He chuckles. “This industry is intimidating at first, but it gets a whole lot easier. You’ll be just fine.”
I shoot him a grateful smile. We chat easily throughout lunch, and he confides in me that his wife is pregnant, even though he’s not supposed to tell anyone yet.
“Congratulations!” I tell him, and Maria echoes my words.
“I’m going to knit a sweater for the baby,” Maria says excitedly.
When Chris leaves twenty minutes later, I feel as if I’ve made a new friend, and I’m a whole less nervous about my meeting with Stella.
She shows up at exactly two o’clock. Maria gets the door and shows her to the living room where I’m waiting, leafing through a magazine. She walks in, wheeling a rail packed with clothes. She’s got short blonde hair and a ready smile. We meet in the middle of the room, shake hands, and introduce ourselves.
“I brought a lot of styles,” she says with a laugh and gestures at the rack of clothes. “Do you want to begin?”
“Yes, please. The sooner we start, the faster we’ll finish,” I quip. I have a habit of blurting out my thoughts when I’m nervous.
She laughs. “I take it that trying on clothes is not something you enjoy?” When I nod, she continues, “In that case, I’ll make it as painless as possible.”
The first thing she has me do is choose the gowns that catch my attention. I pick almost ten of them, and as I try on each, she tells me which styles I should go for and which are unflattering for my body shape. She not only styles me, but she also educates me on putting together outfits.
“That was fun,” I tell her hours later after we decide on the outfit for the awards show.
She beams at me. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m headed to the set where Kyle is working to finish off his look for him. I’ll be here tomorrow with the makeup and hair person to help you guys get ready.”
I blink rapidly as nervousness gets the better of me. Stella notices it and comes to where I’m standing. She places a hand on my arm.
“It’ll be fun. You’ll feel like a princess going off to attend a ball.”
“I believe you.”
***
Stella was right. I feel like a princess on the way to a ball as Kyle and I head to the awards show in a limo. I feel beautiful, too, after almost three hours of hair and makeup back at the house. I liked Kyle’s reaction too when he saw me, exclaiming how sexy I looked, but I look sexier with absolutely nothing on.
The gown that Stella and I settled on is a sleeveless shimmery silver one with a shawl to match. It clings to my body like a second skin, but it’s comfortable, which adds to how sexy I’m feeling.
“I’m crossing my fingers for you,” I tell Kyle even though he hasn’t expressed his thoughts on his nomination.
“Thank you,” he says and doesn’t say anything else. Instead, he takes my hand and keeps it in his. We are quiet on the way, but I’m used to Kyle’s moments of self-reflection.
My mind wanders to my parents, and I miss them with an intensity that leaves me breathless. It would have been fun to tell Mom all about this night, but she probably wouldn’t have enjoyed listening. Even though I told her to stop sending me articles of Kyle or me, she still does, and it drives me crazy. She’ll probably see one of Kyle and me tomorrow and send it to me.
Thank God for Isla. She’s awesome and has been my support when this lifestyle gets to me. She made me promise to tell her everything about tonight, and her excitement was contagious.
We join the long queue of limos waiting to enter the venue. My heart pounds hard in my chest as we get nearer. I feel like an impostor.
The limo inches forward until it’s our turn to get out, right in front of the red carpet. A roar goes up when the fans spot Kyle, and I feel stupidly proud of him. I’m glad for Kyle’s hand on mine, as I’m sure I’d lose my footing and fall from sheer nerves. Cameras go off in our faces as we walk down the red carpet.
“This way, Mr. Bryce!” someone calls.
The words echo everywhere as the camera people jostle for better angles. My eyes grow teary from the flash of what seems to be a million light bulbs.
“Miss, can you please step to the side? We’d like a picture of Bryce alone,” a cameraman in glasses says.
My first reaction is bewilderment as I don’t know where to go. Then a space appears like the parting of the sea. I try to move away from Kyle, but his hand on my waist won’t dislodge.
“It’s okay,” I tell him, and he finally lets go.
I move further down the red carpet and stop. All the focus is on Kyle now, and there’s even a microphone in his face as someone interviews him. I should feel rejected, but I don’t. If anything, I’m relieved to be out of the picture, watching from the sidelines.
It takes another five minutes, and then Kyle is walking toward me. He has a frown on his face, and he takes my hand and puts it in the crook of his arm.
Inside, the room where the awards ceremony is being held is gorgeous, with a high, rounded ceiling and chairs arranged in tiers. An usher shows us to our seats, which are at the very front on the second row. Excitement courses through my veins as I spot celebrities I’ve only ever seen on TV and in movies. Our chairs are next to Godwin Grey, one of the most gifted actors of our generation, and even as Kyle introduces me, I can only manage a squeak in response.
Beautiful music starts to play, signaling that the ceremony is about to start. Then two presenters stroll up to the stage and welcome everyone to the ceremony. I’m dazzled by everything around me, and I hope no camera zooms in on me because I’m sure my jaw is on the floor.
The awards go by fast until we get to Kyle’s category. I’m tense as I listen to the list of nominees. All of them are so good, but Kyle is the best as far as I’m concerned.
Then the winner’s name is called out, and it takes a moment for it to penetrate my brain that Kyle is not the winner. I turn to him in disbelief and indignation. He takes my hand and hauls me to my feet, and on seeing the smile on his face, I plaster one on mine. Our faces fill the huge screen at the front of the room. I’m miserable inside, and after we clap for the winner and sit back down, Kyle glances at me and laughs.
“You should have won,” I say.
“You’re biased, sweetheart,” he says. “Everyone had an equal chance.”
After the best actor award is the best actress and various other ones. After that, it’s over.
Skyler joins us where we are standing around chatting with John Mayor and two directors. She’s so gorgeous, and I’m immediately in awe.
“Darling,” she says to Kyle and hugs him, draping her body all over him.
I swallow down my jealousy and remind myself that he chose me. Kyle pulls me close and introduces me, but she merely glances my way and proceeds to ignore me. She talks shop, which cuts me right off, but I don’t mind. I’m just happy to gape at celebrities and other people I’ve only ever seen on the screen.
“We can go to the after-party together,” Skyler says, linking her arm with Kyle’s on the other side. “We have to celebrate your nomination.”
“We’re not going,” Kyle says. “Grace and I are going to celebrate privately at home.”
My chest swells to almost bursting proportions.
Skyler sulks and looks up at Kyle with a puppy face, a look that I’m sure has gotten her anything she wanted.
Kyle extricates himself from her hold and gives her a little bow. “Have a good night, and I’ll see you on set on Monday.”
Chapter 27
Kyle
Grace and I are like horny teenagers on the way home from the award ceremony. We make out as if it’s the first time we’re kissing, and by the time we get home, we’re panting and out of breath.
“Thanks, Ethan,” I say as we get out of the car and head to the front door.
Grace and I stroll to the kitchen, and as she heats up our dinner, I grab a bottle of chilled white wine from the fridge and carry it to the island with two glasse
s. “This is my kind of celebration,” I tell her as we settle down to eat.
“Mine too,” she says, her face still flushed out from the making-out we indulged in the car.
“Then dessert upstairs,” I say, and Grace fucking blushes. It turns me on to know she still has that innocence about her.
“I had a good time tonight,” she says, changing the topic.
I grin and humor her wish to move on from the plans I have for later. “Which part did you enjoy the most?”
I listen in amusement as she tells me the names of the celebrities she recognized, which don’t add up to a whole lot. We finish dinner, clean up, and head upstairs. In what I now think of as our bedroom, I put some slow music on and pull Grace into my arms.
“I want to dance with you while you’re all dressed up fancy,” I tell her.
She smiles and moves into my arms, draping her hands around my neck. Our bodies fuse together, and we start to rock back and forth.
“I’ve never slow danced in a bedroom,” Grace says.
“Me too. I like it.” I press my mouth to hers and inhale her scent as I swirl my tongue around hers. The smell of her intoxicates my senses, and I take time exploring her mouth. I’ve longed for this all evening, to have Grace to myself and in my arms.
She runs her hands over my chest, flaming my arousal with her fingers. She moans in my mouth as I play with her nipples over her dress. An urge to feel the evidence of her arousal comes over me, and I snake a hand under her dress.
My breath hitches as my finger comes into contact with her very wet panties. “Fuck Grace, your panties are soaked through.”
“That’s what you do to me,” she says in a husky voice.
I press her clit through the thin material of her panties.
“More,” she says.
I reluctantly pull my hand away and take her to the bed. She lays on her back, and I get between her legs and pull down her panties.
“Spread your legs, sweetheart,” I growl.
She throws them apart, and I dive in and swipe a flat tongue along her slit. My cock feels confined and like it will burst, but it was to wait. My woman’s needs come first.
I find her clit and circle the tip of my tongue on the swollen nub. Grace raises her hips and grips my head. She tastes of summer and sweetness, and I can’t get enough of her. I push a finger in and pump it in and out while still teasing her clit. The sounds coming from her change, growing more frantic, and I know she’s close to coming.
“Come for me, baby,” I tell her.
She pants, and her muscles tighten around the finger going in and out of her. I add another finger and increase the pace. Seconds later, she cries out, and her body starts to tremble as she orgasms. Grace is beautiful when she’s coming. She throws her head back as if she has no care in the world except for the pleasure she’s experiencing.
When she comes down from her orgasm, I get up and quickly strip off my clothes. She turns around and positions herself on all fours. I slap her ass lightly before aligning my cock on her entrance and then thrust in.
“Fucking hell, you’re so tight.”
“Oh God,” Grace whimpers as I bury my cock to the hilt. “Please.”
I love to hear her beg like that as if she can’t get enough of my cock, which makes us even as I can’t get enough of her. The sounds of skin slapping against skin fill the room, interspersed with our moans of pleasure.
She wraps her legs around my waist, and I increase the pace of my thrusts and fuck her hard. This is heaven. I’m the luckiest man on Earth right now. I’ve found my perfect woman.
She suits me in every way. From her laid-back personality to her fierceness in bed.
“Kyle, please,” she whimpers. “Yes, yes, yes.”
“I want to see you coming, sweetheart,” I urge her.
Seconds later, she whimpers as she rides out her climax, and I soon follow and release into her with deep groans.
“What a celebration,” she says with a laugh later on when we’re wrapped around each other, and our breathing is back to normal.
I grin in the darkness. “It’s the best way to celebrate. With the woman you love.”
Her breath hitches, and I feel her looking at me. I press my mouth to hers.
“I love you, Grace,” I tell her, joy bursting in my chest as the words leave my mouth. I’ve been wanting to express my feelings, but the moment has not been right until now.
“I love you too, Jack,” she says, using the name I thought she had long forgotten.
I press another kiss to her lips, and we relax in each other’s arms as sleep gently beckons. It’s the perfect ending to a perfect day.
***
I’m the first to wake up, and after watching Grace sleep for a few minutes, I get an urge to get out of bed. It dawns on me that for the first time last night, I didn’t shower after sex, and neither did the thought cross my mind.
I take a shower while whistling softly so as not to wake Grace up. I pad back to the walk-in closet and get ready for the day, and when I tiptoe out, Grace is still sound asleep.
It’s Saturday, and downstairs, I pop into Chris’s office, and he beckons me in with a smile.
“How was the show?” he asks, and we talk about it for a few minutes. Then he draws my attention to an online article.
Skyler rumored to be eying sexy co-star Kyle Bryce?
The article goes into shocking detail about Skyler’s behavior on set and how she tries to seduce me. With so many people working on the set, it’s hard to know who spilled it, but someone clearly did.
“Is there any truth to it?” Chris asks.
I nod miserably. “Some, but it doesn’t matter; nothing is going to happen there.”
“They say she’s a very determined lady when she wants something or, in this case, someone,” Chris says, but I can tell that he’s teasing by his smile and tone of voice.
“She can be as determined she wants.” I head into my office and sit down at my desk.
I fire up my computer and turn my attention to my emails. There’s plenty to keep me busy, with some emails like the one from my charity and others sent directly to my address, and others forwarded by Chris when he deems it important.
My stomach growls an hour later, and I turn off my computer to go in search of food. Grace beat me to it, and I find her eating scrambled eggs and chatting with Maria.
I bend down to kiss Grace’s cheek. She smells so good and clean. If we had been alone, I would have kissed the hell out of her. I have to satisfy myself by inhaling her sweet scent and the memories from last night. Grace turns me into an animal in bed. She makes me want to do all the dirty things I’ve ever wanted to do with her. I trust her, and I’m not afraid to bare myself to her. I’ve never been this carefree and comfortable with a woman. I’m always afraid they’ll leak something to the press, even if not for cash but to advance their career.
I always dated women in the industry like actresses. Grace is the first woman I’ve been with who is not connected to my industry in any way. And that only happened because I was under disguise at the fire station. In my normal life, I never got an opportunity to interact with people who don’t know who I am. That’s another reason why I trust Grace. She liked me for me, not for the man she sees on screen.
Maria slides a hot cup of black coffee in front of me, serves me some scrambled eggs and toast, and excuses herself. The eggs taste delicious, and I polish off my plate in minutes.
Grace is reading something on her phone with a frown.
“Something wrong?” I ask her.
“It’s my mother,” she says, her voice laced with irritation. “She keeps sending me these links to stories about you, and it drives me crazy. I’ve told her so many times to stop, and she won’t.”
Grace has told me this before, and while it initially irritated me, now it mildly amuses me. It also hits home the fact that many people actually believe everything they read in the tabloids.
“What
did she send you this time? I’m married to an alien?”
She shoots me a look. “I love how casually you take all this stuff. It would drive me crazy.”
When Grace’s identity first came out, my publicists worked like crazy to stem the interest in her, and I’m glad it worked. Apart from a few pictures, their interest in Grace waned pretty quickly, and for that, I was grateful. I know how much scrutiny my woman can take.
“This one’s about you and Skyler and how she hits on you on set.” Grace chuckles. “I know she’s a bit possessive with you, but she’s a professional, and she wouldn’t do the kind of things they are describing here.”
I wrestle with myself and offer Grace a non-committal smile. I’m not sure how much to tell her if any of it. After a few seconds, I decide not to. There’s no use in distressing her over something that means nothing. Even if Skyler came to me stark naked and offered herself to me, I would not be interested. She does zero for me.
Grace pushes her phone away. “I enjoyed myself yesterday.”
I grin at her. “Yesterday was a long day. Do you mean the awards show or the private after-party?”
She blushes, and my cock jerks. I hope she never stops blushing. It fucking turns me on.
“The private after-party, of course,” she says. “Although I loved playing dress-up as well, which was a shocker. I hate shopping.”
“It doesn’t count as shopping when clothes in your size are brought to you.”
Grace laughs and then grows serious. “You’re right. Hey, I’m sorry you didn’t win.”
“It’s an honor just to be nominated, honestly. Do you know how many movies were made last year and how many actors were involved?”
“I see what you mean.”
I rattle off some more statistics for her. I love numbers and data. They tell you more than words, and they help you reign in your emotions.
“There’s something I want to show you upstairs,” Grace says coyly after breakfast.
I jump to my feet. “Lead the way.”
One Hot Secret: A Second Chance Romance (Love on Fire) Page 16