Lila shrugs. “I didn’t nail it. I wanted another few takes, but Dash wanted to move on. Don’t you hate it when you still feel like you have something to get from a scene?”
“All the time. I’m a perfectionist,” I admit. “I could work all day on one thing, and still not feel like it’s right.”
Lila looks at me carefully. “Yeah, you actually take this seriously.”
“You sound surprised.” I take another gulp of beer, my eyes straying over to the front doors again. When will Zoey show up?
Lila shrugs. “I’ve done a bunch of these smaller movies. Usually they’re packed with pretty boys off the CW who only care about how their hair looks. It’s nice to work with someone who gives a damn for a change.”
“Thanks.”
She leans over again, reaching for a fry this time, and doesn’t move back. Now she’s nestled up against me, her slim frame pressed against my side. “So, is your agent saying we should have a wild fling too?”
I choke on my beer. “What?”
I recover and look down at her. She’s totally nonchalant, curling one hand through my arm thoughtfully, as if she’s imagining how we’d look together in a photograph. “Come on, we both play the game. Tabloid rumors are the best thing that could happen to this movie. That’s a ton of free publicity right there, every time they run our pictures. Don’t say you haven’t thought about it.”
I shake my head. “No.”
I’ve been too busy thinking about Zoey to focus on anything else.
“Huh.” Lila looks surprised for a moment, then her beautiful face smooths out and she’s smiling that cover-ready smile again. “Well, we should. Think about it. You’re not seeing anyone right now, are you?”
“I…no.”
“Me either. It’s about time I was dating again, if I leave it too long, I get those tragic headlines. You know, me eating alone, ‘poor Lila, dumped and broken-hearted’. Never mind that all my friends are like, two feet away, edited out of the shot. The two of us together would be a great draw,” she adds. “Like I said, it would give the movie a ton of buzz. And it could be fun.” She nestles closer, her gaze turning flirty. “All that time we have to kill between takes…”
I blink, thrown by her change in mood. One minute she’s detached and clinical, the next, her thigh is pressing against mine and her fingertips are stroking up my arm.
“I, uh, don’t think so.” I try to edge away from her. “It would make things kind of complicated.”
“Clearly.” Lila smirks, looking past me to something across the bar. I turn.
Zoey.
She’s standing in the doorway, looking incredible in a little slinky black dress. It’s the same thing she was wearing on New Year’s, I realize, and right away, the memories hit in a blaze of pure lust.
Her body pressed against me. The feel of that silk under my hands. The heat pulsing between us as I claimed those sweet lips and tasted her gorgeous, ripe mouth—
I snap back to reality, but it’s too late: Zoey’s seen me here with Lila. Her smile dims. She walks straight past me towards the bar—and Dash. Every muscle in my body goes rigid as I watch her lean in to kiss him on the cheek. He rests a hand on her lower back, and she smiles up at him like he’s the only man in the room.
I want to punch something.
“Really, her?” Lila asks.
I turn. “What?”
“Nothing.” She smiles sweetly. “Anyway, you think about what I said. We would be good together.” She leans up and presses her lips to my cheek, lingering to whisper in my ear. “And all those rumors you’ve heard about me? They’re true.”
Any other man would be dragging her to bed right about now, but I can’t help looking over at Zoey again. Our eyes meet for a second, but I can’t read the expression on her face. She turns back to Dash and flutters her eyelashes at him, pressing even closer.
Dammit, what the hell is she doing?
Without thinking, I break away from Lila and start for the bar. “Hey guys,” I say loudly. Zoey barely looks at me. Up close, she looks even more gorgeous: her blonde hair tousled, her eyes smudged dark and sexy. She looks like she just rolled out of her lover’s bed, and that thought sends a fresh hit of frustration slamming through me.
I want that lover to be me.
“Dance with me,” Zoey’s saying to Dash. She takes his hand, pulling him playfully towards the dance floor. “I feel like going crazy tonight.”
“How can I resist?” Dash gives me a wink, and then follows Zoey away. The music is playing loudly, and I watch Zoey’s hips start to sway in time with the beat. Those hips could stop traffic. She’s pure poetry, a goddess in motion.
She presses closer to Dash, and he leans in to whisper something in her ear.
I grip my beer bottle harder. I don’t want to think about what he’s saying; just watching his hands on her body is driving me crazy. My heart pounds faster, an angry rhythm in my chest. Dammit, can’t she see she’s playing with fire? He’s going to mess her around. He could never give her what she really needs: more than just a one-night fling, something real.
Zoey slides closer to him. She whispers back, and then his hands are on her waist. Sliding lower. Lower…
I’m on my feet and cutting through the crowd before I can even think twice.
I told myself I was going to stay away from her, but I can’t help it. Someone’s got to keep that girl out of trouble.