Brenley slipped her hand into mine and I led the way out onto the little wooden dance floor and turned to face her, sitting my hands on her waist.

She looked up at me and stifled a laugh. "It's so weird dancing with you, dressed like this."

"Just close your eyes and picture the real me," I told her softly and she slowly closed her eyes and I pulled her closer, bringing her body against mine as we started swaying back and forth to the Jamaican calypso music. It made it feel like we were on a tropical island, especially with the ocean and the beach behind us.

"So why did you want me to wear a disguise today?" I asked softly.

She turned her head and laid it against my chest with her eyes still closed.

"I wanted you to feel like a normal person for a day so you could just relax and be yourself and not worry about what everyone was going to think or say or write about you. Did you like it?"

I took a deep breath in and let it out, looking around at the other couples that weren't paying any attention to us.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since I've felt this relaxed out in public. I almost felt like a normal person today. I really needed this."

"I had a feeling you might," she said softly. "It was nice seeing you so happy today. That's better than any kind of manicure or shopping trip."

"Really?" I laughed.

"Yeah, to tell you the truth I don't even like shopping or going to the spa. I'd much rather spend my money on a new book and some good coffee."

I smiled down at her, holding her in my arms against me as we swayed back and forth. It felt so good that I found myself wishing I never had to let her go. I wished she didn't have to leave in two days. I wished she didn't hate Hollywood and everything about it and the fact that I'm a celebrity. I couldn't blame her though. After all the things I've seen through the years and knowing what it's really like here, I couldn't fault anyone for not wanting to live here. It's definitely not for everyone. But I wished she would stay anyway.

But if she stayed here I'd be afraid it would change her and I couldn't even stand the thought of that. She had such a good heart and she was so sweet and innocent. Being in this place too long might just ruin her. I couldn't be selfish enough to beg her to stay here for me, knowing she would be miserable, but every instinct in my body was begging me to ask her not to go.

But I couldn't listen to it. I had to think about what was best for her.

When we finished dancing we went back to the table and finished our food, before heading home. When we got back to the house the first thing I did was go to my room and remove the disguise, scrubbing off all the makeup and pulling the latex and wig off and then I jumped in the shower to wash all the glue and left over makeup off.

When I got out I felt like a new man, or more like my old self again, my young self. I put on some pajama pants and ran a towel through my hair to dry it, draping it over my shoulders as I stepped out onto the balcony.

I looked over and saw her out on her balcony too, and she had changed into her pajamas and had her hair pulled up into a bun.

"We've really gotta stop meeting like this," I yelled out and she turned around and saw me and smiled.

"I see you're back to being you again," she said. "It's a shame. I kind of thought you made a cute old man."

That made me laugh and smile. "So that's why you said yes to dancing with me. I knew there had to be a reason."

She smiled. "Yep you've got me figured out. You better hide your Dad away. I might try to steal him away from your Mom."

"I knew you had been out here in Hollywood too long. See it's already changing you," I said with a playful smile and she laughed.

"Hey," I said, looking down and running a hand through my hair. Brenley made me so nervous I could hardly get the words out. "You ummmm. You want some company? I could bring over some wine and we could just hang out and talk for a bit?"

She hesitated, looking up at me like she was wrestling back and forth in her mind. I was preparing myself to be rejected by her once again which made it that much more surprising when she said, "Ummm. Yeah. Okay. You can come over."

My heart did a leap and I tried to play it cool and hide my excitement.

"Ok. I'll put on a shirt and be over in a minute," I said, heading inside. I silently started doing a little celebration dance as I pulled on a t-shirt and hung up the towel before walking downstairs and grabbing a bottle of wine from the wine cooler and two wine glasses.

I had a huge smile on my face as I approached her door and I stopped for a minute doing lip and cheek exercises trying to get the smile to go away and I made a straight face as I knocked. It was no use. As soon as the door swung open and I saw her face my smile slowly started to creep back in.

She smiled at me too and said, "Hey. There's that face again. I had started getting so used to the wrinkles I almost forgot what you really looked like."

"Well," I said, walking in as she shut the door behind me. "I could always have him come back over and do it again if you miss my wrinkles that much."

She grinned and said, "No I don't think that'll be necessary. I think I can suffer through looking at that face of yours Dylan Chase. It'll be tough though."

"Sure you aren't looking in the mirror?" I teased, raising an eyebrow at her with a smirk and she gasped, jabbing me hard in the side with her fingers and I laughed.

She laughed too as I popped the cork on the wine bottle and poured two glasses, handing one to her.

"Dylan Chase is actually my stage name. That's something not too many people know about me. My real name is Dylan Chase Ashford. My agent shortened it when I moved out here because he thought Dylan Chase sounded more like a Hollywood star. It's been a secret for a long time, but I wanted you to know."

It felt nice to confide in her and somehow I knew she could be trusted.

"I think that's a nice name," she said with a smile and I smiled back as I led the way out onto the porch. She flipped off the light inside, coming out onto the dark back porch with me, overlooking the ocean.

"I always love sitting out here at night and listening to the sound of the waves," I said, letting out an exhale as I sat down. "I think it's calming."

"Me too. I love the sound of the ocean," she said, taking a seat in the patio chair beside me, both of us sipping our wine at the same time and looking out at the water. "I had never seen the ocean until this week and it didn't disappoint. You're lucky to live so close to it."

"When I was a kid I used to climb up on our roof and lay down and look up at the stars. I'd daydream about what the future was going to be like and wonder if humans would be living up in space before I die," I told her.

"Did you ever stare up at the stars and wonder if there are planets out there that have people similar to us?" she asked. "I think that would be the coolest thing ever if we found a planet that had people and maybe they just spoke a different language and had completely different customs and behaviors than us. Wouldn't that be exciting?"

I nodded my head and said, "Yeah, like back in old times when people would sail across the ocean and discover new countries. Like when the English found North America and it was inhabited by the Indians and they were completely different from them."

"Yeah," she said, letting out an exhale. "But let's hope if aliens discover this planet it turns out better for us than it did for the Indians."

"It probably wouldn't," I told her, sipping my wine. "People are scared of the unknown. If they don't know what it is they have a tendency to try to destroy it before it has the chance to hurt them."

There was a pause before I added, "Sometimes people do that with relationships too. They shut it down before it has the chance to hurt them even though it might turn out to be something really good if they gave it a chance."

I was talking about her, without saying it and I was hoping she would pick up on my subtle hints. At least I thought they were subtle but subtlety wasn't my strong suit.

"So tell me about your family?" she asked me, changing the subject and breaking me from my thoughts.

"I'm the oldest of four, three boys and one girl. We kept our Mom on her toes," I laughed.

"Wow, there are four of you? I just can't picture you having a little sister," she said with a smile. "How old is she?"

"Sixteen. She's the baby of the family," I said, pulling out my phone and swiping through some pictures. Then I pointed my phone towards her and her eyes widened.

"Awwww!" she cried out, taking it from my hands and looking at our family portrait we took a few years ago at Christmas.

A smile crept across her face.

"Wow. You're whole family's so gorgeous. Look at all of you!" she gasped. "Wow your Mom is really a stunner isn't she?"

"That's what all my friends told me growing up. Their nickname for her was The MILF. That's the last thing a guy wants to hear his friends say about his Mom. Trust me."

"Now wait. This is your Dad?" she asked, widening her eyes. "Your Dad's hot too. Maybe you really do need to hide him from me," she teased, giving me a smirk and waiting for a response from me. I just narrowed my eyes playfully and didn't give her the satisfaction. I knew what she was doing, trying to get a rise out of me.

"So how old are your little brothers?"

"Mason's 21 and Jack's 19."

"They're both so tall and handsome like you. Do they want to be actors too?" she asked.

"They wanted to be but I talked them out of it and persuaded them to pursue other things. I really don't want them around all the drugs, women and partying out here in Hollywood. I worry about them being stupid and ruining their lives and then my parents would blame me."

She looked at me and asked, "But it's okay for you to be around all that?"

"Well I've been around it for years and I've never been tempted to go down that path. I know my little brothers well enough to know they aren't as strong as me when it comes to resisting stuff like that. I've always tried to watch out for them and steer them in a good direction."

She smiled and said, "It sounds like you're a good big brother. So if you don't want your brothers or sister out here in Hollywood, what about when you have kids one day? Do you want to raise them here around all this?"

I sat there, processing her words and running it over in my mind.

"I guess I never really thought about it," I said quietly and that was the truth.