LOL: Laugh Out Loud (After Oscar, #2)(20)
Scotty leaned forward, cackling. “This is going to be good, isn’t it? Go on.”
I nodded and grinned. “It involves frogs, a porcupine, helicopters, and the surprise appearance of my date’s entire extended family. So… yes.”
7
Scotty
Research Reveals White Wine Reduces Men To Tears
He’d only just begun to describe the date with Oscar and already my stomach hurt from laughing. “Wait,” I cried through tears. “Start over. And don’t leave out a single detail.”
Roman lifted an eyebrow at me, but his full lower lip curled up in a smile nonetheless. “Pay attention, young Padawan, for I cannot ever speak of this again without initiating a vengeance sequence.”
“I’m listening,” I told him. “I totally promise.” I took another healthy glug of my wine. Since I hadn’t eaten much in the past several hours, it went straight to my head. I already felt a warm buzz tingling through me, though a part of me wondered if that was due to the wine, the relief of having a safe place to spend the night, or being in the presence of Roman Burke. Because honestly, the man was almost too good to be true: smart, funny, clever, and hot as fuck.
I wondered if you could see little heart-shaped bubbles floating above my head. Shame about him being a movie star and completely out of my league. But hey, a man could daydream, couldn’t he? And flirt.
“So at first my date with Oscar seemed to be going well. He was friendly and charming and interesting and definitely good-looking. Pretty much the whole package.”
I ignored the small knot that formed in my chest at that last bit. I had no reason to be jealous, especially since this was a story about an ex and a disastrous date. It was more that I didn’t like the reminder that I wasn’t the whole package and never could be. At least, not for Roman.
I guzzled more wine and grabbed the bottle, sloshing more in my glass and topping his off in the process. “How the hell was a helicopter involved? Did he pick you up for your date in one?”
He laughed. “That would have been a sight. The paparazzi would have loved it.”
I spread my hands through the air like I was announcing a headline. “Movie Star Mingles with Mysterious Mogul.”
“More likely, Actor Known for Being in Wrong Place at Wrong Time, Even on Dates.”
That sounded much worse. “Yikes.”
He kept his focus on cleaning the seeds from a bell pepper. “The paparazzi doesn’t really like me so much. I’ve learned to ignore it.”
His words were saying one thing, but the tension around his eyes and the frown furrowing his forehead said something else entirely. I wanted to press him on it, but it was clear from the way he held himself that he didn’t want to discuss it.
“So you’re telling me he didn’t pick you up in a helicopter? Shame. I was just beginning to think that this Oscar fellow knew how to make an entrance.”
“Oh, he does, trust me,” he said, chuckling. “But our first date started off pretty innocently. The guy invited me to something called the Reptile Experience because apparently he’d learned through my profile that I liked the movie Jurassic Park. Which,” he said, raising a finger in the air, “I would just like to point out, is not the same thing as wanting to touch reptiles.”
“Oh god,” I groaned. “Hence, the frogs.”
“You might think so, but no, actually. Believe it or not, that’s where the helicopters came in.”
My eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“Unexpected, right?” He cut several slices of the bell pepper and pushed them toward me to snack on before dicing the rest for the sauce. It was a small gesture, but one that reinforced the kind of person he’d already shown himself to be. Thoughtful. Considerate.
“So it turned out that the Reptile Experience was a special exhibit at a wildlife park out in Jersey. You know one of those ‘get up close and personal with the animals’ type of things. Oscar picked me up—in a car, not a helicopter,” he pointed out, grinning at me. “And drove us out there on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We strolled around, talking and getting to know each other as we made our way to the center of the park to where the reptile exhibits were.”
I took another sip of wine. I didn’t particularly like imagining Roman walking arm in arm with another man. Thankfully, he didn’t dwell on that detail.
“And then… some kind of glitch happened in the computer system that controlled the locking mechanisms for all of the enclosures. Every single one of them failed at once.”
My eyes widened. “No!”
He laughed. “Yep. Elephants, lizards, snakes, a troupe of orangutans, several flamingos, a couple of ostriches. You name it, it was loose in that park. And there we were stuck right in the middle of it all.”
I couldn’t help joining his laughter. “Oh my god, what did you do?”
“Took refuge on the roof of a nearby gift shop with several employees and the rest of the guests who’d been too deep in the park to evacuate.”
My eyes widened. “You’re kidding?”
“No!” He was laughing hard enough that his eyes gleamed with tears. “You can’t make this stuff up. After four hours, they finally determined they had to extract us using helicopters like we were on a sinking ship of some kind. It was seriously the most bizarre experience of my life.”