“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make it worse.” It was hard to plead and suppress a laugh at the same time.

“I suppose I need a new gesture then, huh?”

“Why don’t you rub your middle finger across your eyebrow if you don’t like his question? That ought to be good for ratings.”

He was laughing too hard to reply.

“See, you like my ideas!” I laughed with him.

“Yeah, I do! But I also recall you did the same gesture to me once!”

“Well, pick another one then. But you’ll have to let me know what your new gesture is so I can watch for it.”

“Let me think about that for a minute. There are so many subtle movements I could make that no one would notice. I like this! It’s so evil! Okay, let me think… “All right, I got one. I’ll scratch my chin if I really want to tell him to go to Hell. How does that sound?”

I laughed. “Sounds good! No one will even notice. So what does the rubbing your forehead and scratching your chin at the same time mean?”

“Don’t be a smart ass!” he bantered back. “And if he asks me if I have a girlfriend, of course I have to deny it to keep my private life a secret, but how about I’ll touch my nose with my finger so you know I’m lying?”

I felt my heart skip a beat when he said the word girlfriend.

“So, you have a girlfriend? Do I know her?” I asked, fooling with him.

“Don’t make me hang up on you!” he threatened.

“No, I really want to know. Is she hot?” I joked.

“No, she’s not hot.” He paused before changing his tone. “I’d say she’s more… irresistibly beautiful and incredibly sexy - than hot. And I’m insanely crazy about her so watch what you say.”

“Wow,” I breathed out as I felt the blood rush from my head. “Good thing I don’t know her. I’m getting really jealous.”

“Well, if you really feel the need to confront her, go look in the mirror. I’ll wait.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was completely astonished. My mouth was hanging open like a fish out of water.

“Why, Ms. Mitchell! Are you speechless?” he teased.

“Yes. Completely.”

“Good. Now while you’re stunned into silence, I’m gonna get going. I want to try and sleep for two hours before I have to fly.”

“Okay, have fun and be careful in New York.”

“I’ll try. I have off Sunday and Monday, if I read the schedule right,” he yawned. “I’m freaking tired. It won’t take me long to fall asleep, even though I don’t have my favorite pillow to wrap my arm around. But this weekend, I’m really looking forward to fixing that! I’ll call you from New York when I get a break, okay? Good night, sweetheart. Pleasant dreams.”

The sunrays were just starting to beam through my window when my alarm clock chimed. 6:55 a.m. flashed in large red numbers as my eyes adjusted to the light. Part of me wanted to hit the snooze button and enjoy ten more minutes of sleep, but the other part wanted desperately to see him again.

I felt I needed to connect with his celebrity life. I wanted to know what his life was like when he wasn’t walking around barefoot in my apartment. If I was going to love him honestly, fully, and completely, I had to know all the facets of who he was and embrace them all equally.

I curled up on the couch and rapidly flipped through the channels until I found the right network for the morning show. I frowned when I had to endure several minutes of commercials.

As tired as I was I could only imagine that Ryan was just as tired, if not more. I had the luxury of just waking up and lounging in my pajamas. He, no doubt, had already been up for an hour or so and was probably stuck in some makeup chair having a team of stylists fuss over his wardrobe and hair while powdering his face to hide his sheen.

You poor bastard, I thought to myself as a smile broke on my face. He’s probably squirming in the chair right now.

Of course they waited until the last ten minutes of the show to bring him out. The other forty minutes were coated in teasing pictures, video clips, and a few hundred “later on in the show” lead-ins.

Ryan smiled and waved to the audience as he made his way to the open chair on the stage. He was so freaking handsome in a dark tweed jacket over a dark gray button down shirt that hung out over his pants. He had stubble growing on his face and he grimaced when the female audience screamed for him. A few women yelled “I love you” as he was taking his seat, and just like on cue, he rubbed his forehead.