"You wouldn't stop me from flirting with you?" Pax's tone was deeply amused on top of being flirtatious. "Why not?"
"Because I kind of fancy you." Cordie was red from head to toe, the white of the bubbles in the tub making her now scarlet skin all the more noticeable.
"If that's your way of sayin' that you like me, I guess I should tell you that I like you too, Cordie, darlin'." Pax's voice was now deep and husky. "So, what are we gonna do about this, sweetie?"
Cordie had no idea how in the world to answer that question, so, she answered it with another one. "What do you want to do about it?"
"I'd like to get to know you better, if you'd allow it." Pax seemed to be completely sincere. "I'm gonna be in London on Saturday for an awards show. Maybe you'll let me take you out to dinner?"
Cordie was dumbfounded. "You really want to get to know me?"
"I ain't lookin' for a fling or a hookup, if that's what you're askin'," he responded bluntly. "I'm too old for that shit."
His words set Cordie's mine more at ease about the entire situation. She had been a loyal fan of Pax long enough to know that he wasn't the kind of person who said things that he did not mean. "I'd be thrilled to have dinner with you, Pax." She was probably coming off as way too keen, but we've already firmly established that Cordie was not good at interacting with members of the opposite sex. This went double when the bloke was a celebrity that she'd fancied since she had been at boarding school in the states. "It would probably be best if we stayed in and had dinner in my flat. Fleet Street follows my family's ever move here in London." Fleet Street was the nickname of the British press, which was famously invasive. "I'd really like to get to know you without the intrusion of the press." Cordie chewed nervously on her bottom lip as she waited for Pax's response. She knew that, for a celebrity, Pax wasn't much of a fame seeker, but she was worried that perhaps she had been too forward with her invitation.
"I'd live that, darlin'." She could actually hear Pax smiling through the phone.
"So –"
At that moment, the bathroom door flew open and in barged the Princess of Wales.