I glance at Alex, and he shrugs. Lot of fucking help he is.
“Pins, have you been drinking?”
It’s a valid question but probably not the best one to ask because her nostrils flare, and she gets this crazy look in her eyes. I genuinely shit my pants.
“No, I haven’t been drinking, you ass! A first-class plane ticket, West. What the hell were you thinking?”
Ah. Now, we’re getting somewhere.
I upgraded her flight to Vegas from coach to first-class and put her on the same flight as me. We leave in two days to go to Vegas to film the rest of the movie.
I thought she’d be happy. Apparently not.
“And I’ll take that as my cue to leave.” Alex gets up, putting the script down. “I’ll get some coffee.”
“Deserter.” I glare at him.
He laughs. “Go easy on him, Charly.” He pats her shoulder as he passes. “His intentions were good. He’s just a bit dim at times.”
“Hey! What the fuck?”
“Can I bring you coffee back?” He pulls his jacket on.
“Where are you going?” Charly asks him in a nice-as-pie voice.
“Starbucks.”
“Ooh, I’ll have a caramel latte then, please. Thanks, Alex.”
I buy her a first-class plane ticket and get yelled at. He offers to buy her a four-dollar cup of coffee—that I’ll actually pay for—and she’s all please and thank you.
Honestly, I don’t understand women.
“Black coffee, Vaughn?” he asks me.
“Yeah.” I sigh. “And one of those toffee cookies.”
“A Toffeedoodle?”
“Ooh, I’ll have one of those, too,” Charly says.
“Got it. See you in ten.”
We both watch him leave. Then, Charly turns back to me, her face like thunder.
Seems her happy moment left with Alex. Great.
“Pins…I thought you’d be happy about the ticket.” I get to my feet, walking toward her.
“It was a nice thing to do—”
“I’m a nice guy.”
“But it was also dumb.”
“Hey!” I frown. “Go easy there, Pins. My ego is fragile. I wound easily, you know.” I slap a hand to my chest.
Her lips crack into a smile. But she’s soon back to scowling at me. “Did you even think when you booked the ticket?”
“I didn’t book it. I had the studio do it.”
“Yeah, and nothing says we’re sleeping together like a first-class plane ticket on your flight.”
Oh, yeah. She has a point there.
“Do you want people to know we’re sleeping together?” she asks.
“Maybe I do.”
What?
Her eyes widen with surprise. Honestly, I’m a little surprised myself.
I didn’t know I was there yet.
But…maybe I am.
Is that why I had her ticket changed?
“Vaughn…” She swallows, moving closer to me.
I watch her closely. Her eyes…something in them isn’t sitting right with me.
“Are you sure that’s what you want? Because I thought you wanted the focus to be on the movie right now. Not your sex life.”
“Personal life. I thought we had established that you and I are more than just sex.”
Even though we haven’t discussed exactly what we are. But I know I want her. I know I’m serious about being with her. I know I want more from her than just sex.
“I know we are, but…” She looks away.
“But what?” I ask, dipping down to look her in the eyes, my heart starting to beat just that little bit faster.
She lifts her head. “I just think the focus should be on the movie and not us.”
“It’s not just that though, is it?”
“Of course it is.” Her response is too quick, and I know she’s not being entirely truthful.
“Charly…if you’re not ready for us to go public or to have your life changed, then it’s fine. I do understand.”
She stares at me for a long beat. Then, she bites her lip. “Are you angry?”
“No.” I wrap my arms around her. “So long as you’re not ashamed to be with me.”
“As if.” She laughs, fisting the back of my shirt in her hands. “I’m pretty sure the embarrassment should be on your part.”
“What?” I pull back from her, looking at her like she’s lost her mind because she clearly has. “Why in the fuck would I be embarrassed about you?”
“Because I’m just a wardrobe assistant.” She lifts her shoulder.
“You’re an artist. I read lines that other people write and pretend to be a different person for a living. It’s not as big of a deal as people seem to think it is.”
“I think it’s a big deal.” She slides her hands into my back pockets.
“I think you’re a big deal. When we finally go public, I’ll be wearing an I’m Sleeping with Her T-shirt, you know, just so everyone knows we’re screwing.”
“You’re so romantic.” She laughs, squeezing my ass.
“And you love it.” I brush my lips over hers.
“Mmhmm,” she murmurs.
“I’ll have the ticket changed back,” I tell her. “I’ll have you stuck back in coach, if that’s what will make you happy.”
“You make me happy, West.”
“Right back at ya, Pins.” I slide my hands down to her ass. “So…Alex won’t be back for another eight minutes. I can do a lot in eight minutes.”
She tips her head back and smiles. “Oh, yeah? You have me intrigued with that statement.”
“I’m an intriguing kind of guy.”
She pulls her hands from my pockets and steps back. “Guess you’d better show me then, Mr. Eight Minutes.” And she takes off for the bedroom.
I’m seconds behind her, shutting the door behind me. Grabbing her around the waist, I tackle her down to the bed, making her laugh.
Then, I’m lifting her skirt and pulling her panties off and pressing my mouth to her pussy, making her moan my name, and it has never sounded better than it does coming from her lips.
I lick her and fuck her with my tongue until she’s coming around my mouth and begging for my cock.
Moments later, I’m suiting up and slipping into her from behind, and then we’re fucking up against the wall and on the floor and, finally, the bed where we both come hard and together.
I’m still not done because I can’t get enough of her.
So, I flip her onto all fours and start to fuck her with my fingers, making her come again and again. Then, I’m back inside her, and I never want it to end.
I never want my time with her to end.
So, those eight promised minutes turned into an hour. Seems I’m Mr. Sixty Minutes.
And our coffee is waiting for us when we finally emerge from the bedroom. It’s cold, and it’s the best fucking cold cup of coffee I’ve ever had.
Chapter 23
Charly
We’ve been filming in Vegas for a week now, and it’s hot. Hotter than the summers I’m used to in New York.
Things with Vaughn and I seemed to have moved up a level after the Piper thing.
Neither of us has come out and said we’re dating, and we can’t exactly go out on dates in public, but it feels like we’re dating. It’s more than just sex.
The fact that he wanted to go public with us said a lot. A hell of a lot.
But it also reminded me of the difficulty of the situation that I find myself in right now.
I never thought, when I started this thing with Vaughn, that it would move beyond anything other than sex for him. I knew I was falling for him; it’s impossible not to. But, when he said he wanted people to know about us, it made me realize that, when he’d said he was serious about me, he really meant it.
Honestly, in that moment, I panicked. I acted like a coward. I used a half-truth to keep things the way they were, keep our relationship hidden from the world.<
br />
I don’t know how to tell him the truth about my situation. If I can tell him the truth. I trust him, but telling him…explaining it is a whole different story, and it would also mean putting him in a position that I don’t want him to be in. But, if he finds out any other way, he won’t understand. He’ll be hurt, and I don’t want that either.
So, for now, until I can figure this out, it’s best to keep our relationship as it is—between us.
I need to talk to Nick. He’ll know the best way to handle it. I just don’t seem to have time to call him at the moment. Between nights spent with Vaughn and going out on the odd occasion with Ava and Logan to see the sights of Vegas, we’ve been filming nonstop.
Filming has stepped up, as Vaughn has a three-day break in his filming schedule coming up.
Apparently, it was written into his original contract. I found out about it from Ava when I got the shooting schedule for next week, but she doesn’t know why he’s off or where he’s going in those three days.
And I don’t know because he hasn’t told me. He hasn’t even mentioned that he’ll be gone for three days, which has left me feeling a little weird. I mean, why hasn’t he told me where he’s going? But I’m not going to ask him. I’m going to wait and see if he tells me.
I’m on set now. We’re out in the desert, and it’s nighttime.
They’re filming a scene where Vaughn’s character, Drew, and Natasha’s character, Lexi, are burying a body in the dead of night in the desert. Natasha’s character killed someone, and she called Drew to come help her.
We already filmed those scenes back in the hotel yesterday. Now, we’re filming the burying-the-dead-body scene. I spent most of the day getting Vaughn’s clothes ready for it. He needs sets of the same suit but in different degrees of dirtiness.
As he won’t actually be burying the body, he won’t get as dirty as his character would, so I had to prepare five different suits, dirtying them up to varying standards with blood from the dead guy when he’s lugging the body around and dirt from the digging.
They’re getting ready to film. Vaughn and Natasha are in makeup, but I need to go get him from there, as it’s time to put him in his first suit of the night. I also said I’d retrieve Natasha for Logan, as he’s just putting some final touches on the dress she’ll be wearing for the first part of filming. I have no clue where Ava is. She went to go get coffee, and she hasn’t come back yet.
I step out of the wardrobe trailer, and the heat hits me immediately. It’s nine p.m., and it’s boiling. I’m just glad I’m dressed in jean shorts and a T-shirt. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like for Vaughn wearing those suits. He’ll be melting.
I head over to makeup, knock on the door, and step inside. But Vaughn and Natasha aren’t there.
“Where are Vaughn and Natasha?” I ask Grace, one of the makeup artists. “They’re needed for wardrobe.”
“Oh, they’re out on set with Brandon. He wanted to go over some things with them before they started shooting.”
“Cool. Thanks.”
I head back out of the trailer and around the back, heading for the set, which is lit up with floodlights, and the car Vaughn’s character drives the dead body out here in is set in position.
People are milling around on set, but I don’t see Vaughn, Natasha, or Brandon.
I head over to John, one of the camera crew guys, who’s setting up his camera. “Hey, John.” I smile.
“Hey, Charly.”
“Have you seen Vaughn and Natasha? I need them for wardrobe.”
“Coffee.” He jerks his head in the direction of the catering van.
“Thanks.”
I head toward the van, coming up to the side, where I hear Vaughn and Natasha talking before I see them.
“So, not long till Sasha’s wedding then?” Natasha says.
I know Sasha is one of Vaughn’s sisters, but I didn’t know she was getting married.
“I bet she’s getting excited. I remember what I was like in the run-up to my and Carter’s wedding.”
“Yeah, she’s driving my mom nuts. Bridezilla at its worst.”
“Are you taking Charly with you?” she asks in a lower voice.
The mention of my name makes my feet stop just before I’m about to round the corner.
Natasha knows about us? He never told me that.
“I don’t know. I haven’t mentioned it to her.”
“You haven’t told her that your sister’s getting married?”
“No. Why?”
She laughs. “God, you men are clueless. Do you want to take her with you?”
I hold my breath, waiting for his response.
“I don’t take women home.”
“Yeah, I know that. But I didn’t ask if you took women home. I asked if you wanted to take Charly home with you.”
There’s a long pause.
His lack of a response makes my chest ache. I rub a hand to the spot.
Then, Natasha speaks again, “Well, if you do decide you want to ask her to go with you, don’t leave it much longer because, otherwise, she’ll feel like you just asked her as a last-minute choice.”
I don’t want to hear any more, so I trace my steps back and go around the back of the van.
I stop at the other side and paste a smile on my face, shrugging off the hurt I’m feeling.
Then, I step out. Vaughn’s eyes instantly come to me. He smiles at me. That secret smile he always gives me, one that usually turns me to jelly…not this time though.
“I need you in wardrobe,” I say to him, fake smile on. Then, my eyes move to Natasha. “Natasha, Logan asked me if I would bring you along, too.”
“Sure thing,” she says, tossing her coffee in the trash.
Vaughn follows suit, tossing his coffee.
And we all walk over to wardrobe, Natasha and Vaughn talking over their upcoming scene while I totally zone out.
His sister’s getting married, and he didn’t tell me. Okay, that’s not such a massive thing because he’s a man, and men don’t think like women.
But Mr. I Don’t Take Women Home doesn’t want to take me with him? Well, okay, he didn’t exactly say that. But he didn’t say he wanted to take me either. He didn’t say anything.
I mean, rationally thinking, he probably hasn’t asked because I pushed to keep us a secret, and if I go to his sister’s wedding, we definitely wouldn’t be a secret…which brings me to the fact that Natasha knows!
How many other people has he told?
And why do I feel so weird and bent out of shape about this?
Why is it bothering me so much that he hasn’t asked me to his sister’s wedding?
I’m being stupid.
I must be due for my period. I’m hormonal. It’s the only reasonable explanation for why I’m acting like a wack job.
Because, honestly, I’m not bothered that he hasn’t asked me.
I’m not bothered at all.
Chapter 24
Vaughn
Charly’s acting weird. She’s been weird since last night. It’s like she’s here, but she’s not actually here.
I’ve asked her countless times if she’s okay, and I get the same answer every time.
“I’m fine.”
Like now, we’re in my trailer where she’s stitching up a shirt that got ripped in a fight scene, and I’ve been talking to her, but she’s not actually listening. She’s doing the ums and the ahs in all the right places, but I know she’s not taking in a fucking word I’m saying.
“So, yeah, I was thinking of asking Natasha about the three of us having a threesome. What do you think, babe?”
“Hmm.”
“Or we could have a foursome with her husband. I’ll do Natasha. You do Carter. How does that sound?”
“Mmhmm.”
See what I mean?
I get up from the sofa and walk over to the dining table. Sitting down in front of her, I pull the shirt from her hands.
“Hey! I ne
arly stuck myself with the needle then!”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” She pulls the shirt back from my hands.
“I just suggested having a threesome with Natasha or maybe a foursome with her hubby, and your responses were all hmm and mmhmm.”
“You want to have a three-way with me and Natasha?” she all but yells at me.
“No, I don’t want to have a three-way, you fucking tool. That’s my way of proving you haven’t been listening to a word I said, and you haven’t since yesterday.”
“Did you just call me a fucking tool?” She frowns.
“What is going on with you? Why are you acting all weird?”
“I’m not,” she says with shifty eyes. Looking down at the shirt, she carries on with sewing it.
Jesus! Fucking women!
I growl with frustration, “That’s it. I’m withholding sex until you tell me what’s going on.”
Her eyes lift, and she laughs. “Yeah, okay,” she says in a mocking voice.
“I’m serious.” I fold my arms.
She puts the shirt down. “You’ll last a day, max.”
“Oh, ye, of little faith. I went dry for three months before I met you.”
“Okay,” she hums, picking the shirt back up. “We’ll see.”
“We will.”
“Okay.”
“Okay then.”
Well, fuck, that didn’t go as I’d planned, and now, I’ve screwed myself out of sex for God knows how long.
Nicely played, West.
My cell starts to ring in my pocket. I pull it out, seeing it’s my mom.
“Hey, Mom,” I answer.
I see Charly glance up, but she quickly looks away again.
“Hey, baby,” my mom says, sounding exhausted. “I need a favor.”
“Sure, anything,” I tell her.
“Do you know of any clothes people, like designers, who could fix your sister’s wedding dress?”
“What’s wrong with Sasha’s dress?”
I know she was having a local wedding dress designer make one for her.
“Jester happened.”
Jester is my mom and dad’s six-month-old golden Labrador. He’s awesome. Just a bundle of energy. He makes me want a dog, but as I’m not home much, it wouldn’t be fair. But, hopefully, one day.
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