Read One Night with a Star (Second Chances Book 2) for Free Online Page B

her and the sound he made when he came.
    She couldn’t meet his eyes.
    “I would give so much more than a penny for your thoughts right now,” he said, low and seductive.
    “Well, you’re not going to get them,” she said, hating the tremor in her voice. She brazened her way into meeting his eyes. “You’re not going to get it, Simon.”
    “How do you know that I want ‘it,’ Jenny.”
    He was teasing her, damn him, and it raised prickles along her skin. That blasted arrogance of his had turned her on last summer, and it was turning her on again now. She wouldn’t let it. She couldn’t.
    “I’m dating Neil,” she said. “I don’t have time for your shenanigans.”
    “Why are you dating that stuffed shirt anyhow.” He made light of her declarations.
    “Neil’s a great guy,” she defended him, not feeling it the way she should. “He was really sweet to me when I was going through a hard time. He’s been supportive of me raising Daniel on my own.”
    Simon laughed, obviously not buying it. “You know what one of the first things he said to me was?”
    “What?” She scowled.
    He opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything. Right in front of her, his expression morphed from irritated and bitter to kind and concerned. “He told me to stop ogling his girlfriend.”
    That wasn’t what he was about to say. Neil had said something else, something she wasn’t sure she would like if Simon had been honest.
    “Were you ogling me?” she asked.
    He flickered an eyebrow. “Might have been. You’re incredibly ogleable.”
    “Stop it.”
    “I’m just telling you the truth. You’re hot as Hades in that bridesmaid’s dress.
    “Not gonna happen, Simon. Stop being a jerk.”
    “Never say never, love.”
    The whisper in his voice, the deep resonance of that one endearment, took Jenny right back to where they’d been that night, walking hand-in-hand on the beach. It had been a night of dreams, a hot night full of wonder. He’d made her feel so good, better than any man before. And then he’d walked away and trampled on her heart.
    “I can’t do this,” she said, trying to pull away from him.
    He held her close. “Flinch now and half a dozen cameras will come to their own conclusions,” he said, too serious. “I know.”
    She swallowed. He probably did know.
    She forced herself to smile again. “As soon as this song is over, I’m walking away from you and I want you to keep your distance.”
    “That might be difficult,” he said.
    “Why, because you can’t help yourself? Because I’m gorgeous and sexy and you can’t stop thinking about me?” She threw back every beautiful thing he’d said to her that night last summer.
    “No,” he replied. “Because I have a son.”
    The well of emotion that spread through Jenny’s gut was almost too much to bear. She lowered her head, scrambling for some way to get out of this crazy situation, for some way to go back to the normal, everyday struggle of raising a child on her own. Raising him with Simon would be infinitely worse. She’d never be able to forget the agony and the ecstasy if he was there all the time.
    “Simon, I can’t—”
    “I’m cutting in,” Neil said beside them, shaking her out of her emotions.
    “What?” She turned her head to him, debating whether it would be better or worse to switch partners.
    “I don’t like you dancing with him,” Neil said. “I’m cutting in.”
    “Neil, don’t be—”
    “She’s all yours, mate.” Simon surprised her by letting go and taking a huge step back. “Cheers.”
    “Wait, what?” Her question hung, unfinished, as Neil picked up where Simon had left off.
    Neil’s arms were stiff and he had to look down at his feet and count for a few beats before he started moving. Once they were dancing, or something along those lines, he said, “There. Isn’t this better.”
    “Sure,” Jenny answered.
    It was a lie. She smiled at Neil, but her eyes followed Simon as he stepped away. He