Hollywood Flirt - Alexa Aston Page 0,42

pen down as they entered.

Dash went straight to her. “I hope I’ll make you proud, Cassie. I plan to pick your brain about Paul and then fill in the blanks you’ve left on my own. I want to bring Paul to life in a way I’ve never done with any other character. Let me know when we can meet and discuss things.”

Cassie’s brows rose a notch. “What about Sydney?”

“Sydney is my number one priority, but I promise that Paul’s 1-A. A very close second.”

Cassie looked at Sydney. “Status quo check.”

“Overwhelmed,” she admitted. “In the last ten minutes, I’ve discovered that I’m in a relationship and I’m working as first AD on No Regrets. I don’t know which one has surprised me more.” She grinned. “But I’m really, really happy about both.”

“You better be,” Dash said. He kissed her. “I plan to do a lot of that,” he guaranteed.

Sydney gave Cassie a helpless look. “What can I say? I’m devastatingly attractive. He can’t keep his hands off me.” She leaned down and grabbed her tote.

Cassie burst out laughing. “I guess I need to make some calls and straighten a few things out.”

Sydney knew she meant talking to Rhett and the Camerons about Dash. “That’s a great idea, Cassie.”

“We’re off to celebrate,” Dash said.

Sydney heard Cassie call out, “I’ll bet you are,” as Dash hurried her out of the room.

He escorted her to a gray Mercedes SL and opened the door for her. Wake, for all his fancy upbringing, had never done that. Score one for the Midwestern boy.

Dash joined her in the car and started the engine. He hit a button and lowered the roof on the convertible and then pulled out of the driveway.

“I’m starving,” he said.

“Ditto,” she agreed. “I’m game for anything that’s not tofu. Or liver. Those are my two food dislikes.”

“Duly noted.”

He didn’t tell her where he was going. She wondered what celebrating meant to him. That worried her some. He was the famous actor who was seen in all the right hot spots. She was someone who’d run from her undeserved reputation for years.

Dash flipped on the radio and began singing along with Ed Sheeran. He knew every word and even harmonized some on the chorus.

“You have a really good voice,” she told him when the song ended.

“High school choir, baby,” he teased. “I was the only football player that joined it my junior year. A lot of pretty girls sang in choir and I got a lot of attention. My buddies figured it out, so senior year, we were able to put on Bye, Bye Birdie since there were enough guys.”

Dash turned on Washington and Sydney figured out where they were going. He pulled into the drive-through of In-N-Out.

“So this is celebrating?” she asked.

“When I’m hungry, absolutely. What do you want?”

“A burger. Animal style. And the fries are enough that we can split.”

“To drink?”

“Water’s good.”

They had to wait a few minutes in line but soon they had a big white sack that smelled of heaven. Dash looked like he knew where he was going so Sydney leaned her head back and enjoyed the breeze rushing by. He pulled into a city park in Marina del Rey and cut the engine. She saw a few mothers or nannies with small children playing on the playground. School wouldn’t be out for another month. She supposed this was as public as Dash could go.

He already wore sunglasses. He now reached behind him and pulled on a Dodgers ball cap. As he got out of the car, he removed the jacket he wore and rolled up the sleeves on the crisp white dress shirt. Her eyes zeroed in on his tanned forearms.

She opened her door and handed him the food while she gathered their drinks. He led her to an isolated picnic table and opened the sack. They’d ordered the same burger and he left those in their wrappers while he opened the French fries and spread them out so they each had easy access. Then he sat next to her, close enough that their hips and thighs touched.

Sydney wanted to concentrate on the physical connection between them but the smell of the golden fries distracted her. She lifted one and chewed it in bliss. Neither Boston nor New York had any In-N-Out franchises. She’d forgotten how perfect their fries could be.

“Light, not greasy. I’m in paradise,” she said. Then she bit into the burger and sighed aloud. “I haven’t had In-N-Out in over ten years. This hits the