Her Fictional Fling: Scandals in Scotland Contemporary Romance Series Book 1 (3 page)

There was something soft about her that drew him in. She had a gentle nature in such contrast to Nicole’s icy, almost too perfect, exterior. Maybe she would be game in helping him get back out there. If he read Andi correctly, maybe she was also running from something and would be up for a distraction. Charles had even advised something along those lines when he’d suggested that Colin’s finding a new serious girlfriend might take media attention off of him for a while. And no one needed to know that it wouldn’t truly be serious. His recent detachment from Nicole, who’d only been his fiancée for a few months when they’d split, had shoved him back into the role of London’s most talked about bachelor, and the tabloids were apparently elated by his new singlehood.

Perhaps a thing with Andi would get them off his back. At least the papers would stop speculating about whether or not he would forgive Nicole—no—and whether or not he intended to get engaged again in the future—double no. Nicole was moving on at lightning speed with his former best bud, so why shouldn’t he do the same? As long as he made his intentions clear, there was no risk of harm. And Andi, the public-phobic writer, wasn’t likely to crave media attention, so from where he sat, she would be a wise choice to start off his foray back into bachelorhood.

Andi scrolled a finger across the phone and began punching at it with her thumb. She scrunched up her nose. “It’s my agent wondering where I am. She’ll kill me if she finds me hiding in here,” Andi said, before returning to tapping away.

“Same with my agent.” Charles would go on about Colin’s disappearance for a bit, but he could usually be talked down fairly easily. Andi, on the other hand, looked genuinely worried.

“No, I mean I really screwed this up.”

“No offense, but I doubt the cast will mind too much. This is the last week of filming and everyone is knackered from wrapping things up. And the director’s probably halfway to pissed by now. The female lead’s a bit of a drama queen and has been hell to work with since day one. Not to mention weather issues with the rain these past few months.”

She didn’t seem at all comforted.

“It’s not just about this, though,” she said, running a hand across her forehead. “The publisher is running out of patience with me. They’re really supportive of my writing, but this isn’t the first time I’ve bailed on a reading. I’m running out of excuses for why I don’t show up when the marketing department sets up events for me.”

“So what’s the problem, then?” he asked.

She was obviously pretty, and smart enough to write a book that a well-known producer had liked enough to buy the rights, and actually make the movie. From where he sat, there wasn’t any reason she shouldn’t be making public appearances. Then again, he barely knew her, and she had just come bolting out of a ballroom where she was the main event.

“I guess I’m just not good in front of people.”

He could see in her eyes that there was more to the story than what she’d chosen to reveal, but he left it alone. He wasn’t interested in getting to know her that closely. Getting under that polka-dotted skirt might be on his agenda, but acting as her therapist was absolutely not.

“And Lily, my agent, just notified me that we have to talk when I go back to the party. Apparently, there’s an issue with the amount of sex in the chapters I’ve just turned in.”

Colin’s ears perked up. Sex most definitely
was
on his agenda. “The amount of sex? Meaning…”

Andi’s cheeks pinked and she went back to messing with her phone. “Meaning, well, there aren’t enough steamy scenes in the book I’m working on now. Apparently my readers are fond of them, and the new chapters are a little sparse in that area. And what’s in there already is apparently a bit…dry, which isn’t too surprising since…well, never mind. I can’t stand the thought of letting people down.”

It was the perfect opening for him to suggest that they use each other for mutual benefit, but he’d probably need to get her a little more relaxed first. She was still tense and jumpy, and the kitchen wasn’t exactly the most amorous setting for what he wanted to discuss. Next thing he knew, he was helping her off the floor and holding onto her hand. He ran his own hand down the length of her arm, wiping away a few remaining gold droplets of scotch. She stood still, arms at her sides, her lack of protest spurring him on as he ran his thumbs under her eyes, erasing the traces of makeup that had blackened them. Her skin was tender and flawless, and when she bit her bottom lip, he had to force himself not to put his mouth on hers just yet.

“Being good in front of people is a matter of practice.” He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “And so is good sex.”

Before she could argue, he grabbed her hand and began pulling her away from the dreaded kitchen and the adjoining ballroom that they both needed to escape. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before we’re found.”

She stopped abruptly and he turned. Indecision played across her face.

“Trust me. I know a place.”

Chapter Three

As if she had much of a choice.

She couldn’t go back where she’d come from, and surely the evening couldn’t possibly get any weirder. First, Andi had flaked out at her own reading, in front of an entire film cast and crew. Then, she’d rammed straight into the hero from her own romance novel, and now, of all things, she was letting said Viking hero take her to who knew where. The past hour had her reeling, and a wicked headache was starting to throb at her temples. Then there was the fact of the kiss she was pretty sure he’d almost planted on her back there.

Colin Walker. His name was vaguely familiar but Lily almost had an aneurysm via text when Andi had mentioned she was recovering from smashing into him and was being looked after in a kitchen by the actor himself. Lily had quickly schooled Andi in all things Colin 101. Heartthrob, rising star, recent scandalous breakup with a famous fiancée, though Andi had to cut her friend off when the subject of Andi’s new book lacking sex had come up and erased all other topics from her brain.

Speaking of, Andi studied the backside of her Viking as he led her down the hall, and silently pronounced it an accurate likeness of her character, Bjorn’s. Tight and sculpted underneath his tunic, its outline sat between broad ripped shoulders and a narrow waist and tanned muscular legs. Although she was pretty sure his physique wasn’t a product of conquests and high seas adventures, it was nonetheless gorgeous and had her pulse going at top speed.

Hot Viking or not, she was still a single girl letting a relatively strange guy take her somewhere unfamiliar, and she needed to look out for herself. At least Lily knew who she was with, assuming her friend had believed Andi’s texts.

She’d forgotten what it was like to be spontaneous like this; it had been so long since a guy had shown any interest, and, she admitted, that was largely by choice. Following her breakup with Jared, she’d needed time to figure out who she was on her own, and to make sure she knew her own value well enough not to make the same mistake twice. Never mind that it was her fault for rarely leaving the house in anything other than yoga pants and a sweatshirt, and, of course, her enormous old lenses that Lily had dubbed
birth control glasses.

She couldn’t exactly blame the male species for not noticing her when she did her best to go, well…unnoticed. And she hadn’t been expecting to be hit on by her own fictional hero on the first occasion she’d been out in months.

It didn’t matter anyway. She wasn’t in the market for a man. Her career was taking off, the pressure was on to follow-up her breakout book with something even better, and she was finally,
finally
, starting to get over Jared the Jerk.

But still, she was a warm-blooded woman who’d suddenly found herself in the presence of a guy who did a fine job depicting the Norse god of her dreams. Good thing she’d listened to Lily’s advice and opted for contacts and a new dress tonight. At least she’d be at her best if she got the chance to ask him to take a snapshot of the two of them with her cell phone before they went their separate ways. It would be something for her readers to enjoy on her website.

“Do they have more drinks where you’re taking me? Because I’m really thinking I could use another. Or, you know, ten.” she said as Colin pulled her down a deserted hallway.

On top of the epic ruination of the reading that never was, Andi worried her figurative face-plant would soon reach her publisher. There was always the chance there’d been a live-Tweeting journalist in the audience. She consoled herself that she’d been just a writer among a large quantity of celebrities, so chances were slim that someone would have been interested in or even recognized her.

There was a reason she didn’t do public appearances anymore, and it wasn’t just her tendency to behave like a hermit. Colin was right when he’d mentioned that a fear of speaking in front of crowds could sometimes be overcome with training and rehearsing, but she wasn’t about to tell a stranger—particularly a famous one—the real reason she’d bungled up so badly out there. She had no desire to be mocked or, worse, to have Colin or anyone else feeling sorry for her.

She’d been glad for the distraction when he’d wanted to spend time with her in the kitchen, though it was probably only to make sure she was okay and wasn’t going to run off blabbing about it to a tabloid. But she’d been sidelined by the mind-boggling perfection of his looks. He towered over her and she could still feel the delicious, protective way his arms had wrapped around her to break her fall. Plus, most men she knew would look out of place, if not ridiculous, in traditional Viking clothing, but Colin sported the garments as though they were a second skin.

It was surreal seeing her own character in the flesh. She’d written
Seducing a Highland Warrior
in just a month, fueled by little more than coffee and excitement over the story, and, aside from being her first book, it had become not only her favorite, but her readers’ as well. She would do anything to have that feeling about her new book. She’d had the sense it fell flat in a few spots, but she hadn’t been able to put her finger on why until Lily had mentioned the lack of passion. She wondered what it would take to get Colin to read a few sexy lines from her new story out loud. Maybe, if she could get him to act out her male character, and possibly take off a few of those heavy clothes—just for the sake of inspiration, of course—then she could visualize where she had taken a wrong turn. The thought of the famous actor agreeing to such a thing almost made her snort out a laugh.

Colin didn’t have a chance to answer her question about where they were going because as they rounded a corner approaching the lobby, a thousand flashbulbs lit up out of nowhere like fireworks. Though he still held her hand, even tighter now, Andi could barely see him.

“What’s going on?” she shouted over the sudden onslaught of photographers. As far as she could tell, they were multiplying by the second like a bad case of hives.

“Just follow me,” he yelled back over the grating sound of cameras clicking. The line of his mouth was stern. “Don’t let go of my hand.”

The paparazzi were as merciless as their reputation implied. They crowded around on all sides, but somehow Colin managed to push through enough to pass. He pulled her down the hallway as quickly as he could, but it was like trudging through a jungle thick with vines. Andi’s hands were hot and clammy, and an icy chill ran through her chest as it had onstage. She hoped he could get them out of there fast, before she had another panic attack or before they got mauled. The photographers closed around her until they pressed in on all sides, only centimeters away from her skin.

As she focused straight ahead, her heel caught on something, and before she could catch herself, she was on her way down. She felt a tug on her hand, and Colin turned in time to wrap an arm around her back, breaking her fall—again. Her usual klutziness had reached an all-time high tonight. He looped his other arm under her knees and lifted her off the ground, pressing her into him, then spun around and continued on toward an exit. She could feel his heart racing and his chest was hot through the thin fabric of her dress. Tension seeped from him like a wild animal, but when he looked down at her, he only winked as though he did this all the time, as though it wasn’t scary as hell.

She pulled herself toward his face and inhaled spicy male scent as he tightened his grip on her bottom.
Mercy
. All in all, two near-accidents were a small price to pay for being rescued and hauled off by a delicious Viking hero, regardless of what became of the rest of the night.

When this was over, maybe she would consider giving in to Lily’s incessant pressure to get out more.

Colin held Andi as close and tight as he could manage with cameramen jostling him on all sides. The bastards had no sense of boundaries, and their behavior was appalling. It was a downside of fame that Colin was sure he’d never get used to. Though he wouldn’t trade the life he had now for the one he’d grown up in, there were limits to how much a guy could tolerate. He’d lost his temper only once before in front of the vultures, and the consequences had resulted in a vow to himself that he wouldn’t lose it like that again, but he refused to let them dictate his life.

It would be nice if he could go out for a pint in a pub on occasion or catch a football game with his buddies without being fussed over, but as his résumé grew and his work improved, the attention only increased. Lately, the media was laser-focused on his every move. Hopefully, the plan he was concocting would work. He would take Andi back to the condo he’d rented for the duration of filming, get her relaxed, and see what she thought. It wasn’t a crazy idea, and, if she agreed, it would benefit them both. She was smart; she’d be able to see what was in it for her.

They would keep things strictly casual, a business relationship and nothing more; they’d put on a little show for the media, and by the time she headed home in a week, the wolves would likely sniff out another trail to follow. And there wasn’t any reason not to take advantage of the added bonus of Andi’s company. He liked her already, quite a lot in fact, but he’d be careful to lay things out in clear terms so there wouldn’t be a chance of hurt feelings down the way. Nicole would see he’d moved on for good, and with any luck she’d stop sending daily emails begging him to let things go and fix his friendship with her new boyfriend, his ex best mate. Apparently, things had been sour in that department, and Nicole, ever selfish, wasn’t happy reaping the consequences of her actions. Not his problem. He’d be glad when she was out of his life for good and when he could no longer feel the aftermath of the knife in his back courtesy of the two people he’d trusted the most.