Chapter 4—Top Two of the 50 Hottest Bachelors

Aidan smoothly stepped out of the limousine and offered a gracious hand to Olivia as she eased her way out of the car. Plastering his trademark smile on his face, he nodded casually to the onlookers. How many times had he done this? Plenty enough. After all, every public appearance was the same: Act smooth, charm the crowd, and own the place.

The only thing different about tonight's movie premiere was that he didn't actually like his date. He waited as Olivia was by his side, her hand loosely in his, before walking slowly down the carpet. They hadn't exchanged words the whole ride, but Aidan had decided long ago that awkward silence with Olivia was better than any talking at all.

The carpet was already filled with people, and Aidan nodded in acknowledgement to a few as they passed. Heads turned to watch them curiously, and whispers passed among the onlookers as they stared at the new couple together.

"Mr. and Mrs. Klein!"

It took a moment for both Aidan and Olivia to realize the paparazzi was addressing them, although Olivia had not changed her last name and had no intention whatsoever of doing so. They both turned towards the cameras and forced their happiest smiles as the bulbs flashed.

Pretend like you're actually happy to be married to Olivia, Aidan thought to himself as he continued to smoothly smile for the cameras a moment longer.

He began to slowly walk down the long strip of carpet again, scanning the crowd for her. The several blonde heads Aidan found in the masses held no significance for him. Feeling a slight twinge of disappointment, he hardly realized Olivia had suddenly quickened her pace until he felt a fierce tug on his arm.

"What the—" Aidan's curse was quickly cut off by another male voice.

"Olivia!"

Aidan felt Olivia pause the slightest of seconds, before resuming her pace as though she hadn't heard the call of her name. He raised an eyebrow. Interesting…

Aidan casually stopped mid-stride. "Olivia, I think someone wants to speak to you." He smirked as he watched her stiffen and halt, before slowly twisting around.

"Thanks so much hon," she said sarcastically, shooting him a quick glare before turning her attention reluctantly to the caller of her name.

Aidan turned too, curious to see whom Olivia had been so eager to avoid.

Dressed in a white button down shirt opened casually at the collar and jeans very much like Aidan's own, was Jake Levin, male lead of Sunday Morning. His black hair fell smoothly across his forehead, contrasting with dark blue eyes that were currently focused intensely on Olivia.

And number two on People's 50 Hottest Bachelors ranking a month ago, Aidan realized. He smirked. Beat ya sucker…

"Haven't seen you in awhile, Jake," Olivia said stiffly, her eyes meeting the black-haired actor in an unwilling but firm gaze.

"And I can say the same to you." Jake's voice was charming and matched the smile he wore on his face. "Good to see you again, Olivia. You look absolutely gorgeous…as usual." His blue eyes swept down Olivia appreciatively, before raising to meet her eyes again with ease.

Asshole, Aidan decided as he sized up Jake and watched the scene before him with interest. He could feel the tension radiating from Olivia and the squeeze of her grip on his arm. For once, she wasn't clutching it so tightly on purpose… This time, she was only gripping his arm to keep her control.

He glanced at her eyes and was surprised to find that they were full of something he couldn't quite identify. It wasn't anger—he definitely knew what that looked like—it was… Aidan shook his head, perplexed, his movement causing the other two to suddenly notice him again.

"Aidan, right?" Jake casually extended his hand out to Aidan, and the latter shook it silently, nodding.

"Congratulations on the marriage." Jake chuckled, shaking his head and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. "I have to admit, I did find it a bit of a surprise." He rocked back on his heels, studying Aidan through half-lidded eyes. "I didn't take you to be the type to get married so quickly."

Aidan struggled to keep his jaw from visibly tightening. "Well, love conquers all," he finally managed, snaking his arm around Olivia's waist and pulling her closer to him for effect.

Jake chose to ignore Aidan's action. Instead, his face filled with mock concern. "Correct me if I'm mistaken, but weren't you the one who was dating Olivia's sister a few weeks back?"

"You're not mistaken," Aidan managed through gritted teeth. How much he wanted to wipe that annoying look off of Jake's face…

The other actor nodded, his eyes flickering to Olivia and resting upon her for several long moments, before focusing back on Aidan. "That's right… I remember how big of a deal it was when she dumped you. I'm sorry, man." His voice showed how he wasn't sorry at all.

"Well, can't say I'm sorry. After all, I've got Livy now, and she's certainly the best." Aidan gave a loving smile to Olivia, using his hand on the small of her back to push her close against him. "And I'm definitely the luckiest guy in the world," he whispered towards her, making sure it was loud enough for Jake to hear.

He forced himself to stop from throwing a well-deserved punch at Jake and instead concentrated on putting on a convincing performance with the girl next to him. He was glad to see that Olivia seemed to have the same idea in mind, her face set determinedly as she looked up at him.

Aidan bent down towards her and noted the clench in Jake's jaw from the corner of his eye. Perfect… Before he had the chance to change his mind, Aidan leaned down and touched his lips to Olivia's, raising his eyebrows when she pulled him even closer. He could taste the sweetness of her lip gloss as he eased his lips against her own, drawing out the kiss until they finally heard Jake leave.

Olivia broke away, giving Aidan a glare that only he caught. "You just had to force me to stop and talk to him, didn't you?"

Aidan shrugged nonchalantly, hoping she hadn't noticed how much Jake's words had angered him. "You deserved it, darling."

He expected her to lash out at him, but was surprised when she only blinked and turned away, looking ahead of them with her green eyes still full of that something he couldn't quite recognize. Aidan looked up in the direction that Olivia was gazing in and found his eyes settling on Jake, talking with a tall, slim blonde, outfitted in a risqué scarlet dress, her curves more exposed than covered. Candice.

Aidan's heartbeat quickened. His eyes narrowed as Jake took a step closer to Candice, his hand brushing against her arm. He watched as she smiled flirtatiously at something Jake had said and followed her fingers as they ran through her hair. Suddenly, Candice turned her head, and her eyes locked with Aidan's. She stared at him, a trace of her smile still visible on the corners of her lips. Aidan forced himself to tear his gaze away from her face and looked down, only to find Olivia watching him curiously with an eyebrow raised.

He scowled. Swallowing and raising his head, he realized anxiously that Candice was now making her way towards him and Olivia. She weaved through the crowd purposefully, ignoring the men who attempted to stop her for conversation.

Candice's perfectly plucked eyebrows were raised as she stopped before them, one hand clutching a beaded Versace purse, and the other propped against her hip. "Aidan. Little sis." She looked pointedly at each of them before pointing an accusing finger at Olivia. "You haven't been answering my calls."

Aidan watched as Olivia rolled her eyes. "Nice to see you too. And it's not I haven't been answering my calls, it's I can't find my cell phone."

Funny, Aidan could have sworn she'd been using a cell phone in the limo earlier…

Candice waved her hand dismissively at Olivia's answer. "Yeah, whatever. Either way, I have a lot to talk about with you." As she turned from Olivia to Aidan, the frown on her face disappeared and was replaced by a neutral smile.

Aidan nodded at her. "You look nice, Candice."

The singer smiled sweetly. "Shouldn't you be saving that compliment for your…wife, hm? But," she said, touching him lightly on the arm, "that's nice of you to notice." With a wink and a flashing glance at her sister, Candice turned and disappeared into the crowd, as quickly as she had appeared moments earlier.

Aidan's eyes lingered after the blonde as she weaved through the throng of people and cursed under his breath. Damn it, he still wanted her…

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AN: Hey all! I updated! As if you didn't notice… Anyway, um…it's Sunday…which means tomorrow's Monday…which means I SHOULD be doing homework…but, meh, it's always more fun to update a story.

Thanks to been waiting (you made me hurry up and finish this chapter!), chinx (I will try to lessen the cursing, but for some of the parts, the way I imagine the characters talking just makes it seem more believable if the cursing is there. I don't have that much so that's why I have this rated PG-13. But I totally respect your question and I'll aim to tone it down a bit), Stage Name Scarlett (hahahaha that's hilarious--vibrating tongue bars. Anyway, you just might see more drunkenness in the future…we'll see ;)), Ruler of the World (how was this chapter? Was the dialogue okay? And yep, bitchy Candice, don't we all love her…), Dawn, SilverRider, xsleepie, ItalianQT (still working on apps!), wilting-tears (yes, school sucks), maureen, died on a Sunday (at least september's finally over…), TallemeraRane, MimiGhost, Mauibabe, __________ (hahaha that's funny how you hate Olivia. I'm glad you love Aidan :)), popping bubble (thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt! I don't know about the not falling in love part but maybe the story'll be interesting enough for you to stick by anyway. :)), and lidia (yeah I hope Aidan doesn't hurt Olivia either, but then again, boys do make stupid mistakes, don't you agree?).

I don't think I forgot anybody, but if I did, you can yell at me all you want and ask for a jolly rancher. Oh yeah, I don't know if I'm supposed to add this, but I don't own People magazine. Although that would be very cool and then I could own my own beaded Versace purse.