Page 8 of Love and Loathing
Alex watched as the brunette minx fled out the door, and before he could stop himself, before he could think, he followed. He grabbed a red linen from a table and blotted his face and shirt, then tucked his shirt back in and dropped the linen on a tray by the door before he exited.
The line was only half as long now, but the woman in the blue dress was nowhere to be seen. She must have sneaked in past the line. Well, he would too. He wasn’t done with her yet. He wasn’t done with the way her moss-green eyes had flared in fury when he’d offered to kiss her, or the way she’d pursed her plump lips before she’d thrown the water at him.
Oh, she was ticked, all right. Which was fine with him. He wasn’t thrilled either. His shirt was soaked, and those ice cubes had made him reexamine the choices that had led to the moment. It was irritating and exciting all at once. He’d made her mad. He hadn’t known women could get mad at him, except for his mother and sister. But this woman, who he didn’t know and had never met, had been mad. At him.
He spotted Paige across the room and headed her way. Her eyes darted from his wet hair to his wet shirt and then up to his eyes. “Mr. Young, what happened?” she asked, all shock and horror.
“I rethought your offer to help me jump the line,” he said.
“Oh … well, wouldn’t you like to change first?”
He shook his head. “It’s just a little water. It’ll dry in no time.” He took a step back and gestured with a sweep of his arm toward the line.
She nodded and led the way. Once inside, he left her at the door and made a quick scan from the front of the greenhouse where the preacher stood, over the hundreds of guests seated on white chairs with bows, to the back of the aisle. And there she was. With Charlie, a pretty blonde, and Mr. Hayes Senior. She was gesturing around the room and pointing. Mr. Hayes followed where she pointed, and he nodded as she seemed to be explaining something to him.
Alex headed over and stopped directly across from her. The small group all turned their gazes on him, but he only had eyes for her. She sucked in a breath at the sight of him and raised her chin.
“Good heavens, Alex,” Charlie said. “What happened to you?”
Her gaze darted from Alex to Mr. Hayes and back again, clearly nervous.
Alex cleared his throat. “A little run-in with a waiter. An accident. I’m sure my shirt will be dry in no time.”
She relaxed a little.
“Have you two met?” Mr. Hayes asked, glancing between Alex and the vixen in front of him.
“No, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,” he said.
“This is the young lady I hired to film the wedding. She comes highly recommended,” Mr. Hayes said.
Alex’s stomach went into freefall. She was the videographer? Crap. He was such a jerk. She raised her brows—like a “Ha!” moment. His embarrassment receded, challenge taking its place, and he quirked a grin.
Mr. Hayes turned to her. “Jessie Winslow, this is Alexander Young. Alexander Young, this is Jessie Winslow.”
Alex extended his hand to her. She stared at it like it was some kind of venous snake, but she took it anyway. Her hand was so delicate, her fingers long and slender.
“And this is her lovely assistant and sister, Caroline,” Mr. Hayes said.
Alex pulled his gaze from Jessie—it was hard to do—and turned to the blond woman standing by Charlie. He took her hand too and noticed that Charlie had his hand at the small of the woman’s back. “It’s good to meet you.”
“You too,” Caroline said. “Our little sisters love you inBoyfriend of My Dreams.”
It was all Alex could do not to groan out loud. That had been his first movie. He’d gotten the audition, and probably the part, because of his famous mother, Bridgette Wild. It’d also been his first film with Roxy. And it’d been trash. It’d bombed at the box office, bombed with critics, and bombed with viewers. Seriously, when it came to the fact that he’d even gotten another role after that, he was sure it had more to do with his mother throwing her weight around than anything else.
“Wait, what?” Jessie said.
Alex whipped his gaze back to her as recognition set in. So she really hadn’t known who he was. Now who was having the “Ha!” moment? He smirked.
She straightened her spine and narrowed her eyes. “We need to get ready; the ceremony should be starting any minute.”
“Yes, of course,” Mr. Hayes said.
Alex gave her a little nod. Looked like he owed her an apology. He wouldn’t say anything here. He didn’t know much about Philip Hayes Senior, but if he was anything like Philip Hayes Junior, Alex didn’t want to out her for throwing water in his face where anyone could hear. “If you have time at the reception,” he said, “please save me a dance.”
Her eyes went wide in surprise, and he took that as his cue to exit.
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