His reaction wasn’t much friendlier. His eyebrows shot up as recognition dawned. “You?”
I’d seen him on screen up close, in high definition, so many times, that it felt almost surreal for him to be standing there, in front of me, staringbackat me with those beautiful blue eyes. The kind of eyes that could make you forget your own name if you weren’t careful.
And then, in that very recognizable, very sexy, world-famous movie star voice, Luke Fisher said, “Are you stalking me?”
My mouth clamped shut.The nerve of him.Did he think he owned the place? Did he think everyone wandered around in his orbit, just waiting to be graced with his presence? I straightened, summoning every ounce of righteous anger I could muster.
“No, I’m not stalking you. I’m staying in the cottage. I heard someone in the pool, and I came by to say hello. Then I saw your body—I mean, I sawsomebody.” My cheeks burned as I stumbled over the words, one clumsy syllable at a time. “Anyway, what areyoudoing here? I thought a friend of Topher’s was staying here.”
He raised an eyebrow, like he couldn’t believe someone didn’t know. “I’m the friend. Topher and I went to Brown together.”
Oh. Wow. Okay. That was… a lot to process.
Luke Fisher—theactualLuke Fisher—was standing there, dripping water, looking like he belonged on the cover of a magazine even while trying to accuse me of stalking him. Apparently, in real life, he was far less charming than in the movies.
“Guess we’re neighbors,” he said, like it was no big deal.
Neighbors.Neighbors.
I blinked at him. Then, at the mansion behind him. And then back at him, because my brain refused to process what it was seeing. This couldn’t be real. This had to be some cruel, cosmic joke.
“Small world, huh?” he said, his grin widening like he was thoroughly enjoying the horror etched on my face.
Small world? No. This was atinyworld. A shrinking, claustrophobic world where I was now somehow neighbors withLuke Fisher.
Panic rose in my chest like a flood.Leave. Move your feet. Go. Move.
I forced a smile that felt like it belonged to a hostage. “Right. Well… enjoy your swim. I, uh, have work to do. Very important work.”
I turned on my heel, flip-flops smacking far too loudly as I bolted. I needed to go somewhere. Anywhere. Grabbing my keys, I marched to my car, threw myself into the driver’s seat, and started the engine like I was escaping a crime scene. I didn’t have a plan. I just needed tomove.
“Where to?” I muttered to myself, pulling out of the driveway. The gas tank warning light blinked on. Perfect.Fine.I’d go fill up the car with gas. Filling up the tank was something normal people did, right? Not running. Not fleeing. Just responsible car ownership. I could do that.
And then I’d come right back, because where else was I going to go? I figured I’d be able to sneak in without seeing Luke again.
I sighed as I turned onto the road, gripping the steering wheel like it might steer me away from my mounting embarrassment.
How was I supposed to focus on writing? I was already up against a block so big and high that not even three days in a cute cottage had been able to fix it. It could only get worse knowing I was staying across a yard from a Hollywood heartthrob who thought I was a lunatic stalker.
6
LUKE
I’m not usedto women running away from me.
Usually, they’re runningtowardme, camera phones out and squealing.
But Anna ran like I’d accused her of grand theft, not stalking. Which, in hindsight, probably wasn’t my smoothest opening line.
Never thought I’d see the day whenIwas the one left standing, speechless and stunned. Welcome to rock bottom, Luke.
I wiped water from my face, grabbed the towel I’d left by the pool, and wandered toward the pool house.
A shower sounded good. A little peace before I figured out how to deal with my unexpected “neighbor,” who, for some inexplicable reason, had run away from me like she’d seen a mouse.
The inside of the pool house was small but neat. I tossed my towel onto a chair, kicked off my flip-flops, and headed straight for the shower.
The place was stocked with fresh towels and fancy soaps. Nice touch. Probably the housekeeper’s doing. Honestly, I respected the effort.
