Page 38 of Under His Touch

“Nope. Didn’t know.”

“Apparently they wanted a piece of Alec Carson.” I lean toward him. “But they all thought we were an item.”

He doesn’t laugh at that, like I thought he would. Instead he says, “I can see that. We were pretty inseparable.”

I dig deep, gather courage, and I’m about to ask him what happened to us, when the woman who’s been staring takes out her phone and aims it our way.

“I think that woman just took a picture of us,” I say to Alec.

“Shit,” he says under his breath.

The woman pushes her chair back and steps up to our table. “Alec,” she says. “Alec Carson.”

He angles his head. “What can I do for you?” he asks, and from the way he’s looking at her I get the sense they don’t know each other.

“Rumor has it New York’s most eligible bachelor is soon to get married.” Her gaze slides to me, and she has a weird smirk on her face. “Are you the lucky lady who’s finally pinned him down?”

“If you’ll excuse us, we’re in the middle of dinner,” he says, his voice hard and agitated but holding a measure of politeness, even though the woman doesn’t deserve it.

“But it’s breaking news, Alec.” She bats well-painted eyelashes at him, and does a flirty toss of her red hair. “I’m sure Starlight would love to do a spread.”

Starlight is a tabloid magazine that emphasizes sensationalized crime stories and gossip about celebrities. It wasn’t long ago that Will was on the cover...in bed with a woman who wasn’t his fiancée. He must have gone into hiding, keeping his head down and nose clean, because he hasn’t been in the news for a long time. Could this be the reporter who outed him?

The brazen woman turns to me. “And what is your name?”

“Her name is none of your concern,” Alec answers through clenched teeth. His jaw is so tight, I’m sure he’s going to crack his back teeth.

My pulse beats a little faster, and my heart goes out to Alec as I take in the tension in his body. I’ve seen the pictures of him in the papers, of course. But never knew how aggressive and downright rude the paparazzi could be—to his face—until this very second.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find out who she is.” She laughs as her gaze moves over me. “Although you don’t really seem like his type.” She taps her finger to her chin, and puckers her lips. “Tired of playing with models, going for the plain Jane instead?” she asks, her gaze zeroing in on Alec.

Alec stands so fast, his chair shoves backward, but it doesn’t faze the woman at all. “Don’t you dare talk about her like that.”

“Oh, my. I’ve never seen this protective side of you before, Alec. She must be pretty special,” she says, giving me another glace before walking away.

Alec slowly sits back in his chair and smooths his hand over his chest.

“I’m sorry. It’s awful what you have to put up with. Do you want to leave?”

He takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly. “Let’s finish our meal and not give her that kind of power over us.”

“Do you think she’ll print the picture?”

“I don’t know. We’re having dinner. Nothing to really sensationalize over that.”

“Does this happen a lot?” I catch a glimpse of the woman as she breezes out the door, looking quite smug with herself. “When you were on other dates, were you harassed?”

“Sometimes.”

Perhaps that’s why things never worked out. No one wants to be accosted, photographed or belittled during dinner.

“She’s wrong, you know,” he says.

“Wrong?”

“You’re not a plain Jane. You’re beautiful.”

I set my fork down, my pulse jumping in my neck. “Thank you,” I say quietly as he divides the taco, and puts half on my plate, but I no longer have an appetite. “How do you think she found out? Who would have said you were soon to get married?”

---