Walk of Shame (Love Unexpectedly 4)

“I mean, I just—I told her that you and I…” She floundered.

Andrew felt a little stab of relief to know that he wasn’t the only one out of his element here.

Georgiana blew out a breath. “Okay, so do you know who Ash Morrigan is?”

Andrew blinked. Not what he’d thought—hoped—she was going to say. “The actor?”

“The super-hot actor,” Georgiana amended.

What the…?

“Anyway,” Georgiana continued, “he was in New York a few months back, at the same club as me and the girls. And…he seemed interested in me.”

Andrew’s fingers tightened around his wineglass. Yeah, he definitely didn’t like where this was going.

“Your point?”

“My point is, I got his phone number,” she said. “He told me to call him, that he wanted to see me again, that he’d fly me to Los Angeles.”

Andrew took a big swallow of his wine, wishing it were something stronger. Ash Morrigan had starred in every action blockbuster i

n the past year, about half the romantic comedies, and even some period piece where there were whispers of an Oscar nomination going around. And this was who he was competing with? Ash fucking Morrigan?

“Okay, see, you’re getting this wrong,” Georgiana said urgently. “What I’m trying to tell you is that…I never called him. I could never figure out why. I thought maybe it was because I was nervous, but I don’t really get nervous. And lately I’ve been realizing—wondering—if, well, maybe I didn’t call him because of you.”

Andrew’s heart stopped beating, then started again.

“I liked Ash,” she said quietly. “He was fun and charming, and famous, of course…but every time I thought about calling him, trying to get excited about the prospect, I realized that what I was most excited about was those early morning run-ins in our building.”

Andrew didn’t know what to say.

“Wow, this is harder than I thought,” she muttered, taking a sip of her wine. “Okay, well, anyway. I gave Hailey Ash’s number. Thought it might help take the sting out of you breaking off your date last night, although honestly, I think she would have been super cool about it anyway. The end.”

Hardly. Hardly, Georgiana. They weren’t even close to the end of…whatever they were doing.

“You traded in one of the biggest names in Hollywood for me?” he asked, just to be sure. He had to be sure.

“Don’t make it weird—it was just his phone number. It’s not like Hailey and I put bags over your heads and then made the swap,” she muttered, her fingers fluttering a little nervously on the table.

He reached across and took her hand, waiting until she met his eyes. “What are you doing next Thursday?”

She stared at him. “Do I look like the sort of girl who plans four days in advance?”

“Make an exception. One of the senior partners at my firm is retiring. There’s a big, fancy party. It’s on a yacht or something, I can’t remember.”

“And?”

Of course she wasn’t going to make this easy for him. Of course.

“Come with me,” he said simply.

Her smile was slow and happy, and damned if that didn’t make him happy. “Andrew.”

“Yes?”

“Are we…dating?”

He gave her hand a brief squeeze before leaning back in his chair. He picked up the menu but didn’t look at it. “When you gave Hailey Ash’s number, did you simultaneously delete it from your phone?”