Page 2 of One Wild Night
But when she left Scott, she found her way, and, now, before she even considered going on a date, the lucky guy would have to prove he was worth her time. She was single at the moment and had been for a while, but that worked for her. It did get lonely sometimes, but only sometimes. She was busy enough at work and certainly had no time for the dramas of having arelationship.
Seeing him now was weird. Over the last few weeks, as the time grew closer to today, she’d started thinking about him and wondering how it would be when they saw each other. Knowing him, he probably wouldn’t have thought much of it. But she had, and she’d probably spent more time thinking about him than she shouldhave.
They didn’t exactly have an amicable split, but they didn’t have what most people deemed to be a disastrous split, either. Whichever way anyone chose to describe it, the whole thing left her heartbroken, and it took her a while before she could feel like herself again. She didn’t feel the hatred that most people express when they break up, but she wouldn’t exactly roll out the welcome carpet for Scott,either.
Looking down at him now, she didn’t feel anything one way or the other -- except for the mild irritation at him for posing as if everyone should kneel down and worshiphim.
Abi thought the next few days may be difficult, but she was hopeful that she could avoid having too much contact withScott.
Abi sighed and rolled her eyes again as she watched Scott turn to his good side so that the paparazzi who’d now gathered could take their bestpictures.
“Jesus.” She muttered under her breath and narrowed her eyes athim. “
Look at him standing there like he owns the world,” she thought. Now there were six Barbie-doll-like women trying to get a photo with him. The ones closest to him really took advantage of the moment and snuggled into hischest.
They all laughed as the photographer said somethingfunny.
Then, Scott went back to posing byhimself.
He took off his biker jacket, revealing a white T-shirt that highlighted some serious muscle across his wide shoulders, powerful chest, and rigid abs. He flexed an arm to show off the mass of his huge biceps. An image of one of those Levi’s ads came to Abi’s mind as she looked down and focused on his jeans. Just like in the ads, the jeans did a good job of showing off the athletic definition in hislegs.
Okay, so she wasn’t entirely immune to a great body. The man was definitely of the Greek god variety. Shame about the personality, though. Men this good-looking should come with some kind of warninglabel.
Maybe it was that sixth sense that people spoke of, or maybe it was the piercing stare she gave him that made him turn and look up to where shestood.
Their eyes locked and a familiar tingle fluttered through her stomach, resonating from deep within. It was an eccentric blend of anxiety and anticipation that scattered her nerves. She didn’t expect to feel it -- or anything, for that matter -- and she immediately felt the off-balance daze she remembered feeling when she first met him and the world hadstopped.
They stared at each other across the distance that separated them. Even from where she was, she could see the rich turquoise color of his eyes. They sparkled as he took her in and continued tostare.
The tingle turned into something more, something that heated her right up; Abi is annoyed by her body’s reaction tohim.
His eyes roamed over her even though he was being called and even though two of the “Barbies” were trying to get more pictures with him. Scott didn’t move or respond; he just continued to stare until the moment felt almost awkward. The women looked to where he was looking -- toAbi.
Politely, he lifted his hand and waved. The Abi of the past would have waved back excitedly with a smile, but she wanted to show him the changed woman she was now and mask the effect he’d just had on her. So, she tipped her head and gave him a curt nod ofacknowledgment.
She then turned away, not wanting to prolong the moment or the contact, and walked back through the lobby. There was no point encouraging contact even though he was three floors down and several feet away. There was a dinner later where she’d see him, but wouldn’t engage with him. That was how she planned to be for the rest of thistrip.
“Abi!” Gale rushed up to her. Abi noted the look of worry on his face, his clamped mouth and the fear in hiseyes.
She’d spent an hour yesterday calming his nerves. Some guys got cold feet before their wedding, but this one was too busy making sure everything was perfect for his bride. He got all worked up yesterday when the hotel placed red roses in Margo’s princess suite instead of pink ones. He said the smell and the ambiance were wrong. Abi didn’t know that red roses smelled different from pink ones and couldn’t see what the problem was because the flowers were out-of-this-world beautiful. Apparently, though, they weren’t good enough for his Margo, who he insisted had to have pinkroses.
Gale had the tendency to go completely over the top when it came to Margo. Even this venue, beautiful as the Saylor Hotel was (it was the finest in San Francisco) was insisted on by Gale. This was because Becca Walker, Margo’s favorite singer and absolute idol, had gotten married here. They had to book a year in advance, and he paid for all the guests who were attending to stayhere.
“Hey, you okay?” Abi asked, greeting him with a warm smile. She geared herself up for hearing some sort of ridiculousness like she had heardyesterday.
“No. Margo’s not here,” hewinced.
“What?” Margo was supposed to arrive last night with everyone else traveling from LA. Abi had a migraine which is why she had comeearly.
“Are her parentshere?”
“Yes.” His bright blue eyes looked sad and even more worried. “They got here just after you went up to yourroom.”
Margo had planned to travel with her parents. Abi found it strange that not only had she not come, but that Margo didn’t call hereither.
“Have you spoken toher?”
“Yes, and no,” Gale replied with a tentative expression on hisface.
