Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,225

I felt a sense of ease, which was the last thing I should feel sitting across from the most powerful man in Los Angeles with a script he gave me to evaluate still resting in my lap. But I did. Or maybe I was still feeling shell shocked from his mere presence.

Ordering done, the waiter took his leave.

“You brought the script with you?” Leo finally asked, turning towards me now.

“I did.”

“Did you have a chance to read it?”

Straightaway I wondered if this was a date or a business meeting. Still, I laughed at his question. “Leo, I just got this less than an hour ago. But I did skim it and see that it’s set in Korea.”

“I’m hoping you’ll help me with it. That’s a very rough draft, but you have a sharp eye and I think you could really bring some life to it.”

“You think I could add something to a war movie?” I said, a bit confused. Leo had already taught me that, even in the loudest of movies, there could be realistic, compassionate, three-dimensional characters. But a war movie set in the 1950s?

“It’s not a war movie,” he said, a smile flickering on his face. “I guess you didn’t get to read much of it on the drive?”

“There was a pretty spectacular view on the ride that held my attention,” I said. “Kind of like the one here. You bring all your script dates here?”

“No, come on,” he said, rearranging the plates and chopsticks before him.

“I’m teasing,” I said, resting my forearms on the table.

“You’re very good at it. Listen, Sophie,” he said. He reached across the small table and brushed his fingers over my hand. I felt myself staring down at the slow motion of his fingers on my skin, hypnotized. “I enjoy spending time with you. You’re smart and drop-dead beautiful. If you enjoy spending time with me, then let’s not read more into it. Okay?”

That pulled me out of my trance. “Yeah, sure,” I said, flustered, the familiar pang of rejection hitting my insides. “I wasn’t reading—into it, I mean.”

“And you also weren’t reading that script, I see,” he said, that grin coming out to play on those lips again. I thought he’d sit back, move his hands away from mine after making his not-so-subtle point. Instead, he covered his hand over mine and held firm, stroking his thumb slowly across my skin. I was expected to sit through dinner with him and act as if this one small gesture didn’t make me squirm in my seat, already hot with desire for him? I’d never make it past the edamame.

He watched me closely, and I shifted in my seat, crossing my legs. I moved my thumb so squeeze his hand back. “If you gave me a little more time to do my homework, professor…”

He laughed, and the fact that I made Leo Armstrong laugh out loud gave me immense pleasure, even though it made him move his hand away from mine.

“I want to work with you on this,” I said, taking the stack of papers. “Whatever it is. But there’s one thing I want from you first,” I said, recalling how lost I’d been when he disappeared for so long up until tonight.

“A role in the movie?”

“Very funny,” I said. “All I want is your phone number. That’s not too much for a girl to ask, is it?” I kept my eyes on him, gauging his reaction. He kept such a steady watch I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Why wouldn’t I give you my number?” he said.

“Because that’s your M.O.?” I said. “And because up until now you haven’t given me your number?”

Because that’s how you keep control over the women you date, I wanted to add, but didn’t.

Leo looked confused. “I’ve called you before,” he said. “Why didn’t you just copy my number from that?”

“Because it’s blocked,” I said.

“It is?” He thought for a moment. “My assistant set up my phone. I don’t know what it says on the other end when I call. But here—give me your phone. I’ll put it in now.”

And like that, this thing I thought I had him on was resolved.

He handed back my phone and said, “Now that that’s done, do you want to talk about that screenplay?”

I was a little stunned, but tried to recover.

“Back to business,” I said, putting my phone away after he’d put in his number.

“There’s plenty of time for pleasure,” he said.

My mind immediately danced around what that pleasure would be,