat said excitedly. “It’s huge!”

Ryan took them for a quick tour and stopped in my kitchen. I was surprised that it made such an impression on him.

“Taryn designed it,” he stated proudly.

I was glad that the rest of the group went downstairs. I could only imagine Suzanne rolling her eyes at Ryan’s comments.

“I love the stove,” Ryan added. “There are enough burners on this thing to make a meal for forty people.”

“Maybe one day I’ll know forty people to cook for,” I joked. “Speaking of cooking… why don’t we all go downstairs for a drink, and then I can get

the steaks on the grill.”

Suzanne and Francesca were sitting at the big, round table. I noticed that they were wearing almost the same look in clothing. Both had

designer T-shirts on and their sneakers were the same, but in different colors. I wondered who was copying whom.

As I looked around at the cast, I could easily see whom Ryan got along with and who presented a challenge. I wondered, besides the obvious

look of her, what attracted Ryan to Francesca. She looked like a model, but she seemed to have the personality of a rock. I didn’t get the appeal;

unless at the time of his moment of weakness he was drunk or just so hard up that he wasn’t looking for a hole with a personality.

Suzanne looked bored. Francesca on the other hand was sitting there taking mental notes. I could sense her wheels were turning. When

Suzanne got up to use the restroom, Francesca trailed behind her.

I set out two bottles of opened wine on the end of the buffet table when I heard the two girls coming out of the bathroom.

“Didn’t take him long to get some in this town,” Suzanne said coldly. “Guess this one is the new flavor of the month.” Her eyes looked me up and

down when she noticed me standing there.

I didn’t move. I just stood there with my arms crossed. The battle lines were being drawn right before my eyes and the evening was still young.

“Don’t let them get to you,” Kelly said as she made a small platter of finger foods behind me. “They’re threatened by you,” she mentioned

casually.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered to her. “I don’t even know them.”

“You’re taking Ryan off the eligible bachelors’ list and they’re jealous. Those two have had issues with every girl he speaks to. Ryan is a nice

guy; he talks to everybody.”

Kelly took a moment to eat a seafood puff. “It’s weird; they act like they have some kind of ownership over him. I’ll be glad once this third movie

is done; then we’ll be rid of them.” She smiled at me, like we were in on some secret joke together.

“I didn’t know what I had done to offend them,” I uttered.

“You captured Ryan’s attention. That was enough.” Kelly giggled.

After she sampled another bite of food, her facial expression turned serious. “So, how did you and Ryan meet?”

I wasn’t prepared to answer that question to anyone. I didn’t know what to say.

“I would prefer if you asked Ryan that question,” I politely requested.

“Very good,” she replied. “You’re a quick learner!” Kelly fired another question at me. “Are you dating him?”

“No. I’m not dating anyone,” I responded. My answer wasn’t altogether a lie. In reality, he had yet to take me on a date. Our relationship was