Only One (Ward Sisters Book 2)

by Lucy Gage

  “Don’t act like you don’t care.”

  “I didn’t say I don’t care. So, has he been sleeping around?” God, she hoped not. It was painful when he told her that he’d slept with Ally between her Homecoming trip a year ago and when they got together a few months later.

  Rob laughed. “I love you. You don’t mince words. As far as I know, not when he was with me, but he went to Boston for his birthday in June, and he might have seen Dana then. He didn’t say, but I didn’t ask, either.”

  Jenna sighed. “I bet if I check, she was single then.”

  “Maybe. I don’t think they have anything serious.”

  “Doesn’t mean he didn’t sleep with her.”

  “Do you want me to talk to him, Jenna?”

  “No! Absolutely not. We make things work the way they are. I’m not rocking the boat. Don’t rock it for me. Please.”

  “Okay. I won’t. I promise. He seemed pretty happy that we were headed to L.A.”

  “Did he? Look, let me know if you need anything specific. I assume Amy has some press releases coming and that we need to update the website and Facebook.”

  “Yeah, she’ll contact you. See you soon. Don’t give up.”

  “You know I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Bye.”

  Jenna sank into the sofa and closed her eyes. She had to live with it. He’d come around eventually. One of these days, he would let himself love her without having a panic attack about it. That didn’t make it easier to take when he slept with someone else.

  She wasn’t worried about Ally anymore. Liam insisted she wasn’t important, so Jenna chose to believe it, given that he’d only slept with her once in the last year as far as she knew. Dana and Reggie were different stories.

  Jenna hacked into Facebook and found Dana’s profile. It said In a Relationship right now, but she looked at the history and at the time Liam would have been home – around his birthday, in late June – it had said single. Which meant there was a good chance that Liam had slept with her then. Dana might have been looking for a rebound hookup, and it would have been a few months since Jenna last saw Liam. Unless he’d slept with Ally in that time, he might have been looking for a booty call. Even if he had been with Ally, he might have wanted to sleep with Dana, anyway. That made her heart sink.

  Time to check out the other competition.

  She found Reggie’s profile. The makeup artist’s page wasn’t completely private because she used it for professional reasons. But there were parts of her page that were set to private and Jenna checked into those. Reggie, it turned out, was currently single. And that made Jenna wonder. Liam had said that things with him and Reggie were casual and he’d indicated once that, since Reggie had a boyfriend, they weren’t getting together. If Jenna blew him off this time, if she made an excuse why she couldn’t see him, would he seek out Reggie? He’d see her because Rob had a premiere, which meant their boss needed Reggie’s services.

  A few hours later, Liam called, as she suspected he would. The Script’s Breakeven played and she let it ring twice before she answered this time. Usually, she picked up straight away. She wondered what Liam would say if he knew what song played when he called.

  “Hey you,” he said, sounding happy.

  “Hey,” Jenna replied flatly.

  “Did Rob tell you we’ll be back in L.A. next week?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s wrong, baby?” His concern touched her heart.

  She sighed and tried to be matter-of-fact. “Nothing. Just busy with work.” It wasn’t completely untrue. She was sort of busy.

  “Busy already? The premiere hasn’t even happened yet. You getting bombarded with stuff before he has lunch with Cara?”

  “Just have a lot going on is all.” Again, not false, but not the entire issue. This Liam-sees-other-women thing was wearing on her, and he hadn’t, supposedly, been with anyone else. Much.

  “Am I going to be able to see you while we’re in town?” He sounded hopeful. She hated to dash those hopes, in part because she wanted desperately to see him. But she needed him to know that she wasn’t his booty call like the other girls. No matter what she’d said before, it had never been what she wanted.

  “You know, I’m not sure if I can. I have a lot to do for work and on top of that, I’m having my period.”

  “Oh. Okay. I wish we could see each other. I miss you.”

  That melted her a tiny bit. “I miss you, too. It’s just going to be tough, since you’re only here for a few days. Hopefully you’ll be back again soon, right?”

  “Yeah. I hope so. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

  Not likely, unless she called him. Even the video she’d left him hadn’t encouraged him to call, unless he hadn’t found it. She’d put it on his iPhone well over a year ago, so it seemed unlikely.

  “Better get back to it. Have fun at the premiere.”

  And screwing Reggie.

  “Won’t be as much fun if I don’t see you. Bye, baby.”

  If only I could believe that.

  “Bye.”

  As soon as she hung up the phone, Jenna burst into tears. Was this tough love for herself? Should she go a step further, maybe get tickets to the premiere from Rob and bring a date?

  No. She didn’t want to be petty yet. She just wanted to know if he was still interested in Reggie, and there was only one way to find out.

  **********

  He followed Rob toward the makeup area and caught a flash of bright pink hair. When he arrived at her chair, Reggie turned around.

  “Well, well. If it isn’t my favorite hottie bodyguard,” she said.

  Liam kissed her cheek. “Hi, Reggie.”

  “And here’s my favorite client. Oh! And look. For once, he has been keeping up with his skincare regimen.”

  Rob blushed. “I only skip if I run out of product.”

  “Then we’ll have to get the minions to make sure you have plenty of supply before you leave L.A. Now sit your ass down and let’s get this show on the road.”

  Liam stood to the side and watched Reggie work her magic. The girl had talent in spades. He was obviously still attracted to her, because every time she bent low to get a better angle, he experienced a familiar jolt of sexual energy looking at her ass.

  It didn’t hurt that she was wearing the seamed stockings she loved, the ones he knew were attached to a sexy, matching garter belt, likely accompanied by a set of lacy, coordinated lingerie. Last time, it was purple silk and black lace, with a black garter belt and stockings. Her plain black dress and flats belied the hot little package underneath. It was one of the things he liked best about Reggie, that she was always a surprise to be opened.

  When he recalled how a tiny, conservative-looking, yet funky contradiction of a girl had boldly propositioned him during the after party for one of Rob’s premieres, he smirked. Reggie was adventurous in the bedroom. She had piercings and tattoos in hidden places, which had been surprisingly sexy.

  He was convinced that she always wore seamed stockings to these things to remind him of that first night.

  Thinking about sleeping with Reggie brought good memories. He’d always liked being with her, more than he ever had with Dana. Unlike Ally, Reggie let him know it was about mutual attraction and esteem, not just gratification. He thought being with her again would neutralize the situations with Dana and Ally – both of which were over in his head – proving he could still date more than one girl. Then Reggie made a flippant comment to Rob, one that reminded him of something Jenna would say, and getting naked with Reggie went out the window.

  His boss was done in the chair, and Liam started to follow Rob, but Reggie grabbed his arm.

  “Hey. You’re here a couple days, right?”

  Liam nodded and sighed. “Yeah.”

  “Want to get naked and sweaty at my place tomorrow? Try the new massage oil I just bought?” She wiggled her brows.

  He took a deep breath. “Sure,” he said on the exhale. What else was h
e going to do? Jenna had made excuses not to see him, for what reason, he had no idea. For all he knew, she was seeing someone else.

  The thought depressed him, which was unwelcome.

  Reggie furrowed her brow, looking offended. “Hey, if you don’t want to do this anymore, just say so.”

  Liam felt bad for hurting Reggie’s feelings. He considered her a good friend, even aside from the time they spent in bed together.

  “No, I want to come over. I’ll drive up after I’m off at noon.”

  “Don’t force yourself,” she said, irritation in her voice.

  He kissed her sweetly. “I want to come over, Reg. I’ll see you then. I have to go.” She smiled and pinched his ass. He returned her smile and left. Now, if he could get excited about going.

  “What was that about?” Rob asked as they sat in the limo.

  “Nothing.”

  “It looked like you two were fighting. I didn’t think things with Reggie were that deep.”

  “It’s nothing, Rob. Leave it alone.”

  Rob put his hands up. “Okay.” After a couple minutes, his face changed – Liam could tell he was thinking about the premiere and anxiety was creeping into his mind. This was why Liam was here, to ward off the panic. For some unknown reason, he could do it better than anyone else.

  “Rob.” He didn’t answer. “Rob, look at me.” Rob turned and looked at Liam. Oh no. The panic was on his face. This one was bad. “Hey, don’t sweat this. Reviews say your performance was kick-ass, and they’re right. I went to that screening with you.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Rob. Stop being a fucking pussy and snap out of it!” Being nice with him didn’t always work. Liam hated when he had to be a dick to his best friend, but when Rob drifted this far into his head, it was the only thing that broke through sometimes.

  “Oh. Yeah. Sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry, asshole, just pull yourself together and get ready to go out there. You know they don’t give you the big jobs because you’re a shitty actor. You can do this. How many fucking times have you done this, for Christ’s sake?”

  “Too many to count.”

  “Right. So snap the fuck out of it and go smile for the damn cameras. Pretty boy.”

  Rob’s face relaxed as the panic passed, and he grinned.

  “Thanks.”

  “Jesus, you’re a real piece of work, you know that?” Liam punched him lightly in the arm. He didn’t mean it. He was always glad to do this for Rob. His best friend did so much for him.

  “You going to Reggie’s tonight?”

  “Tomorrow. I’m on until noon.”

  “You don’t sound excited.”

  Liam shrugged. “Whatever. Hey, you have to get out there. Let’s go.” Rob nodded and they exited the limo to flashbulbs. Liam wondered if Jenna would see him in the photos later, if she’d think about him the way he was thinking of her right now.

  He could hope.

  **********

  The next day, Liam arrived at Reggie’s, unsure of what to do. He’d debated all night whether or not he should cancel, though he never had before and she might refuse to speak to him again if he did. Was he ready to take that step with Reggie, too?

  About a hundred times the night before and all morning, he wanted to call Jenna, see what she was doing, if she had a little time to see him after all. But he didn’t do it. He had no idea why, but he was afraid she’d say no again, that she’d tell him she had a date or a new boyfriend.

  So, here he was, standing on Reggie’s step. He knocked and within seconds, she flung the door open. A huge grin spread across her face when she saw him. He couldn’t help but return it. She wore this regal purple housedress, he supposed you’d call it, satiny with buttons up the front and a slit up her thigh. The seams of the bust hugged her breasts and it tapered to her waist. It was as loud as her pink hair, a blunt straight bob. But the highlight was the garter belt and stockings he saw peeking out the slit, and the stripper boots, leather, over her knee, with six-inch stilettos.

  Jesus.

  “Hey there, hot stuff,” Reggie said as she let him in the door. Damn. No matter what his brain said, his dick wanted to see what was under that dress.

  He kissed her before she could shut the door. She always wore flavored lip gloss over whatever lip stain she was wearing. This one was coconut and, damn it, made him think of Jenna.

  Shit. He stepped back and forced a smile.

  “Now that’s the kind of greeting I was hoping to get. You like?” she asked, twirling for him.

  Her ass was first rate and it looked even better in that dress than it had the night before. When she stopped turning and faced him again, the lust he’d felt moments before was back. He’d always liked being with Reggie. It was never a disappointment that she was his most frequent lover before he’d met Jenna.

  Jenna. Damn it.

  Again, his dick went soft when he thought about her. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Jenna. It was as if his body was following his brain’s instructions, the ones that had told him last night he should stop doing this. That he should walk out Reggie’s door, get in the car and drive across town to Jenna’s apartment, wait for her all fucking night if he had to do it.

  Reggie must have sensed something was off, and she moved closer. She whispered, “I waxed the other day.”

  Liam gulped. When she waxed, that meant Brazilian and bald as a baby. She had a tattoo where the hair should be and he’d always thought it was incredibly sexy. That and her single nipple piercing were both things he’d normally have disdained, but on Reggie, they were hot.

  His dick was back in the game.

  She walked to the fridge and handed him a beer. “You look like you could use one of these,” she said. Sometimes, he thought she knew him better than he realized. They sat on the couch and drank a beer, talked for a bit and he relaxed.

  He could do this. If Jenna could date someone else, he could go back to the way things were before her, at least with Reggie. He still didn’t want the other two anymore, but he’d always liked sleeping with Reggie.

  It didn’t take much encouragement – or more than two beers – for him to get lost in the moment with Reggie. She was a minx in the bedroom, always fun and hotter than hell. This time around, he watched a strip tease worthy of a pro and then she produced the massage oil she’d mentioned the night before.

  Edible.

  Thankfully, it was peach.

  A couple hours later, they had gone a few rounds and Liam was holding Reggie, lying in bed. His mind wandered, thinking about the last person he’d held. Ally sure as hell didn’t do cuddling and he’d faked passing out with Dana. He sighed involuntarily.

  “What’s wrong?” Reggie asked.

  Liam felt bad. He liked Reggie and he didn’t want to hurt her, but he needed to be honest. Jenna was the first new girl in his life since he met Reggie over five years ago.

  “I need to tell you something,” he said.

  Reggie sat up and looked at him, eyes passive, giving away nothing. She wasn’t one to panic. “And?” No modesty with her in the bedroom, she sat there with her breasts bared, her piercing and tattoo staring at him.

  He cleared his throat. “I’ve been seeing Rob’s assistant.”

  Her eyebrows shot up, but in curiosity. “Oh? How long?”

  “About a year and half.”

  “Exclusively?” Now she looked pissed.

  “No. I mean, not now. In the beginning, I wasn’t with anyone else, but we agreed to see other people later.”

  “So, does she know about me?” Reggie asked.

  “Yeah. She does. Knows about Ally and Dana, too. I told her before we ever went on a date.”

  “You went on a date with her?”

  Reggie sounded offended. They’d hung out at her place a few times, watched movies and she’d cooked for him, but he’d never thought to take her anywhere. Maybe he should have.

  He sheepishly replied, “Uh, yeah. She asked if I was
seeing anyone else and I told her that I was.”

  “She’s okay with that? I won’t be an interloper. I know Dana is hit or miss for you, and Ally treats you like a gigolo without the exchange of money, but I thought we were more than that.”

  Liam flinched because her assessment of the situation was pretty spot-on. “Yeah. I mean, you’re right. We have more than I had with the other two girls.”

  “Had?”

  “Well, no one ended things officially, but I’m not really sure if I’ll ever be with them again, to be honest.”

  “But you want to be with me, and this girl is okay with that?”

  “We agreed to see other people.” He fucking hated the idea of Jenna seeing anyone else, but what could he do? Unless she said she wanted him to commit to her, he had a hard time asking.

  Reggie kissed him. “Okay. If something changes, you tell me. I won’t be the other woman.”

  “Never. I have more respect for you than that.”

  “Good. What’s her name?”

  Liam couldn’t help the smile. “Jenna. She lives here, in L.A. Other side of town.”

  “Oh? She rich?”

  “Her father is an entertainment lawyer, but I don’t imagine she makes peanuts for Rob, given what she does.”

  “Wait, is she the computer chick?”

  “Yeah. How’d you know that?”

  “I’ve heard Rob talking to her before.”

  “She’s amazing. So damn smart. I think you’d like her.”

  Reggie rolled her eyes. “Because I’m Mensa material?”

  Liam touched her nose. “No, because she’s sassy like you. Not that I don’t think you’re smart.”

  “Right answer, big boy. She sexy?”

  “Yes. Sorry. Different from you.”

  “Oh? How so?”

  “She looks like a typical California girl. You look like a New Yorker.”

  “I am a New Yorker.”

  “And you look like one. Like I said, different.”

  “Let’s celebrate those differences, shall we?” she suggested, and then she proceeded to remind him why it was that he’d always liked sleeping with her so much.