Panic suddenly struck her dumb and her eyes flew wide in horror. Talk about over-sharing – what the hell was wrong with her?
‘What?’ Alex looked as horrified as she felt.
She should shut up, but her mouth couldn’t be stopped, because a moment later she was already jumping back onto the juggernaut of humiliation by declaring, ‘No matter how pathetic you think your story is, I can promise you mine ismuchworse.’
‘I don’t understand. How can you be stood up halfway through a date?’ To his credit, he seemed genuinely confused that someone would leave a date early. She doubted he’d ever been on a date with anyone who wasn’t a model and/or desperate to marry him.
‘He went to the bathroom and never came back. I think it was because I told him I wanted to get married and have kids…’ Alex raised a sardonic brow and she threw up her hands. ‘I didn’t mean immediately! But he did ask. He wanted to know where I saw myself in five years and, well, that’s what I’d hoped for. Not necessarily with him, of course, just generally. But it still spooked him.’Jesus, Ellie, it’d spook any man.‘I wish he hadn’t ordered fillet steak, because I had to pay for it. I’d like to say that’s my only pathetic example, but I’ve been ghosted more times than I’d like to admit, encountered some scary weirdos, been stood up loads and…’ She paused, her mind immediately flashing to her most humiliating dating experience. Damn it, she’d managed to not think of David for months. She shook her head vigorously to clear it. ‘Anyway, modern dating… it’s tough out there.’
‘That guy who stood you up was an asshole.’
Ellie blinked, her shoulders immediately relaxing. ‘Thank you, that’s actually really nice to hear another man say that.’ She let out a cleansing breath, feeling surprisingly at ease with this Hollywood star. ‘Anyway, I made a resolution this NewYear. Absolutely no more dating. I’m going to concentrate on sorting myself out first. Buying my own flat, having a cat, settling down.’ She winced at how miserable her goals sounded, especially now that the most important one was a dead end, with Hannah leaving. ‘I’m sure your break-up – even if it was posted everywhere – isn’t pathetic.’
Alex took a deep breath and stared straight ahead as if he were in the confession box and knew he was going to get a thousand Hail Marys. ‘My ex-girlfriend cheated on me with my brother for years and now they’re getting married. The gossip columns are saying that I’m toxic and jealous, and keep trying to split them apart. That I am an emotionally abusive bastard who never deserved either of them in the first place.’
Her mouth fell open. ‘Oh.’
‘Exactly.’ Bitterness radiated off him, and she couldn’t blame him. Hadn’t a hidden part of her begrudged Hannah for leaving? Sometimes life kicked you down and then stood on your fingers as you tried to get up again.
‘Screw ’em,’ she declared loudly, with a dismissive flap of her wrist. ‘I mean it. I bet you were too good for her anyway.’
‘Savannah is a supermodel, film actress and UN ambassador. Liam just won an Oscar and donates most of his earnings to charity.’
‘Fuck me.’ It came out before she’d had time to stop herself, and even clamping her hand over her mouth didn’t stop her in time. Alex’s answering chuckle was enough to reassure her that she hadn’t mortally offended him.
He clapped his hands together firmly. ‘Let’s get some more drinks. I think we deserve them.’
They grabbed fresh glasses and walked over to one of the large squishy sofas under the twinkling lights of the tree, the blossom draping down around them in a heavy curtain of foliage. It wasalmost unbearably romantic and Ellie cast around for something to dispel that thought quick-sharp.
‘You’ve got to love a precocious tree,’ she said. ‘The weather has only just warmed up and it’s already out in full bloom.’
‘Precocious?’ he asked, his head tilting, allowing his hair to flop forward adorably. ‘I’ve never heard a tree called that before.’
‘You pick up a few bits when your family own a flower shop. Cherry blossom flowers early, that’s why it’s called precocious.’ She gave him a teasing look. ‘I think that’s what I love the most about them. They don’t give a f—’ She stopped herself from swearing like an old fishwife just in time, squirming in embarrassment at the near-slip, her movements resulting in a gassy wheeze whistling from the cushions. She grabbed his thigh to balance herself and then quickly let go, her face flaming with embarrassment.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she gasped, absolutely mortified by her thigh-grab. The cushions added further insult to injury by making a plastic squelching sound as she shifted back in her seat.
Bloody low sofas!They were worse than beanbags, which until now she’d always considered her arch-nemesis.
Alex wiggled his bum and the seat made more fart-squeaking sounds that made them both giggle, and Ellie felt distinctly more comfortable about her awkward behaviour.
This would go down as number one on her list of heroic acts performed by ordinary men. Except, of course, he wasn’t ordinary. Again, she noticed the peripheral stares, and wondered if their audience were somehow edging closer towards them.
It was strange and yet not. Alex was a global star, but she was so at ease with him that she kept forgetting. Plus, he really didn’t look the same as he did on the silver screen. Was that deliberate – was he trying to escape the attention of the media by changing his appearance?
However, she preferred this man to any movie poster version. He was more approachable, more human. She’d never have thought that someone like her would end up feeling sorry for someone like him, but she did, and more than anything she wanted to cheer him up, even if it meant accepting a few spiteful stares.
‘How long have you been living in London?’ she asked, taking a much smaller sip of her prosecco, as she was beginning to feel a little light-headed. Maybe she should rein herself in a bit. This was the most she’d drunk in months and she didn’t want to make a fool of herself, not in front of Alex and his glitzy actor friends.
‘Since rehearsals started a month ago. I really should get an apartment, if I’m going to stay long term.’ His eyes locked with hers. ‘Which I hope to do, now.’
Ellie resisted fanning herself, but she had to clear her suddenly dry throat.He’s not flirting, you fool, he means now that his play has started.‘Where have you been staying?’ she squeaked.
‘A hotel. I’ve been back and forth from LA for a while. But really I should lay down some roots, especially if all goes well with the play. I just don’t know where to start with the house-hunting.’
‘What area were you thinking of?’
‘I’ve no idea.’ He blew out his breath with an overwhelmed pout that drew her eyes to his lips, firm, plump and kissable.
