Page 58 of Deceit

“You thought I was a wealthy dickhead,” he fills in for me, his lips curling into a smile. “Truthfully, I haven’t been to the movies since I was a kid. I felt this would be fun. You can back out if you want to. I think there’s still time for you to fake a stomach ache or explosive diarrhea.”

I chuckle. “No, it’ll be fun.”

We get inside, and Alexander stands back from the ticket booth, looking up at the listed movies.

“Trying to decide?”

He scratches his temple. “I’m attempting to pick one that doesn’t look so obvious. If I choose a scary movie, you might assume I’ll want you to cuddle up with me. An action flick that I’m a tool bag. Then if I select a drama, I might embarrass myself and cry…then there are rom-coms…” He glances down at me, brown eyes glimmering in exasperation. “You pick. That way, I can blame you.”

I smile. “You’re making this more difficult than it has to be.”

“Probably. Help a grown man make a simple decision. You should be used to that working with Wade Lockwood. Powerful men who still have issues with the elementary things.”

I hit him with anreallylook. “Alright, trust-fund kid.” I examine the board of movie times and names, looking for something that sounds familiar. I don’t have a lot of time these days keeping up with the up-and-coming. So I quickly fall right in line with Alexander. “Okay, I have no clue what the hell these movies are about.”

Alexander laughs. “Pick a number one through eight.”

“Seven.”

“And you just picked our movie.” He steps up, giving me a moment to appreciate him in black jeans and a white and black striped long sleeve. He’s slender but not rail-skinny, almost regal. He holds himself proudly with his spine straight, always a grin playing off his lips—happy, blessed, and optimistic.

He buys our tickets as the young girl behind the counter beams, batting her long eyelashes and smiling sweetly at him. I oblige her the moment that’ll probably be the only good one she has tonight and wait patiently for him to finish.

He looks over his shoulder in the middle of her sentence, finding me standing, then runs his dark gaze down my body.

Damn.

I may have underestimated him on the choice of date, but his flirting game has gone up a notch. He must be studying.

“Ready?” he asks me as he plucks the tickets from the girl’s hand.

I nod, and he walks us over to the concession stands. I buy an obscene amount of candy and put a gallon of butter on my popcorn before grabbing our seats.

In the last row underneath the projector, we play random trivia that appears on the screen, and I kick his ass. He’s a bad sport and chucks a handful of popcorn my way.

Joke’s on him, I eat it.

“This flick is awful,” Alexander mutters while I’m praying we’re halfway through the movie. “Good thing I didn’t pick it.”

“I told you I didn’t know any of these. Do you wanna leave?”

“No.” He peers over at me. “I’m still having fun.”

“You sure? It’s not a charity event or night with the boys puffing on cigars and sipping on expensive whiskey.”

“I don’t smoke, and I like vodka.”

I shove more popcorn in my mouth. “How boring for you.”

“Really because you seem like you collect stamps and still have a diary that you write in religiously at night.” I snort, craning my head to see the screen reflecting off one side of his face. An amused and cocky smirk playing off his five ‘o clock shadow.

“He has crappy one-liners and ruthless insults,” I muse. “What else lies behind you and your sexy Aston Martin?”

“Damn woman, that one hurt. Just my car is sexy?”

I point at the giant screen ahead of us. “The main character of this movie isn’t bad.”

“That’s it—“ My date yanks my popcorn tub out of my hands, and like a greedy little child, I lunge for it. “—no more snacks for you.”

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