Summer with a Star (Second Chances Book 1) (11 page)

“Your table is ready, right this way,” Anne came back  to tell them.

She pulled two menus from the pile behind her podium, then escorted the two of them through the crowded, chic restaurant as though leading the Fourth of July parade. She was the one who drew people’s attention to them, not Spence, but Spence was where all eyes ended up. Tasha couldn’t blame Anne, really. She had every right to broadcast ‘look who’s eating in our restaurant.’ Just like Tasha had every right to radiate ‘look who I spent the afternoon in bed with.’

On second thought, maybe she shouldn’t look so proud of herself.

“Here you are.” Anne led them—sure enough—to a cozy table in the corner where two walls of windows met and looked out over a view of the marina at sunset. It was gorgeous and romantic, and not the kind of thing she’d ever be able to experience on her own.

Spence held her chair out for her, then took a seat opposite her. There they were, face to face, no way to avoid the mind-blowing wonder of what had happened between them. She was reasonably certain that she was on the verge of making a major fool of herself somehow. But no, Spence smiled at her, heat and affection in his dark, dreamy eyes. She held her menu up to hide her blazing cheeks.

“I don’t even know where to start,” she said, scanning the menu, peeking up over its top edge at Spence.

“Order whatever you want,” he said, taking a break from setting her on fire to choose his diner. “It’s my treat.”

His treat. Should he really be treating her like this? Sure, the glamorous starlets he usually dated probably took it for granted, but she simply wasn’t used to it. There was nothing to do but enjoy it.

The waitress came and took their order, then skipped away with their menus and a wide smile. Tasha and Spence were alone again, nothing between them but the table. She felt a bump against her shin, and arched an eyebrow.

“Are you playing footsie with me?” she whispered, trying to be cool about it, but ready to burst into giggled.

“That’s not very dignified behavior for a gold-star restaurant,” he replied with a winning grin.

The side of his foot rubbed up the inside of her calf. She knew she should have worn pants instead of a skirt. And he shouldn’t have put on sandals that he could slip out of so easily. The combination was far too tempting.

She stopped her thoughts with a twitch of her lips, letting it turn into a grin. What was she thinking? It was amazing that she was wearing a skirt and he had bare feet. She’d never dared to dream something this romantic would happen to her. The table was small enough that he could flirt with her without another soul being any wiser. She played along, sliding her sandals off and tickling his ankle with her toe. Her reward was a stifled laugh from Spence.

“So what do you want to do tomorrow?” she asked, feigning casualness above the table while her feet played below.

Spence shrugged as if her question was the only thing going on. “We could do some sightseeing.”

He shifted to lean back in his chair, which gave his toes a wider range of movement.

“If you don’t want to be around crowds, there’s always whale-watching,” she said, fighting to keep her voice even as his foot rose to the top of her calf.

“Interesting,” he said, eyes meeting and holding hers. “Have you ever been whale-watching?”

“Once. When I was a kid.” Brad’s family had taken her, but she wasn’t about to bring his name up now. She matched Spence’s stance, leaning back so that she could rest her foot on his knee. It was awkward enough to keep her a hair’s breadth from bursting into giggles. How people were supposed to do these kinds of things and make it sexy was beyond her.

“Do those boats rock much?” Spence asked, mischief in his eyes.

“I guess a little,” she answered, curious about where he was going.

His toe reached the sensitive skin of her thigh, and he stroked back and forth. “All that rolling,” he went on, his voice lower. “The sway of the boat, up and down, up and down. We might get wet.”

If she was any wetter, she’d need a second napkin. His toe stroked in time to his words, leaving no doubt at all in her mind what he was up to. A famous movie star was trying to turn her on in public. She would kill him…if she didn’t die first.

“We wouldn’t want that, now, would we?” she replied, voice cracking halfway through. Damn. She was terrible at this kind of sexy talk. He would run circles around her.

“Then again, I’m not sure the things I want to do are the kind of things you do in a crowd,” he said.

Circles, just like that.

“Your wine?” The waitress returned as Tasha was getting ready to babble like an idiot and ask for the check. Before they’d eaten.

“Thank you,” Spence smiled at her, cool as ice. And there she was, getting ready to burst like the Hoover dam.

The waitress poured a glass of wine for each of them, then left the bottle on the table. “Your food will be right out,” she said, glancing to Tasha, then giving Spence her brightest smile, before leaving.

Spence sat straighter, planting his feet on the ground. Tasha did the same, but her head was still high in the clouds. They grinned at each other like fools in silence, until Spence’s expression suddenly tensed.

“What?” Tasha sat straighter. “Does somebody have a camera?” She peeked around.

“No.” Spence chuckled. Tasha relaxed and turned back to him. A decided flush spread across his face and he shook his head as though scolding himself. “I’ve just remembered something.”

That he was a million miles above her? That she wasn’t worth his time?

“What?”

His sheepish expression turned into a wince, and he shifted forward, leaning across the table toward her. “I just remembered that I only had that one condom with me, for emergencies.”

She couldn’t keep the giggles from bursting this time. As soon as they escaped, she slapped a hand over her mouth. That didn’t seem right either, so she distracted herself by taking a sip of her wine.

“Oh well,” she said when she was feeling slightly more sane. Only slightly. “I guess that’s that, then. It was nice while it lasted.”

He silenced his chuckling with a drink. Anyone watching them—and it was a safe bet that at least half the people in the restaurant were watching them—must have thought they were either drunk already or as ridiculous as kids.

“It was nice,” he murmured. “And it will continue to be nice. Doesn’t that five and dime across the street sell that sort of thing?”

“I’m sure they do,” Tasha answered, pretending to be suave and raising her eyebrow when really she had about as much maturity at that moment as one of her students.

“We’ll pick up a box after dinner,” he whispered, then added. “Maybe two.”

“Two?”

“It’s a long summer.”

A long summer. Tasha was dizzy with all that implied. Her vacation was barely a week old. Seven whole weeks still to come, and Spencer Ellis was talking about buying large quantities of condoms.

Their food arrived before she could fully absorb the idea. As she dug into her shrimp scampi—as delicately as she could for someone starving after an afternoon of rigorous activity—she let it all sink in. Was she suddenly the girlfriend of a movie star? Did one afternoon count as the start of a relationship? No, she couldn’t go there, not yet. Just because one man was proving to be different from Brad, she wasn’t willing to dive back into the dating waters. Until further notice, this was just a fling. A really interesting fling.

That idea settled comfortably in her brain, laughing and skipping around like waves in a tidal pool, until it came time for dessert. Or rather, until dessert was interrupted.

“Well look at this,” an all-too familiar voice said beside them.

Tasha was still grinning around a bite of chocolate cake when she glanced up at the man who had stopped beside their table, a pretty blonde by his side. Her mouth went dry and she nearly choked as she swallowed her cake.

“Chip,” she managed to croak before reaching for her wine.

“Somebody told me they spotted you with a movie star.” Chip took advantage of her momentary speechlessness to stare down his nose at both her and Spence. The blonde with him stepped back, eyes wide with wariness. “I didn’t think it could possibly be true.”

Spencer inched his chair back and stood. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve been introduce.” He held out his hand, towering over Chip. “Spencer Ellis. And you are?”

The way Spence met Chip’s peevish frown with a shark-like smile sent a jolt of giddy panic straight to Tasha’s gut. She shouldn’t have ordered the cake.

“Spence, this is Charles Jamison, Chip. He’s Brad’s brother. Remember, I told you about Brad?” She was tempted to stand herself to block whatever male showmanship had sprung up, like a bad squall, but already too many people were watching them.

“I think you
did
mention Brad,” Spence said, the smile he gave Chip showing exactly what he thought of Brad and, by default, Chip. He turned to the blonde. “And you are?”

“Kristy,” she somehow managed to squeak.

“Nice to meet you, Kristy.” Spence’s smile was so perfect and his stance so strong and calm that he deserved an award. “Please, join us.”

Tasha’s gut clenched. The last person on earth she wanted to share a table with was Chip. Well, the second-to-last person. Brad edged his brother out by one. She put her fork down and stared hard at Spence, willing him to stop whatever game he was playing.

Chip rested his weight on one leg, ignoring his date and pretending not to be intimidated. “I’ve got my own reservation, thanks.”

“Are you sure?” Spence went on. “Any friend of Tasha’s is a friend of mine.”

“I didn’t realize Tasha had friends,” Chip said. “I mean, that she had friends who weren’t losers.”

“We’re sharing a beach house for the summer,” Spencer answered the jab as if sharing a house with a celebrity was like renting a bike for a few hours.

Chip’s brow flew up, then his face pinched in offense. He turned to Tasha. “The house you were supposed to share with my brother?”

“I saved up for a summer at Sand Dollar Point for twenty years.” It was the only thing she managed to squeeze out. She didn’t even have enough sense to make it sound defensive, only informational.

“I’m finding the arrangement
delightful
,” Spence said. The smile he sent Tasha was designed to suggest everything that had gone on between them and to set Chip in his place at the same time.

It didn’t work.

“Boy, Tash, you’re some piece of work,” Chip said, crossing his arms. “I bet your bed wasn’t even cold before you let Mr. Hollywood here slide on in.”

“Chip, let’s go,” Kristy begged behind him. Chip ignored her.

Tasha’s cheeks flared. She shrank in her chair, aware of every set of eyes that were now glued to the scene Chip had created. “Brad dumped me,” was the best she could come up with to defend herself.

“Brad didn’t dump you,” Chip snorted. “You cut him loose.”

“I caught him cheating,” she said, her voice even smaller.

“So? You never seemed to mind his extracurricular activities before, Miss Pike.”

The way he used her name, like an insult, made Tasha lower her head and swallow a wave of self-consciousness. “I didn’t know before.”

“Was it because you were hooking up with this guy?” Chip pressed on.

“Hey.” Spence planted a hand on Chip’s chest, pushing him back a step. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

“Why don’t you just stay out of this, Mr. Famous. It’s between me and my brother’s lousy ex.” Chip batted Spence’s hand away, but kept his distance.

Most of the restaurant was watching them now, and a pair of waitresses were whispering furiously to an older man in a suit. He looked like the owner. Tasha had sudden, painful visions of being thrown out of the restaurant and having it broadcast all over the entertainment news the next day.

“It’s not between anybody and anybody,” she hissed, glaring at Chip and pleading with Spence.

Spence schooled his face into a benign smile and leaned toward Chip. “Last I heard, cheating on your girlfriend was a dick move,” he murmured so that only Chip and Tasha, and maybe Kristy, could hear. “I’d say that makes your brother the lousy one and Tasha the innocent party, entitled to do whatever she wants with her life. So why don’t you get the hell away from us and leave Tasha alone?”

“Who are you?” Chip growled. “Her new boyfriend?”

Tasha held her breath, eyes snapping to Spence, anxious for his answer.

Spence answered with a smile. “You can leave us alone, or you can meet me out back. I’m sure my trainer would love to know that all his work has real-life application.” He clenched his hands to fists as his sides.

Chip swallowed and took another step back. He sized Spence up with one quick glance and must not have liked his odds. “You’re not worth my time,” he said, a hair too shaky to pull off the tough guy brush-off. He turned to go. Kristy grabbed his sleeve and tugged for him to move faster. “And besides, your movies suck,” Chip threw in one more insult over his shoulder.

Chip fled, and Spence sat. He bristled with furious energy that Tasha saw now that she could look straight into his eyes. His color was high and he flexed his hand as if it didn’t want to come out of a fist, then reached for his wine. Somewhere in the back of Tasha’s head, it was flattering that a guy could get so worked up on her behalf, but she’d just as soon have skipped the scene.