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“Absolutely. Don’t you?”
She shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together. “No. I believe in timing and coincidence. Not fate.”
“Well, then,” he smiled at her. She made it almost too easy. “Timing threw us together quite coincidentally. Have dinner with me, please. Come on, you do eat, don’t you? Or is that against girl code, too?”
She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “And if it is?”
“Well, then,” he leaned in close, bending until his lips were level with her right ear. He kept his voice low and rumbly. “I’d say the time has come for you to be a rebel.”
She shivered. “What makes you think I’m not one already?”
“Hmm.” He toyed with her hair and backed up a step so he could look into her eyes. They were wide, and her breath came out a little bit fast. If she were a rebel, then he would wear a blooming skirt to work every day for a fortnight. “Gut instinct?”
Something that looked a lot like defiance blazed in her eyes. She grabbed a hold of his shirt and didn’t let go. She didn’t pull him closer or push him away. Just held him still. “Careful how much you go with your gut. It might lead you down the wrong path.”
“I think it’s leading me on the right one tonight.” He eyed her, and cradled her cheek with his hand. “Go out with me, luv?”
She smiled, and still didn’t drop her hold on him. “You’re making it hard to say no. Especially with your accent.”
“Then say ‘yes.’” He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. She took a shaky breath, and tightened her grip on his shirt. He’d bet his left nut this attraction wasn’t one-sided. She might not know who he really was, but why should he tell her he wasn’t stage crew? He kind of wanted to be a normal guy for once and relished the anonymity for a change. Back home, people recognized him as the rising star everyone wanted to know about.
But here?
He was nobody. And he didn’t want her to look at him like all the other girls did. He wanted her to look at him like he was a man. Just a man. “Blimey! You know what? I don’t know even know your name.”
“Blimey?” She smiled, and her eyes sparkled up at him. “I like the way you talk. I could listen to it all night.”
“Great. It’s settled.” He grabbed her hand. “Name?”
She didn’t pull away, and that smile struck again. She could disarm the entire Royal Navy with a simple smile if she set her mind to it. “I’m Alexis, but you can call me Lexi.”
“Pleased to meet you. Now that names are out of the way … care to go to dinner with me, Lexi?”
“I’m not interested in a relationship right now,” she said flatly. “At all.”
He dropped her hand and backed away from her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down a second. I didn’t say anything about relationships. I only mentioned dinner and getting shitfaced. Don’t take advantage of me just yet.”
“I-I didn’t mean to … I mean I … ” She turned bright red and covered her cheeks with her hands. “Oh God. This is horrible.”
He wagged a finger at her. “And before you go and propose marriage to me—no, I don’t need a green card. I’m well and dandy in that aspect.”
She blinked up at him then burst into laughter. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”
He held his thumb and pointer finger up, holding them close together “Perhaps a wee bit.” He grinned. “Now, about our non-committal, non-relationship-forming dinner … ?”
She pointed at him, one hand on her hip. “It’s not a date.”
“Of course not.” He offered his arm. “It’s a distraction.”
She eyed his arm as if he offered her a lift into a pit full of snakes instead of a meal. She took a deep breath, slid her hand into his arm, and led him out of the alley. “This is me being spontaneous and accepting a dinner invite from the strange man who knocked me on my ass in an alley on July 4th. Let it be marked in the official court records, in case you kill me tonight.”
“Consider it duly recorded.” He fought back a triumphant grin. “So, I know this nice little Italian place in SoHo—”
She snorted. “In America, we don’t do Italian food on the fourth of July. We do burgers, beer, and fireworks. If you’re going out with a Yank on this night of all nights, then you’ll be one, too.”
He shuddered. “Perish the thought.”
Chuckling, she tugged him closer and led him out onto the packed sidewalks. “By the end of the night, I’ll have you singing the national anthem as the fireworks explode over the Statue of Liberty.”
