First Take (Star-Taken) Read Free Page B

“However, it is your birthday.”
    She stayed his arm. Electricity shot through her fingers as she experienced the dance of those rock-hard muscles. Yanking her hand back did nothing to dampen the tingles zinging through her. Ducking her head as heat washed up her neck, she said, “Never mind. This is fine.”
    He pulled the chair back out and she slid onto the hard wood. He was right, facing forward at the bar wasn’t as conducive to conversation, but she still couldn’t believe he cared one way or another about her opinion of his acting. Until that moment, she’d half thought maybe he was just one of those people who didn’t like eating alone. If that had been the case, surely he wouldn’t have cared where they sat. As it was, she wasn’t sure how good of a dinner partner she’d be. Her tongue clung to the roof of her mouth.
    Busying herself preparing her chopsticks, she focused on steadying her breathing and slowing her racing pulse. Dinner. This is just dinner. Nothing more. She wouldn’t make it through the meal if she thought anything else.
    H is chair creaked as he settled onto it, and she looked up to meet his gaze. “So, tell me about yourself.”
    Her heart stuttered. That sounded more like a genuine “getting to know you” date question. She slid her hands underneath the table and wiped them on her skirts, hiding her discomfort with a half smile. “I thought you wanted my opinion of your acting.”
    F olding his hands together on the table, he leaned forward. With a shrug of those too-impressive shoulders, he said, “The more I know about you, the more weight your opinion will hold.” He winked, her breath hitched, and she was a goner.
    He was perfect, a gentleman who cared about her thoughts and wanted to get to know her —her fantasy Stephen Raymond in the flesh. Did that mean the date would end like it did in her fantasies, with bare skin, heated kisses, and lots of moaning and groaning?
     
    ~ * ~
     

 
    THREE
     
     
     
    Two hours later and the combination of his charm as well as too much sake and sushi, including all those things she’d worried about getting stuck in her teeth, had her ready to drape herself across him. He’d coaxed her into giving up most of her secrets. She’d confessed each of her embarrassing moments from attending high school in a small town, where nothing was really a secret, to going to college in Houston, where she’d exalted in the anonymity of a large school. He’d drawn out her entire life story before delving into her likes and dislikes then her dreams and hopes, both of which involved travel in some form or fashion.
    She’d shared it all. But he’d had yet to ask her opinion of his acting skills. Aside from her fantasies about him, he now knew almost everything about her; but she also knew some of the same for him. Details that went beyond his online biographies and random interviews she’d read. Things like his parents taking off when he’d turned sixteen, only reappearing after his first big hit. He’d paid for his mother’s unsuccessful cancer treatments and shared how after her death, his dad had disappeared again, turning up dead from an overdose a year later. How he’d managed to keep those private details a secret was beyond her, but the fact that he shared them with her drew her further into the web of attraction holding her captive.
    Sitting back in his chair, he laid his chopsticks across his plate. “I don’t know why I told you that stuff. It’s gotta be a downer, and this is your birthday.”
    Rachel fought the urge to cover his hand, offering a soft smile instead. “Life’s not always easy, and it’s certainly not picture-perfect. The roles you’ve chosen to play certainly show that, and it’s nice seeing you’re as real as your characters. That’s a wonderful gift to give anyone.” Emotion closed her throat, and she shrugged, unable to say anything else, even if she’d known what else to say.
    His eyes darkened with