Page 2 of Finding Her Leading Man

She turned. The man she’d seen crossing the street, the one with the leather bag, leaned against the wall. Up close, his attractiveness slammed into her. Light brown hair cut close and neat. Cheeks freshly shaved, leading down to a chiseled jaw.

His dark eyes widened a touch. “Dang, you’re Samantha Nilsson. Who knew Statem, Georgia was the place to visit?” He walked up the stairs and held out his hand. “I was there when you and Grayson presented the award for Best Supporting Actress together. I wanted to introduce myself then but never got the chance. Better late than never.”

She took his outstretched hand, amazed hers didn’t tremble. The chemistry caught her off guard. She’d just had her heart, her life, annihilated by Jasper. Checking out guys was last on her list of things to do.

But how could shenotcheck him out?

Where Grayson was wide and all muscle, perfect for the assassin he played in his movies, this man was long and lean. Tall, even being two steps below her. Which was hard to do, considering she was an inch below six feet.

“I’m Trevor Johnson.” His lips lifted on one side, turning his already attractive face into something a little wicked. Dangerous. His hand was overly warm, the kind of warmth she immediately missed when he dropped it. “I’m Grayson’s friend. Although, right now, I’m going to put on my agent hat and tell him to get to the gym before his fiancé returns and distracts him again.”

Agent. Great. He was one of “those.”

Her agent had ended up in Jasper’s bed.

She gave him a pleasant smile as the cold reality of distrust ran over her skin. “Nice to meet you.”

She wouldn’t man-hate or agent-hate forever, but it was too soon to go making new friends with either species.

He tilted his head to the side. His gaze sharpened.

She dismissed him, mostly out of fear of what he’d see if he stared long enough. Did she look as broken as she felt? Mad? It was a mixed bag of emotions that gave her another headache. “I really should get going,” she said to Grayson. “I don’t want to leave Ms. Iris at the diner for too long.”

“Why?”

“I work there.”

His eyebrows pulled down. “How does an A-List Broadway star end up working at a diner in Statem? And in just a few weeks that I’ve been gone from town?”

“Gone from town? Do you live here?”

“My fiancé does. Juliana’s from here. But you don’t live here.” He cocked his head to the side. “Do you?”

If he hadn’t heard the rumors, he’d look it up as soon as they parted. The internet was a fantastic device for spreading truths and lies. She needed some medicine for the headache before it morphed into something miserable—nothing like a migraine on top of the hot tears pricking the back of her eyes.

It’d be nice to make it away from the two men, so they didn’t witness her emotional instability. She was worse than a pre-teen girl most days between the highs and lows. They could read and assume what they wanted about the break-up. Pushing the truth past her lips never brought her the peace her therapist claimed it would.

“I needed a break. My mom and Ms. Iris were friends growing up and still kept in touch. My mom suggested I stay down here for a while.” And hide. “I really should go and change. It was nice to see you, though.” She slipped past him, taking her first unguarded breath.

“You, too,” Grayson called.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she glanced back, hoping they’d left. Grayson had.

Trevor stood in his same spot. His smile had disappeared completely, leaving him looking a little more like a seductive cover model on a men’s magazine than an actual, real agent. His dark eyes locked with hers, immobilizing her.

She’d known a few good agents in her career. But most agents were either snobbishly fake or gratingly intimidating. They either kissed ass to get their clients what they wanted, or they used a loud voice to demand more money or concessions. Her agent, Zara, had been the kiss-ass type.

Based on her results with Jasper, Zara turned out to bereallygood at that part of her job.

But Trevor didn’t have that cheesy, salesman look. He smirked and took a step back, winked, and then turned and left down the stairs. But the man was definitely cocky.

She huffed and stomped down the hall to her room. He could go wink at some other female who might be interested. He probably only saw dollar signs in a new client when he looked at her.

Samantha had left New York to get her life back under control. To breathe. Those plans did not include a random hook-up with a playboy. No matter how cute or how long it’d been.

2

Trevor took long strides, keeping a relaxed pace with Grayson down the sidewalk in Statem. Located a few hours south of Atlanta, the small town was already hot as hell, and it was still May. Not that he’d move back home, but the weather in San Francisco beat the hell out of this crap. But the weather wasn’t what bothered him at the moment.

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