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“Sorry—I didn’t mean to bring up ancient news,” I apologized with a wince. Allyson’s last boyfriend was a wannabe model and a total jerk who was always putting her down. I swear it was because he was jealous of her good looks. I didn’t think he could stand that she was prettier than he was, or that she should have been the one in front of the camera—not him. The relationship had been short-lived, and I was glad when they split up.

“It’s okay. Mark was a loser anyways. Now, Jeremy, on the other hand…” She took on a faraway, dreamy look, and I started laughing.

“So, tell me about him. Hopefully, he’s better in the sack than Mark was,” I joked. That was another reason Allyson hadn’t kept the last one around very long.

“I don’t know. Yet,” she added, the familiar gleam back in her eyes. “Jeremy is a photographer, like me. I was at the Ethan DeJames main office completing my new hire paperwork when I met him. It was his first day too. He told me he normally shot landscape, but when Ethan recruited him to shoot their models, he decided to …” Allyson began talking rapidly, telling me every little detail of their first meeting.

But after a few minutes, her words began to fade in and out. I tried to listen, but I couldn’t seem to stay focused on what she was saying. I couldn’t stop thinking about Alexander Stone. The way he consumed my every thought was extremely annoying.

It’s not like I want to go out with him or anything. Just because he looks like a Greek God with his dark waves and flashing blue eyes doesn’t mean I want to sleep with him. Guys who look like him are nothing but trouble.

“Um, hello? Are you even listening to what I’m saying?” Allyson asked, interrupting my thoughts by waving a hand in front of my face.

“I’m sorry, Ally. I was listening…sort of. I’m just a little distracted today,” I explained, feeling bad about my rudeness.

“What’s wrong?” Lines of concern marred her pretty face.

“Nothing major, really.” And that was the truth—nothing was seriously wrong.

I’m just a total head case over a man I barely know.

The waitress came back to the table with our food, and I was grateful for the interruption. I needed to figure out how to explain this without sounding like a complete nut job. As soon as the waitress walked away, Allyson pounced.

“Spill it,” she demanded.

“I have a job interview tomorrow. I got the call just before I left to meet you.” I paused and took a few bites of my salad. “Oh, and I think I met the hottest guy on the planet yesterday,” I blurted out.

Shock briefly flashed across her face, but she recovered quickly.

“I didn’t see that one coming! Do tell!” she said, rubbing her hands together and wiggling her eyebrows. Allyson was always so animated when she spoke, and her vivacity made me smile.

“It’s nothing like you’re probably thinking, Ally. I only saw him twice, and it was fairly brief both times.”

“Well, what does he look like?” she pressed.

“He’s tall. Well-built, from what I can tell. Dark hair and blue eyes—really intense blue eyes. Definitely sexy, and I think he knows it too. He has sort of an arrogant gait when he walks.” I felt my stomach do a little flip as I thought back to the sight of Alexander walking to the checkout line at Wally’s.

“What’s his name?”

“Alexander Stone,” I said and waited to see if she recognized the name. Apparently, she didn’t because she just threw another question at me, eagerly looking for more information.

“How did you meet him?”

I went on to describe our first encounter, and I didn’t leave out any details—my fall, his arm around my waist, his promise to see me soon. She didn’t laugh like I thought she would. Instead, she stared at me with wide eyes and signaled our waitress for another round of drinks.

“I can’t believe you fell,” she said, her eyes wide in shock.

“Yeah, I did. It was absolutely mortifying!” I dropped my head into my hands and moaned.

“You said you saw him twice. Please tell me you didn’t embarrass yourself a second time.” I picked my head back up and started laughing at her expression. She looked thoroughly appalled at the thought of me humiliating myself again.

“No, I wasn’t a total klutz the second time. But I wasn’t exactly smooth either.” I told her about what happened in aisle nine and made sure to include the tantalizing way Alexander had chewed a piece of gum.

“I love it!” she exclaimed, dissolving into a fit of laughter when I told her how I had tossed a pack of Big Red into his cart.

“Yeah, well…I wanted to throw him off his game, and I couldn’t think of anything better to do. I’m not too sure my brilliant idea worked, though,” I said with a frown. I thought back to his stunned look and felt slightly stupid over what I had done. “When I think about it, I can’t even begin to figure out why I found his gum-chewing such a turn-on. I mean, it’s gum. Gross, right? But it wasn’t. It was all kinds of crazy sexy.”

“He wants you,” she concluded, popping a french-fry into her mouth.