“My fingers are crossed that Rich wasn’t involved in any meal planning,” he added.
I grinned. “Is it wrong that I enjoyed irritating him by picking up pizza last night?”
Ben laughed and shook his head. “It was funny watching his reaction. I suspect that, after Charity ordered breakfast, he’ll try even harder to force his food selections on everyone. Tell me about the positives for today.”
“I get to be with you,” I replied. “I may suffer, but you will suffer right along with me.”
“You know I’m not sure if you just said you enjoy spending time with me, or you enjoy seeing me suffer,” he remarked.
“Rolling audio once we step inside the building!” James called out.
We both did our best to ignore him. I knew he was giving the warning so we wouldn’t say anything we didn’t want on film. It was still an annoying distraction.
Once we stepped inside the small building at the airfield, I placed a hand on his arm, and he stopped walking to look down at me. “Spending time with you is the best part of this whole experience.”
He smiled as he leaned down and gave me an all too brief kiss. “I feel the same about you.” His fingers trailed along my cheek. “I’m glad they changed your makeup.”
I had to bite back a laugh because I knew he’d touched on one of the forbidden topics just to be a pain in the ass. I released his arm, and we continued walking hand-in-hand.
“You didn’t like the hooker makeup they put on me?”
“Hooker makeup?” he asked. “I thought we agreed it was murderous clown makeup.”
I laughed. “So, you agree I looked like a clown?”
“An adorable clown,” he replied. “I’ve never wanted to kiss a killer clown more. Still, I do prefer you without all that makeup.”
“That’s good since I prefer to avoid wearing that much,” I told him.
“It did not look like hooker or clown makeup,” Rich grumbled from close by, having already given up on getting us to stick to acceptable topics.
“You’re right,” Ben agreed. “Prostitutes wear substantially less makeup.”
“How many prostitutes do you know?” I asked.
“I talked myself into a corner, didn’t I?”
I nodded. “You certainly did. Would you like to change the subject? Perhaps, we can talk about something other than clowns and hookers?”
“Thank god,” Rich muttered. “Let’s get some conversation we can use for the show, so we don’t waste all this filming time.”
“Where do you think we’re going for our date?” he asked.
“I suppose we’ll find out soon enough,” I replied. “You have a place in Los Angeles, right?”
“I do,” he replied. “I haven’t spent much time here in recent years. I’m thinking about moving to my place in the Bay Area.”
“The one we’ll go to after the wedding,” I said mostly to myself.
“You suddenly look very deep in thought,” he said once we climbed in the back of the waiting SUV.
I looked around, trying not to focus on the cameraman across from me. “This is a strange experience for me. I didn’t go to Vegas expecting to get married.”
He caught my hand and squeezed it. Ben’s touch had a way of soothing me, and I was grateful for that.
“So, no one gave you any hints on where we’re going?”
He shook his head. “I guess we’ll see soon enough.”
Chapter 21
Ben
When the SUV stopped in front of Rafe’s house, I tensed.
“What’s wrong?” Gemma asked.
“This is my bandmate’s house,” I explained. “Rafe, the drummer.”
“You don’t get along?”
“My ex, Debbie, is his wife’s younger sister,” I explained.
“Oh, this could turn out bad,” she muttered.
“Yeah, it could turn into a real shit show,” I agreed as we stepped out of the car and headed to the front door.
Jess, Rafe’s wife, didn’t hold the end of my relationship with Debbie against me, but Rafe had told me it was my dumbass fault things hadn’t worked out with her. He refused to discuss it, and there had been tension between us for months. I didn’t have high hopes for this date.
Jess met us at the door. She was in her early thirties, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Today, she was glowing, and her belly was swollen with their first child.
“Stone!” she said before hugging me. “It’s been too long since you came by for a visit.”
I hugged her back. “I’ve been busy.”
“And you’re still fighting with Rafe.” Jess held nothing back. She pulled away and turned her attention to Gemma. “You must be Gemma. I’m Jess, and this is Skye,” she said as she pointed to her belly.
“When did you find out the gender?” I asked. “I thought you wanted to wait.”
We followed Jess into the house as she replied. “That was the plan, but then I had to go in for a second ultrasound, and the temptation was too great. It’s easier knowing, even if I am a little disappointed that I won’t find out in the delivery room.”
“I’m not sure I could wait if I were in your position,” Gemma remarked.
“It seemed exciting,” Jess explained. “Kind of like waiting to open your presents on Christmas morning.”
“I always hated waiting to find out what was in my Christmas presents,” Gemma admitted.
“Don’t tell me you were one of those kids who unwrapped her presents early and then carefully re-wrapped them so no one would know,” I said with a laugh.
Gemma shook her head. “I might have if there had been real presents under the tree.”
“You didn’t have real presents under your tree?” Jess asked.
“My stepmom had empty boxes wrapped with fancy paper and bows just for the tree,” Gemma explained. “She liked getting the best photos during the holidays. We always had a beautifully decorated home, but the real presents were hidden away somewhere. Before my dad married her, he hid all the presents so my sister and I would be surprised when Santa brought the presents on Christmas.”
“Well, at least that kept you for ruining your surprises on Christmas morning,” Jess remarked.
“But I wanted to ruin my surprises,” Gemma argued. “You should know this now, Ben. I’m not one of those women who loves surprises.”
“Not even good ones?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No surprises are good.”
“Ben?” Jess asked.
“Yeah, Gemma calls me Ben,” I explained. “It is my name.”
“But no one has called you that since you became the famous Stone Morrison,” Jess pointed out.
“People still call me Ben,” I argued, though they never called me that when we were being interviewed or filmed, so Gemma’s behavior was different. Debbie had never called me Ben. Come to think of it; no girlfriend had called me Ben in years. “Gemma’s special.”
“I would hope so since you’re going to marry her,” Jess added.
“Another impulsive decision that will come back to bite you in the ass,” Rafe said as he walked into the foyer. He was scowling even as his arms went around his wife from behind. His hands rested on her belly, and I saw him relax a little but not much.
“It’s good to see you, too,” I grumbled.
“Don’t get all pissy, Stone,” Rafe told me. “Are you going to stand here all day, or are you going to join us by the pool?”
“Should we join you?” I asked. “You don’t seem to want us here.”
“For fuck’s sake, Stone,” he grumbled. “Get your ass out back.”
When Rafe released his wife and turned to walk away, Jess caught his hand and scowled at him. “Could you at least introduce yourself to Gemma? She’s got nothing to do with your issues with Stone.”
Rafe nodded and moved forward to extend a hand to Gemma. “Rafael St. James, but you can call me Rafe.”
Gemma shook hi
s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Gemma.”
“Are you one of Stone’s groupies?” Rafe asked.
Before I could snap at him for being rude, Jess called him on it. “Don’t act like that, Rafe. She didn’t do anything wrong, so stop treating her like she’s a villain.”
Rafe looked like he was going to argue, but instead, he nodded, and his attention returned to Gemma. “Are you a fan of the band?”
“Not really,” she replied before quickly adding, “Your music is good. My friend is a huge fan and plays it all the time.”
“Boyfriend?” Rafe asked as we started walking toward the backyard.
Gemma laughed. “No, it’s nothing like that.”
I cringed when we got out to the pool area and noticed two of my exes. One was Rafe’s cousin, and the other was the stepsister of another bandmate’s wife. My other bandmates and their wives were also there.
“I think I hate surprises, too,” I said as I prepared for what was already shaping up to be the date from Hell.
Chapter 22
Gemma
Ben had been tense since we’d arrived at his friend’s place. I didn’t need to be a mind reader to figure out he’d dated two of the women at the party. Both still thought they had a chance with him.
One of his exes, Chiara, was tall with long brown hair and hazel eyes. She was slender and perfectly put together. His other ex, Emily, was a curvy blonde with moss green eyes. Emily had been staring daggers at me since my arrival. She’d done her best to get close to Ben several times. He’d blocked her hug and maneuvered us, so she had trouble getting to the side I wasn’t on.
His other bandmates were friendly, and even Rafe started warming up to me after a few hours.
“I need to go to the restroom,” I told Ben. “Can you tell me where it is?”
“Don’t leave me here,” he said with a smile still pasted on his face.
“I’ll only be gone for a minute,” I assured him.
“Emily will pounce the second you walk away.”
The thought of her pouncing on Ben irritated me. Reality show or not, I was marrying Ben and had the right to demand his exes keep their hands to themselves.
“How about if you come with me?” I suggested. “You can wait outside the door.”
“I guess that’s better than standing out here,” he agreed.
“Could you stop acting so terrified of your ex?” I asked him. “She’s a little bitchy, but I’d hardly describe her as scary.”
“You only say that because you don’t know Emily.” He caught my hand and led me into the house. “I’m going to take you to the bathroom off the guest room. It will be easier to avoid Emily if I’m not standing in the hallway.”
“You are acting crazy,” I accused as we hurried into the guest room, and Ben quickly closed the door behind us. I rushed into the bathroom since I really had to go.
When I stepped out into the room, I saw Ben sitting on the edge of the bed. “I guess we should head back to the party,” he said with a sigh.
“It’s either that, or we wait in here until James comes looking for us.”
“I like that idea.” Ben patted a spot on the bed beside him. “Let’s hide in here for a little while. I want to spend more time alone with you.”
“All right,” I agreed as I took a seat beside him, sighing when he slipped an arm around my shoulders. “It’s nice to get away from the cameras.”
“Yes, it is. How are we supposed to pretend they aren’t there?” he asked.
“I’d think you’d be better at this,” I remarked. “You’re used to being in the spotlight. This is all new to me.”
“And yet you’re doing fantastic,” he replied. “You didn’t get into any hair pulling brawls.”
“I’m sure Rich and Charity are disappointed. They’d have been seeing dollar signs and high ratings if Emily had pulled my hair, and I’d tossed her bitchy ass in the pool.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I think your restraint pisses Rich off. My band likes you.”
“They’re all great. Even Rafe is growing on me. Do you think Drake will ever get my name right?” He kept calling me Jenna. I’d have taken offense if he hadn’t also gotten Rich and Charity’s names wrong.
Ben chuckled. “Not likely. He’s terrible with names.”
“I noticed,” I replied.
“It’s how I ended up becoming Stone Morrison,” he explained. “Drake kept getting my name wrong, and the band finally decided to stick with Stone after Drake had it printed on a CD cover.”
“Drake changed your name?” I asked with a laugh.
“Stone Morrison only exists because of Drake’s bad memory when it comes to names,” I told her. “No more talk about my band, the show, and especially no more talk about Rich.”
“All right,” I agreed. “What should we talk about?”
“How much I want to kiss you,” he replied as he cupped my cheek and turned my head so I faced him.
Those simple words were enough to make my nipples harden as my tongue darted out to moisten my lips.
“Why talk when you can show me?” I asked in a breathy voice.
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” he murmured before his lips covered mine.
The kiss started gentle, and I suspected he was trying to remain in control since we were in a room without a lock. That self-control didn’t last long. As our kiss grew more frenzied, he guided me back onto the bed, settling between my legs. My dress rode up past my thighs as I wrapped my legs around his hips.
His tongue moved in my mouth, mimicking sex, and I let out a whimper of need. I wanted to strip Ben out of his t-shirt so I could explore more of him. The voice in the back of my mind that reminded me this wasn’t the time or place kept getting dimmer.
I began to think we’d need a bucket of ice water to stop this kiss from going too far when that bucket of ice water in the form of a crazy ex burst into the room with the cameraman and director.
Chapter 23
Ben
Fuck my life.
That’s all I could think when Emily barged into the room. I was still lying on top of Gemma, trying to figure out how to shift positions without having her panties caught on film when Emily climbed into the bed beside us with a smile.
“What do we have here?” she purred as she moved behind me and slid her hands under my shirt.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded.
“Joining you, of course,” she replied. “I know how you like threesomes, and I could tell Gemma wants me. This is going to be fun.”
Emily’s leg wrapped around mine and Gemma’s entwined legs.
“Whoa!” Gemma shouted as she pushed at my chest. “I need you to both back off.”
Backing off wasn’t easy with Emily clinging to my back as I stood. When I got off the bed, Emily threw me off balance, so I nearly fell over. As I was trying to pry Emily’s arms off my neck, Gemma was pushing her dress down and glaring at James. She had to be regretting her decision to marry me after this scene, and I half-expected her to run screaming from the room.
Instead, she stood and took several deep breaths before pointing a finger at Emily and saying, “Down!”
Much to my surprise, Emily immediately slid off of my back. I expected her to move around to confront Gemma, but nothing was playing out the way I’d have guessed. Emily sidled forward with a smile. “This is a surprise. Stone was always the dominant one in bed. I had no idea he was a switch. What do you want me to do now?”
Gemma looked confused by Emily’s reaction, not that I blamed her. This was a new level of crazy for Emily.
“Get out of here,” Gemma finally ordered her. “I don’t want to have sex with you. Ben isn’t going to have sex with you. Just go!”
Emily frowned. “I saw the way you were looking at me. You want me, just like Stone does.”
“No, I don’t,” Gemma argued.
“Emily, we only went out a couple of times,” I told her
gently. “I’m not interested in you that way.”
Saying we’d gone out was an exaggeration. Emily had cornered me after a show, and we’d hooked up. There had been two repeats of that, and she’d thought those repeats meant she was my girlfriend. She’d even given an interview that I’d had to explain to my band.
“Christ,” I muttered. “I have been a man-whore.”
“You’re just figuring that out,” Mike asked as he entered the room with his wife, Nicole.
“I thought you said this thing with Emily wouldn’t happen again,” Nicole accused.
“Stone can’t get enough,” Emily taunted. “I’m the only one who can give him what he needs.”
“As fun as this has been, I think we should go,” Gemma told everyone with a tight smile.
“You want me!” Emily accused as she pointed a finger at her.
Mike moved closer to my side. “I think Em’s off her meds again.”
“Why is she here?” I asked.
He shrugged. “She just showed up at the door. I blame this stupid show. You’d better go. Nicole looks pissed, and I can’t tell if she’s pissed at you, me, or Emily.”
“Probably all three,” I muttered. “Again, I’m sorry anything ever happened with Em. It was a stupid mistake.”
“Yeah, I know,” he assured me. “Unlike Rafe, I still remember all the stupid shit I did when I was younger.”
“I fucked up my friendship with Rafe, didn’t I?”
“He’ll get over it,” Mike assured me.
“He’d better,” Gemma grumbled. She continued when we both looked her way with raised eyebrows. “What? All you can do is apologize for making a mistake. Besides, Debbie is the one who screwed you over.”
“Rafe thinks I was cheating on her,” I told Gemma.
“No, he doesn’t,” Mike assured me. “He’s just pissed that you didn’t listen to him when he tried warning you about getting involved with her. Why don’t you make a run for it while Emily is distracted?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll talk to you later.”
Unscripted Desires Page 8