Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,253

protect Leo from their prying and poking.

“I get that,” she said, even more annoyed now. “And so we might as well work with what we have. I want all that crap about blocking his number from you and his sad story about the women in his family making his poor little heart so cold. Give me three-thousand words in three days. And don’t screw it up. Any questions?”

All I could do was sit slack-jawed and shake my head no. No questions, unable to process…

“And don’t forget to send me your cover line suggestions and table of contents,” she said, and turned and walked away.

That night I sat in my bedroom with my laptop, staring at the blank page. Leo was the only thing I was thinking about. I had entered near obsessive levels of having him on my mind.

But the man on my mind was not the same man Kait and others had warned me about for so long.

The Leo on my mind was the guy who picked the pine nuts out of my salad because I was allergic. The Leo who whose hand instinctively drifted to me like a magnet when he wasn’t even paying attention, just reading emails on his phone. The Leo who looked at me like I mattered.

He’d taken me to his favorite Mexican restaurant the other night and when I told him I’d never been out of the country he’d immediately gotten on his phone. “I’m taking you to Mexico.”

“Now?” I’d laughed. My cheeks were warm from the margaritas—and the smoking hot company.

“Hey, why not?” he said while typing something on his phone. “No, I’m going down in a couple of weeks. A little break before we start filming our movie.”

Our movie meant the one we’d worked on together, and that still boggled my mind. “Are you serious?” I said.

“I’ll have Elaine book a ticket for you. You have your passport?”

“Wait, slow down,” I’d laughed. “I can’t just go to Mexico.” Although, I’d thought, Kait would probably give me the time off if I told her what I was doing. But I didn’t want her to know what I was doing. I didn’t want to go to Mexico for Kait. I wanted to go for Leo, and for me.

“I think the temp agency can live without you for a few days,” he said. “Besides, we need to celebrate the great work you did on the screenplay. Come with me.” His eyes had a hopeful glow to them as he waited for me to say yes.

“It’s just a trip to Mexico, not a marriage proposal,” he’d said said. “Elaine will help expedite your passport, if that’s what you’re worried about. Shots?”

“You’re getting me drunk,” I’d said.

“That’s okay,” he’d replied. “It’s practice for Mexico.”

For him, everything was so easy. He just bought it, demanded it, or had his assistant Elaine do it for him. People did what he wanted them to do—including me. When he smiled at me, I melted.

Who wouldn’t want to live such a charmed life? So far, I’d seen no misogynistic behavior from him. All the things Kait had been ranting about for weeks hadn’t been my experience. I didn’t know if she was crazy, or if he was just different with me.

As I sat staring at my blank document on my computer in my bedroom, the doorbell rang. Ava Marie was at a gig, so I trudged out to answer it.

A messenger handed me a package with my name on it. I opened it up and found a white bikini with fun little palm trees over the breasts. A card inside read, You wearing this will be the best view in all of Mexico.

Of course, it was my size. He knew my body well enough, I supposed. I certainly knew his. I shivered, thinking about the smooth skin on his arms, the rippled muscles of his abs. The way the left side of his mouth crooked up a little higher when he smiled than his left. I fell asleep at night thinking about those lips.

I drifted along in a haze for the next two days, knowing Kait was anxiously awaiting my article. The day it was due I thought briefly about calling in sick. I may have been nervous, but I was still ready to face her. At least, that’s what I told myself as I sat in the crushing L.A. traffic on my way to work.

As I walked down the halls of the magazine, I felt like all eyes were on me.