Star-Struck, Book 1 (3 page)

Just a little pissed off that he would try to take such liberties with her so soon after meeting her, Sunny actually forgot all about her star-struck state of mind to let him have it. Putting her hands on his sizable chest and giving a little push.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph I’ve never felt pecs like that in my life! Focus.

“Look here buddy. I don’t care who you are, you just don’t go around taking kisses like they’re free or something! I deserve better than that. I’m not a prude or super old school or anything like that, but I deserve a date first. And no, I’m not a gold-digger either. But a man shows that he respects and appreciates a woman by taking her out on a date, first. Not by mauling her before he’s even bought her a drink, at the very least!” Oh Lord, had she just really berated Gabriel Wolf, superstar extraordinaire? Like he’d really take her out on a date? Great! She hadn’t had sex in four years and not only did she just push a guy completely away; this particular guy, any woman would jump at the chance to be in his bed at least once. Well it was too late to take it back now.

“Okay,” he said softly. Sunny’s eyes shot up to his and her jaw fell to the floor when she saw the sheepish but somewhat impressed look on his face. He probably was used to getting whatever he wanted.

“Okay?”

“Yes. I was a jerk. What time should I pick you up tomorrow?” His face was completely and unbelievably sincere.

“Well I have to work all day. And then after that I have a show at Speakeasy. And don’t you have a movie to shoot?”
Am I really having this conversation right now?!
He. Gabriel Wolf. Was asking
her
out on a date?! Never, even in her most vivid imaginations would she have guessed this would happen when she woke up this morning. Wasn’t she just drowning herself in
Ben & Jerry’s
about three hours ago?

“Yes. But tomorrow we’re only filming during the day. You have a show? Doing what?” He seemed genuinely interested.
Boggles the mind.

“I’m in a little music duo called Folk You. Don’t laugh! We do covers and play just about anything.”

“Folk You?” He struggled not to laugh. “That’s an awesome name! I love your voice. What time do you start?”

“Nine. And we’ll play till eleven. But you’re not going to come are you? I don’t think I’d be able to concentrate knowing you’re in the audience.”

She could’ve sworn a slightly hurt expression crossed his face. But it was gone before she could be sure. “Then what about the next night, Friday? I’m actually off the entire day. I’m not in the scenes they’ll be shooting that day.”

“I don’t work at all on Friday either.”

“That settles it then. You’re spending the day with me.”

“I uh, well um…shit! How do you know I don’t have plans that day? I might have to do laundry or wash my hair or something.”

His eyes twinkled with the knowledge that he had her. “Do you? Have plans, that is?”

“Well no, but-”

He interrupted her, “But nothing. I’m taking you out to have a good time and show you that I can be a complete gentleman.” A few seconds ticked by as he held her gaze with those eyes. She couldn’t take it.

“Okay, fine.”

“Good. Now shall we get back before your friends think you’ve been kidnapped?” She started nodding her head, completely disoriented from the last five minutes. That’s when he whipped off his hat, bowed at the waist while grabbing her hand and kissing it.
Lord, help me. I am totally and utterly fucked!
Just the act of him finally revealing all his hair had her mesmerized. It was a luxurious head of jet black, thick, and wavy hair. It could easily rival Patrick
“McDreamy”
Dempsey’s hair. The last movie she saw him in, it was cut short for the role he played and it was hot like that too. But now her fingers itched to touch it, to run her fingers through it. She could just imagine pulling it while his head was between her…
STOP! Stay strong.
Spending any time alone with this man was going to be hazardous to her health. She just knew it.

As they walked back to the bar he was close enough to her that their arms kept brushing back and forth. And even though there were clothes between their skin it did little to help the flip flops going on in her stomach.

Sunny peeked up at him nervously. “So…should I not mention who you are to my friends? They’ll be dying to know details.”

  They rounded the corner to the patio, which had cleared out quite a bit. “Well, seeing as how the crowd has dwindled down. I don’t think it’ll be a problem. I just wanted a quiet evening without being bombarded by a lot of questions and autographs.”

There were a few people inside the bar. But just Alyssa, Renee and Renee’s boyfriend Marco were left on the patio. As they walked up the girls were grinning all over themselves and ready to burst with questions.

“Uh hey guys.” Sunny fidgeted nervously, this was going to be interesting. “So this is Gabriel…Wolf.”

Gabriel pushed his hat back on his head bringing his whole face into the light. Sunny scrunched up her face in anticipation as she heard their sharply drawn in gasps.

“Holy shit!”

“What the…?!”

“No way!”

They all spoke at once, so she couldn’t tell who said what.

“Gabriel, this is Alyssa, Renee and Marco.” Sunny pointed to each one as she said their names. And in kind Gabriel reached out to shake their hands.

“Nice to meet you guys.” He was totally at ease with their astonishment and just brushed it off as nothing.

“Uh huh.”

“Y-yeah.”

“Mm hmm.”

Sunny was pretty sure that she heard them sigh, even Marco! Well at least she wasn’t the only one that lost all motor function when around him.

As Sunny and Gabe took two seats next to each other at the table she noticed the table where Gabriel and his buddies had been, was empty. “Hey, where did your friends go?”

“Oh they were getting pretty tired. So before I went to find where you had run off too, I just told them to head back home. I’ll get a cab later.” A beautiful smile spread across his face.

“You should’ve been a
Colgate
toothpaste model.”
She
should probably stop saying everything that crossed her mind.

“Look who’s talking! You have a breathtaking smile, Sunny. It was the first thing I noticed about you when you walked onto this patio.” The compliment sent shivers down her spine. Dammit, but she didn’t know if she liked this feeling.
I’m an optimistic person, but this is just too much.

“Uh thanks.” She’d never been completely comfortable with compliments. And was really uncomfortable now, coming from an incredibly gorgeous man that sees million dollar smiles on a daily basis. Literally, because she was sure the dentists in Hollywood got paid millions to keep those pearly whites bright.

“So what do you do Sunny? Besides singing gigs at night and charming the pants off of every guy you encounter?” Sunny gapped at him as if he were crazy. Gabriel’s eyes were focused completely on her. His long-lashed blue eyes seemed to pierce into her soul. It was seriously unnerving.

Sunny shrugged, always embarrassed by the answer to this question. “I work in retail. Nothing special. And trust me I don’t ‘charm the pants off of’ anyone.”

Gabriel leaned forward capturing Sunny’s gaze and holding it, letting her know he meant business. “I doubt that. Maybe they’re just too stupid to admit or realize it. The guys here in SoCal can be pretty dense and insecure, looking for supermodels to validate their self-worth.”

She looked away, unable to hold the connection.

Realizing Sunny’s discomfort he changed the subject. “So why do you work in retail? With your personality and talent you should be doing something else. And by what I can tell from the short amount of time I’ve known you, you seem pretty intelligent.”

“She’s actually a writer!” Alyssa piped in. “She wants to write… Ouch!” Sunny kicked Alyssa under the table, cutting her short. Gabe looked curiously at Alyssa.

“You write? What do you-”

Sunny cut him off, “I don’t know how you can tell I’m intelligent. I have barely been able to form two proper sentences since you first spoke to me.” Unfortunately he didn’t realize that this subject made her just as uncomfortable as the previous one. And Sunny didn’t want him to know that she wrote screenplays. She didn’t want him to think that she was interested in him for what he could do for her career.

He smiled at that. “Trust me I can tell. Plus, stupid people don’t have a whole lot going on behind the eyes. Like it’s all blank in there, or something. There’s a whole lot of thought going on behind your eyes. It has me dying to figure out just what you’re thinking. Though, I think I already know.”

“I hope not.” Sunny looked down at her pint glass, trying to be more interested in the condensation sliding down the sides. She felt like she was all of a sudden under a microscope.

Gabe reached his hand out and his thumb caressed a path down the side of Sunny’s cheek. When he reached her chin, he tipped her face up to his forcing her to look at him once again. “Sunny, you’re like an open book. And I already know the story. But I want to read it anyway.”

Well….shit!
That had to be the most amazing line she’d ever heard. Hands down! He couldn’t be serious. He looked serious. He was also an amazing actor. But why take the time out to bamboozle
her
. She was no one. This was all so confusing.

Sunny’s friends were no help. They were completely silent. Their heads were moving back and forth, like they were watching a tennis match. Their mouths hanging open in wonder. She hoped they all had a bug fly in their mouths.

Feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation she stood up. “I think I need another beer. I’ll be right back.”

She quickly made her way towards the bar. A large hand on her arm stopped her as she stepped through the doorway. She looked up to see Gabe’s face filled with worry as he pulled her towards a quiet corner. “Hey, are you alright? Did I say something to upset you?”

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath Sunny went for it. “Look, I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to go on that date Friday.”

“And why not?”

“Because I don’t like being made a fool of, that’s why!” Gesturing from his head to his toes and back again. “And because you’re…you.” Then sweeping her hands from her head to toes in disgust, “And I’m this! Guys that look like you don’t look at girls like me. And those are guys that aren’t even famous, with ladies lined up around the corner waiting for even a passing glance to tell their friends about. I don’t know why you’ve taken an interest in me. Isn’t there some smokin’ hot actress or supermodel you should be dating? Because this”, she waved her hand between the two of them, “is bound to end in disaster.”

“You don’t see yourself very clearly, do you?”

“No, that’s where you’re wrong Gabriel. I see myself very clearly. A face that can pass for pretty and a chubby body with a fan-freakin-tastic personality. But it’s when I look at myself through a man’s eyes, that it all becomes glaringly clear. ‘Fun to flirt with and make a couple of harmless passes at, but when it comes down to who I want on my arm in public, only a walking talking
Barbie
doll will do.’”

  His jaw was clenched and ticked as if in anger. “You’re comparing me to a bunch of blind insecure douchebags! I have a mind to kiss you senseless just to show you how desirable you are.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her. “But I promised to take you on a proper date first. In the few hours since I first laid eyes on you, you’ve blown every woman I’ve ever met out of the water. Your parents were right to name you Sunny, because something about you radiates light. Everyone around you sees it, even the guys, but they’re either: too intimidated or awestruck to admit it. But not me.”

He raised his hand to her face and she held her breath. He stroked his thumb down her cheek to her chin. She must have looked like a deer in headlights. “I just don’t get it.”

“Sunny, I’ve been surrounded by the most; shallow, insipid, devious and manipulative ‘beautiful’ females you could imagine. And I’ve never been ashamed to say it till now, but I’ve had them all in my bed. I need this. To be around you.”

Sunny was still skeptical. How do you go from being ignored by the general male population, to being pursued by
People
magazine’s
Sexiest Man Alive
and not think that you’re being
Punk’d
? Oh what the hell! More than likely she’d end up brokenhearted. But at least she’d be brokenhearted with a great story.

“So you’re sure I’m not being
Punk’d
?”

For the second time tonight he threw back his head in laughter. Then he grabbed her face in both hands…huge hands, which basically covered the majority of her face. And he gently kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re amazing. Now let’s get you one more beer and then I’ll take you home.” He took her hand in his and pulled her over to the bar.