To Catch a Falling Star

5-"A Little Detour to Hollywood"

Marykate's POV

As secretive and odd-acting my neighbor was, he was hot as hell, and I was determined to look my best for our ambiguous date.

I spent the good part of an hour taming my wild mess of dark hair into a sleek high ponytail, then layering on some makeup. I settled on a cute mini dress—black—classy and simple, and it showed off my long tan legs. I wasn't exactly gifted in the chest department, but what I lacked there, I made up for in legs. They were my pride and joy. I may be a stick, but at least I could pull off mini skirts.

A little before 7, I applied some last minute touch ups to my lipgloss and slipped on a pair of nude heels. Almost as soon as they touched my feet, I heard my neighbor's telltale knock at the door.

When I opened the door, he said nothing, simply gazed at me in a slight daze.

"You look... stunning," he said after a moment.

He was dressed in a nice fitting polo and black jeans. He looked quite dapper himself, and I could see the abs poking through the thin material of his shirt.

"Same to you, whatever your name is," I chuckled, closing the door behind me.

"It's.."

He paused.

"Lawrence Winthrop."

I looked at him, bemused. I was about to ask why he hesitated in telling me something as simple as his name when he asked for mine.

"It's Marykate. Peters."

"Nice to meet you, Marykate Peters."

"Same to you... Lawrence Winthrop," I giggled.

We reached the parking lot of our apartment complex. It was only then I realized I had no idea where he was taking me. Let alone why. I assumed he'd simply thought I was hot and wanted to get in my pants and was using the whole 'favor' as some sort of excuse.

"Are we taking an Uber to... wherever it is we're going?" I questioned, gazing around the nearly empty parking lot. In the small town of Waters, most people walked to wherever they're going, so it wasn't unusual for no one to own a vehicle. Thus, albeit our building was quite affluent (yes, I'm a trust fund baby, blah blah, you know the rest) I wasn't expecting Lawrence to be driving.

But to my surprise, he led me over to a sleek black mustang and opened the passenger's side door for me.

"Ladies first," he said. I couldn't tell if it was out of chivalry or if he was just making a big show of it to be an ass.

"Thank you," I said wryly, deciding the latter had been correct because he'd bowed with a gigantic flourish.

"You're quite the gentleman," I remarked as he started the engine. "Such a shocker, considering last night you paid about zero heed to the fact you were blowin' smoke straight into my poor lungs."

"Last night? Oh, you mean when you crankily cussed me out for taking a hit on my private balcony like an uptight grandma?" He chuckled. I could see the laughter reach his eyes, despite them staying steadily on the road. It altered his entire face when he smiled. Was it the way his flinty eyes crinkled, or those glistening, movie star white teeth?

"Hey. I'm not a night person. Don't get mad at me," I huffed. He just shook with laughter and then popped the turn signal on, leading us out onto the highway.

"Hey, uh. Where exactly is this date?" I asked, confused.

"Uhhh, about that."

"What?" I asked, concerned at his wary tone.

"We're kind of taking a little detour.... to er... Hollywood."