Page 58 of A Lucky Shot

No need to ask who the him in question was.

Cass shook her head, eyes down, and crammed her sandwich into her mouth to prevent her from saying something stupid. It had been almost a month and a half since she’d heard from Nick, which wasn’t unusual. They’d always run hot and cold. She was a little relieved. And not as disappointed as she usually was.

“Do you know if he tried to talk to Alex?”

The delicious sourdough went dry in her mouth. When her teeth had pulverized the bread into submission, she swallowed and said, “I don’t know. We didn’t do much talking.”

Which had been her problem with him all along.

“You’re smart. You’re pretty. You’re funny,” Libby chided, “so I don’t understand why you slept with Nick again.”

“Because every time he twitches a finger at me, I can feel the feminism fleeing my body.”

And because it had been months since she’d had an orgasm without Chauncy. Maybe Josh was right and she should invest in a stronger model. Heat surged in her chest and she stifled the flutter. She hadn’t let Libby in on any of those details. Nor had she breathed a word to Jill that she’d seen Nick.

Not telling her oldest bestie about flirty exchanges with hot guys? Not telling her newest bestie that her mortal enemy was back in town? When had she started keeping secrets?Cass hid her face in her hands.

Libby pursed her lips. “Why didn’t you block him? Addicts need to remove the temptation.”

“I’m not addicted.”

“Honey,” Libby said, exasperated. “You are jonesing for a fix so hard right now!”

“I’m going cold turkey.” Or something. Cass sighed, picking at the last bits of sandwich.

“Or you could lose yourself in a pair of sexy dimples and see if that makes you forget what’s-his-nuts?”

“Elizabeth!” Cass huffed. The last thing she needed was to throw herself at Josh. Drowning in that smile had been a one-time ride, even if she’d loved making him laugh and turning his glower into a wicked grin.

The photo shoot had been the most fun she’d had in months. The music, the laughter. The photos he showed her later. Every shot had been beautiful. She had felt beautiful. Seen.

Right up until she was sure he was going to kiss her. His eyes on her lips, leaning in like he couldn’t help himself. She could almost feel his mouth on hers, her pulse thudding in her throat, until he shut down without warning.

Pretending for weeks that his rejection hadn’t hurt had been exhausting.

Josh still stood huddled with Brynne, their faces serious and quiet now, standing so close to talk over the noise on set.

Cass stared down at her sensible support shoes. “No, I’m not getting involved with anyone on set, especially him.”

“Oh come on. The way he looks at you? Dawson would fall over himself to spend five minutes with you.”

Cass looked at her blankly. Dawson? He was looking at her in a way? She swivelled her head to look for the towering Tennessean, finding him leaning against a table with his eyes trained on her. He nodded his head, a shy smile spreading dimples to his cheeks.

Oh. Dimples checking her out.

Cass swallowed an unexpected lump of disappointment. Part of the appeal of no second dates was not getting hung up on one person, especially now with filming picking up. She managed a smile back and turned to Libby, who was standing up and brushing her dusty hands on her coveralls.

“I’m sticking to the plan. Ten down and twenty to go,” Cass said. “Nothing serious, no Nick, and no distractions.”

No distractions meant no heartache. From any bearer of sexy dimples.

Costume wasn’t needed on set for the last shots of the day, so she pulled her things out of her locker and popped a piece of cinnamon gum to chase the last of her coffee breath away. Josh and Brynne had disappeared. Maybe they were done discussing the scene. Maybe they went somewhere more private.

They were both hot as hell, working closely together. Both were single, as far as she knew. Why wouldn’t they? If she started counting on her fingers the number of times she’d been on a production where the director and lead actor hooked up, she’d run out of digits before she was halfway through the list. Cass shut her locker door with a quiet click.

Her phone buzzing in her purse provided a welcome distraction. For a minute.

Suzie. That meant one thing. Cass groaned.

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