Plus, Gavin was the only one of the guys who seemed on my level romantically and sexually. It was clear he wasn’t with any one woman for very long. His playboy reputation wasn’t hard to uncover with a little googling, and I’d done my fair share of that after the guys first showed up at the diner. There were dozens of photos to be found of Gavin with some actress or model on his arm, and even more rumors about all of the Hollywood hotties he’d maybe dated in secret. No luck on analyzing any potential resemblance to Daphne in his photos, as I’d intended when I typed his name into my search bar, but that didn’t mean my internet sleuthing was completely useless.
At the very least, it was nice to get to look at him shamelessly, even if the photos paled in comparison to the real deal.
Allie:What else are you guilty of?
The rush of sending a risky text like that was something I hadn’t experienced in years. It was enough to have me feeling almost drunk on anticipation as I itched to read his reply. Gavin must have been just as eager, shooting his response back in record time.
Gavin:A gentleman never tells. But I’d hope you’d remember from Vegas.
Allie: Gentleman…right.I remember some but wouldn’t say no to a reminder. You owe me an invite to a Hollywood party too.
A winky face would have been too much, so I deleted the one I added before I hit send. I watched the three dots that meant he was typing, watching the clock in between blinks. I really needed to get going. So as the three dots kept bouncing in our text thread, I sighed, putting my phone down as I pulled out of our apartment complex parking lot and got on the road to pick up my baby girl.
When I pulled up to the daycare pickup line, I had another opportunity to check my phone. Turns out I hadn’t perfectlythreaded the needle with my arrival time, because the line of cars in front of me was longer than I wanted. The few minutes I’d been driving, my head was full of wicked ideas about how Gavin could have responded. And I was delighted when I read the response that beat out any of my own ideas.
Gavin:A reminder…hm. Do you remember how hard I was for you? How wet you were for me?
Allie:For all three of you…
Gavin:Don’t hurt my ego. It was all for me when I slid inside you that first time.
I gasped quietly in my car, feeling that low, torturous warmth between my legs that I had no way of handling just now. Oh, he was definitely as open to hooking up again as I was. I wouldn’t have to do much work to seduce him into my bed. I’d just have to find a time, a place, a scenario that would lessen the potential complications as much as possible. No drama. No messy feelings getting in the way.
Allie:Guilty.
I could practically hear the sly smirk on his face when he read that, my parroting back of his own words.
Gavin:I bet you’ve been thinking about that night all these years. Just like I have.
Allie:That’s a bet you’d probably win. Lucky me.
Gavin:I’ve always been lucky. Feeling that way now. How about we make things more interesting? Tell me what you’re wearing.
And of course, at that moment, I was just about at the front of the pickup line. It pained me to do it, but I sent back a reply that left both of us hanging.
Allie:Can’t right now. But I’ll make it up to you by wearing something extra skimpy when you take me to an event. To be continued.
Gavin:Event details coming soon.
Well, at least I’d lit a fire under his ass about his promise to help me make industry connections. Our flirtation just so happened to light an entirely different sort of fire under mine.
10
GAVIN
Inever liked to be the type of guy who fusses in the mirror before a date, but I was one unnecessary shirt change away from becomingexactlythat guy. Even though this night out with Allie, part of her fame-seeking mission, was decidedly not a date. There was uncertainty in the whole night, the whole situation between us that seemed to have permeated my ability to pick out a decent shirt.
And it didn’t help that I kept getting distracted with thoughts of what she might wear for our little adventure tonight. I’d told her we were going out, to wear something that said she knew she’d be seen. Self-sabotage, maybe, since I had a near-permanent partial hard-on in her presence even when she was just wearing her stupid waitress apron at Marv’s diner.
There was still so much up in the air. Waiting for Jack Bloom, Pathetic Investigator, to get back to me about our quickie marriage was driving me up the wall, and I suspected he was dragging it out in order to milk as much money from me as possible. I almost hoped that we could get everything sorted out quickly enough that I could avoid my obligation to take Allie out on a fame-finding mission, but that dream was long dead at thispoint. Tonight was happening, and all I could do was hope I kept my cool around Allie Tate.
Tonight was an introductory outing. That’s how I was thinking of it anyway. I was taking Allie to something that wasn’t quite an industry event, but should satisfy her curiosity regardless. I’d offered to pick her up, but she’d insisted on meeting me at our beach rental, which I suspected was a sign of her distrust. She didn’t want to give away her address to any of us, I guessed. At least not to me.
Jack Bloom already had that information. But Allie didn’t need to know that.
Anyway, I finally found an appropriate shirt to wear tonight and had finished buttoning it when Allie pulled up outside of the house in a modest SUV. I watched her get out of the car and walk up the path to the front door with wide, hungry eyes, willing myself to get out all of my dirty thoughts before I had to interact with her. But when she was in front of me, dressed to kill in a short black dress that hugged her curves, emphasizing the way she’d filled out and matured since that night in Vegas, it was a real struggle not to turn my usual flirtation with her up to eleven.
She’d seemed open enough to it over text, of course. But that didn’t mean I was about to start our night off that way. I’d given my word that we’d make headway on her budding music career, and damn it, I’d stick to it.
