Page 111 of Playing For Keeps
“Then I’ll return the favor when you least expect it.” Her mischief-filled eyes dance as they gleam my way.
The driver is standing at the open door waiting for us to get in. I motion for her to go first and slide in behind her.
Once we’re in, I grab the bottle of champagne off the bar area. “Will you hold the glasses while I open this?”
“Yes.” She takes two glasses and perches them on her thighs as she waits.
The car lurches forward right as the champagne cork pops, and a spurt of bubbles overflows. I hold the bottle out, careful not to get any on either of us.
Once the liquid quits flowing over, I pour our drinks into the flutes she’s holding out for me. “I hope you like this because I know nothing about good champagne.”
“I’m sure it’s delicious.” She waits until I’ve filled our glasses and then places the bottle back in the ice bucket.
I hold my flute out to her. “Here’s to starting fresh.”
“To starting fresh.” She taps her glass to mine.
We take a sip and settle in for the ride. She glances out the window as I slide my arm around her shoulders.
“Tell me about your time with Aiden.”
She sighs. “It went better than expected, but I’m not going to discuss that until you tell me what we're doing. You know I don’t do well with secrets.”
“Sweetness, this is hardly a secret.”
She shrugs her shoulder to her ear and turns away from me. I’m sure the suspense is on the verge of irritating her, so I decide to let her in on the surprise. Well, not all of it. The rest will have to wait.
“Okay, I’ll tell you.” I get situated to face her. “You know when you told me you saw Gia Armstrong at the airport?”
“Yeah.” Dori’s tone is full of questioning.
“I was thinking about her after that, and I remembered seeing her another time.”
Dori turns sideways to sit right before me. “When was that?”
“A little while before I ran into her at the airport.” I take a drink of my champagne to draw out my explanation.
“Where?”
“I was with Aiden. We were at a concert and saw her there with that actor guy she’s been dating.”
Dori’s mouth gapes. “You met Ryder D’Angelo? Oh my god. He’s so… He’s like the biggest name in Hollywood.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you have a thing for the guy.” I smirk so she knows I’m not offended.
She shrugs unapologetically. “He’s definitely on my list.”
“What list is that?”
“My free-pass list. You know, like onFriends.”
I bunch my face together. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Her expression grows animated as she explains. “There’s an episode where Rachel gives Ross permission to create a list of five people he can have sex with, and she won’t be mad because she gave him a free pass to be with those people.”
I raise my brows. “And you’re saying Ryder is one of those people on your free-pass list?”
“Yeah. He’s hot.”
