Paisley tucked her hair behind her ear, dropped her hand, then went to mess with another strand of hair… but stopped herself just in time. She was acting nervous.

Was she nervous? Yes. Probably. It had been so long since she’d been on a date, it felt like she’d forgotten how to act.

And now Flynn was talking again and she’d missed a whole minute of it. Oh, why couldn’t she pay attention?

“It’s a six month run,” Flynn said. “Much longer than I ever thought I would get involved in, but I can’t help it. I love the script so much. I tell you, my manager isn’t crazy about it, though.”

Paisley blinked and smiled. That’s right. They’d been talking about his play. “What would she rather have you do?”

“Whatever makes the most money.”

Paisley chuckled.

The waitress brought the bread and cheese plate they’d ordered as an appetizer and, when Flynn thanked her, she lit up like a Christmas tree.

Weird, Paisley thought. I’m on a date with Flynn James.

She knew she should be excited about that, but since arriving at the restaurant, there had been a hard ball in her stomach and she couldn’t shake the awful sensation.

“Have you seen Lauren and Noah since their party?” Flynn asked.

“I’ve seen Lauren some. Noah’s been pretty busy.”

Talking about Lauren made Paisley remember the conversation they’d had with Nic that morning. It made her remember how adamant her friends were that she tell Alex how she felt.

Paisley plastered on a smile. No thinking about Alex. Especially not about how he’d never responded to her e-mail.

“He mentioned something about an Alzheimer’s benefit, I think,” Flynn said.

“Yeah, Lauren and he are organizing it.” Paisley went for a slice of bread, but a familiar figure in the corner caught her eye.

No!

She was doing that thing where when you can’t get someone off of your mind you see them everywhere. She was stuck on Alex and so she thought she’d caught sight of him sitting at a nearby table.

“That’s nice,” Flynn said. “They really stay busy, don’t they?”

“Yeah, they—” That voice. Coming from somewhere to her left. She couldn’t stand it anymore. She looked.

And there he was. Sitting at a two-person table with a breathtaking blonde. After all, it seemed like that TV anchor was right to assume that Alex would prefer a supermodel to Paisley.

The blonde was saying something, but Alex must have felt Paisley’s stare because he turned and looked at her. Their gazes locked and his eyes widened.

“Paisley?” Flynn asked. It sounded like he’d shouted her name from the other end of a long tunnel.

She glanced over at him. “Sorry, I… saw a friend.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Paisley nodded. Flynn wouldn’t be smiling if he knew the whole story.

“Hello there,” Alex said, towering over them.

Paisley bit her tongue to keep back a yelp and looked up at him. He stood next to her and Flynn’s table, looking questioningly between the two of them.

“You must be Paisley’s friend,” Flynn said. He squinted slightly and recognition blossomed on his face. “I’m sorry, but… Prince Alessandro?”

Alex drew his shoulders back and gave a stiff nod. “Yes.” It was a pompous response if Paisley had ever seen one.

“Amazing.” Flynn stood and offered his hand. “What an honor to meet you. I’m a big fan of your organization.”

The confidence on Alex’s face trembled. “You are?”

“Yes,” Flynn said. “Absolutely. And you know Paisley? Do I have that right?”

Paisley, the only person left sitting, clasped her hands tight under the table. What was going on here?

“I do,” Alex said. “We are rather close.”

Paisley’s jaw slowly dropped. Was that a protective tone?

“What are you doing here, Alex?” she asked. It was time to lasso the elephant in the room.

Alex slipped his hands into his dress pants’ pocket. “Oh, Rylie wanted to try this place. She said they have the best steak.”

“They really do,” Flynn agreed.

Paisley looked past Alex, to where Rylie texted busily. Not once had he mentioned a woman with that name. Actually, he never mentioned any women.

Was Alex on a date?

Paisley’s stomach plummeted. She’d done her best to not dwell over Alex’s romantic life, but of course he went on dates. Women threw themselves at him all day long. Seeing it happening in the flesh was like getting a rusty screwdriver to the heart, though. Her face warmed and she quickly took a drink of water.

“I apologize greatly,” Alex said. “But I don’t believe I caught your name.”

Paisley frowned. What game was Alex playing? He was one of Flynn’s biggest fans.

“Flynn James.” The other man smiled.

“Did you see my e-mail?” Paisley jumped in.

Alex’s eyebrows knit together. “E-mail? What e-mail?”

More lies. Alex had definitely seen her e-mail, as it had been a response to his asking her to hang out that evening. He wouldn’t have gone and made plans with someone else unless he knew Paisley wasn’t available first.

“So, this is a coincidence?” Paisley asked. “Us being at the same restaurant?”

Alex grinned. “Amazing, is it not?”

“Totally,” she answered through tight lips.

“I should get back to my table,” Alex said. “I only wanted to say hello.”

Flynn spread his hands and smiled big. “Again, it was great meeting you.”

Paisley turned away, making a point of not watching Alex return to his… date?

“That was quite the coincidence,” Flynn commented.

“I know, right?”

He inspected her face for a long moment. “You look a little stressed. Was that… Prince Alessandro isn’t an ex-boyfriend, is he? If he is, I don’t mind—”

“No,” Paisley nearly shouted. “Oh, wow. No. Definitely not.”

Flynn nodded, but he still looked uncertain. And who could blame him? He’d come out looking forward to a fun, easy-going night and so far Paisley struggled to hold a conversation.

“I want to hear more about your play.” Paisley leaned forward.

At first, it was hard to pay attention to what Flynn said. Paisley could feel Alex’s presence like a magnetic charge. It dared her to look his way. She resisted it, though, fighting the draw with all the strength she had.

Instead, she focused on listening to Flynn. Eating the appetizer. Dropping in some comments here and there. They put in their orders for entrees and traded stories about their early days in New York. Without knowing it would happen, she laughed. She was having fun.

Until much louder laughing cut through the air.

It was Alex and his date. Not that Paisley had to guess. She glanced at them and found them giggling over something or another.

The screwdriver he’d shoved into Paisley’s core twisted a little more.

“Will you excuse me?” she asked Flynn. “I need to run to the restroom.”

“Of course.”

Snatching up her purse, Paisley walked for the back of the restaurant, and not a moment too soon. Tears welled in her eyes, but she held her head high and kept her face calm. The only thing that could make the night worse would be people noticing how upset she was.

In the bathroom, she laid her purse on the counter and closed her eyes. One minute. That’s all she would give herself. After that, she would go back out there and enjoy the rest of the evening.

She wasn’t going to allow herself to break down in a public bathroom. Not unless it was over something serious. And a guy didn’t meet that qualification.

From inside her purse, her phone buzzed. Paisley finished checking to make sure her eye makeup hadn’t smeared and fished the phone out.

Alex’s name made her choke on an inhale.

ALEX: Looks like you changed your mind about dating famous men.

Paisley’s throat burned and her hands shook. What was this about?

Yeah, so maybe she had changed her mind about dating famous men. So what? That didn’t mean Alex was suddenly on the table. Not once over the course of their friendship had he shown any interest in her.

You couldn’t dangle an empty string in front of a fish and then get mad at it for not biting.

Part of Paisley was satisfied. That mischievous part of her had gotten its way and made Alex jealous. Too bad it didn’t bring her the happiness she had expected it to.

If he liked her, he could ask her out. But, no. What had he done? He’d shown up to the same restaurant she was on a date at… with another woman!

Paisley might have been keeping her feelings secret, but at least she hadn’t stooped that low. She hadn’t set out to ruin someone’s night and play with their emotions.

Her vision blurred from anger as she typed back a response.

PAISLEY: Looks like you have the cliche Leonardo DiCaprio taste. Supermodels, supermodels, supermodels, huh?

A low response.

She sent it anyway.

And then she turned off her phone and put it away. She’d been bad enough for one day and she didn’t want to hear what Alex had to say. Not then. No doubt she’d cave and check her phone before going to bed, but right then she wanted to ignore him.

Walking back across the dining room, she caught a glimpse of him shooting daggers her way. Apparently he’d read her return text. What a great date! Texting while at dinner.

Paisley didn’t even try to keep the smugness off her face.

“Looks like our dinner is on its way,” Flynn said.

“Great.” Paisley smiled big and the waitress set their plates on the table. She had no appetite, but she’d eat anyway. No sense in being rude or wasting a good meal.

“I do hope you’ll like this.” Flynn turned his plate so the wedge fries were closer to her. “This is a blackberry barbecue sauce. Amazing. Have some, if you like.”

“Thanks.” Paisley dipped a fry in the sauce. Truly amazing. Just not good enough to make her forget about Alex.

The back of her neck tingled. Was he watching her?

Before she could stop herself, she chanced a glance… and found his table empty. Her heart stuttered. She raked her gaze across the room. Right in time, she caught sight of Alex and the blonde walking out of the front door with takeout boxes.

A chill went through her. Were they headed home? Off to a cozy, intimate dinner at Alex’s place?

Paisley gritted her teeth. This was exactly what he wanted. For her to feel like dirt.

How ironic that on the day she figured out Alex liked her back, she also discovered he could be one of the biggest idiots in the world. Ah, life!

“Hm. Alex left.” Flynn almost sounded like he was pouting.

She turned back around. “Yeah.”

“I know this isn’t smooth of me at all, but I’d hoped he might say goodbye.”

“He was probably too focused on his date,” she replied, not even trying to hide sarcasm in her voice.

Leaving without saying goodbye wasn’t anything like the Alex she knew. In fact, he had always been so kind, patient, and generous with everyone that the way he had behaved since the moment he walked into the restaurant had been totally out of character for him. Did seeing Paisley with another man have that effect on him?

“Honestly, I was glad to hear you two never dated,” Flynn said, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Yeah?” She raised her face.

“He’s quite the competition.” Flynn grinned.

Though Paisley’s heart was breaking in two, she smiled back.