Hollywood Flirt - Alexa Aston Page 0,13
with him, whether they went over lecture notes or other notes they’d taken in their readings. After a short time, Wake was as much a part of her life as anyone had been. When he suggested she move in with him, it seemed a natural extension of their relationship and would save time traveling between each other’s apartments.
It took until after their marriage but Wake had blown her trust in him. Big time. Sydney wondered how long his affair had been going on—or if it had been the only one. With both of them being new attorneys out to prove themselves at different firms, they put in a minimum of a hundred hours a week. She’d learn to brush her teeth in the shower and bought a combination shampoo/conditioner to save precious minutes. That meant they rarely spent even an hour awake with one other. It still hurt that Wake found time to see another woman. She shouldn’t feel that way. She hadn’t loved him. She’d loved the idea of him. Solid. Dependable. Neat. Nice-looking. Comfortable in every social situation. Noncontroversial.
Pretty much the opposite of Dash DeLauria.
The actor was devastatingly handsome. His smile alone would launch a thousand females screaming at a red carpet event. He looked a little rough around the edges and seemed to be the kind of man who would pick a fight and enjoy doing it. He’d already admitted he was a slob, though he had looked presentable for the meeting with her father. She could see that controversy would follow him wherever he went.
In other words, Dash was poison. Sydney knew to keep her distance from him—even if she had experienced sexual sparks that she hadn’t known existed by merely looking at him. She had little experience with sex, having only slept with her two husbands. Craig, for all his manliness and tough guy reputation, wasn’t that interested in it. They probably had made love a dozen times in the four months they’d been married. It was routine and not anything like Sydney had expected. Craig was more interested in hunting, car racing, and acting than having sex with his young, sexually inexperienced wife.
With Wake, he’d always been gentle with her. He kissed her softly. He stroked her lightly. He was in and out before she really knew it. It was nothing like the romance novels she’d gobbled up in college when her roommate would be out late on a Friday or Saturday night. Sydney would lose herself in the stories of love. She would cry when the heroine did. Become tingly and experience shallow breathing. She’d feel the passion when the couple finally made love for the first time, longing to have that kind of man. One who would treat her right—and kiss her senseless.
Real life hadn’t appeared anywhere close to what appeared on the paper. After she caught Wake cheating and he admitted how long the affair had gone on, she realized that’s why people read books and watched movies. They were in it for the fantasy.
Because the fantasy would always top real life.
She decided to Google Dash before watching one of his films. Immediately, pictures popped up with drop-dead gorgeous women by his side. At film premieres. Club openings. Rock concerts. Chic restaurants. He was everywhere, all the time, and usually with new arm candy in each photograph. It made her wonder how he had time to shoot any movies.
Then she started reading articles about him. She couldn’t find much on his past. He’d played football in high school. His parents were dead. He’d left Kansas at eighteen and headed straight for Hollywood to make a name for himself. He’d waited tables and painted houses and worked construction jobs while waiting for his big break. She glanced through a list of his filmography and clicked on several of the films. Each time, his role got a little bigger until he was the headliner. It was obvious he hadn’t taken much time off. He was her age and had a huge body of work, all in film. Despite playing hard, he also worked hard. She admired anyone with a strong work ethic.
The question was, could he act?
Sure, he had tremendous good looks that obviously translated well to the screen. Sydney wanted to know if he knew what he was doing. If he could take direction. If Dash DeLauria could make himself and the other actors around him look good.
She returned to her new Netflix account and did a search for him. She’d skip