They broke for lunch and I talked to the woman playing, me, a translator who heard too much, and read in between the lines of the contracts. We talked and I tried not to think about Ryan's lips on hers. He had been big on lectures on faithfulness. He promised to be faithful every time we made love, so I had heard it a lot. I thought about us in bed and us talking about nothing, and about the whole wide world. I thought about him carving the turkey for our family, us.
The more she talked the more I realized that she wasn't his type. I knew he liked me, and just me. I started to relax and do my job to help her do hers. After lunch they worked on a new scene. Ryan had to run around with the translator and hide from the bad guys. He was getting tired.
I decided to write more action scenes. Guys liked things like that anyway. The actors got to go back to the hotel and shower and the director showed me different things that they did with footage once the actors were gone.
When we got back to the hotel it was time for my talk with the lead male actor, also know as my boyfriend.
I went to the bathroom and cleaned up. I ran my brush through my hair and brushed my teeth. I went to the table they had set up for this. He kept me waiting. This was new for him. The female lead talked to me some more until he came along. He sat down across from me and I had a feeling like I had done something very wrong. The actress said goodbye and I slowly turned to look at him. He had a, 'well what do you have to say for yourself', look on his face.
I leaned into him and whispered, “Am I in trouble?”
His stone hard face melted and he laughed. “No, not at all. I probably have you to thank for getting the part. They loved my insight. I had wanted to bring a copy of the book with me so you could sign it for my girlfriend. She's read the book about a hundred times.”
“Really,” I said playing along, “that's about as often as I have.”
Then came an uncomfortable phase, where neither of us said anything. I noticed that the others were looking at us oddly. “So you're an actor. What else have you played in? Anything I know?”
“No, and this clears up several of the mysteries I have had about you, they were all in the last couple of years. Smaller movie rolls and TV. This is my first lead role, my breakthrough you could call it.” He paused and I nodded. “So what are you working on at the moment?”
“Oh, I am working on several books at the moment but mostly on the sequel to this book. My agent wants it to come out at the same time as the movie. I haven't been very good about writing lately.”
“There's going to be a part two?” He looked excited. “I had heard talk about it, but nothing concrete.”
“It's over half way finished. Your character is still the lead with the woman. This time they are in America. He calls her over because he thinks something is fishy, and because he misses her.”
“Katherine, do you know what that means?” He grabbed both of my hands in his. We were drawing too much attention. He didn't realize it because his back was to the room, but I could see the curious looks that we were harvesting.
“No, what does it mean?”
“This is going to do well at the box office and then another one. It means that financially we will be on the safe side. I even get more money when I do interviews and things. I'll never have to cook for a living again. I'll be able to buy you a big house and we can start a family. I still can't believe that you are here, Katherine. This is fantastic.”
“I missed you something terrible, and I'm glad that you aren't mad at me.”
“You know I love you, Katherine.” He pet my hands a little. More people were staring. “Tell me, do you really speak German?”
“Yes, I really do.” I laughed at his question.
“I knew you were smart and somebody important, but that you were, that smart,” he sighed. “I think you are amazing.”
“And I think I shouldn't be present when you do kissing scenes.”
That had him laughing and the director came over to see what was going on. “Are you two finished?” he asked me. I wasn't used to answering when Ryan was around. I looked at him and he smiled but he didn't say anything.
“Almost,” I answered. The director reluctantly went away. I looked back at Ryan. “Did you have any questions?” I asked him lamely.
“Yeah, just one. Do you want to keep us a secret or do you want us to be official?”
“Oh, I don't know. Whatever you want. I don't have any experience in Hollywood things.”
“It will be good publicity for the movie.” He seemed to be talking to himself. “Plus we are a known couple back home.”
“Whatever, I trust you. We'll do what you think is best.” It had become easy for me to lay decisions in his lap.
“We won't say anything but we will act normal with each other. That will start rumors and the ball will start rolling.”
“We need a different story about how we met.”
“Grocery shopping?” His eyebrow arched up.
It was my turn to laugh. “Sure, that's when most people see us together anyway.”
He stood up and we hugged. “When you are finished come look for me. I'll be in the lobby reading through my lines for tomorrow.”
I nodded and watched him leave. He was the best looking man here and that was saying something. I still couldn't believe that he was mine.
I talked for hours with the cast members. My throat was already sore. Ryan came back a little while later and gave me an odd look. “Katherine, have you eaten anything?”
“Not yet,” I admitted. He came back five minutes later and laid a plate of food down. He left before I could thank him.
The guy, I was talking to, looked puzzled and curious. I could tell he wanted to ask what that was all about but he didn't.
“You don't mind, do you?” It was already after nine. I ate quickly. I didn't want to make a scene with Ryan. If people didn't realize that we knew each other already then they knew now.
I finished my talk with this actor and went out to Ryan. He looked pleased that I would be going to bed soon.
Maybe he wanted to go to bed with me. I smiled at him.
“Katherine?”
“Yes?” I smiled looking up at him.
“Do you think we should – ”
“Go to bed now?” I looked at my watch. “Yes, definitely. But I have a bit of a problem.”
He looked concerned right away.
“I have kind of gotten used to sleeping with someone. I need a body in bed with me. Do you know anyone who could volunteer?”
At first he looked so strict, then he smiled and we went off. He had to get a few things from his room and talk to his roommate.
I straightened up in my room and waited for him. Unfortunately, I only had regular pajamas with, nothing sexy.
He knocked on the door and I flew to open it. I stopped at the door and took a quick peek in the mirror. I looked flushed. I opened the door and let him in. He gave me a very charming smile. He had a twinkle in his eye.
“I can't believe that we are together already. I thought it would be weeks before we could see each other again.” He wrapped his arms around me. I felt so safe and protected.
“If you wouldn't have been here then I would have been very lonely now.” I rested my head on his shoulder.
He held me close for a while. “Katherine, my legs are a little sore from all the running today,” he admitted.
“Technically, that's my fault.” I pulled him over to the bed and pushed him down on it. He was smirking at the way I was acting. I was playing the temptress. He knew I wasn't very good at it. Usually he started bringing things in motion. If I started, he normally took over for me, so I wouldn't feel so stupid. He didn't tonight. Truth be told I wanted him to take over.
I removed my clothes hoping that that would encourage him. He just watched.
I started removing his clothes. He grinned and let me. I had a feeling that he was laughing at me. I touched him all over. I even gave him a leg massage, st
ill he just laid there. I got up on top of him. He was still grinning and I could feel that I was blushing.
“Ryan,” I whined.
“Yes, boss lady.” He was shaking with laughter, but not laughing. He was trying to hide it.
“I don't want to be your boss lady. I want things to be the way they always are.” My face got even warmer as I said that.
“So you want me to be the man?” he asked. His eyebrow went up.
“I've never said otherwise.” I was confused. Maybe he had lied when he said he wasn't mad.
“You do realize that you are a lot richer than I am.”
“So? That doesn't mean that I am suddenly going to be good at this.” I made a motion with my hand over our naked bodies. I was still straddling him. I knew I was having an effect on him.
“Hey, don't say that. You are perfect in bed.” He sat up and wrapped his arms around me again. “I was just worried that you might think that because I am only an actor and you are a famous best selling actor that maybe – ”
“Maybe what?” I demanded.
“Maybe I'm not good enough for you.”
“Are you serious?” I waited for an answer and nothing came out of him. “You were good enough for me when I thought you were a freelance cook but now that I found out that you are a famous actor you're worried?” He still didn't say anything. “I googled you while you were getting your things. When we get home I want to rent a couple of movies.” I smiled at him.
“Really, you are okay with the fact that I don't have a steady income?”
“The money we earn should go into a big pot and it doesn't matter which one of us earned it. We will talk about all big purchases before we spend and just around Christmastime we will have a no questions asked policy. Can you live with that?”
“I don't know. That's the problem. That's exactly what I'm worried about. You know what kind of guy I am. I have to be the head of the household. I don't know if I can live like that. I wanted to be the breadwinner. I had even hoped that when I got this job that you would quit your stressful job. I hated seeing you so nervous about meeting your deadline. I have a very traditional picture in my head about what our family should look like. I'd be the head and you would be the heart.”
“Ryan,” I laid my hands on the sides of his face. “We were practically living together before we came here. It would be just like that. Nothing has changed. You know that I have grown very dependent on you. I see you as the head of our family. That's how I want it, too. I like how things have been between us. It works well for us. I'm not worried, you automatically take control but you listen to me too before you make a decision. I'm fine with that. You would have the final say over how the money was spent too. I don't understand where all this fear is coming from. You know me, I haven't changed in the past twenty-four hours.”
“You're right, I know you better than you know yourself. I googled you too.”
I laughed then. That made my body shake. He didn't need anymore of an invitation. He had me on my back in a matter of seconds. “I love you, Katherine. I will take care of you and be faithful to you forever.”
“I love you too, and I will be a good wife to you, and respect you, and your wishes.”
“I will be the world's best husband, and I will cherish you always.”
I felt like we had exchanged wedding vows. I was so in love with him. I couldn't imagine that I would ever give control of my life over to someone like I did with him, but I did so gladly.
We went down for breakfast hand in hand. Everyone stared at us but Ryan had decided that we should act normally with one another. The director called us over and wanted to hear the story. He looked a little mad.
“What is going on here? Is this a love at first sight thing?” He gave us a look that clearly said that he didn't believe in love at first sight.
I looked at Ryan. As head of our family, I felt, it was his job to explain.
He looked at me and then sighed. “We met a couple of months ago, at the grocery store. She was picking out an eggplant and I am a chef so I gave her some tips. We made a date to go shopping together the next week and so on. When things started to get more intense she couldn't tell me what she was working on and I didn't want to tell her until it was a sure thing. I swear ,up until yesterday, I thought that my girlfriend worked for a secret government agency.”
“And I thought you were opening up a chain of restaurants.” I laughed as I admitted this. We looked at each other and just smiled.
“The press is going to love this.” The director looked back and forth at us. “How serious are you two?”
“We are already talking about marriage,” Ryan answered.
The director looked at me for confirmation.
“I'm just waiting for him to pop the question, so I can say, yes.”
That had Ryan grinning from ear to ear.
The director got up and pulled out his cell. He left us to ourselves.
“Well, we are public now.” Ryan looked at me like he wanted to eat me with a spoon.
“The only thing that bothers me is Hollywood marriages never last.” I bit my lip.
“Don't worry. It is my job to hold our marriage together. I don't take that lightly. First, we have so much to tell each other. I want you to meet my parents, and soon. Before I pop the question or they will be offended.”
“My parents just have to be informed. I think I will do that today. My mom was mad that I didn't tell her about the movie deal sooner, but you heard that conversation before Thanksgiving. If I tell her than she can start bragging. That's important to her.”
“I have to warn you about my parents. I definitely come from the bible belt. You might want to brush up on your Bible knowledge.”
“Well, I was very good about going to Sunday School, so I'm not worried.”
“But in the south we take that all a little more seriously.”
“You're from the south. I assumed that you came from California, because of the way you talk?”
“Years of acting school, Darling,” he drawled.
I sat up a little straighter. “Can you talk that way again tonight, when it's just us.” I was melting listening to him.
His eyes twinkled. “Be my pleasure, Ma'am.”
Chapter 12 You Have To Listen, No Matter Where We Are
Everyone quickly got used to us as a couple. Someone (the director) had leaked the story about us to the press. They showed up and tried to get pictures of the two of us together.
Ryan told me this was the time to play hard to get. We were careful never to be seen together, so they couldn't get a picture. He told me he would inform me when we would let them have one and then we would play hard to get again. He was already getting lots of calls for interviews. No one had my number, but my agent was relaying some to me too.
I worked on the book as much as I could, but it was coming along slowly. I explained to Ryan that I had to stay up a little later to get cracking on it. He said I could stay up until midnight. This was hard for him to allow but it was in our best interest. He had met my agent, and I had a feeling that he didn't like her.
She came here and looked at everything and made me all kinds of promises and offered all kinds of help, so I could concentrate on writing. She liked the behind the scenes love story too.
Ryan told me that she had dollar signs in her eyes as she looked at me.
At eleven Ryan came into the lounge, where I was working, and told me one more hour. He went back to my room to run through his lines. He came back a half an hour later to check on me. A couple of the other actors were also in there watching TV.
They were already laughing at me.
At twelve he came in again and I held up a finger stopping him. I was at the good part. The bad guys had kidnapped him and the translator was trying to save him. It didn't feel right leaving him tied up to a chair all night while I slept and his character suffered. That explanation got laughs from everyone in the room.
“Ten
minutes,” he warned me and left. He was looking tired. I tried to hurry.
He came back half an hour later. He grabbed my laptop and saved my program and then shut it down. I watched him wide-eyed. He left the room with my laptop. The others were pretending not to notice our little fight, but they were shaking with laughter.
I followed Ryan out. He went to my room and unlocked the door and held it open for me. I walked through but I had a terrible sinking feeling in my tummy. He stepped in too, closing and locking the door.
I went into the bathroom and changed into my pajamas. He was sitting on the side of the bed when I came out. I had a bad feeling about this. I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Katherine, we talked about me being the final decision maker and about you respecting those decisions.” He was using his strict tone. Believe it or not, but that tone alone had the power to make my backside cringe in pain.
“Yes, Ryan.”
“Come here, please.” He patted the bed next to him.
I slowly forced my feet to move forward. I sat down next to him. “We both have to work tomorrow. We both have people depending on us to do our best then. How are we going to manage that on some six hours of sleep?”
I hadn't thought about Ryan needing his sleep too. “I'm sorry, Ryan. I was being selfish. You gave an inch, and I took a foot.”
“That's right, you did. I think I know why you did it, too. You thought that you could get away with it. I want you to come over my knees right this instant.”
“But Ryan everyone would hear.”
“That is something that you should have thought about beforehand. If you had then we wouldn't be having this discussion right now.”
“Wait, let's make a deal. You can spank me when we get back home, when it is just us. You don't want to read any odd story about this in the tabloids, do you?”
“Katherine, I don't make deals. As the head of our family I strongly feel that you are due a spanking before your behavior once again takes a turn for the worse.”
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