Media Darling

by Fiona Riley

  “I know.” Emerson held Hayley’s hand against her face briefly before she entwined their fingers. “I want to watch the day begin with you.”

  Hayley’s eyes blinked open and the realization set in. “You remembered.”

  “You told me it wasn’t to be missed. I don’t want to miss a thing with you.” Emerson was being honest. They’d shared something last night, something she hadn’t expected but she was grateful for. Last night they’d made love. It wasn’t just lusty fucking or a desperate need to climax. No. Last night had been slow and sensual and endless. It had been emotional, so emotional. She knew it was different than before, and she could tell by the look in Hayley’s eyes when she came undone that she’d felt the same way. By telling her about Rory, by trusting her to keep them both safe and do right by them, Emerson felt like she’d opened herself up to a new level of vulnerability than she’d ever had before. They’d ventured into new territory, and she had no intention of turning back. “Watch the sunrise with me, Hayley Carpenter. Be the best part of my morning.” She already was.

  “As if I could say no to that.” Hayley smiled up at her and her heart fluttered in her chest.

  “Come on.” She pressed a quick kiss to Hayley’s lips before she pulled her out of bed. “I’m going to grab some blankets from the couch. Meet me on the porch.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Well, that did unexpected things to her clit. She filed that away for the future. Authoritative title use was evidently something she enjoyed hearing from Hayley’s mouth. One of many things. She had to leave this room right now, or they would miss all the sunrises.

  She hurried to the living room to gather supplies while Hayley got dressed. It was too cool to be out there without any clothes on, although Emerson would be lying if she said she hadn’t checked first in hopes of being pleasantly surprised that yesterday’s heat wave had continued. She was in no rush to cover up Hayley’s beautiful body. Though selfishly she was hoping Hayley would want to snuggle with her to stay warm. So there was that plus side pending.

  As she headed toward the porch, she noticed her phone charging on the kitchen island. They’d remained phone free for the day and it had been blissful. During a trip into the kitchen to retrieve some water a little after midnight, she’d shot off a text to Tremont to calm his ass down. He’d left her like a million texts and calls. He’d tried to FaceTime her immediately once she’d sent the text, but she didn’t feel like explaining her nudity to him, so she’d ignored it and texted him back instead.

  He’d booked them a red-eye out of Boston tonight back to LA. They were flying privately to avoid unwanted attention. Emerson’s stomach had flipped at the prospect, but he assured her that it had been absolute chaos while she was offline. She told him that she’d rather not know the details until she was home. If she had to know them at all. She didn’t want to taint her last few hours in paradise if she didn’t have to.

  She placed the phone back on the counter and moved around the kitchen, rushing to finish everything before Hayley came out. She wanted this to be perfect. She hoped it would be.

  “Whoa.” Hayley stepped out of the screen door with her mouth open in surprise.

  Hayley’s timing was impeccable. Emerson had just finished setting up their little viewing area. She’d taken a few blankets from the living room and grabbed all the spare pillows she could find and built them a little bed on the back patio facing the lake. “Come on. You’re going to miss it.”

  Hayley shuffled toward her and Emerson thought she was adorable. She was barefoot, wearing a Yale hoodie and those gray sweatpants she’d told Emerson were her lucky writing pants. But Emerson had come to find out that they were just her lucky everything pants. And to be fair, they were incredibly comfortable. She’d slipped them on last night during their s’mores date out here. Although she much preferred them on Hayley.

  Emerson sat on the sunrise bed and patted the space next to her as she pulled the chilled prosecco from the little cooler she’d found under the sink. She’d smiled when Hayley had grabbed the bubbly at the overpriced little convenience store they’d stopped at to get the food for the weekend. Emerson was touched she’d thought of her.

  As she unwrapped the fruit she’d cut up last night, she became aware of Hayley’s eyes on her in the darkness. “What?”

  Hayley pointed to the little makeshift fruit platter and little plastic cups. “When did you have time to do all this?”

  Emerson filled the cups with prosecco and dropped a strawberry into each one. “Sometime between rounds three and four. You were napping. I was surprisingly awake.”

  Hayley gave her a sated grin. “Round three was particularly fantastic. And exhausting.” She paused, her expression changing to one of worry. “You weren’t tired? Was it not go—”

  Emerson kissed her to silence her unfounded concerns. “Don’t think that for even a second. I was just on an endorphin high and needed some water. Because you dehydrate me in the best possible way.”

  “I will take the compliment and the suggestive nature of said dehydration and wear it as a badge of honor.” Hayley made a swirling sign over her heart and Emerson wanted to kiss her again.

  She handed her a plastic cup and clinked hers with it. “To sunrises in paradise.”

  “To sunrises in paradise with you.” Hayley’s version made Emerson swoon.

  She held Hayley’s gaze and thought about what Hayley had said. Could this be something that happened again? Ever? Would they be able to weather the shitstorm that awaited them back in LA? Was it even feasible to hope for?

  The sky was lightening by the second, and Hayley’s hazel eyes sparkled a dazzling green-brown as the light burned behind the trees. Emerson felt like she could look into Hayley’s eyes all day and never get tired. She would try to make this work. She’d do whatever it took. She wanted more sunrises in paradise with Hayley.

  “It’s time.” Hayley gave her a small smile and pointed in front of them.

  The sun broke through the trees like a fireball emerging from the earth. All around them sounds of nature waking up stirred and amplified. Birds chirped, a distant bullfrog croaked, and crickets played their song as the darkness receded and the day was born before them. But the lake, God, that lake. It shimmered and glistened as though lit from beneath. As the sun rose and cast its orange and pink hues across the sky, the lake came to life. Little ripples formed in elegant circular patterns and spread, dancing farther and farther out until they reached the lake’s edge. And in those few moments—in those incredibly humbling minutes when Mother Nature stole her breath and floored her with its untouched beauty—Emerson looked to Hayley and found her watching her again.

  “It’s…”

  Hayley nodded. “I know.”

  Hayley placed her head on Emerson’s shoulder and exhaled. Content. Emerson felt the same way.

  “Come here.” She shifted back and leaned against the pillows. She spread her legs and pulled Hayley between them, positioning Hayley’s back to her front. She pulled Hayley close and rested her chin on Hayley’s shoulder as Hayley reclined into her body. Emerson slipped her hands into Hayley’s hoodie pocket and held Hayley’s hands in hers. It was a sweet and intimate embrace, holding Hayley and watching the sunrise break over the horizon. This was paradise. Holding Hayley, being in the quiet, and seeing the world for what it could really, truly be. Perfect.

  “I’m so glad you asked me to take you here, Emerson.” Hayley rested her head against her.

  “I’m so glad you didn’t just take me into the woods and kill me.”

  “You did sort of blindly follow me.”

  “I know, right? I was practically asking to be kidnapped and sacrificed to Stan.”

  “No one would be any the wiser. Stan is a good secret keeper.”

  “No one wood be any the wiser, you mean.”

  Hayley squeezed her hands and groaned. “That was terrible.”

  “I’ve been waiting to say that all weekend. Leg
it, my time here wood’nt be complete without it.”

  Hayley face-palmed and shook her head. “You’re so much dorkier in real life. It’s unbelievable that the amazingly sexy woman who wore my shirt and nothing else at that photo shoot the other day is the same woman who just made a series of dreadful lumber jokes.”

  “And kicked your ass at Uno. Don’t forget that part.” Emerson squeezed Hayley tight.

  “Yup. You’re the total package—”

  “Wood you say I’m really someone to pine over?” Emerson huffed as Hayley gave her an elbow jab to the stomach.

  “It’s a good thing you’re gorgeous and great in bed. I’m willing to overlook the other stuff.” Hayley snuggled into her embrace and Emerson kissed her temple.

  “At least I have that going for me.”

  “At least.”

  After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Hayley said, “I meant what I said, Em. I’m so glad you’re here with me.” Hayley turned her head to look at Emerson and she saw it again. That look from last night. The one that told her they were both in deeper than they’d planned.

  “I know.” Emerson connected their lips and whispered, “I never want to forget this moment, Hayley. Being here with you feels right.”

  Hayley pressed their lips together and Emerson slid her hands out of Hayley’s pocket to slip under her sweatshirt. She was pleasantly surprised to find that Hayley wasn’t wearing anything under this hoodie, and she’d bet the same was true under those pants.

  “I love touching you, Hay.” She kept their lips connected as she made lazy patterns on Hayley’s stomach before she dipped and swirled her fingers around her navel.

  “Don’t stop.” Hayley’s tongue was in her mouth and she slid her hands up to cup Hayley’s breasts. Feeling the fullness of their weight and how quickly Hayley’s nipples reacted to her touch made her wet.

  Hayley whined when she teased her nipples between her fingers. “Emerson.”

  Hayley’s hips bucked forward, and Emerson dropped one hand to grip the front of her hip and pull her back against her again.

  “You keep saying my name like that, and I’ll do anything you ask.” Hayley’s breaths were getting shorter by the second and Emerson moved under the waistband of her pants to find Hayley naked and waiting for her.

  She massaged Hayley’s breast as she caressed the inside of Hayley’s thigh before moving to her center. Hayley’s hand slid up into her hair, holding their mouths tight together, and she bucked her hips again at one particularly bold swipe from Emerson against her clit.

  “Ask me. Ask me, Hayley.”

  “Emerson.” Hayley was panting, and she strained under Emerson’s touch. “Please. Touch me.”

  Emerson slipped between her lips and stroked two confident fingers against her opening. “Just touch, Hay?”

  Hayley dropped her head back and Emerson licked along the column of her neck. The little desperate noises Hayley made were driving her crazy.

  “Fuck me, Emerson. Please, just—” Hayley’s hand scratched at the one cupping her breast and she moaned when Emerson slipped inside her. “Yes, there. Don’t stop.”

  Emerson pinched and twisted Hayley’s nipple as she held Hayley tightly against her. She angled the heel of her hand against Hayley’s clit as she slid in and out of Hayley, harder and faster with every one of Hayley’s breathy pants.

  Hayley shuddered, and Emerson redoubled her efforts. Hayley climaxed with her kiss-plump lips apart in a silent moan, and Emerson decided she’d never seen anything so beautiful. She kissed her as the last of the darkness receded and the sun shone above them brightly, refusing to be ignored.

  “You are perfect, Hayley.” Emerson was surprised by the emotion in her voice.

  Hayley turned in her lap, shifting forward and draping her legs across Emerson’s so they were chest to chest and lips to lips. Her breaths were still short and ragged, but her hands were in Emerson’s hair and her eyes were brilliant and sparkling. “Stay with me here forever, Emerson. Stay here with me and start every day like that.”

  Emerson smiled against her lips. “Just like that?”

  “I’m flexible on the positions and the order of things, but basically, yeah, just like that.”

  “Well, you’re definitely flexible, I’ll give you that.” Emerson kissed her and ran her hand though Hayley’s hair.

  “Does that sound so bad?” Hayley wrapped her arms around Emerson’s neck and leaned forward.

  When Hayley’s tongue teased across her bottom lip, she shook her head. “It sounds heavenly.” It did. Having sex with Hayley was easily her new favorite activity.

  “Agreed.” Hayley rested her forehead against hers and Emerson breathed in the familiar and comforting smell of Hayley and her fading perfume from the day before. “How much longer do we have?”

  Emerson frowned. She lost time around Hayley. She had no idea how long they had been out here, but the sun was bright in the sky above them, marking the end of their escape together. She couldn’t keep putting off the inevitable. “A few hours before we have to worry about it. Tremont secured a night flight back to LA. He seems to think it’s safer for everyone if we arrive under the cover of darkness.”

  Hayley leaned back and brushed a hair off Emerson’s face. “So we have some time.”

  “We do.”

  “Good.” Hayley shifted out of Emerson’s lap and climbed over her as she pressed her back to the makeshift bed below. “Then let’s put it to good use.”

  Emerson pulled Hayley’s lips down to hers and purred. “There’s no time to waste.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  The drive back to Boston had been mostly quiet—not unpleasant, but quiet. Hayley got the feeling that Emerson was more anxious about their return to the left coast than she was. As soon as they’d entered a steady cellular zone, she realized why. Both of their phones started vibrating and pinging with notifications. It appeared that Rachel had been busy with her smear campaign against Emerson while they were off the grid. And if the look on Emerson’s face was any indication, she wasn’t surprised in the least.

  Pictures of Rachel and Emerson in more intimate embraces and kissing in dimly lit rooms flooded the screen of her phone, and blog after blog full of conspiracies clogged her browser alerts. Her work voicemail box was full, and her unread emails had quadrupled since she’d last logged in. Everyone and their mother it seemed wanted her take on the pictures or information regarding Emerson or her reaction. It puzzled Hayley why they wouldn’t just reach out to Emerson’s camp, but Emerson noted that they might have thought Hayley was a weak link. That just made her annoyed.

  Hayley watched as all that calm, carefree energy Emerson had had at the cabin seemed to drain out of her by the minute. By the time they pulled up to the small private airfield, her foot was tapping, and she was restless. Now Hayley was restless, too.

  The airport was set off from the road along well-paved and well-lit pathways. Security met them at the gate, and they were instructed to follow a guard on a golf cart toward the tarmac.

  “This is out of control. We just drive right up?” Hayley felt like she was in a movie.

  “Mm-hmm. Someone will unload the car and we’ll meet the pilots and then we take off when air traffic control gives them the okay.” Emerson continued to look out the passenger window when she spoke. She’d been like that for the last fifteen minutes, quietly staring off into the distance.

  “That’s it? No bomb sniffing dogs or pat downs by busty women with latex gloves?” That got Emerson’s attention.

  “Busty women? With latex gloves?” Emerson raised her eyebrow in amusement.

  “You know, the security ladies at the airport. The ones that skim their gloved hands between your breasts and ask you to let your hair down, so they can check you for drugs or weapons or whatever.” Hayley put on her blinker out of habit, not because there was anyone else on the tarmac besides the golf cart guy. She tried not to follow him too closely. Could you tailgate
a golf cart?

  “You’ve been groped by airport security?” Emerson looked skeptical.

  Hayley feigned offense. “Are you trying to say I’m not gropeworthy? Because I totally am. I bet some people would really like to grope me. In fact, I bet people would line up to do it.”

  “With latex gloves on, no doubt.”

  “Or non-latex. I’m not picky. No allergies here.” Hayley thumbed toward her chest a little too hard and jabbed herself.

  Emerson laughed but it was short-lived. They’d reached their destination. The G5 Tremont had rented for them was only about thirty feet away. The runway was quiet except for some people that Hayley assumed were crew and some guy in a mechanic’s outfit who came to get their bags. She held on to her messenger bag, but Emerson stepped toward the plane with only her phone, sunglasses, and the outfit she was wearing. She looked so elegant and practiced as she walked toward the stairs of the plane. This was not new territory to Emerson. That thought still boggled Hayley’s mind.

  “Welcome aboard, Ms. Sterling.” An attractive young flight attendant greeted them at the base of the stairs. “My name is Stephanie and I’ll be traveling with you this evening.”

  “Hi, Stephanie.” Emerson was polite, but Hayley could see the stress on her face. She waved to the hulking suit standing behind Stephanie.

  Hayley waved when she recognized Francis, the security detail from their flight into Boston. “Hey, Frank.”

  He didn’t even crack a smile. Typical Francis, all work and no play.

  “Still got that winning personality, huh, Frank?” Emerson elbowed her in the ribs and she laughed. “What?”

  “No bomb talk this time, ’kay, Hayley?” That was the first genuine smile she’d seen on Emerson’s face in about three hours. She’d take it any way she could get it.

  “Whatever you say. You’re the boss lady with the fancy plane.”

  Emerson gave her a look, but a smile tugged at her lips, so she was totally winning still.