Page 75 of If the Stars Align
She reclines on a lounge chair, and I take the one next to her. I’m trying my best not to stare, but this isAva Elwood—the supermodel known for her striking red hair and bright blue eyes. She’s even more stunning in person.
“I have a confession to make,” she says, pulling at the hem of her black mini dress, which covers almost nothing.
I raise an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? What’s that.”
Her cheeks turn pink. “I’ve had a crush on you since you were onPassions.”
I look down at my shoes—brand-new designer shoes that I didn’t pay a cent for—and laugh.
“It’s true,” she says. “I never missed an episode.”
I meet her gaze. “That’s very flattering. Thank you.”
She giggles, her signature scarlet ponytail swinging behind her. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good at this…”
I tilt my head. “Good at what?”
“I can’t remember the last time I asked a guy out. It’s usually the other way around, but…” She bats her eyelashes at me. “Word on the street is, you play hard to get, Dex Oliver.”
I sit up and bring my legs over the side of the lounge chair so I’m facing her. “Is that right?” I ask with a playful smile.
She laughs and crosses one red-soled snakeskin heel over the other. “I mean, you turned down a Victoria’s Secret Angel.Whodoes that?”
I drag a hand down my chin. “Oh, man. She told you about that?”
Ava shakes her head and adjusts the diamond bracelet glittering on her wrist. It almost blinds me. “I don’t know Caterina well. I heard it through the rumor mill. But it must be true, judging by your reaction.”
I sigh. “I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. I had an early flight the next morning.”
Truth is, there was no early flight. But I don’t think Caterina would have believed me if I’d told her I’m waiting for the goddamn stars to align so I can be with the woman I’ve loved since we were kids.
It’s been over a year since Sunny broke up with me, and I’m just as hung up on her now as I was on the train back to London. I’ve slept with a fair number of women since then, but I don’t see thepoint in letting things progress past casual sex. On the other hand, I don’t know how many more notches I can add to my bedpost without developing a reputation—especially now that my career’s taking off, and my social life makes for great headlines. That’s why I told Caterina I couldn’t go home with her.
Wendy says, the more women I screw, the better. She’s blunt like that. She insists it’ll only make me more desirable, which means more money for us both. But I don’t want to bethat guy. I’m not that guy. I want to be in a relationship more than anything on this earth. But the woman I want doesn’t want me.She made that clear in Paris.
We call or text every now and then. But all we talk about is work. She asks me what it’s like to be a movie star, and I tell her the truth, except for how goddamn lonely it is. And I ask about her life, and she tells me absolutely everythingexceptwhat I really want to know—which is whether or not she’s dating Jeremy. She doesn’t mention him at all, which I’m pretty fucking sure means she’s in love with him and would rather not tell me. In case I lose my shit again.
Sunny’s the only woman in the world I want by my side.
And now I’m pretty much fucked no matter what I do. My choices are basically to be celibate, sleep around…or date someone knowing full well that I’ll probably never fall in love with them. None of these options sound appealing.
I’m not going to tell Ava Elwood that, of course. But it’s obvious she can see through my bullshit. She’s looking at me with one perfectly waxed eyebrow raised.
“Early flights are the oldest excuse in the book,” she sayswith a laugh. “You’re an amazing actor, Dex. I’m sure you can come up with a better lie for when you don’t want to go to bed with someone.”
I fix my eyes on hers and give her my sincerest smile. “It wasn’t like that. I swear.”
She sits up and faces me, crossing one infinitely long leg over the other. “So you wouldn’t use that excuse on me if I asked you?”
I blink at her.
“Not to bed,” she says, turning pink again. “I want to take you to dinner.” She leans forward, her knees now gently resting against mine. “And we’ll see where things go from there.”
The way she’s folding her arms to push her breasts together, I have a pretty clear picture of where she wants things to go.
I’m stuck. I don’t think I can say no—not to Ava Elwood. No man in his right mind would reject her, so what would it say about me ifIdid? This is my world now, and I need to do my best to fit in. If I keep playing “hard to get,” as Ava said, I might lose any edge I have by being labeled the “new hot thing” in this town.
“I’d be happy to have dinner with you,” I say. From what I know about Ava, she has a short attention span. We’ll probably go out a few times, then she’ll move on to the next guy.
