Characters: Actor Chris Evans, OFC Kayla Brooks

Warnings: None, Fluff

Chapter 2

Chris wiped the smile off his face before he turned to face her. “Can I use your cell phone?” He looked at her like she was from Mars. Kayla tried again, pointing at his phone, “Your phone, can I use it to call my friend? Mine is dead.” She waved her now useless phone in the air.

This was not what he expected. Chris stammered. “It’s just . . . I don’t . . . I have a lot of personal . . . there are a lot . . . my phone is very private.” He paused and gave her a pointed look then lowered his face and moved in closer and said, as if revealing a state secret, “do you know who I am?” Instantly regretting the words, he closed his eyes and shook his head at the egoism of the words.

Kayla rolled her eyes and grumbled. “Of course I know who you are Captain. You can’t blink in L. A. anymore without knowing who Chris Evans is. Your face is plastered everywhere. I don’t give a damn about your contact list; I just want to call my friend to come help me.” Chris bit his lower lip in hesitation.

Kayla threw her hands up growing even more frustrated. “Forget it, I’ll find someone else. Thank you; you’ve done so much to help me already.” She mockingly curtsied at him.

As Kayla walked away Chris could feel his mother slapping the back of his head and scolding him for being rude to the girl and not helping her. He swore under his breath and glanced at the sky somehow knowing she would end up being trouble. “Wait, you can use my phone.”

Kayla kept walking and ignored him. He couldn’t help but admire the lithe but determined sway of her hips. They were nice hips attached, he noticed, to a fairly round ass and toned legs in form fitting yoga pants. He broke out of his testosterone driven thoughts and caught up to her until he was in front of her, jogging backward.

“Wait, please?” She turned her head in the other direction and continued walking. “Wow, you are stubborn for someone in need of help.” He was starting to enjoy the challenge of getting her to like him. “Are you this way with everyone who tries to help or just entitled, egotistical celebrities?”

Kayla stopped and looked properly humbled. “I’m sorry. I’m not this way with everyone. You just sort of . . . well not actually you. My day started off . . . promising then turned bad and you just happened to be there for that part.”

Chris could see the defeat in her eyes so he broke out his warmest smile for her. “I’m not accustomed to lending my phone to strangers but especially when I don’t even know their name.” He raised one eyebrow and made an adorable smirking face that at least got a grin from her.

“It’s Kayla. Kayla Brooks.”

He extended his phone towards her but just as her fingers grazed the case he pulled it back slightly. “I know you don’t like me but I might have a solution that doesn’t involve dragging your friend out here to try and save you. If you think you can trust me.”

Kayla eyed him with a certain amount of doubt before giving him the slightest nod. He said “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

“Yeah, okay. Where did you think I was gonna go with my keys stuck in the trunk?” She was not above sarcasm when the situation called for it.

Five minutes later, Chris returned with a can of WD-40^© and a screwdriver. “The store manager let me borrow these. I think I can use them to jimmy the keys out of the trunk.” He knelt on the ground and sent a heavy spray into the lock then pried and jiggled the keys with the screwdriver.

Kayla bent at the waist to look over his shoulder. “Is it working?” Chris dared a backwards glimpse and saw her light brown hair pulled back from her face in a pony tail, showing off the fair skin of her shoulders. Her simple tank top didn’t reveal much cleavage and Chris actually liked that modesty. The long pause in his work set her off though. In an impatient voice she asked him, “do you even know what you’re doing drama boy?”

Chris took a deep, patient breath and turned his neck to look at her. She was close enough that he could see flecks of brown in her green eyes and freckles sprinkled across her nose. She was annoying but cute. Not only did he want to prove her wrong but his manliness was on the line. “I can do this. Just give me a minute.” He turned back to the trunk and closed his eyes, praying this would work.

A few more jiggles and they heard a click. They both let out a cheer and high-fived. Chris stood and gave her the keys then stretched his body from being in the cramped position. He watched as Kayla grabbed her bags and loaded them into the back seat of the car. When he smiled at her she explained, “I’m not taking any chances with the trunk.”

She turned to him and gave him a shy, penitent look. “I’m sorry I doubted you. And that I judged you so harshly. I’m not normally that person. It’s just been a really long day.” She paused and gazed into his blue eyes, which she didn’t want to admit held some sort of spell over her. “Friends?” She extended her right hand and he took it, noticing how warm and small it felt in his own oversized hand. “Friends.” He agreed.

She moved to the driver’s side of her car and opened the door. “It was nice to meet you Chris. Thank you for helping me with my keys. You’re a really nice guy. Not at all an entitled, egotistical celebrity.” She got into her car and turned over the ignition.

A stunned Chris picked up his groceries, along with the supplies from the store manager, and stepped aside while she quickly backed out of the parking space. She smiled and waved as she drove away. It took Chris a minute to process the fact that she had just driven out of his life, literally, and hadn’t asked him for anything. Not a selfie, not an autograph, not his phone number, not to give him her phone number. He was not used to women like that, women who wanted nothing from him. It was refreshing. He smiled at the thought of being just a regular guy. Until he realized that he really wanted her phone number.