Free Untangling The Stars by Alyse Miller

impossible to tell his expression beneath the swatch of dark hair that tumbled across his face. The curtain of hair was almost as bad as the damned sunglasses.
    Guy took a small step toward her. His eyes briefly washed over her from her head to her shoes. He made a stunted movement like he might offer to take her purse, but almost immediately his arms fell back, uncertain. He inhaled deeply and waved the palms of his hands toward her awkwardly. “Make yourself comfortable.”
    Oookay. Andie hoped she didn’t look as confused as she felt. Why was he being so shifty about pulling her into the room so quickly? What was the deal with the whole checking the peephole and staying on guard like he was waiting for some kind of danger? Wasn’t she the one who was supposed to be nervous? This was just too bizarre.
    Andie was too bemused to be suspicious in earnest, but that didn’t stop the list of questions from piling up in her mind. After all, she’d been over one hurdle of doubt after another ever since yesterday morning in the coffee shop. She’d gone through the past however many hours on autopilot, not daring to speak a word to anyone about her upcoming date with the infamous Guy Wilder. It was half self-preservation so she’d never have to tell anyone if—and when—it all went up in flames, and half disbelief that it was even happening at all. Honestly, she could hardly even believe it herself. If Scott hadn’t been in the coffee shop with her when it all happened, she was certain she would have thought she imagined the whole damned thing. She’d be wearing scrubs and petting her clowder of imaginary cats in the loony bin in no time.
    Actually, Andie had been so worried about keeping her date a secret that no one knew where she was or who she was with—well, except maybe Scott. If she ended up drugged and harvested for her kidneys right here in the hotel suite’s bathroom, no one would ever be the wiser. They’d all be shocked when her face showed up on the evening news with the headline “Local Professor’s Body Found Kidney-less in TV-Monster’s Hotel Bathroom.” That would be one hell of a way to go.
    That last made Andie bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud. From first date jitters to an episode of Criminal Minds in five seconds flat—who else but she could come up with such crazy ideas? Oh well, at least it set the potential terror level of the night extremely high. Whatever actually happened—like, you know, being on a date with an incredibly sexy, enigmatic, rich and famous drool-worthy man that would surely make for one of the best stories of her life, even if was only a one-time fling, would be a piece of cake, maybe even anticlimactic. That was comforting. She was a Taurus after all; boring was just right by her. Hopefully Guy was only dangerous onscreen.
    Speaking of the devil, Guy had apparently determined the doorway was safe and was now swaying from the ball of one naked foot to the other, tapping his finger against his nose. He had shockingly nice feet for a man, which was a lovely surprise. He looked at her with furrowed, considering brows as if he were deep in thought.
    “Is something wrong?”
    “I’m, uh, I’m just going to powder my nose. Be right back.”
    Powder his nose? Seriously, who said stuff like that—besides southern debutantes from the 1950s? Well, dangerous might be part of his act, but dancing to his own drummer was definitely all Guy. Andie played it cool as Guy disappeared into one of the several doorways off the suite’s foyer without sparing her a second glance. Oh well. Whatever he was so on edge about, it was still pretty entertaining to watch those tight-fitting jeans walk away.
    Guy’s anxiety was a good distraction for Andie’s nerves. All of his fidgeting was a good placebo for her stomach so she could function with some degree of normalcy at least. She still hadn’t totally recovered from him walking into her classroom days ago. This was one hell of a