But judging by the incredible hunger in his gaze--hunger she knew for a fact that she was echoing right back at him--her glasses didn't turn him off. And every single sexy moment of her dream came back to her as they stared at each other across the bus.
It was just a dream, Ashley. Snap out of it!
But even as she reminded herself that it hadn't been real, her body couldn't help but remember how amazing it had felt to be in his arms on the beach in Los Angeles. All he'd need to do to make the dream real was move toward her, lift her up onto the table, and kiss her. Not even a half-dozen movements, and then she could have everything she wanted.
For a moment, as he continued to stare hungrily at her, she thought he might do exactly that. But then a muscle jumped in his jaw, and he stayed right where he was as he asked, "Did I wake you?"
She opened her mouth to say something short and impersonal. But what came out was, "I was in the middle of a dream."
Oh no, where had those words come from?
As if he couldn't stay away another second, he finally moved closer. But she was stuck right where she was, one hand on the wooden base of her bunk, the other still between her breasts over her racing heart.
"What were you dreaming about?"
She shook her head and pressed her lips together. She couldn't tell him the truth, could she? Couldn't admit to him that he'd been starring in an X-rated dream.
"I dreamed about you again last night," he said in a low voice. "Were you dreaming about me, too?"
The heat in his voice swamped her, made her brain even slower than it already was. Her resolve to keep her ever-increasing feelings secret from him dissolved at the same moment the word, "Yes," slipped from her lips. God, how was she ever going to forget about her feelings for Drew if she kept blurting out things like, I was dreaming about you.
"Ash."
The air inside the bus started to crackle with such intense attraction she actually felt the fine hairs rise on her arms. Drew was moving even closer, reaching for her, when his cell phone rang.
"Damn it," he said when he heard the ring tone. "That's my sister Madison."
"You should get it."
Since Ashley couldn't figure out how to keep her mouth shut around him--who knew what she'd be telling him next, probably every single sexy detail of her dream--she made herself dash into the bathroom, turn on the shower, strip, and step in before it was even close to hot.
And as she stood and shivered beneath the icy-cold spray, she hoped it would freeze some sense back into her.
Chapter Fourteen
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Ashley had been dreaming about him.
For the past twenty-four hours, that was the only thing Drew had been able to think about. Along with the fact that when he'd seen her in her pajamas for the first time--all of her curves on incredible display--he'd nearly lost it right then and there in the middle of his bus at seven in the morning.
And the glasses she'd been wearing?
They'd only made her hotter. Especially because he knew just how big the brains were behind those glasses. And how big the heart behind her gorgeous curves.
He'd had to leave the bus for an interview before she got out of the shower yesterday, and after that she'd done her best to stick with his crew. By the time he made it back to the bus after the meet and greet that night, she'd already been back in her bunk with the curtains drawn. And then, by the time he'd come out of his room this morning, she'd been outside talking with Max.
Making absolutely sure that the two of them were never alone.
Today, Drew had arranged his tour promotion schedule so that they could drop by the house Smith Sullivan and Valentina Landon were renting while they filmed their new movie in Oklahoma City.
It had been a dream come true when they'd asked him to work on this film with them--and the rushes he'd seen had been incredible. If only he could write something for the soundtrack that was worth a damn. As it stood right now, not only was he going to have to bow out of the opportunity of a lifetime, he was also going to leave them hanging.
If only he could push past his songwriting block, damn it!
In the backyard, Ashley's voice floated over to him from several feet away. Just like always, the sound was much-needed music to Drew's soul. He had wanted to keep Ashley by his side until he was sure that she wouldn't be overwhelmed by meeting Hollywood royalty, but Valentina and Ashley had immediately hit it off when Smith's fiancee found out that Ashley was working on her application to business school. Smith had scored big-time with Valentina, and from the smile on the guy's face every time he looked at her, it was clear that he knew it.
Drew hated to bring Smith and Valentina down today, but he couldn't live with himself if he didn't come clean about his inability to write a decent song for the soundtrack. He was heading over to them when he noticed one of the party guests who looked like he'd had a little too much to drink was gesturing in a crazy way as he spoke. If he wasn't careful, the guy was going to knock Ashley into the pool.
A couple of people tried to stop him to chat, but Drew was focused on getting to her before disaster could strike. But before he could, the guy with the wild arms knocked Ashley in the shoulder so hard that she started to topple over toward the water.
Drew leapt the final few feet over the cement patio that surrounded the pool and got close enough to catch one of her hands. But there was already too much momentum to her fall, and instead of keeping her out of the pool, they both plunged in with a huge splash.
Not sure if she could swim, he put his arms around her to pull her to the surface. As they came out of the water, her arms naturally moved around his neck.
"Do you know how to swim? Are you okay?"
"I do and I am." She wiped water out of her eyes before she opened them, her hair slicked back from her beautiful face. "Thanks for trying to keep me from falling in. You didn't have to do that."
"Of course I did." Everyone was staring at them, and he figured it wouldn't be long before people started taking pictures with their phones, if they ha
dn't already. In that moment, however, he couldn't focus on anything but how good it felt to have her in his arms again. Still, even though he couldn't keep holding her forever in the pool, he really hated having to say, "Ready to get out?"
She made a little face. "Actually, I'm pretty sure my dress has gone completely see-through."
Drew fought like hell to keep his arousal under control. But it was already difficult enough when she was wet and soft and so damned perfect in his arms. Knowing her cute white dress was now translucent? There wasn't enough self-control in the world to fight what that vision did to him.
"Only I could do something like this at a fancy Hollywood party." She closed her eyes in mortification. "And now I can't even get out because it will be like everyone is seeing me naked."
He was about to tell her he'd get out first and grab her a towel to cover up with, when he looked up and realized Valentina was already on it. "Valentina's waiting by the shallow-end steps with a towel. I'll come out of the water behind you so that between the towel and me, no one will see anything they shouldn't."
Ashley nodded, but she didn't let go of him or start swimming. As if she didn't want to let go of him any more than he wanted to let her go. Finally, however, she said, "I guess we should swim over there, shouldn't we?"
Unfortunately, the longer they stayed wrapped around each other in the pool, the more people would talk. And if pictures of the two of them holding each other ever got back to her father? Well, Drew could only imagine how angry he would be, even though there was a reasonable explanation. Especially when something told him Professor Emmit would quickly see through the "reasonable explanation" and straight to Drew's unstoppable attraction to Ashley.
Fortunately, between Drew and Valentina, they were able to get Ashley out of the pool with only the two of them seeing the way the white dress clung to her gorgeous curves. A true gentleman wouldn't look, but Drew's control was already hanging by such a thin thread that he didn't have a prayer of not drinking her in. If Valentina noticed the way he was clearly losing his mind over Ashley, she didn't give anything away, but simply helped wrap Ashley up in the thick beach towel and took her into the house through a side door.