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Stepping around the gelato stand, she lightly teased Christian by asking, “Are you stalking me? Not that I’d mind, since it’s you. As long as you don’t request we Skype naked. I have to draw the line somewhere with today’s advanced technology. You never know who might be recording you on the other end.”
He gave a half snort. “Funny you should mention that. You’re currently on YouTube with Rory.”
Her pulse jumped. Not in the good way. “You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. That kiss at the farmers’ market already has several thousand views. Mostly, all you see is Rory swooping in. Whoever shot the video was behind you.”
“A good
thing, I suspect.” As they started walking through the park, she stuffed her hands into her front pockets to keep from fidgeting as her nerves twisted. Or maybe it was to keep from grabbing Christian and kissing him the way Rory had done to her. “Fastest way to become the world’s most hated woman—caught kissing a hotter-than-hell celebrity bachelor in public.”
“Clearly, he made the move on you.”
She gazed up at Christian. “I didn’t stop him. Responded, in fact.”
“Yes.” He nodded. “That was made quite evident in the video as well.”
Bayli sighed. “Are you mad?”
“At what?”
She knew instantly he was testing her.
First, she said, “Because I might eventually be ID’d as the woman Rory St. James spontaneously kissed and TMZ will break the story—perhaps before the cooking show gets off the ground?”
He was quiet a moment, then asked, “So you’re still interested?”
“Why wouldn’t I still be interested?” Anxiety crept in on her. Was Christian here to cut her out of the show before she’d even officially signed on? Because of that PDA circulating on YouTube?
“Rory told me you were upset when you left his apartment last night.”
“That’s putting the whole scenario mildly, so I’ll assume you’re paraphrasing. Which does bring me to my next point. Does Rory kissing me have any bearing on us?”
“From what I heard, he did a hell of a lot more than just kiss you.”
Bayli stopped walking before they reached the crowded sidewalk at the south entrance of the park. “That’s true. And apparently he wanted to do a hell of a lot more. But I wasn’t ready for that.”
Christian’s teeth gritted for a moment. Bayli waited patiently for him to decide on whatever it was he wanted to say to her. A warm breeze ruffled his dark hair. The lines around his ice-blue eyes crinkled as he squinted against the late-afternoon sun. His hands were also in his pockets, and it felt somehow cold and awkward that they stood so close to each other but were clearly disinclined to engage in any sort of physical contact.
Bayli wondered if that was because they both needed to put new terms on the table—ones that distinctly defined the love triangle that had formed between them and Rory.
Finally, Christian told her, “I’d like to move our dinner from tomorrow night to Thursday, if you’re available.”
“I am.”
“In the meantime, I have your contract in the car. I want you to look it over once more before you sign. I know you’ve already discussed the high points with your agent and you’ll want to read the fine print. I’ll give you time to do that.”
“You know me well enough to know I’ll read it line by line.”
He grinned. “Twice.”
“Yes.”
They stared at each other a bit longer. She was dying to ask how he felt about her being with Rory the night before, what his reaction was to seeing that video of his friend and business partner kissing her on the street. What was really going through his mind now that he knew that Rory had fucked her?
But it felt too vain or too premature. She wasn’t sure which. She wasn’t sure if there was any sort of issue with either man regarding her becoming romantically involved with both of them.
And was she really romantically involved? She’d never even gotten around to cooking dinner with Rory.
