His date kept her distance from me, hostility radiating out of her every flawless pore, but it was almost like Noah had forgotten that both of us were there. Although he did keep accidentally bumping into me with his large feet and shooting me apologetic looks. Which surprised me, given that our conversation had begun with him accusing me of stalking him. And if anything was stalking behavior, I was pretty sure this was it.

Especially when I noticed he was wearing socks with pizza slices on them. That was unexpected, and I may or may not have accidentally brushed my fingers against them just to make sure they were real. He didn’t seem to notice.

And despite telling myself not to stare, I kept sneaking glances at him. Even though he’d spent most of our brief time together being the worst, there was just something about him that made it so I had to keep looking. Like he was subliminally pulling me in and I was powerless to resist.

He seemed to always be in motion, crossing and uncrossing his legs, flexing and unflexing his huge hands, shifting from one side of his seat to the other. I wondered if he was bored. Or was just one of those people who had so much pent-up energy they hated sitting still.

Then he ran his fingers through his hair, and the gesture made my stomach quiver and my mouth go completely dry. I’d seen him do it a hundred times on-screen, but it landed completely differently in person.

To distract myself I tried listening to the speech of the winner, but it was almost like the entire world had faded away and Noah Douglas was the only real thing in it.

What was wrong with me?

Fortunately this winner was brief and to the point, and the lights went back down. Noah quickly got up and offered me his hand.

This time I took it, and it was like a thousand tiny atom bombs exploded across the surface of my skin. “Thanks,” I said, and it shocked me how wobbly my voice sounded, how shallow my breathing had become. We stood there, our hands clasped, and something happened. Something I didn’t recognize. And was most likely entirely one-sided.

I wondered if I should apologize for my earlier behavior or thank him for not making a scene and getting me in trouble or whether I should say goodbye or . . . I didn’t know what to do, so I just let go and darted out into the aisle, wanting to put this entire evening behind me and hopefully leave with whatever dignity I still had left. I thought I felt his eyes watching me walk away, but I was too chicken to turn around and check.

In my haste to flee, I almost ran straight into the famous actress Dame Helena Lynch. “Oh, do slow down, dear!” she called out.