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The use of his old nickname for me threw me for a loop. “Uh… Thanks. That’s…very kind of you.” I sounded like a moron.
As we stood awkwardly, the hostess set the menu on the table. “Your server will be with you momentarily, Mr. McAllister,” she said breathlessly, without even a glance at me.
Right. I was the sidekick to Evan’s star, the nameless McAllister Minx.
He didn’t offer so much as a thank you before she left.
I broke the standoff, rose up, and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for the invitation, Ev.” It wasn’t something I’d called him before, but I had to try something other than his full name.
He held out the chair for me. “Ev?”
“You bastardized my name first.” I sat as daintily as I could. “And it sounds more masculine than Evby or Evie, don’t you think?” At least I hadn’t used Dev as shorthand for Devil.
He ran his hand across my shoulder as he went back to his seat. The trail of heat unnerved me. I gestured to the window. “You didn’t call early enough for a private room this time?”
“Don’t look outside,” he said sternly. “And smile.”
“I’m not a trained seal. You can’t just command me.” His admonition had the same effect as telling a five year old to not look at candy on the shelf. Yes, I looked, and I caught sight of a guy with telephoto lens on the other side of the street. Shoot me now—more damned paparazzi.
“True, not a seal,” he said with a grin a mile wide. “An actress, and a beautiful one who should know enough to not look directly into the camera.”
Shifting my eyes back, I ignored his attempt to distract me with a compliment and did my best ventriloquist act by smiling and not moving my lips. “Why didn’t you tell me we were going to be in a fishbowl?”
“You can talk normally. They don’t read lips.”
“Well, this is me talking normally. If you think I’m putting up with this every time we go out, you’re nuts.” I raised my hand at a passing waiter. “We need some champagne stat.”
Evan laughed. “Calm down. We’re here because we have to give the press a starting point for our relationship. Just act happy, and we’ll get through this.”
“Tell me, was this your consultant’s bright idea?” I shot back.
“It was.”
“I’ve got a better idea. I can show that jerkface with the camera a starting point—the tip of my middle finger. And then we make some pictures of our own and send them in as the starting point.”
“I think it’s a little early for a sex tape, don’t you?” He smirked.
The titillation of that idea ended very quickly. The last thing I intended to do was let my guard down with this predator. “Not funny. Maybe the celebutantes you usually date are into that kind of thing, but I come from the real world where people would be ashamed of something like that.”
“Sorry, it was a joke.” He seemed contrite.
“Taking a sex tape off the table, what does being yourgirlfriend…” I added air quotes. “…mean on a day-to-day basis?”
“Very simple. I shower you with attention and compliments, and—”
“And what?”
“Name something that’s giving you a problem right now besides being here with me.”
“You took away the easy one.” I scrunched up my nose and thought. “Hmm... My garbage disposal stopped working, and I have a drip from the ceiling in my bathroom.”
“I can have people at your place in an hour to fix those things. It’s simple. You need something, I provide it—along with the occasional appropriate gift.”
It was time to draw a line as my blood pressure rose. “Thank you for the offer, but I won’t accept any gifts. I earned everything I have, and I plan to keep it that way. Your father taught me a hard life lesson. We lost everything because Dad owed money he couldn’t pay back. I’ll never owe anyone money or favors—not ever. The super will take care of my apartment just like everyone else, thank you very much.”
He pursed his lips, but didn’t argue further.
The waiter I’d flagged down hustled back to our table, interrupting my rant. He set down the champagne bucket, uncorked the bottle with a flourish, and poured for us. “I hope this is satisfactory, Mr. McAllister, sir.”
