“Ouch. I’m sorry.”
“The good part? I finally had no strings keeping me in LA. I wanted to move near my sister and my nephew for a long time.”
“And now you have. You had fun tonight, right? I thought I saw a real smile back there, so it wasn’t all an act.”
He grins. “You made your opinion clear on my acting skills on the way here. But yeah, I did have fun.”
“Okay, just to clear the air, I do think you’re one of the best actors around. I was just teasing you.”
He stops in his tracks, cocks a brow, expression solemn. “One of the best? Not the best?”
Shrugging one shoulder, I come to a stop too. “Sorry to bruise your ego, but no one can top Humphrey Bogart for me. Been a sucker for him ever since I saw Casablanca. Favorite movie of all time.”
His faux-solemn expression morphs into an ear-to-ear smile. “Well, if that’s my competition, my ego’s safe.”
I startle as cold drops land on my skin, making me shiver. The early June evening was pleasant enough that I didn’t take my coat from the car.
I instinctively run my hands up and down my arms.
“It’s raining. Come on, let’s go to the car. You’re already shivering,” Alex says.
Without warning, he lays an arm around my shoulders, tucking me into him, presumably so I can absorb his body heat. Oh boy. Any red-blooded woman would take advantage of this. Right? Right? No, just me? Well, then.
I’ll be dropping Alex home in half an hour, and then I probably will never see him again in person. A little lusting never hurt anyone. And because I’m an opportunist, I scoot even closer, taking thorough advantage of his generous offer.
He only lets go of me when we reach the car, and the second we part, cold grips me. The raindrops become larger, pour faster as we climb inside the car.
“Aah, just in the nick of time,” I exclaim, gunning the engine and cranking on the heating in the seats, rubbing my palms together to warm up. Next to me, Alex doesn’t seem to feel even a whisper of cold.
As I pull in front of his house a while later, a pang of regret grips me that the night is coming to an end.
“Well, here we are,” I announce unnecessarily.
“Do you want to come in for a drink?”
I lick my lips, pondering his question. Part of me screams Yes, Yes, Yes.
Not just because he’s Alex freaking Westbrook. In fact, I’d like to know more about the man behind the actor. I like what I see so far. But another part of me urges me to be cautious. Clearly, he’s shaken after his engagement with Amy exploded in his face. Men are known to do silly things when they’re shaken. Such as seducing impressionable women like myself.
“Not a good idea. I have to wake up at five tomorrow, and it’s almost midnight.”
He flashes me his winning smile, staring at me intently.
“Don’t you dare use your smolder on me,” I warn.
“My what?”
I tilt my head to one side. “Don’t pretend you don’t know. Google ‘Alex’s Smolder.’ You’ll find a million pictures of you looking just like this to the camera, and a Tumblr page.”
Alex chuckles. “Okay, I admit. I know about it. My PR team actually started the Tumblr page.”
“I am crushed. You start your own hype?”
He wiggles his brows. “Hey, they need the raw material to actually base that hype on.”
“I bet those eyes and smile make you think you can get away with a lot of things.”
“What exactly do you think I’m trying to get away with, Summer?”