I ignore him and walk quickly to the bar.
The bar is crowded already, and we have to wait for a bartender.
Lilla scouts out the place while I keep my back to the rest of the room. “Okay,” she whispers. “Dylan, Colton, and Marcus are just a couple of feet away now. I wonder if they’re talking about us.”
She giggles.
“I can’t imagine what they’re saying,” I say curtly. “But I really don’t want to know.”
She turns her back on the room, too. “I guess you’re right. Why do we care what they’re saying about us?”
“Dylan Wild can talk about me all he wants. See if I care.”
“What makes you think I was talking about you?” a low, familiar voice says in my ear.
I turn around to see Dylan standing behind me.
Lilla bursts out laughing.
“Oh, that’s priceless, Dylan,” she squeals.
He’s wearing a suit, which of course looks perfect on him—the black jacket and pants match his hair perfectly, and the gold tie brings out the sparks in his eyes. But it’s the way he’s looking at me that fills my body with heat—like he genuinely wants to know me. The real me.
I glance over at Lilla, who’s still fangirling him.
“Dylan, you are so cool. You know that?”
“So I’ve been told. Although not by this one.” He touches my arm. “You really think I would talk badly about you?”
I shrug, but then I meet his eyes.
What happened earlier in my room passes between us.
Lilla looks from me to Dylan and quickly makes herself scarce.
Dylan steps closer to me, and I’m relieved when the bartender finally comes to take my order.
“One vodka and cranberry,” Dylan says before I get the words out.
I glance over at him.
“I pay attention.” He drops some bills on the counter, and the server brings my drink faster than I can calm my racing pulse.
Dylan leans over and speaks to me in a soft tone. “I’m sorry I came on too strong this afternoon. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Jasalie.”
“It’s not that,” I say. “You didn’t scare me, Dylan.”
His lips brush my ear as he gets close enough to make sure only I can hear him. “I just…I like you. And away from all the cameras, I felt like we connected.”
The raw honesty in his voice sends vibrations through my chest and down between my thighs.
Dylan takes my arm. “Let’s go take a seat somewhere.”
“He’s like a God, Jase,” Lilla whispers as I pass her.
I smile and shake my head. He’s unbelievable, all right. Definitely too good to be true.
* * *
