Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Maybe I could get used to it,” he whispered in my ear, and I smiled, those butterflies in my belly flapping their wings.
It was such a perfect moment, and I knew I’d remember it for the rest of my life.
When the song ended, replaced by a more upbeat Tom Grennan track, I lifted my head and smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
Something finally softened in his expression. “Thank you.”
“Cavendish?”
Theo jerked at the voice, and I turned with him to find a familiar good-looking guy approaching us. “Scott.” Theo nodded.
“It’s been a while.” The dark-haired man slapped Theo’s biceps before glancing at me and then taking a second glance. “Uh …” He shot me a smile, then turned back to Theo. “Haven’t seen you at the Roebuck.”
“It was becoming infiltrated.”
Scott chuckled. “By A-listers, you mean? You do know you’re in that category?”
Theo raised an eyebrow. “I think not. How are you, old boy?”
“Good, good. I got a recurring part on The Beat. Film it here, get to stay home, all’s good. How are you?”
“Fine. Writing.”
“I hope you’ll look me up for whatever it is you’ve got cooking.” He grinned cheekily and then turned to me, gaze … interested. “Hi, I’m Scott Holland.” He held out his hand and I suddenly recognized him. Scott was an English actor who’d starred in King’s Valley and a British soap before that.
Surprised he’d noticed me after years of invisibility in Ardnoch, it took me a second to shake his hand. My cheeks pinkened. “Sarah. N-nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Scott held my hand a little longer than appropriate before turning to Theo. “Alice and Brent are here with some friends. Come have a drink with us.”
I thought Theo would say no since we were technically on a date, but he surprised me by nodding and following Scott across the bar to a larger booth at the back.
Theo seemed to know a few of the people already and Scott introduced me to the group, but my heart pounded and I could barely hear over my nerves. I disliked how nervous I got meeting large groups of new people, but I decided if I was going to work on a film set with Theo, I needed to get over my old insecurities.
Theo slid into the booth next to a pretty redhead who seemed to know him. I took the seat next to his and Scott quickly sat on my other side. A waiter came over to take more drink orders and as Theo engaged in conversation with the redhead, smirking at something she whispered in his ear, I decided I needed another mojito.
“So, Sarah,” Scott leaned in a smidge too close to ask in my ear, “what do you do and how do you know Theo?”
“I’m a writer.” I wasn’t quite ready to out myself to the world yet, so that’s all I said. “You were in King’s Valley.”
He smiled, pleased. Scott was very good-looking but honestly, he did nothing for me. I was afraid no one else but Theo could now. “I was. So, a writer? Like a screenwriter?”
“Perhaps,” I hedged.
His grin widened. “A woman of mystery. I love it. Is that how you know Theo?”
“Aye.” It wasn’t a lie.
“And I detect a bit of an accent. Are you Scottish?”
I nodded.
“My mother is Scottish. We used to spend all our summers in Oban visiting my grandparents. I love Scotland. I hope to own a second home there one day.”
“Do you still visit often?”
For the next very long twenty minutes or so, I managed to keep Scott talking about himself, all the while aware that Theo was next to me chatting and laughing with the redhead. When I glanced over, she was shoving him playfully and he was rolling his eyes with that teasing smile of his.
My stomach dropped.
He was flirting with her.
By my fourth mojito, I was struggling to stay focused on Scott who, for some reason, did not leave my side. I felt sick. I didn’t know what had happened today or why Theo was acting so strangely, but I’d thought our dance had broken that tension. Now he was flirting with some other woman in front of me.
I wanted to leave.
What I wanted to do was cry, but I wouldn’t give the bugger the satisfaction.
“I need to use the restroom.” I cut Scott off midstream about the new role he was playing in a long-standing UK crime drama. “Will you excuse me?”
“Oh. Of course.” He shimmied out of the booth to let me pass and I hurried on shaking legs toward the restroom.
A few minutes later I stood at the sink, staring at my flushed cheeks in the mirror. Maybe I should just leave.
I … I didn’t deserve to be treated like this. I knew we hadn’t discussed what we were to each other, but it had been pretty clear after Jared showed up that this was more than just a fling.