Frayed (Torn #2)(30)

Huh. Wasn’t she flirting with him earlier? What had happened in that short amount of time from Aspasia to Athens for her to act odd?

Dimitris turned his attention to us, Emma and I in particular. “Do you ladies mind if I borrow your friend for a while?”

“Go ahead. Take care of my boo, D.” Emma winked at Lindsey.

Lindsey blushed! Um, what the hell? It was rather odd to see her in such a shy, reddened condition. “I’m okay with it, Lindsey likes her McHotties.” I said McHotties in my best southern drawl to mask it from Dimitris, but Lindsey understood and she just gave me a murderous glare.

When I saw Emma gaze up to where our table was located, she was just staring with an enamored look in her eyes, at Bass, who was laughing with one of the guys who had just arrived to join him.

“Go be with him. You know you want to.” I urged her on.

She merely shook her head. “He’s great isn’t he?”

Duh, Emma? “I think the whole world thinks he is. Look around, tell me, how many here think he’s great?” I pointed her chin to the gawking female fans vying to get a glimpse of the movie star. Suddenly, I realized how hard this must be for her. Someone always wanted a piece of Bass. How did she do it?

“You know, there were rumors that some of the extras made this bet as to who could get Bass in bed first? I know he won’t, but it doesn’t make me stop thinking about it.” She bit her lip and focused those cornflower blue eyes at me, questioning, worried. “When we go back to the real world, do you think we’ll survive LA?”

Dude, I sucked at giving advice. Have you seen my life? Of course, I shut my trap and tried to be a good friend, though. “I can’t speak for Bass, I don’t know him that well, but from what I have observed, he’s nuts about you, Doll. I can’t honestly tell you if you guys will be okay when you get back. You know more than anyone what kind of temptations are around tinsel town. You have yours, too, but no matter what you do, just try to stay real. I know it’s freaking ironic that I would give you advice after what I’ve done with my life, however you have a chance here at great happiness, Em. I want that for you.”

Emma’s stunning face suddenly contorted at my response. “You have to stop it with this shit about you messing up your life. You made a big mistake, but that doesn’t mean you can’t move on from it. That doesn’t define who you are, Trista. Please, I don’t want to hear anymore of you degrading yourself this way. We all make mistakes that we aren’t proud of. No more being sorry for yourself, okay?” Emma reached out and gave my hand a squeeze. Her kind eyes made me want to weep.

If you only knew the extent of what I had done, you might not think that. “I’ll try. That’s all I can do. Now, why don’t you go and keep your man company? I’m going to find one of my own for the night.” I shooed her away. After a minute of convincing her that I was okay, she left and strode towards where Bass was sitting with the other actors that were in the film with them.

Since I was in dire need of a drink, I ordered my Adios Mother f*uker. When I held out my card, a man shoved his card into the bartender’s grasp instead. Stunned, I just gave him a “what was that for?” look. Instead of explaining himself, he held out his hand. “Alexandros Pallis.” The tall Greek man introduced himself. He was tanned with jet-black hair and dark eyes, and a sexy, drool-worthy accent. Sign me up, please!

My fun, frilly self came out automatically. “Trista, just Trista.” I shook his hand, and didn’t let go of it.

We started talking about his life. He was twenty-eight years old, and worked for his father in their family company. One thing I noticed with these Greek men was that when they were interested in a woman, they made it known in such a way that a woman knew his intentions, yet they did it in a nice fashion, like a dance. Take Dimitris, for example, that man hadn’t moved his eyes from Lindsey since the moment he’d met her. We all knew what his intentions were without him seeming overbearing. I suppose, I could refer to it as court dancing. It was a refreshing thing to see for a change. I mean, I didn’t have anything against the American way. “Ooh, baby you look mighty fine. Want to bounce and chill somewhere?” or “Hey, girl. You look hot. Want some beer?” There’s nothing really wrong with it. To be quite honest, the words used didn't matter when the guy was good looking. However, it’s nice to see a different approach to it, I suppose.

We chatted for about half an hour. Alexandros was a gentleman and I was pleased to know this. I knew deep down he must want to score with me tonight, yet it was amazing how unobvious he was. We drank and danced for an hour or so. He didn’t even try to kiss or grope me on the dance floor, which I found rather odd. Men usually bust out their dry-humping skills when dancing, he just danced. Although, I knew sooner or later, he would make a move on me.

I was proven right ten minutes later.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Alexandros asked, lifting my chin to match his gaze.

Well, here it is. “Sure, that actually sounds good.” I smiled at him. A big part of me wanted to go through this just to get it over with. It had been far too long since I had fun with any man, other than Harry, between the sheets. A small part of myself, however, told me that this might not be something I wanted to do.

“Ne, I think tonight will be good for us.” Alexandros took hold of my hand and guided us off of the dance floor.