cologne intoxicating me. “At least, I thought I was more important.”
“You are,” he said without thinking. “I’m sorry that I didn’t trust you with the truth. That was stupid.”
I sighed. “You don’t owe me an apology. I owe you one. When I saw you going to Laurel’s that night, I jumped to conclusions. I could’ve just asked you about it like an adult and given you a chance to explain. But I think part of me wanted you to be doing something wrong so that I would have a legitimate reason to push you away.”
“That’s pretty messed up,” he said with a sly smile. “It’s a good thing I like my women emotionally damaged.”
“You still like me?” I asked, batting my eyelashes at him in a tease.
“As if it would be possible to know you and not like you.” He grinned. “Plus, there was that moment we had hundreds of feet above London.”
I returned his smile. “I liked that moment, too.”
“I know. You couldn’t keep your hands off of me.” He took a step closer.
“Your memory is a little… wrong.” I gave him my best flirty look.
Dexter responded by reaching for my hand. Just as his fingers threaded through mine and our bodies moved closer, his phone rang.
“Your phone has the worst timing,” I said, sounding somewhat breathless.
He squeezed my hand and looked at his phone. “I really need to take this, Taylor.”
“Of course.” I tried not to sound annoyed, but I had really been looking forward to a second kiss. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
We were alone on the balcony now. The balcony was large enough that when I walked to the opposite end, I could only hear Dexter’s muffled voice. I hugged his jacket around me and leaned over the railing, looking straight down. A flurry of flashing camera lights and yelling meant that someone important had arrived. I strained hard to see who was climbing out of the limo.
“Don’t jump!” Dexter said in mock alarm as his hand closed over my elbow.
“You’re paranoid. Do women usually go to such extremes to get away from you?” I gestured over the balcony. “Someone even more important than you has just arrived.”
Dexter glanced down. “Meh. Kane Thomas isn’t that cool.”
“Kane Thomas? Not the Kane Thomas?” I had spoken with Scottie just a few days earlier and she had mentioned meeting the Irish singer at a local pub. Our call had been cut short when my battery died so I hadn’t been able to get the details. It was strange that he was now at the same party as me.
“Oh, please.” His eyes flashed with annoyance. “Don’t tell me you’ve got his poster hanging on your wall.”
“On my ceiling actually. His face is the first thing I see when I wake up.” I delivered the line with too much seriousness because Dexter gave me a disgusted look. “I’m kidding, Dex.”
“Sure you are.”
“I don’t have a poster of Kane Thomas. I have a few of his songs on my iPod. That’s it.” I poked him in the side, which was a lot like poking a brick wall. “Don’t be jealous.”
“You’re the one that was drooling over the balcony.”
“Ha ha.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m not that easily impressed by famous people.”
“You were pretty easily impressed by me,” he said smugly. “And you haven’t even seen all of my skills yet.”
I laughed. “Arrogance seems to be one of those skills.”
Dexter’s smile faded away. “I really wish I could do this all night, but-”
“But you have to go,” I finished for him. “I figured as much.”
“I’m really sorry, Taylor. Things are just really crazy at work right now. It will settle down soon, but until then I need to be available to take care of the craziness.”
I tried my best not to look bummed. “I understand. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” He took my hands in his. “But I’ll make it up to you. I’ll plan an entire weekend just for the two of us and I’ll leave my phone off.”
“You don’t have to do that, Dex.”
“I want