Just the Sexiest Man Alive(43)

“So . . . is there any reason you waited until after midnight to finally show up?”

“Sorry. I had to stop at a party at Jack Nicholson’s along the way.”

“Actually, Jack is sitting about ten feet behind you, smoking a cigar in that lounge chair.”

As Taylor turned to look, Jason pressed on. “Seriously, I know you debated whether to come tonight. What made you decide?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “It sounded like fun.”

“But I know how busy you are. So I’m touched by the gesture.”

Dismissing this with a wave, Taylor moved away from the bar. Jason followed her. Slowly they weaved through the crowd, going back and forth.

“You’re reading too much into this. I just thought I needed to get out for a few hours.”

“And you chose to spend those few hours with me.”

“I chose to go to a party. You just happened to be the host.”

“You chose to wear that dress.”

“Surely you’re not suggesting that a woman’s attire is an indication of her intentions?”

“No, but when this woman spends the little free time she has with me, I start to get curious.”

Taylor came to a stop in an alcove that was set off from the rest of the party. She leaned against the wall, holding her martini with one hand.

“Going to Las Vegas with you was part of the deal we made,” she said casually.

Jason moved in close and rested one hand on the wall next to her. He stared down into her eyes.

“But coming here tonight wasn’t—you did that on your own. Why?”

Taylor avoided the question. The truth was, she wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing there. On an impulse, she had hopped in the PT Cruiser and driven over—a totally last-minute, spur-of-the-moment decision.

After twenty minutes spent doing her makeup.

And thirty doing her hair.

And four dress changes.

Totally spur-of-the-moment.

Avoiding Jason’s gaze, Taylor gestured to the party. “You probably should get back out there. You’re ignoring your other guests.”

“Screw them.”

“I’m sure that many of them, you already have.”

She regretted the words the instant they came out.

Jason cocked his head with a knowing grin. “Hmmm . . . now that sounds a little bit like jealousy. How intriguing.”

Taylor could have smacked herself for making the comment, for giving him any ammunition. He was standing too close to her, that was the problem, she realized. It was . . . distracting. She needed to quickly extricate herself from the situation.

She stared him in the eyes defiantly. “Whatever you’re trying to get me to admit, Jason, it’s not going to happen.”

And, having gotten in the last word, Taylor slipped under his arm and walked away.

JEREMY HADN’T MOVED from his position on the balcony. It was the only place in the crowded party where he could safely drink his beer without being jostled by some drunken early twenties ass**le threatening to throw his scantily clad date into the pool, or accosted by a hopeful starlet who believed that flirting with him would get her that much closer to Jason.

Frankly, Jeremy disliked the whole Hollywood scene, but he tolerated it not only as a sometimes-necessary part of his life as a screenwriter but also as an always-necessary part of Jason’s life. It was one of those things that anyone close to Jason inevitably had to accept, for better or worse, like the constant presence of the paparazzi.

He was not particularly surprised when Jason rejoined him on the balcony that evening, in a huff and alone. He personally thought Jason was approaching this thing with Taylor in entirely the wrong way. But once his friend set his mind to something, it was nearly impossible to steer him in a different direction.

“Any luck?” Jeremy asked as Jason pulled up alongside him at the balcony’s ledge, where they had a good view of the party below.

“Maybe . . .” Jason mused. He looked over with annoyance when he saw that Jeremy was smoking so close to the house. But he said nothing, as smoking was a necessary part of Jeremy’s life and something that anyone close to him inevitably had to accept.

“Maybe how?” Jeremy exhaled smoke out of the corner of his mouth.

Jason considered this. “I think I’m starting to get to her.”

“I bet that’s what she’s telling Hayden Stone right now.”

Jeremy nodded to the party below, where Taylor was engaged in what appeared to be a friendly conversation with the good-looking director.

With a look of disbelief, Jason pulled back from the ledge.

“I don’t get it,” he said, frustrated. “She should be coming up here right now to tell me she changed her mind. Or waiting in my bedroom, naked, to surprise me. Or giving you a secret message that I should meet her in the gazebo, where she’ll be waiting, naked. Or in the bathtub, with bubbles, champagne, and—”

“Naked. I get the point.”

“The point, Jeremiah, is that this is not how things were supposed to go tonight.”

Jeremy reached out and solemnly put his hand on the Sexiest Man Alive’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Jason. But maybe she’s just not that into you.”

It was a joke, but Jason’s face suddenly filled with worry. “Do you really think that could be it?”