“Something without Hayley?”
The agent nodded, and now perched on the end of the bed as Hayley went into the walk-in closet to fetch more of her clothes. “It’s standard tactics when you’re about to start negotiations for contracts for something like the Prisoner’s Wife sequel,” she explained. “You add an element of uncertainty to put yourself in a stronger position.”
“So what does that mean for us?” I asked. “He wants to force Hayley’s price down?”
Liona shook her head. “Oh no. She’ll make triple what she made on Prisoner’s Wife, I can guarantee that. You guys will be set up, even if Hayley doesn’t do another movie after that. It’s something else he wants.”
“Hayley.”
“Exactly.” Liona glanced toward the walk-in closet. “Of course, we’re not supposed to know any of this, yet. Hopefully that means we can take advantage, get a few moves ahead.”
“You think he’s going to decide on a different movie if he doesn’t get Hayley properly?”
“I think she’s driving him crazy, and he’s bound to start getting a little frustrated.”
My ears started ringing, my whole body trembling as adrenalin surged through my bloodstream. “So what’s the strategy?”
“I’m afraid Hayley’s going to have to do everything in her power to make Aaron Simpson believe she really wants him, and that at some point in the future, this little pretend affair of theirs will become real.”
“He’s never going to actually come out and say we can’t do the movie if I don’t sleep with him,” Hayley yelled from the closet.
“No, but if he gets the sense from you that you will eventually go for it, he’s much more likely to stay on course, and not start looking around at other cute actresses he could have if he wanted.”
“You just have to make him believe you’ll sleep with him,” I said.
Hayley ducked her head out of the closet door and smirked at me, knowing exactly how I felt about that.
“I just have to keep him interested until we get the contracts signed,” she insisted.
I nodded, though it seemed like a strange strategy to me. I said, “Hence all the fancy underwear, huh? You’re really going to let him see you in it, honey?”
Hayley emerged fully from the closet, and dropped another pile of clothing—mostly underwear, it seemed—in her suitcase, including the tiniest g-string I’d ever seen. When had she bought all this stuff?
“You don’t mind me wearing a few sexy little numbers for him, do you?” Hayley flashed her eyes at me and came over to sit on my lap.
“Of course not,” I said, feeling her gently pressing her body down against my hardness, feeling out how I felt about her flying off with another man bearing a whole array of lingerie in her luggage.
She kissed me, and it felt so sweet, I wanted to just throw her down on the bed and take her—but Liona was sitting right there, checking on her cell phone. It didn’t help that Hayley was wearing a short red-and-white floral summer dress that was just asking to be pulled up—or torn off.
“The limo is waiting downstairs,” the bright blonde said, and I heard Hayley groan, and not in a good way.
She broke away from me, but continued to press herself against my throbbing cock through my pants. She said, “Will you be okay…you know…without me?”
“I’ll struggle through, I’m sure,” I said, then turned to Liona. “Wouldn’t it just be simpler to…well… give Aaron what he wants? I mean, I’d say that nobody needs to know about it, but the world kind of believes it’s already happened.”
Liona smiled, and I could see she thought I was simply making a joke. “Well,” she said, “I’m sure if we could change things so that she wasn’t married married, that she’d never met Mr. Right until she was 35 with a few blockbuster movies already under her belt, things would have been a lot easier. But—”
“I love you, and only you,” Hayley said, kissing me again. “I can hold Aaron Simpson off.”
There was a knock on the door, and a uniformed bellhop emerged tentatively. Hayley hopped up to zip up her case, and hand it over to the guy—who already had a trolley with him bearing six suitcases that were identical to the crimson-and-gold suitcase that was apparently mostly filled with underwear.
“Uh…are you sure you’ve packed enough, sweetie?”
She laughed. “They don’t charge per case on a private jet,” she said. “And anyway, it’s a long tour.”
Being a celebrity is not an environmentally-friendly activity, I can tell you. Limousines, private jets, bus-loads of luggage. And to think, this time the previous year we were still both traveling economy class, sharing a single suitcase and making the most of our carry-on space allowance.
Jesus, she bent down and made me appreciate just how low-cut her dress was—it showed off a heck of a lot of cleavage. I couldn’t work out who was going to face the greatest degree of teasing—me waiting back at home for her or Aaron Simpson, who would apparently be getting glimpses of Hayley’s sexy underwear, while being prevented from actually sleeping with her.
Hayley said goodbye, and promised to call me every night before she went to sleep, and I stood there actually hoping she’d give in to temptation and fuck her poor multi-millionaire fake lover at some point soon. I even imagined how wild it would be if she would come back to me, freshly fucked, apologetic for breaking the agreed boundaries of her fake affair, but ready for some serious make-up sex.
There was just something inherently hot about the concept of a naughty wife in my view.
“I love you,” she said earnestly before she was gone.
“I love you too, honey,” I replied. “Have a great time—and if anything happens…well, enjoy that, too.”
She smirked at me. “You are a pervert, you know that?”
And then she was gone.
For a moment, I just stood still, feeling the strangeness of knowing that my beloved wife was going away with another man on a tour around the world. I mean, I didn’t know much about movie junkets back then, of course, or that it was basically little more than transferring from hotel to hotel around the world, occasionally escaping the hotel to attend movie premieres or TV studios or wherever there were promotional opportunities. Hardly a sightseeing tour.
Still, for a woman who had so very recently done little more than serve food and drinks to people, it would certainly be an experience.
I didn’t even realize that Liona was still with me in the suite until she piped up.
“You’re really okay with it if she goes ahead and sleeps with him, aren’t you?” She sounded a little amazed now that she’d processed my final exchange with Hayley.
I looked over at the blonde—she was still perched on the edge of the bed—and shrugged a little sheepishly. “I just like the idea of my wife…letting go.”
Liona raised her eyebrow. “She said something to be about you wishing the affair was real—and I thought she was kidding.”
“You think I’m a freak?”
“I think you’re a wonderful husband,” she smiled, and in that moment I really recognized just how pretty Liona was. “But you know how dangerous this is, right? Letting her do as she wants with Aaron?”
I shrugged again. “It’s really not up to me,” I said. “She’s not my property.”
Dressed in a smart but sexy business suit—a power suit, you might say—Liona casually stroked a nylon-clad thigh, though I don’t think she was actively trying to entice my eyes to her shapely leg. She said, “It’s one strategy, I guess. Set her free, and if she really loves you, she’ll come back to you.”
“Something like that.”
“There’s rumors of other Hollywood couples trying it, too. Those kind of guys spend so much time apart if they’re off shooting movies.”
“Uh-huh?”
“There were always stories about Will Smith letting Jada do as she pleased while they were away from each other. Other stars, too, but I don’t know if any of those storie
s were ever confirmed.”
“Well, probably not something you want to publicly acknowledge,” I said, not quite sure why Liona was hanging back, why she was staying with me.
She said, “Just then—the way Hayley was teasing you. It’s not just that you’re okay about her having an affair, is it?”
I stood up to grab the TV remote and flick on the set, unsure of what I was supposed to be doing with Hayley’s agent still there. I was a little surprised to see pictures of our hotel being displayed on E!, along with the headline: “Hayley Martin in last-ditch attempt to save marriage”.
I sighed, and slumped down in the chair again as the TV channel showed video footage of yours truly arriving at the hotel just a little while previously, which a caption explained: “Hayley Martin’s husband arriving for last-minute talks on their marriage”.
Jesus.
“So if it came down to it, you’d really be okay with her sleeping with him?” Liona said.
“It’s not up to me.”
“But you’d…enjoy it? If she wanted to do it?”
“It’s just a thing….” I said. I supposed I could trust Liona to keep our little secrets confidential. “I’ve always liked the idea of Hayley being…well…liberated. Free to see other people if she wanted to. And if she wanted to tell me what happened when she saw them…or let me watch…well, it would be kind of hot.”
“You’re a voyeur. Most guys are, apparently. It’s why porn is so popular. And Hayley’s always said ‘no’ to this?”
Liona looked puzzled, as though her client had to be crazy to be offered the chance to sleep around and still keep her husband content.
I shook my head. “She always said she wasn’t that kind of girl, so I never pushed it. And I think she may have doubted if I could actually handle it—”
Liona nodded. “And could you?”
“I don’t know,” I sighed again. “I think…as long as she came back to me…I would, yeah. It would just be something else…interesting…about her. It’s hard to explain.”
“You’re not the kind of guy who thinks a woman is ruined for you if she sleeps with someone else, I take it?”
“Not really, no,” I said. “There is a certain amount of fear—that I’d lose her. I do feel a little jealous when she’s with Aaron, but I think it’s really just that same fear. But I trust her, so it’s okay.”
Liona pulled herself up from the bed.
“You should be careful, you know,” she said. “I mean, it might be something for an ordinary couple…you know…for the wife to go off and have a little fling. But you guys aren’t an ordinary couple. Like it or not.”
“No, we’re not.”
“And Aaron Simpson is definitely not an ordinary guy for anyone to have a fling with.”
“No.”
She looked at me, and it seemed to me that she was oddly impressed. Then she stepped past me, went to the window to pull aside the curtain and gaze outside over the rooftops of Hollywood. “Has anyone talked to you about the next stage of the strategy?”
I shook my head. “Not so much. Apart from what you guys told me just now.”
Liona said, “Hayley was going to explain—I think she got rattled by this sudden invitation from Aaron.”
“Of course.”
“So the relationship goes public—officially, they’ll admit everything. Tonight was supposed to be the last great heart-to-heart, where you two would have tried to save your marriage after she admitted her feelings for Aaron….”
“So she keeps some audience sympathy on side?”
Liona nodded. “Something like that. But now she’s tried, the world will understand that she’s an A-list star now, and she’s fallen for another A-lister, and that’s just natural. We’ve seen it before countless times.”
“Right. So Hayley and Aaron will be officially an item.”
“Yes.”
I said, “But in reality, it’s still a fake affair, right?”
Liona closed the curtains again then turned to me. “Still pretend,” she said, “although Aaron wants to make it real at this point—we know that. But even if it stays fake, it’s going to start seeming quite heavy now.”
“Okay.”
“Firstly, you two will have to separate—at least as far as the general public is concerned.”
That struck a discordant note, but it wasn’t too much of a surprise. “Okay, I could probably have guessed that.”
She said, “The idea is, now she’s flown off with Aaron, you move out of this hotel suite and…well, I guess move back home.”
“New York?”
She smiled. “Or your place in Redondo Beach, since you have a job out here now.”
“And Hayley? When their tour is over?”
“She’ll go live with Aaron in Malibu, I guess. At least until that real estate agent of yours locates a decent place for her.”
“I was beginning to wonder what that real estate agent was up to,” I grinned, but deep down I was feeling a little queasy. Liona had been right: this was getting very heavy, very fast. I would no longer be living with Hayley—my wife would be moving into another man’s house. Aaron Simpson’s house.
I felt like I hadn’t quite thought this through: if Hayley really did sleep with Aaron now, I would really lose her to him. She might still be married to me, and she might at some point want to come back to me, but for the mean time she would be gone for long periods.
“We’ll have to arrange some visits for you,” Liona said. “I mean, obviously you can see her whenever you like while she’s not on her publicity tour, but….”
“Conjugal visits, you mean?” I joked.
“I guess so.”
“She's going to have a lot of conjugal visits.”
“You are her husband,” Liona smiled.
I nodded. “Are there still photographers outside?”
“I think they’re headed to the airport with Hayley.”
“I feel like maybe going home right now,” I said.
“You want some help packing?” She was scratching her neck, and though she wasn’t really thinking about it, it made me notice how many buttons on her shirt were undone—I could see a lot more cleavage than a dutiful husband really ought to have.
But I smiled gratefully, I needed all the friends I could get just now. “That would be nice,” I said, “But I really don’t have a lot of stuff—I’m not a movie star, you know.”
Chapter Thirteen
I felt a little strange driving back to our little place in Redondo Beach, alone. This was very nearly my fantasy coming true. My wife was getting closer and closer to giving in to temptation, to sleeping with another man. But our lives had changed so dramatically since my fantasy had first developed that I wasn’t even sure how I felt about it now.
It was almost as though I’d told the Devil my greatest desire: for Hayley to sleep with another man, and he’d made my wish come true, but fucked my life up along with the deal.
Getting back to our little house did give me the comforting sense of a familiarity to cope with my churning stomach and tingling nerves. I could dial out for pizza and then bunker down, trying to imagine we were in our old life again, and Hayley was just out working for the evening.
My imagination couldn’t hold that particular image for long, though. The way I was feeling inside—and the burning sense of curiosity—made me crave some kind of information about what Hayley was doing, what was happening with Aaron. I knew it was a little ridiculous—the way traffic was in LA, Hayley was probably still on her way to the airport. But somehow, I had to connect with her, had to engage with her adventure with Aaron.
I flicked on the TV, but the gossip was all about the latest updates on various Kardashian sisters. Online, there were stories about my last efforts to persuade Hayley to save our marriage, but there was nothing new to learn.
Sitting there with the laptop on my lap reminded me that I hadn’t been following any of Hayley’s messaging with Aaron recen
tly. I drew up the messaging app on screen, which allowed her to chat with Aaron on any device. I could look at it on the laptop as she accessed it on her phone.
As the stream of messages displayed in front of me, I was immediately struck by how many smiles and “x” kisses had been flying between the two of them. Things were much more flirty between them than when I’d last checked—which had been quite a while back.
Aaron: You looked so hot in that dress today. Hard time keeping my hands off you ;-)
Hayley: I don’t seem to remember you trying to keep your hands off me today :-P
Aaron: But I wanted to keep them under your dress, not over it :-P
Hayley: You’re such a bad boy. You know my husband is lying next to me right now?
Aaron: In London you can lie next to me all you like
Hayley: I’m looking forward to it ;-)
My heart raced as I read their messages. Aaron was so forward. He was definitely trying to push the boundaries of what he was allowed to do with her and saw their international promotional junket as the time to pounce. Hayley seemed to maintain her distance to some degree, but didn’t want to discourage his sense of mischief.
I was stiff in no time.
Aaron: When are you gonna let me take you to my place in Antigua?
Hayley: Soon as you like—thought we were waiting until everything on PW is done :-)
Aaron: We have a spare week between the last premiere in Europe and the first in Asia - how about it?
Hayley: I’ll have to go shopping for a new swimsuit ;-)
Aaron: One step ahead of you. My personal shopper has bought some of the smallest bathing suits in history for you :-P
Hayley: You know I only wear one-piece suits?
Aaron: You know it’s an actual crime to hide a body like yours when you’re on the beach?
Hayley: You’ve seen it all before
Aaron: Which is why I need to see it again
Hayley: Okay, maybe if you’re nice to me, I’ll wear one of your dirty little bathing suits ;-)
Aaron: I’ll do whatever it takes :-P
Hayley: I’m going to go online and order you a tiny bathing suit that shows everything. You have to wear that, too.
She's a Star (a Hollywood Hotwife story) Page 11