Page 15 of Heart of Stone

She threw me a sly smile and her eyes sparkled with mischief. Her look confirmed my suspicions – there was more.

“Guess.”

“You have a new guy?” I predicted. Her grin widened. “Ha! I knew it! So who is he? Tall, dark and handsome like the last one?”

Her grin instantly faded into a scowl.

“Sorry – I didn’t mean to bring up ancient news,” I apologized with a wince. Allyson’s last boyfriend was a wannabe model and a total jerk that was always putting her down. I swear it was because he was jealous of her apparent good looks. I don’t think he could stand that she was prettier than he was, or that she should have been the one in front of the camera – not him. The relationship had been short lived, and I was glad when they split up.

“It’s okay. Mark was a loser anyways. Now, Jeremy on the other hand…” She took on a far away, dreamy look and I started laughing.

“So, tell me about him. Hopefully he’s better in the sack than Mark was,” I joked. That was another reason why Alyson didn’t keep the last one around very long.

“I don’t know. Yet,” she added, the familiar gleam back in her eyes. “Jeremy is a photographer, like me. I was at Ethan DeJames’ completing my new hire paperwork when I met him. It was his first day too. He told me that he normally shot landscape, but when Ethan’s recruited him to shoot their models, he decided to …” Allyson began talking rapidly, telling me every little detail of their first meeting.

But after a few minutes, her words began to fade in and out. I tried to listen, but I couldn’t seem to stay focused on what she was saying. I couldn’t stop thinking about Alexander Stone. The way he consumed my every thought was extremely annoying.

It’s not like I want to go out with him or anything. Just because he looks like a Greek God with his dark waves and flashing blue eyes doesn’t mean I wanted to sleep with him. Guys who look like him are nothing but trouble.

“Um, hello? Are you even listening to what I’m saying?” Allyson asked, interrupting my thoughts by waving a hand in front of my face.

“I’m sorry, Ally. I was listening…sort of. I’m just a little distracted today,” I explained, feeling bad about my rudeness.

“What’s wrong?” Lines of concern marred her pretty face.

“Nothing major, really.” And that was the truth – nothing was seriously wrong.

I’m just a total head case over a man I barely know.

The waitress came back to the table with our food and I was grateful for the interruption. I needed to figure out how to explain this without sounding like a complete nut job. As soon as the waitress walked away, Allyson pounced.

“Spill it,” she demanded.

“I have a job interview tomorrow. I got the call just before I left to meet you.” I paused and took a few bites of my salad. “Oh, and I think I met the hottest guy on the planet yesterday,” I blurted out.

Shock briefly flashed across her face at my announcement, but she recovered quickly.

“I didn’t see that one coming! Do tell!” she said, rubbing her hands together and wiggling her eyebrows. Allyson was always so animated when she spoke, and her vivacity made me smile.

“It’s nothing like you’re probably thinking, Ally. I only saw him twice and it was fairly brief both times.”

“Well, what does he look like?” she pressed.

“He’s tall. Well built from what I can tell. Dark hair and blue eyes – really intense blue eyes. Definitely sexy, and I think he knows it too. He has sort of an arrogant gait when he walks.” I felt my stomach do a little flip as I thought back to the sight of Alexander walking to the checkout line at Wally’s.

“What’s his name?”

“Alexander Stone,” I said and waited to see if she recognized the name. Apparently she didn’t, because she just threw another question at me, eagerly looking for more information.

“How did you meet him?”

I went on to describe my first encounter and I didn’t leave out any details – my fall, his arm around my waist, his promise to see me soon. She didn’t laugh like I thought she would. Instead, she stared at me with wide eyes, and signaled our waitress for another round of drinks.

“I can’t believe you fell,” she said incredulously, her eyes wide in shock.

“Yeah, I did. It was absolutely mortifying too!” I dropped my head into my hands and moaned.

“You said that you saw him twice.Pleasetell me that you didn’t embarrass yourself a second time.” I picked my head back up to look at her and started laughing at her expression. She looked thoroughly appalled at the thought of me humiliating myself again.

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