He was slightly embarrassed when Pree picked up on it and gave him a hug.
“You all right?” she asked in his ear.
“Give me a second,” he replied as he released the feelings he used when filming.
When he was ready, they followed with Uptown Funk, which gave them a chance to dance on stage. It also got the rest of the crowd up as the party kicked into high gear.
Everyone was saved when Pree kicked David off the stage.
◊◊◊
David made a mental note that his PA was MIA. He momentarily worried about her, but she was in her mid-twenties and had indeed survived parties like this, so he let it go.
The consensus from his fellow castmates was that he should stick to acting. David decided they were just jealous.
He then decided that he had to find somewhere else to be when two of them—Mia Hilliard, his love interest in the movie, and Isabel Alexandra, Ben Cowley’s girlfriend—suggested they find a room. He made good his escape when the PPS and his assistants plied the girls with more shots.
David slipped off into a back corner of the yard as he watched the two girls try to figure out where he’d gone. He found a girl sitting alone. He might have left her alone if she wasn’t his future wife. David, like most men, had a type. Personally, he liked tall, athletic girls who were smart.
But this girl was none of that, except for maybe the smart part. She looked to be short and had obviously let the freshman fifteen grow to the 'I’m married and don’t give a damn' thirty. What she had was red hair and the requisite pale skin with freckles and blue eyes.
David had once looked it up, and less than two percent of the population had natural red hair. The same article said that redheads were more likely to have devil children, but he wasn’t looking for any more kids.
“Uhhhh, no,” was her greeting when he smiled at her.
“No, what?”
“No. Not interested.”
David knew right then that he also liked her for more than her looks.
“Uh … no, not interested in what?” he asked, playing dumb.
“In whatever you’re selling.”
“I didn’t even say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I was?” David asked, giving the English rose a confused look.
“Yeah, you were about to give me your best pickup line. Something like, ‘Sup’ and give me a head bob. For future reference, that is neither witty nor charming. Then you would follow it up with the classic, ‘Can I touch your belly button … from the inside?’”
David choked on something as he tried not to laugh.
“Seriously! People have said that to you?” he asked, and she nodded to let him know they had. “Just so you know, I’m not that guy.”
“I’ve been around enough to know that guys cruise parties like this where the girls are encouraged to drink a lot. Since most guys who attend could never get anyone in the light of day, they capitalize on our lowered inhibitions.”
“You’re just crazy enough to be interesting. And for your information, I do just fine in the light of day,” David fired back.
“Then what are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m in the movie.”
“Wow. That movie was actually good.”
“Thank you. What, pray tell, are you doing here, little Miss Know-it-all? Besides making a sport out of scowling at any man who walks by,” he said.
“Please, scowling can be fun.”
“Look, I have to go. It was nice meeting you,” David said as he turned to walk away.
Then he twirled around and came back.
“Just so you know, all I was going to say was, ‘My name is David. What’s yours?’
“Then I was hoping we would talk a little, and I would find out that you’re not the kind of girl that comes to parties like this. That would explain why the prettiest girl in the whole place was sitting all alone, glaring at everyone. Because you’re right. Most guys are dirty pervs who would seduce you and leave you. That’s it,” he said.
He turned and began to walk away.
“David?”
He turned back, and she was smiling.
“Colleen,” she shared.
“Nice to meet you, Colleen,” David said and left her.
◊◊◊
David was ready to go and decided that he’d best check on Kristen before leaving. It was a good thing he did because he found her out of her mind, either drunk or stoned or, most probably, both. She was sitting on a couch between two men who were in the process of undressing her.
“Sorry, guys, but that one’s mine, and we have to go,” David said.
They weren’t in much better shape as they turned and gawked at him as he scooped his PA up and walked out of the room.
When he reached the front door, one of the waiters already had their electronic equipment in bags. He handed them to David, acting like it was normal to seeing a man carry a half-naked girl from the party.
When David stepped outside, his driver had already pulled up. David suspected that the host might have planted hidden cameras. He was glad he hadn’t gotten up to more than having a cocktail or three.
◊◊◊
Chapter 5
Brook
Brook and six of her friends had moved into her grandmother’s Brooklyn condo for the summer. Grace Davenport had hired them all to help start the New York branch of Holistic Wealth Management. Brook had wanted to travel, maybe see Europe, for the summer. But her mother, Ava, had called and asked her to spend the summer in New York.
Brook couldn’t say ‘no’ to her mother because Ava had agreed to manage the new branch after her divorce had become final just a month ago. Ian, Brook’s father, had left for California, where he had accepted a position as a political science professor at Stanford. She planned to visit him later this summer, once he got settled.
It hadn’t been hard to convince her sorority sisters to join her because they were offered top dollar and the promise of many résumé-building experiences. Well, that, and staying in a penthouse condo located in the heart of DUMBO—short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass—the most expensive neighborhood in Brooklyn.
The condo was situated right on the water’s edge. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered NYC skyline, East River, and bridge views from almost every room.
Keira stuck her head into Brook’s bedroom and looked a little overexcited. Today was Holistic’s board of directors meeting. They’d all gotten a chance to help prepare presentations and coordinate everyone coming into town.
While the board meeting was a big deal, what had Keira and the rest of Brook’s roommates excited was that David Dawson was attending. They were teasing her because her ex had admitted that she was one of his true loves. It was all well and good until the paparazzi showed up and staked out their building.
Her roommates had dragged her to see David’s latest movie last night. After the shower and towel scenes, the consensus was that Brook needed to have her head examined for dumping such an outstanding specimen of manhood.
She thought back to that scene and his half-naked, glistening body. Flexing muscles, yum! Brook bit her bottom lip. If she kept her eyes closed and didn’t move, she was afraid that her desire would become all too real.
Brook could almost picture David making his model walk toward her, a nice, easy gait where his muscles rippled with each step. She could practically feel his breath on her neck as he leaned down to kiss it. Her mouth parted slightly. She licked her dry lips.
“The car is downstairs. You need to get a move on,” Keira said to bring her out of her fantasy.
“How do I look?” Brook asked, trying to cover that she was flustered.
“Way too professional for meeting your ex. You should wear that black dress with the slit up the front. You want to remind David what he’s missing.”
“Give it a rest. He got over me a long time ago,” Brook reasoned. “Besides, I’m seeing Bastian now.”