3

“Thank you.” Amara replied, knowing she'd never use it.

“I’m the lead actress,” Vanessa said, mainly to Silas.

“Good for you,” Silas replied.

“We’d better continue making the rounds.” Tyler cut in, “More people to see.”

“Don’t let us stop you,” Amara told him, her fake smile still plastered on her face.

“Good to see you again, Amara.” he said, “Silas…”

Again, Silas didn't respond, and then, finally, Tyler turned and walked away. Vanessa followed, casting a lingering glance at Silas as she started walking off with Tyler.

The nerve!

—---------

The moment they were out of earshot, Silas turned to Amara. “What the hell did you think you were doing?” he asked her. He still had that frown on his face, but thankfully it didn't look as hateful as it did when it was directed at Tyler.

“Pretending obviously,” Amara replied, trying her best to stand her ground. If he was angry at her she'd apologize, but she was truly grateful that he'd played along. Not everyone would have caught on so fast, “I'm Amara. Amara Rhodes. Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” she offered him her hand.

He glared at her, leaving her hand hanging for a moment. Amara was starting to wonder if he had a thing with refusing handshakes, when he finally reached out and clasped her hand in his. He had such big, strong hands, she observed. His palm felt really warm, and he had such a firm grip. A jolt of awareness shot through her body, and she pulled her hand away immediately and tucked it to her side. If he noticed he didn't show it.

“Silas Vance,” he said.

“I know who you are. I work at the photography studio. I was there when you and the other firefighters came to have your pictures taken, and I was here when you got called up to the stage tonight.”

“Ahhh, that’s right.” He snapped a finger, seeming unimpressed. “The damn stage…”

“Yes,” she told him, “I must say you don't seem very thrilled to be here. Anyone would be glad to be recognised the way you've been. You're a hero, and you're all over the news. What you did for Senator Smith… That was amazing,”

Silas nodded, almost absent mindedly, “I don't really like the attention. Not my style,”

“I see…” Amara looked down at her drink. Time for that apology, “Look, I —” she began,

“Now that we’ve been properly introduced, are you going to kiss me again?” Silas cut in before she could speak.

Her face flaming, Amara forced in an even breath. Then she felt a measure of disgust. “You men.” she hissed, “You’re all the same.”

For the first time that evening, Silas chuckled. “Excuse me? You kiss me, then you look at me like I’m some sort of creep?”

Shit.

Amara felt stupid, “I'm sorry,” she said, “That was my ex-boyfriend. We used to date two years ago before I got transferred from Oakhaven. It wasn't a very good break up and I did embarrass myself a bit afterwards…”

Silas lifted a brow, “What did you do? Break into his house? Destroy a few things? Smash his car windows?”

Amara narrowed her eyes at him, slightly surprised at his train of thought. Did he think she was crazy? Well, she'd kissed him, a total stranger to create an impression with her ex. She supposed that was the kind of thing a crazy chick would do, “No… Nothing crazy or violent,” she explained, “I just… I did some begging…”

“Oofff,”

“Yeah. Like I said… Embarrassing. Anyways, I wasn't expecting to see him here tonight, and I needed someone,”

“I understand. Well, happy to help.” He grinned at her, a smile that was unexpected and both charming and disarming.

But Amara told herself she wouldn't be impressed with his antics. “Of course I didn't know you and Tyler already knew each other, but I'm glad I happened to have you at the right spot at the right time. You really are a hero…going around rescuing people…”

Silas chuckled. “I’ve never quite had to rescue anyone in exactly that manner before...”

“You know what I mean,” Amara said.

“You laid one on me without any explanation. If you wanted help, shouldn’t you have just asked instead of kissing me?”

“You’re right,” she conceded. “Obviously, you had no clue what I was doing, and I’m sorry for the way I handled things. It’s just, suddenly he was there, and I panicked.” She stopped, realizing that she was doing too much talking. She didn't even know this man.

“I can't help wondering why you refused to go to his movie premiere or whatever… ”

Amara raised a brow, a frown forming her face, “Why would I go?”

“You passed up an opportunity to drive your point home.”

“How so?”

“You clearly wanted to prove to the guy that you’re over him. Getting dressed and going to his movie premiere would have been a great way to do that? After that, there would have been no doubt in his mind that you’ve moved on.”

Amara's stomach fluttered. Just what was Silas proposing to leave no doubt in Tyler's mind? She didn't need to go anywhere to prove anything, and she might have gone a bit crazy by kissing him without thinking, but she didn't need him all up in her business. Good looking as he might be.

Okay, maybe ‘good looking’ was an understatement. The first time she'd seen the man on TV, all she'd thought was, ‘Wow, that's one attractive man’, and she'd seen some of the ladies staring at him at the studio so she knew she wasn't the only one who thought he was a fine man. Even as they sat there, she'd noticed one or two women throw glances in his direction. She could bet one of them might have come up to talk to him if she wasn't sitting by his side having this conversation.

Silas Vance had dark, curly hair, which he kept neither long nor short. Just full and long enough to fall over the sides of his face. He was a big guy as well, a bit bulky but fit, which wasn't surprising given his line of work, but it was his eyes that really grabbed Amara's attention. They were light brown, but seemed to darken depending on the lighting and his mood. He rarely smiled, and there was something about the way he stared that made her feel like there was more to him than he let on.

“As much as I appreciate your input and your help tonight,” Amara said, pushing her mind off how good he looked, “I'd prefer you stayed out of it. I don't need to go anywhere to prove anything to Tyler. Tonight was enough, and your acting was great. Thank you.”

“Oh.” Silas eyebrows rose, and an expression she didn't quite understand passed over his face.

“What?” Amara asked. “What’s with that look?”

“It’s just...I thought you kissed me because of your ex, but maybe that’s not why at all.”

“Excuse me?”

“I thought you used me to get to your ex, but maybe you were actually using your ex to get to me.”