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“Did he take advantage of you?” Isaac asked.
“No!” Kyla almost knocked her water over. “It was my choice, although it probably wasn’t my smartest one.”
“Especially since he’s with Brooke,” I pointed out.
“Here’s the thing,” Kyla said, lowering her voice and glancing around even though there was nobody sitting at the tables near us. “He’s not. It’s all fake, for publicity.”
I felt jigsaw puzzle pieces clicking into place inside my brain. I’d seen Brooke and Dean interacting, and while I wasn’t an expert on body language, they seemed to despise each other. Dean had a reputation for being a playboy, so when I heard that he and Brooke were an item on the Hollywood grapevine, it had surprised me. Now it all made sense.
The waitress brought out our meals and placed them in front of us. I ate quickly, surprised at how hungry walking around the zoo had made me. We chatted in between bites,
“So what do you do for fun?” Kyla asked as she tucked into her arancini. “When you’ve got the time, of course.”
“Surfing,” I said, although I suspected she could already tell that would be my answer. “I might have been a professional surfer, if my parents hadn’t insisted that I follow in their footsteps.”
Kyla gasped as she stared at him. “IknewI recognized your mom! She’s Harriet Cole!”
“Yep.” I sipped my wine. It was full-bodied and delicious. “The one and only. She’s retired now, but it took a cardiologist to convince her to do it. If she had her way, she’d be making comedy until the day she died.” I shook my head as I remembered her last show — it was a disaster. Mom couldn’t see the cue cards clearly enough to read her lines and mixed up her jokes, but she loved waking up to a barrage of headlines with her name on them. “The only thing she likes more than money is attention.”
There was something else I did for fun… but I wasn’t sure I was ready to admit it to Kyla yet. Or Isaac. Hell, I wasn’t even sure I was ready to admit it to myself. But last summer, I’d ended up having a threesome with two friends, and it was the hottest thing I’d ever done.
I shoveled the arancini into my mouth to prevent myself from admitting it out loud.
“I read,” Isaac said, and when I wrinkled my nose and said, “That’s not fun!” Kyla slapped my arm.
“Readingisfun,” she insisted. “It’s what I do with most of my spare time.”
“Look at this British complexion,” Isaac said, as he turned his hand over above our meals. His forearm was pink from today’s walk around the zoo. “Do I look like the kind of person who enjoyshiking?”
“You look like someone who enjoys drinking tea and visiting Buckingham Palace,” I said with a smirk.
“Well, for your information, I also enjoy a spot of archery.”
“Ooh, wild,” I teased. “I bet you also collect stamps and do birdwatching.”
Isaac glared at me as Kyla patted our hands.
“Now, now, let’s not gettoocompetitive. Or I might have to tell you about the spelling bee I won in eighth grade.”
That was enough to make Isaac chuckle and me to enjoy my food. Everything had been cooked perfectly, the arancini bursting with flavor and the ravioli somehow dense yet light at the same time, with fresh seafood and the right amount of sweetness in the sauce.
I decided to leave a five star review for the restaurant after we left.
But one thing still niggled at me.
I was insanely attracted to Kyla, and wanted to reach over and run my fingers over her porcelain cheek until her eyeslocked with mine, then devour her plump, red lips. But if already she’d slept with Dean, would he think I was stepping on his toes? Joking about polygamy was one thing, but I knew how volatile film sets could become when male egos clashed.Especiallywhen a woman was involved.
After a quiet squabble with Isaac about who should pay, I used my credit card, leaving a generous tip. Kyla drove us back to the motel and left the engine running and her seatbelt on as she pulled up outside the reception building.
“I had an amazing day,” she said. “Thank you both so much for dinner.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, and wondered if I should invite her into my room to see how she would react.
The worst she could say was no, right?
I pretended I’d lost sunglasses under my seat to stall for time, and after Isaac went to his room, I leaned across the center console with my arm behind her headrest.
“Would you…” I started, but then Dean emerged from his room wearing shorts, his muscular chest glowing under the streetlights as he made his way to the laundry room. He saw Kyla’s car and frowned into the headlights, and I knew I couldn’t do anything until I spoke to him first.
