“The desert at night is the most beautiful place.” Charlie leaned against Dev’s shoulder, enjoying the night.
“It’s colder than most people imagine.” Dev playfully shivered before wrapping an arm around her.
The simple touches felt less like a first date and more like a couple that had known each other forever. It was nice, and a little unsettling. Dev was here now, but he’d made no promise to stay.
“How does a Hollywood gal come to be in the desert of Arizona?”
“Not the kind of place you’d expect to find me?” Charlie laughed, though she knew it sounded rough. Dev probably didn’t mean anything by the question—an honest first-date question. But she’d spent far too much of her life being underestimated. First by her mother, then professors and finally Jared, who thought she wouldn’t notice his duplicity.
The worst part was she hadn’t.
“No.” Dev squeezed her tighter. “I just wondered why you settled here. Was it because of the big cats in the area? Did you get a good deal on the location?”
“Sorry. Yes, I chose this area because this is where the cats I love needed me.” Charlie pressed her lips to his cheek.
She waited a moment, then let the rest of the words out. “So many people expected me to just shrivel up after my modeling career ended. It’s so unfair. People expect things of me because of one viral photo with my mother years ago. They make assumptions and I just…”
Dev’s lips brushed her head.
“I shouldn’t let any of it bother me.” Charlie blew out a breath. And I shouldn’t make assumptions about people’s questions, either!
“You’re allowed to have feelings about it.” Just his presence calmed an aching in her soul that she’d tried to ignore for so many years.
His fingers stroked her back. “It sucks when people don’t see the real you.”
“I guess you understand better than most.” People saw Dev for what he could do for them. Not for the incredible man he was.
“I hate that we understand this.” His whispered words were hot on her ear. “But it’s nice not to feel alone.”
“Maybe we just focus on seeing each other’s authenticity.” It was hard to live a life where people weren’t looking at you but at who they thought you were.
“Sounds good to me.” Then his lips were on hers, the night sounds of the desert singing a melody designed just for them.
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