“What floor?”
I grinned. “Already planning where you’re going to live with your husband?”
“Depends. Are you taking me up on my offer?”
My phone vibrated against my leg, and I wanted to curse. I held up my finger as I jammed my hand into my pocket, and she nodded silently. I watched her turn back toward her assistant, listening as they whispered to one another. I saw I had a text from Hunter, and I almost ignored it. Because now wasn’t the time for some dude meetup.
Until I saw the winky face.
I opened up the text, and that was all it had. Just a damn face winking back at me. I whipped my head up and looked around as things quickly fell into place.
“Gael, everything okay?” Syn asked.
When my eyes fell out the window in the corner, I saw Hunter standing there, waving at me, giving me a thumbs-up before he disappeared around the corner to walk off.
Fucking hell, he set this all up.
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine,” I said.
“You sure? You look a bit flustered.”
I slipped my phone into my pocket. “Yeah, yeah. Just a text from Hunter.”
Hunter, the fucking prankster.
Damn it, that man was always pulling tricks. Doing shit he didn’t need to be doing. And just when I thought things might work between me and Syn, he went and pulled this shit. At least he put me out of my misery before I agreed to his asinine plan.
I felt disappointment surge through my veins, but I brushed it aside. Syn was still here, still gazing up at me with those big, beautiful hazel eyes of hers. She was a welcome distraction from my own worries, too. I was enjoying the conversation. The banter. The way she smiled at me.
Let’s see just how far this prank goes.
“How far away is this bar from your place?” I asked.
Syn grinned. “Already planning to move in?”
“If I take you up on your offer.”
“I know you will.”
I winked. “I suppose you’ll have to wait a little longer to find out.”
She giggled. “You really enjoy making a girl sweat it out, huh?”
“I like my women with a little glisten, yes.”
She blushed. “If I glistened for our wedding ceremony tonight, would that convince you?”
“You know of a quaint little wedding chapel that would perform a wedding this time of the night? It’s almost…”
“Uh, it’s eleven-thirty right now,” Nat said.
I nodded. “It’s almost midnight.”
Syn leaned even closer to me. “Well, I’ve got a limo outside waiting for us. A little over four hours to the closest 24/7 wedding chapel on the outskirts of town.”
“You came with a plan, you cheeky little girl.”
“Oh, I’m no girl, Gael.”
My eyes fell down her body. “Trust me, I can see that.”
She blushed deeper. “So, are you in?”
What the hell? I could use the entertainment. I’d also love to see how much I could get away with before she pulled the plug with Hunter. I didn’t know how the hell he roped her into this kind of plan or how much of our conversation he fed to Syn for her own personal knowledge, but this was easily the best prank he had ever pulled. “I’m in,” I said.
“This really isn’t a good idea,” Nat said.
“Nat, I’m ordering you an Uber. Gael and I have a wedding to catch,” Syn said.
As I watched Syn type away on her phone, I chuckled to myself. I didn’t expect to get all the way to Vegas. If anything, I expected the limo to drive around for a while before something else happened and some other embarrassing bullshit reared its head. This prank wasn’t done, it was far from being done. But once he finally came out of the woodwork, I really needed to know how much money he paid fucking Syn Sycamore because there was no way in hell she was willingly doing something like this.
This meant I needed to come up with something fun to throw right back in Hunter’s face after driving around for a while.
6
Syn
“This really isn’t a good idea. Syn, think about this,” Nat murmured.
I hurried her out of the bar before Gael could catch up to us.
“Just do as I’m asking, please. Your Uber’s almost here. I want you to text me when you’re home safe. Okay?” I whispered.
Nat whipped around. “I’m telling you; this isn’t going to go how you think. Listen to me and Madison. Please. Don’t do—”
“Ready to hit the road?” Gael asked.
I whipped around and put on my best smile as I hid Nat behind my back.
“I’m very ready,” I said.
His eyes swept over the limo. “Nice. The chrome accents are a good touch.”
I grinned. “I’m glad you like it”
“A woman like yourself deserves style.”
He really knew how to flatter a woman.
After getting Nat in her Uber and waving her off, I found Gael standing by the limo door. He opened it up for me, and I drew in a deep breath.
This is just an arrangement. This is just an arrangement. This is just an arrangement.
“Your chariot awaits,” Gael said.
I smiled. “Why, thank you, kind sir.”
He chuckled as I dipped down inside and he in fell next to me. The car swayed a bit on its chassis, but the buttery leather seats welcomed us with a heat that made me moan. I leaned back as I heard the door close. And with a soft lurch, the limo pulled away from the curb.
“I take it the driver is aware of the plans?” he asked.
I nodded. “Mmm, yes. He knows where we’re headed.”
“Looks like you could use a nap.”
“What I could use is for you to pop open that bottle of champagne and hand me a flute.”
His chuckle filled the space around us, rattling my rib cage and setting butterflies off in my stomach. There wasn’t a damn thing about this man I didn’t enjoy, from his looks to his accent to his stories. Even the way he poured the damn champagne would be the death of me. His movements were fluid, despite the tattoos and the muscles. “What’s that scar on your elbow from? It looks pretty recent,” I said.
He nodded. “Mm, that’s because it is.”
“How recent?”
“A couple of months ago, I think?”
“What happened?”
“A botched stunt on set. Don’t worry, it didn’t even require stitches or anything. It’s easy to scar the skin on the elbow.”
I paused. “Wait a second. My set?”
He snickered. “Don’t let Victor hear you say that.”
“Did you report it? Did the show pay for it?”
He waved his hand in the air. “It’s fine. I’m okay.”
“But did you report it?”
He paused. “Unless it’s a major injury that requires a hospital visit, things like this don’t get reported.”
“Why not?”
“Because it costs the studio too much money to foot every little bill.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Don’t they care about the well-being of their own damn stuntmen?”
He set his champagne down. “I guess their thinking is that we’re up to a baseline of injuries on a weekly basis because of what we do. No use in paying for anything below that baseline if we’re expecting it.”
I blinked. “That’s a crock of shit, if I’ve ever heard it.”
He shrugged. “Just how it goes.”
I sighed as my eyes journeyed around his body. Up his arms. Over the rolling expanse of his shoulders. The man seemed to grow before my very eyes. I couldn’t get over how naturally tan his skin was. I was jealous of it. All my life, I’d had to slather myself in sunscreen just to keep my sunburns at the first degree. I couldn’t enjoy the beaches for long stretches of time. Hell, I couldn’t enjoy regular days in the sun for long stretches of time.
“Tell me about the beach,” I said.
Gael furrowed his brow. “Wha
t?”
“You mentioned the beach when you were talking about your scar. Did you go to the beach a lot?”
He nodded. “I lived within walking distance.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I mean, it’s the beach. It has sand. And waves. And topless people.”
I blinked. “Come again?”
He chuckled. “Just kidding. There are no topless beaches where I grew up.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Just nude ones.”
“What!”
He laughed. “Yep. There are plenty of nude beaches there. My father never took me to those, though. Just the ones that were kid safe.”
“Tell me about them, please?”
He settled back into the seat and nodded.
“The ocean was always crystal clear. Even with the natural disasters you hear about on the news—oil spills and shit like that—it never seemed to affect our waters. You could look down and see the fish swimming around your ankles. Rainbow-colored fishes and little minnows nipping at your toes. And the sand is this fresh, clear tan. Just a grain heftier than powdered sugar. So soft you could nap on it. Which I did, many times as a child.”
As I listened to him talk, I mindlessly sipped my drink. I didn’t think I’d be using this limo at all tonight. And the more I listened to his stories, the more I found myself happy to be using it. I never expected this random stuntman to go for my offer. I half expected him to call me crazy before selling the story off to the tabloids somewhere, but it seemed as if my gamble was about to pay off.
“Have you ever been to Vegas?” I asked.
Gael snorted. “Once. On a drunken boys’ weekend that ended with me wearing another man’s pants along with a discarded female blouse.”
I blinked. “Do I dare ask why?”
He smiled. “I lost my clothes in a bet. So, to keep me from walking around naked and getting arrested, the woman I was hitting on that night and one of the guys lent me some of their clothes.”
“Don’t tell me you tried squeezing that massive chest of yours into a bra.”
He gasped playfully. “I’m more than just my chest, thank you very much. Eyes up here.”
I giggled profusely as the world passed by around us. Then, I lifted my empty champagne glass.
“To nudity!” I exclaimed.
He laughed. “I think you need something to drink in that.”
“Then, fill’er up so I can properly toast to your nakedness.”
He reached for the bottle. “Sounds like you want to see me without my clothes.”
I scoffed. “And why the hell would I want to do that?”
“To see if you’re right.”
“About what?”
He grinned. “That you don’t look as good as me naked.”
I laughed. “Oh, ho, ho. That, sir, I highly doubt.”
“Care to wager a bet on that?”
I peered at him from beyond the rim of my glass and narrowed my eyes playfully.
“That’s a tempting proposition,” I said.
“Let me know if you get brave enough to place the bet.”
I sipped my champagne to keep my thoughts to myself. This was an arrangement. And the last thing I needed was the alcohol shooting to my brain and muddling everything up. I needed a distraction. Something to take my mind off the hunky Spaniard cruising into Vegas with me in the back of a leather-lined limo.
So, I reached for the remote control to the television and turned it on.
“And if you can’t get enough of that strong, powerful woman, do we have a news segment for you. For all of you lucky guys out there, news flash! Syn Sycamore is single again,” the man said.
“What the fuck?” I murmured.
The woman on the news segment smiled. “That’s right, everyone. Official sources are stating that the power couple of Syn Sycamore and Liam Rainey have officially broken up. And the pictures to accompany this rumor are steaming hot.”
The man butted in. “That’s right, folks. Liam has apparently already moved on from hot A-lister Syn Sycamore and has been seen cuddled up to another beautiful up-and-coming actress, Anna Heckov.”
“This wasn’t supposed to air until tomorrow,” I whispered.
I looked at the clock behind the heads of the newscasters. Holy shit, that clock said two in the morning. Liam and I had been riding in the damn limo for over two hours. It didn’t feel like two hours, though. It felt like fifteen damn minutes.
I felt my grip tightening around my champagne flute just before the television turned itself off.
“Hey, what the—?”
I looked over at Gael and saw him placing the remote down.
“Before you throw your champagne at the television, I want you to know that your ex is an absolute asshole.”
I fell silent at his words as his beautiful blue eyes met my stare.
“He’s a crazy person to have broken up with someone like you, Syn. You’re talented. You’re sexy. You’re caring, despite the persona you put out there for the world to see. You’re a catch, in every sense of the word. And eventually, he’ll do to Anna what he’s done to you because that’s who he is and that’s his character. But how you react to all this? How you choose to come at all this? That’s a reflection of your character. Don’t let him change your character, Syn. It’s too beautiful to be mangled by someone as worthless as him.”
I had to swallow to keep from crying. My eyes danced between his as his words descended heavily upon my mind. I was overwhelmed by his compliments, but I was in awe of his advice. And he was right. How I decided to handle this going forward was a reflection of me. Not him. In the span of a few hours, Gael managed to make me feel more appreciated and more beautiful than Liam ever made me feel throughout the two years he and I casually dated.
“Thank you,” I breathed.
I don’t know what possessed me or what came over me, but the second I felt my ass raise up from the seat, I knew there was no going back. My eyes closed. My champagne flute dropped from my hand. And as I wrapped my arms around his neck, my lips fell to his.
Everything faded away from my mind. My anger. My hurt. My pain. My worries. As Gael wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his lap, I felt myself falling into him, losing myself in him. And maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do. Maybe I wasn’t going about this the right way, but there was something about Gael I wasn’t ready to give up yet. Something genuine. Something kind. Something more beautiful than anything I had ever experienced.
7
Gael
I didn’t know what the fuck I did to get Syn on top of me, but I thanked my damn stars it was happening. She felt so good. Especially with the squirming she was doing. Her lips were soft and inviting. Her skin smelled of roses and cotton. I kissed down her neck, my arms wrapping around her as I pulled her closer and felt her perfect breasts mold with my chest, her pelvis grinding against mine.
“Oh,” she breathed.
I sucked on a small patch of her skin before she fisted my hair. And when she drew me up, our lips crashed together again. She tasted like champagne and fond memories, something I’d keep with me always. My hands splayed along her back. I massaged her muscles and ran my hands all the way to her ass, pushing the boundaries just to see if she’d give up the fight and the prank.
But when I gripped her ass, she only scooted closer.
Holy hell, this is amazing.
My head fell off to the side, deepening the kiss. Her hands slid down my chest as she pushed back. But she didn’t stay there for long. Her lips fell to my neck, and her cheek slid along my stubble. As I groaned out her name, I felt her sigh against me.
“That sounded nice,” she said softly.
Her teeth softly slid over my pulse point. My cock raged, leaking against my boxers. I rolled her body against my own, bucking softly into her warmth.
“Syn,” I growled.
“Shit, Gael. Oh,” she whispered.
My hands slid under her shir
t, and it ignited something within me. I drew in the softness of her skin. The perfect curves of her back and her waist. My fingertips danced along her skin, not wanting to grip her too tightly for fear of making her pull away. Goosebumps prickled beneath my touch. I felt her rolling against me, seeking a friction I desperately wanted to give her as her teeth marked my neck.
“Fuck,” I grunted.
“Oh, no,” she breathed.
I paused. The second she said those words, I paused. Because they were never good. I quickly pulled my hands from underneath her shirt as she sat up straight. Her eyes widened in shock. She brought her hands to her chest, as if she were taking stock of what they had been doing. Then, she slipped off to the side, pushing herself all the way to the other side of the limo.
“I’m so sorry. That was very intrusive of me. I shouldn’t have—”
I turned myself all the way toward her, while she struggled with what just happened. It was a side of her I never expected to see. Insecure. Worried. Questioning herself. Syn Sycamore definitely wasn’t the kind of woman she portrayed on television.
Nor was she the kind of woman her reputation on set made her out to be.
“Syn, look at me,” I said.
She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have jumped on you like that. Your words were just so kind. Thank you. It’s the kindest thing anyone’s said to me in a long time. And I guess I just got carried away.”
I slid toward her and took her hand within mine.
“Syn,” I said softly.
Her gaze swept over to mine, but she didn’t pull her hand away. I clasped it between both of mine, my hands dwarfing hers. They were so delicate, so warm, yet powerful in some way. Her eyes filled with apprehension and danced between mine as she awaited my next words on the edge of her seat.
“Yes?” she finally asked.
I snickered. “I’m so very honored that you feel comfortable enough to take out your post-breakup aggression on me.”
The furrow of her brow denoted confusion, but slowly, the crease faded. Her lips curled into a grin, which grew into a smile. And by the time her lips parted for her laughter, her head had already been thrown back.
His Secret Baby Page 4