Elena jumped when I plopped down next to her at the after-party and asked, “Is this seat taken, my lady?”
“It’s reserved for some Hollywood asshole, but you can sit there until he shows up.”
“Does he have an opinion about gender pay disparity in Hollywood? I’m looking for someone to discuss it with and I hear men’s opinions are worth more.”
She put her napkin to her mouth and I was sure she was covering a satisfied smile. I couldn’t even pretend to be mad. But I would get my revenge.
“I owed you for that little book stunt. And it’s fundamentally wrong that you consistently make that much more than your costars. You should have to answer for it.”
“Maybe I’m a bigger draw than they are…” I was bullshitting and was confident she would pick up on it. She didn’t disappoint.
“You’re a bigger something…” she muttered.
“Are you always this fun at parties?”
She batted her eyelashes at me adoringly for the sake of the rest of the room, but the fire in her eyes was reserved only for me.
“So bridge, huh?” I’d been floored when she’d asked me to call her to prove we were really together. It was the kind of move I would’ve hated from most people because it meant they were parading me in front of their friends, but from her it was so innocent and unexpected. It’d been a glimpse into a side of her I suspected she didn’t show many people.
Being out on my surf board had let me do some thinking after I talked to her. I’d first been drawn to her because she was formidable enough to put everything in context, just like being on a tiny board out in that huge ocean did. She made me feel unimportant in a good way. But when she’d called me like that, it had been the opposite. I felt ten feet tall because she wanted to show me off to her friends and because she felt comfortable enough with me to share that private part of her life.
“Thanks for doing that,” she said. “I didn’t mean to make you into a performing monkey, but the looks on their faces were priceless. They were absolutely convinced I was joking.”
I chuckled and glanced at the drinks on the table. “Did you order me a stout?”
“Yeah, is that not what you wanted?”
“It’s exactly what I wanted. I’m just surprised you knew.”
“I’m trained to pay attention to my clients’ every whim. Don’t read into it.”
I carefully controlled my expression so she wouldn’t see my face fall. Every time I thought she might be letting me in, she walloped me with a reminder of our professional relationship and made me feel like an ass for thinking there might be genuine flirtation happening. She did this for a living and I was the creep who was trying to make it something it wasn’t.
I took a deep swig and made a contented noise at the chocolatey taste of the beer. I was bracing myself to ask, “So…? What did you think of the film?”
It wasn’t a bad movie, but it was just like every other movie I’d made for the last few years and I was starting to worry that’s all I was ever going to do. I’d become an actor because it was hard and it terrified me every time I had to push outside of my comfort zone to become someone new. These days, I was just playing some version of myself over and over. I wanted to remember what it felt like to be scared and question whether I was capable.
I thought she would say something derisive, but she threw me off again. “I’m going to press pause on our ongoing feud for a minute to tell you I thoroughly enjoyed the whole film. Your comedic timing is outstanding and your chemistry with the love interest was hot. I would’ve been happy with more romance and fewer explosions, but that’s always going to be my complaint with an action movie.”
I smiled like it was no big deal, like I didn’t need the validation anymore, but the truth was, I’d been nervous like it was my first film knowing she was in that room watching it.
“Thanks. I promise to give you more romance and fewer explosions with my next movie.”
She almost smiled.
I was in fucking knots around this woman. This month needed to go quickly for the sake of my sanity.
Asha stopped at the table and leaned in close to us. “There’s a reporter here from every major entertainment outlet and most of the blogs. Could you two give me a little PDA instead of sitting like you can’t stand each other? Thanks!”
When she darted away, I hesitated, wondering how to bridge the gap between us.
Elena purred, “Scared, Mr. Chase? I would say I don’t bite, but we’d both know I’d be lying.”
I scooted my chair closer, fighting a groan when she snaked an arm around my back, lazily dragging her fingernails up and down.
When I reached over and tried to take her hand, she guided me to her knee instead. It was fascinating that she always acted like holding hands was more intimate than any other kind of contact.
I stroked my thumb across her invitingly soft skin. “Happy one week anniversary, by the way.”
