Page 35 of Once Upon A Player
Achauffeur?
“Thanks, Chad,” Lucas says, before looking at me. “Parking’s a nightmare. I asked Chad to drive tonight. Plus, this car’s less conspicuous.”
“Where are we going, then?” Even if I wouldn’t say no to going straight back to his place, I want this night to last for as long as possible, just in case we don’t get another.
“Overton’s, at the Eagle Tower.”
“Nice.” I thank Chad as I get in the car and am relieved Lucas can’t see my ridiculous grin. Eagle Tower is one of the tallest buildings in London, and Overton’s is located on the thirty-ninth floor. Not only is the food meant to be out of this world, with starred catering for special dietary requirements, it’s practically impossible to get a reservation, as Dad’s been trying to book for ages. Obviously, if you’re a world-famous footballer, the usual rules don’t apply.
The inside of the car is nothing like any sedan I’ve been in before. It has a mini-bar, the windows are tinted, and there’s even a glass partition between us and Chad for privacy. Lucas sure knows how to spoil a girl.
He slides in beside me, and Chad reverses off the drive. “I’ve not been there before.” Lucas links his fingers through mine, and delicious shivers dance up my arm. “Have you?”
“Hardly. I thought you had to be foreign royalty to get a table.”
“I don’t think it’s that bad.”
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” I don’t want him thinking I’m not completely stoked at the notion of going somewhere so lavish. “I’ve seen it reviewed in magazines. It looks fabulous.”
“Hope so. I wanted to take you somewhere different.”
Warmth floods through me, and I’m sure I’mglowingagain, but this time I don’t care. Lucas goes to all the best places, and the fact he picked an A-list venue for our date—a restaurant he’s never been to before—is somehow significant.
So much for pretending I’m fine if this is nothing but a one-night stand.
Something occurs to me that isn’t quite so great. “If lots of celebrities go there, won’t there be heaps of photographers?” I might’ve got over myself enough to start dating again, and a player at that, but when Lucas and I part ways the potential for it going public is a million times huger than anything that happened with Geoff.
This is nothing like the thing I had with Geoff.For a start, I’m not expecting this to last forever, and for another…
Lucas has way too much class to ever treat me the way my spineless, sucker-upper, arse-kissing ex did.
Lucas’s fingers tighten around mine. “Is that a problem? Sooner or later someone’s going to see us together and publish a photo. We don’t even have to be anywhere high profile. Could be as low-key as walking in the park.”
The horror of my privacy being ripped apart, leaving me vulnerable for the world to laugh at, topples off my radar as his words penetrate.
Sooner or later?That’s not a comment you make if all you’re looking for is a one-night stand.
It’s just a common phrase.Not something to get so excited about. Not that I am.
Much.
I hitch in a breath. I totally missed what he just said. “Sorry?”
His expression turns wary. “I said, crazy as it sounds, we’re less likely to be noticed at Overton’s than somewhere else. They’ve got great security.”
“Oh, it’s fine.” I give a little dismissive wave of my hand, as though I wasn’t on the verge of freaking out a few seconds ago. “What’re the chances, anyway? You must go out heaps of times when you’re not stalked by the press.”
He sighs. “Not as often as I’d like.”
My smile slowly fades as I gaze at the brooding expression on his face and realize he’s not joking. He first hit the headlines eight years ago, as a ridiculously hot seventeen-year-old, and although it was a couple of years before I fangirled over his posters, he literally starred in every online teen site, every week, for years. And then he graduated to the adult gossip channels.
It’s a good job he loves all the attention.
I sneak another peek at him. Hedoeslove it, doesn’t he? He always looks as though he’s having the time of his life when cameras catch him in action off the pitch.
But tension ripples from him, and I catch him touching his earring for a brief second. His gesture is strangely familiar, but how can it be? He’s never done that before. Wait, yes, he has. The night I met his brother. It’s as though Lucas isn’t always as super confident as he appears. As though his self-assured, professional face is just a mask.
That’s crazy. But even if it’s true, why would he feel that way with his ownbrother?
