He liked Lee. Something told him they had a lot in common. He wanted to find out more. He actually wanted to spend time with the guy getting to know him.
“Looks like you two are off to a promising start,” Javier interrupted the silence that had settled at the table.
Drew blinked, realizing belatedly that he’d been staring at Lee. And that Lee had been staring at him.
Javier glanced between them. “If you two think this will work, I’ll go ahead and draw up the contract and send it along to both of you with our bill.”
“Works for me,” Drew said, smiling and then finishing his coffee.
“Definitely works for me,” Lee echoed. He glanced at Javier, then back to Drew. “When do you want to start this whole thing? Do you have a plan in mind?”
Drew swallowed and put his coffee cup down. “My schedule is incredibly tight during filming, but I do have some free time.”
“That’s good.” Lee smiled. “My schedule is flexible. Just let me know when you need me.”
The outlandish thought that Drew definitely needed Lee seemed to sail in out of nowhere and set up shop, like it planned to stay for a while.
“I have a few hours this afternoon free,” Drew said impulsively. “This is my first time in London. Do you have time to show me around?”
“Absolutely,” Lee said, perking up even more. “I’ve lived in London for almost my whole life. Just let me know what kind of thing you’re interested in, museums, historic buildings, parks, stuff like that, and I’ll take you to the best of them.”
“Is the London Eye worth it?” Drew asked, settling into their friendship like he was wrapping up in a warm blanket.
“Only if your idea of a good time is waiting in line for two hours with about ten thousand tourists from every corner of the globe,” Lee laughed.
“Not the London Eye, then,” Drew laughed with him.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” Javier said, standing and stepping to the side of the table. “It looks like you’re going to get along just fine.”
There was more than a little spark of mischief in the elegant man’s eyes, like he knew something Drew didn’t. Drew wasn’t oblivious enough not to know what it meant. Rent-A-Boyfriend was supposed to be a fake dating site, but Javier clearly thought he’d made a match.
He was used to it. Everyone and their mother had made it their hobby to ship him with everyone from his costars to other Hollywood celebrities to, well, Jessica. He’d long passed the point where he cared what anyone thought.
Except that the entire reason he’d called Rent-A-Boyfriend in the first place was because he cared what people thought.
Maybe it was time to rethink a lot of the things he assumed about himself.
“How about Trafalgar Square?” Lee asked as he, too, stood and waited for Drew before heading for the stairs.
“Sounds perfect,” Drew said, smiling and inching in closer to him as they walked down the narrow staircase. “That’s one of those London things you have to see at least once, right?”
“They kick you out and revoke your visitor’s visa if you don’t,” Lee teased him as they crossed the main dining area, heading for the door.
Drew laughed. Lee was funny. He liked that. And he liked the fact that Lee wasn’t falling all over him and gushing about his acting or his ass, which had played a prominent role inCooked.
“We wouldn’t want that, now would we,” he said as he reached the door first, opening it and holding it for Lee.
“Not at all,” Lee said as they stepped out onto the street. “We wouldn’t want?—”
“Oh my god, itishim!” someone right outside the café’s entrance gasped.
A small cluster of women, and a few men, stepped forward from where they’d been waiting for who knew how long, eyes aglow and cell phones ready. Drew smirked and sent Lee a look as if to say, “See?”
He’d known people would catch up with him in London eventually, but he’d had no idea it would be so soon.
four
. . .