“Good idea.”
After he left, I collected myself. Just because Harrison was looking like a snack in his simple white tee and shorts that showed off incredible calves and thighs, and I was hard up, and we had both drank maybe a little too much and were finally alone with no distractions, and there was no hurry to go back to all our responsibilities, and we totally had plenty of room in the back of the car if we folded the seats down …wait, was I selling this or stopping this?
I genuinely could not remember what the right thing to do was. I felt loose and free and just wanted to give in to what I wanted at the moment instead of thinking at all. Thinking was overrated, and this had been so lovely.
I blew out a puff of air as a man swaggered up, an arrogant smile on his forgettable face. My internal feminine alarms rang even through the wine haze.
“Hey,” he said. “You doing okay? You look hot.”
“I’m just fine.” I blinked too slowly. I knew how I came across. Vulnerable. And I hated it. It was a flashing beacon to a certain type of man.
“You really are,” he said with a grin and stepped closer.
Real smooth, mister. He wore woven brown leather Huarache sandals that looked like they made his feet smell like Collette’s school shoes after a day of playing outside. He was the kind of guy who felt entitled to any woman at any time. I should knee him in the balls. Instead, I used my tote to push him back out of my bubble.
I was just about to tell him to go away when Harrison was back with two bottles of water. Once again, I felt a whoosh of relief to have him at my side rather than to handle things alone. Even though I totally could handle this guy.
“Darling,” he said in his Hank voice and slipped an arm around my waist. I gasped when he pressed the ice-cold water against the back of my neck with no warning. Goose bumps prickled down my whole body all at once. What was he playing at? “Did you make a new friend?” he asked.
I wasn’t a fan of his Hank voice. It reminded me that his normal voice felt like home, but I had to say there was something about it now, like naughty role-playing.
The new guy looked at him, sizing him up as all tough guys do. Harrison was Hollywood fit, I’d seen that firsthand, but there was an air of affability about him that made him incredibly approachable and not the least bit intimidating.
“Hello,” I said to Harrison, looking up at him with lusty eyes. That wasn’t acting, but it worked for the situation. His gaze moved over my face, and he swallowed. I relaxed into his touch the longer he looked at me. Too intimate for a third party to witness.
He rubbed his thumb along my hip, lifting my dress slightly. The newcomer’s face moved to follow the action. “Did you find a friend for us to play with?” Harrison asked.
I stilled. That wasnotwhat I was expecting.
The man stepped back. “Uh? I wasn’t—”
“What’re your thoughts on nipple clamps?” he asked, tilting his head to look the man up and down. He licked his lips as he did.
“We didn’t get that far,” I added, quickly understanding the game. “But he seems very open.” Harrison squeezed my side as though to signal that he was impressed.
“Uh. I have to meet my friends.” Stinky Shoes was gone in no time.
I turned in Harrison’s grip, happy that he hadn’t released me yet.
“You know most men would just try to punch him,” I said once it was just us.
“Trust me, I wanted to.” He rocked his head side to side, neck popping as tension melted out of him. He opened the water and handed it to me. “But nothing makes insecure blokes like that run faster than toying with their masculinity. Plus, as much as I love to tease you, I actually wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable. He’d been doing that plenty.” His jaw clenched as he glared in the direction of where Stinky Shoes went.
“Hank really does have his uses.” I gulped the water down. Mine was spent long ago. After I finished, I gasped a breath. “Fame is so weird. That guy would have never bailed like that if he knew who you were. He would have tried to tell you about his daddy’s company and spew corporate lingo to impress you.”
He shrugged. “Yeah. At the end of the day, looking at things from a forty-thousand-foot view, the metrics will all tell the same story.” This time, when he spoke, it was with a different type of greasy American accent.
“You’re freakishly good at that,” I said in awe.
“I know. It’s all make-believe. This fame thing.”
He finally let me loose after one last squeeze. “How do you stay so grounded?”
“Am I? Most people would say I’m ridiculous.”Ihad said that to him. I felt a wave of shame even through my fuzzy goodness. He smiled, but it was the distracting one that said he was trying to be charming. I didn’t have a chance to answer. “Notoriety has been a part of my life for so long, I actually don’t know anything else. Also, I have two best friends who help keep me humble.”
“Aw.”
“No, don’taw.They’re terrible.” He smirked.
