The Fakers

3: Liam

(cover by simonesaidwhat)

"Hi," Tony said to the brunette, beating me to the punch. Asshole. "I'm Tony."

"Hi, Tony," she said, a sly smile on her face. She nodded to her blonde friend. "This is Alice."

I stifled a laugh, and her eyes flickered to me. "And I'm Danielle."

My body froze when she looked at me; I was suddenly unable to move or even breathe. Her eyes were hypnotic. They were a vibrant green – well, the left one was green, the right one was hazel – but it wasn't just the color that affected me.

I cleared my throat and tried my best to regain my bravado. I held all the power here, I reminded myself – not her. I stood up straighter and forced a smile.

"Liam," I said, even though I didn't need to. Of course she knew who I was. Everyone in this town knew who I was. "You must be an actress, right?"

"Something like that," she said modestly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I bet the camera loves your face," I said. I meant it, too, as hers was damn near perfect. Danielle had high cheekbones, a cute little nose, and full lips that put Priyanka Chopra's to shame. Best of all, she wasn't obviously tweaked, botoxed, or even collagened – a rarity for a woman at this particular bar.

"Thank you."

"And you have the Kate Bosworth thing with your eyes going for you."

"The Kate Bosworth thing?"

"You know, different colored eyes."

"Oh, heterochromia."

I stared blankly, not knowing what the hell just came out of her mouth. Her friend, Alice, gave her a look as well, but hers was a sharp one. A split-second later Alice was back to chatting up Tony.

Did I imagine the look? Was I imagining things? My thoughts were interrupted by Danielle's mega-watt smile. It lit up her entire face, and I finally appreciated how gorgeous she really was. Maybe she was a 10.

No, I was being hasty. I'd adjust her rating once I saw her naked.

"I love Kate Bosworth," Danielle gushed. "She was so good in Blue Crush."

"I used to date her," I said with a smirk.

"Seriously?" she asked, leaning in closer. "What's she like?"

And there it was. I was struggling to get a good read on Danielle, but it was safe to say that her sexual Achilles heel was her competitive nature. She was definitely an Alpha Female - the type to be interested in the men her competition (Kate Bosworth, etc.) found desirable.

I could work with this.

I told her about Kate, as well as my other famous exes and she listened eagerly, nodding and touching my arm whenever she could. I knew I had her, but it was a little disappointing, to be honest. I thought she'd pose more of a challenge, but she was an aspiring actress, after all.

I've never met an aspiring actress I couldn't sweet-talk into bed. To Danielle's credit, she didn't seem like a complete starfucker, nor was she remotely flattered by my boilerplate compliments ("you must be an actress," "I bet the camera loves you," "you look like [insert celebrity name here]"). Also to her credit, she didn't ask me to introduce her to anyone, or to guest star on my show. Well, not yet anyway.

Danielle glanced down at my Cellini Rolex. "I love your watch," she said, gently tracing a manicured finger around the rose gold bezel. Normally I wouldn't let a random girl at a bar touch my $20,000 Rolex, but Danielle's touch was really doing something to me. She wasn't even touching me, she was touching my watch, but the pressure on my wrist caused a tingling sensation to spread through my arm.

I was imagining her delicate hands around Vlad – he would make them look tiny, when she leaned over and whispered something into Alice's ear.

Her blonde friend nodded in agreement. Alice looked to my blonde friend. "Do you want to get out of here?" she asked.

A shit-eating grin spread across Tony's face. He nodded, finished his drink, then guided Alice away – but not before winking at me.

Motherfucker. He closed before I did, which didn't sit right with me. I was so going to punish Danielle for making me wait.

I looked to Danielle, who was intently watching the pair leave together. Once they disappeared down the stairs, she breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to me.

"It was nice meeting you, Leo," Danielle said politely.

My jaw dropped.

"Have a good night." She kissed me on the cheek. Her lips were incredibly soft, and the tingling sensation from earlier returned with a vengeance, numbing my face in an almost painful way. When I came out of my daze (or was it a mini-stroke?), I realized she was walking away.

I was too stunned to move at first – it was a combination of the feeling of her lips and the feeling of rejection – and I just stood there gaping like an idiot for several moments.

When I finally snapped out of it, I grabbed the check from the bartender. I was about to sign my autograph when I noticed that the total was uncharacteristically low.

"Marcus, I think you left a few drinks off my tab."

"Uh, the girl you were talking to actually paid for her own drinks. And her friend's."

"What?!"

"She insisted, man," he said sheepishly.

I was pissed. A random girl at a bar made me feel like a fool. She had toyed with me, completely leading me on, and for what? So her less attractive friend could get laid? Not only that, she had the audacity to throw my generosity back in my face. No, this would not stand.

I pushed my way through the crowd and looked for Danielle.

* * * * * *

Uh-oh. Is Danielle-slash-Gemma in trouble? What do you think will happen next? Let me know your thoughts in the comments and as always, please vote if you enjoyed this chapter!