Page 11 of And Then Came You

“I can handle myself, but thanks for the concern.”

Caroline leaves a few minutes later, and I know I’ve lost my chance to escape.

Time to sing for my supper.

An hour later, I’m buzzed, bored, and unhappy. Three women surround me, all gorgeous and leggy, plying me with liquor amidst promises of an orgy.

Normally, I’d be on board. But not tonight.

Tonight, I want to return to my suite and read the book on existentialism that Lexi and I selected during our discussion.

I hear their disappointed whispers as I stroll to the elevator, but I couldn’t give a crap what they’re saying.

Tonight, I’m thinking of myself first.

Chapter Three

Lexi

“Spill it. There’s a rumor going around.” Ramona hip checks me, almost upending my breakfast tray in the process.

“A rumor in the middle of hundreds of women? Say it isn’t so. What an oddity.”

“Bitch,” she jokes, weaving around the scads of people to an empty table. “I mean a rumor regarding you.”

I place the napkin in my lap, sending my friend a surprised stare. “Me? Crap, was it about my blow up with Carl?”

“Not even close.”

I chew my lip, trying to figure out to what she’s referring. “Got me, then. Must be a boring night at the news if I’m the talk of the town.”

“You are when you spend the evening with Samuel Bernard.”

Lovely. I should have known someone would spot us and waste no time flapping their gums. “I didn’t spend the evening with Sam. We spent a couple of hours at the bookstore, drinking coffee and discussing esoteric thought. It was totally innocent. Enlightening and fun as hell, but hardly newsworthy.”

Ramona’s face falls at my explanation. “Only you can spend hours with the hottest ticket in town and wind up turning it into the least sexy scenario possible.”

“That’s me. The anti-sexual.” Even though I play off her barb, I feel myself bristling like a porcupine. Stabbing at my eggs, I clear my throat, willing my frustration down. “Just because I didn’t flash my tits at him doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an enjoyable evening. He’s a very interesting man. Far more intelligent than the world gives him credit for.”

“I suppose, but most women don’t care what Sam has to say, unless it involves whispering dirty words in their ear as he strips them naked.”

“Doesn’t it bother you? Treating him in the exact manner that we detest so from the opposite sex?”

Ramona considers my statement before shaking her head. “Normally, I’d say yes. But Samuel Bernard makes millions from shedding his clothes and primping in front of the camera. He knows he’s gorgeous. Look, even straight from the gym, he’s perfect. Not a hair out of place. Hell, even his sweat is pretty.”

She motions across the room to Sam, who is grabbing some fruit and a bottle of water, along with several complimentary stares from the women in the dining area. Ramona has a point, though. He looks like he stepped off the pages of a fitness magazine, not someone who spent the last hour burning calories.

Some people have all the luck.

“Aren’t you going to say hello?” Ramona nudges me, motioning once again to the model across the room.

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

“You’re incorrigible. You have an inside track that most women would kill for, but you won’t take advantage of it.”

“Ramona, it’s hardly an in with the man. It was just coffee.”

She rolls her eyes. “Sure it was. I give you two weeks before you’re madly in love with him.”

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