Free Heart Tamer by Sophia Knightly Page B

her gaping mouth. He had the longest, thickest lashes she’d seen on a man and it was distracting her to no end. “I’m just surprised by Kate’s choice.” She shook her head and smiled apologetically. “Wait…sorry. That didn’t come out right. I don’t mean to be rude, but…” She met his baffled eyes head-on. “You can’t be my date today.” She smiled again to lessen the sting.
    “Why not?” The incredulous gleam in his eyes told her the smile had been wasted.
    “Kate was going to introduce me to…oh never mind,” she said, giving up. No sense in letting him know her expectations had been derailed.
    “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
    “Of course, where are my manners? Please come in.” Did Cameron realize how stunned she was to see him in the flesh? His image had been plastered all over the news the past three months. As a bona fide entertainment news junkie, she had read all about his antics.
    He took a few steps forward, but remained at the entrance. “You haven’t answered my question.” He arched a sardonic brow. “Why can’t I be your date?”
    “We’re not well suited.” Evie kept her gaze fixed on his fine nose to avoid looking at his penetrating eyes. Don’t look at his mouth either! Those beautifully sculpted lips had no business being paired with sharp-hewn, rugged features.
    “Oh? How do you know that?” His dry tone mocked her.
    “I am not your usual choice of arm candy.” She raised her chin and straightened to her full 5 foot 3 inches. It sucked having to crane her neck to hold her own with Cameron. His tall, athletic body was solid muscle. She could tell by the assertive way he carried himself.
    His smoky gaze leisurely traveled the length of her body. When he returned to peer at her face, his eyes glinted with amusement as he stroked the sexy stubble on his lean jaw. “What is my usual arm candy?”
    She pursed her mouth. “A harem of hot-tempered supermodels and high-strung starlets.”
    “And to think I was about to compliment you,” he said, lips twitching.
    She lifted a nonchalant shoulder. He was a natural charmer and it didn’t help that when he smiled, a dimple appeared in his left cheek, relaxing the sharp angles of his face.mHmhh
    “What have I done to earn such scorn?” He sounded surprised and a bit put out.
    “I have nothing against you, but you’re not who I was expecting. I’m not your type either.”
    He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway, green eyes alight with interest.  “You already said that. You’re making a lot of assumptions, Angel.”
    Evie blinked rapidly as her temper spiked. One minute into their meeting and he was already calling her Angel. Evidently no woman had turned down a date with the hotshot. He was just like the overly confident players she’d had the misfortune to meet after she had widowed and felt ready to date again—the ones she’d been set up with as blind dates or that she’d met through online dating sites. She had disliked meeting men that way, but she didn’t want to be a widow forever. She longed to love again—and be loved again. After grieving Michael’s death for seven years, she was ready to remarry, but she didn’t want to settle. She had exclusively dated a nice guy over a year ago, but ended it when she realized she wasn’t in love with him and he was already talking about marriage.
    The wry grin tugging at Cameron’s lips annoyed the heck out of her. “What do you know about me?” 
    Evie gave him an assessing once-over. “You are ‘Heartbreak Hunter’, badass billionaire, heir to Hunter Whisky and one of the UK’s twenty-five most eligible bachelors who was recently in a speedboat racing scandal.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could put a cork in it. Too late now. Cameron’s back stiffened and his mouth twisted.
    He might not like her bluntness, but he couldn’t refute what she’d just said. For the past three months, the entertainment news had been