Falling Into Drew

by Harriet Schultz

  “Atta girl!”

  The doorbell rang while Kate was changing so Liz went to answer it, but first asked who was there since the doorman hadn’t sent this person up.

  “Charles Morrison,” said a deep, masculine voice. When Liz opened the door Charles took one look at her and froze in place, unable to move. They stared at each other until she realized she hadn’t invited him in. When she did that, two men walked into the apartment. She immediately recognized Drew O’Connor and glared at him until her Southern manners took over.

  She turned to Charles and extended her hand. “I’m Elizabeth Bradford, Kate’s friend. She’ll be out in a minute. Let me take your coats.” Once they were disposed of she asked if she could get them something to drink.

  Throughout Liz’s brief speech, Charles said nothing until Drew nudged him. “I’m Charles, but you already know that and this party crasher is Drew.”

  “Kate will be surprised to see you and I’m not sure in a good way, but there’s always room and food enough for one more.” She tilted her head and kept her big blue eyes on the handsome agent. “Charles is so formal,” she drawled. “Doesn’t anyone call you Chuck or Chas or even Charlie?”

  “I was Charlie to my friends as a kid, but my parents always call me Charles. Once my voice changed, I became Charles to everyone, but you can call me whatever you want, sugar.”

  “Sugar is something you put in tea. Kate calls me Liz, but to you I’m…well, this week I’m Elizabeth.”

  “So noted. I didn’t mean anything…”

  Liz rested her hand on his arm. “It’s fine. Really. Can’t you tell when a woman is teasing you?” She winked at him and was rewarded when Charles reacted with the kind of grin that almost seemed dirty.

  Drew cleared his throat, unaccustomed to being treated as invisible by a beautiful woman. “You look familiar. Are you an actress?”

  “I am, not a famous one although I think I’m pretty damn good. I’m on a soap, but even Julianne Moore started out on one and look at her now, an Oscar winner.” She wondered if Kate would ever join them and decided not to give her a choice. “Let me see what’s keeping Kate. I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving.”

  As soon as she opened the door to the bedroom, Kate tugged her inside. “I am not going out there! What the hell is he doing here,” she hissed.

  “It’s obvious that he wanted to see you and thought you might slam the door in his face so he came as his friend’s plus one. I’ve got to say,” she began and fanned her face with her hand, “I have never been in the presence of two men who look like gods and I’m an actress, surrounded by gorgeous actors all day.”

  Kate sat down at the edge of her bed. “I don’t know what to do. He hurt me, Liz. How am I supposed to act?”

  “You play the role of someone who doesn’t give a damn. Don’t be mean or ignore him. Be gracious and act as if Charles has brought some long lost relative with him who he couldn’t leave home alone.”

  “Okay, I can do that,” Kate murmured, nodding. “How hard can it be?”

  Liz fluffed Kate’s hair, tugged the low cut top a little further down and nodded her approval. “You’re smart, beautiful, and look like sex on wheels tonight. Now let’s get out there and charm these bozos.” She grabbed Kate’s hand and pulled her to the door. “Showtime,” she whispered.

  Both men stood when the women joined them. Drew sucked in a breath and his eyes widened at the sight of Kate’s breasts when she bent to air kiss Charles after he sat again. He had no right to be, but he felt possessive about this woman’s body. It was his and he glared at Charles when he spotted where his best friend’s eyes were aimed.

  Liz watched everyone’s body language with interest and almost applauded when Kate politely asked Charles if he’d already met Liz. She didn’t wait for an answer before coolly adding, “I see we both brought a friend. I’ll set another place at the table.” And then she walked away.

  Once in the kitchen, she turned up the heat under the simmering pot of water for the pasta, checked on the half-cooked vegetables and took the salad out of the refrigerator. Then she put her palms on the counter and leaned toward it, telling herself she just had to get through the evening. She heard a sound behind her, but before she could turn around, large hands rested on her shoulders.

  “Kate,” Drew whispered near her ear. “It isn’t enough to say I’m sorry, but I am. I should have called to explain. I wanted to, but…I don’t know. I’ve told you that the way I feel around you confuses the hell out of me. The only thing I’m sure of is that I need to be with you and I hope I haven’t totally fucked this up.”

  She whirled around to face him. “Do you think I’m stupid, that all you have to do is say you’re sorry and everything you did will be erased? Damn you, Drew. You jumped into another woman’s bed less than twenty-four hours after fucking me!”

  “I didn’t…”

  “I saw the pictures! People at work saw the pictures! They showed them to me and said it was great publicity for the book!” She turned away and whispered, “I won’t repeat what else they said.”

  He pressed his body against her back and circled her waist to pull her closer, needing the contact, but her body stiffened and she pulled away. If she tried to speak, the tears she’d been fighting would start.

  “Kate, I knew that woman years ago. She saw me in a bar with Charles and came on to me, but I told her I wasn’t interested. I left, went back to the house, drank cocoa and went to sleep — alone — so that I could get up early to ski the next day. Ask Charles. Problem is, she arranged for someone to sneak a picture of us and post it. I can’t control things like that. That’s why I took you to that dive bar. I didn’t want to involve you in the crazy, public part of my life. I want to keep what we have for myself.”

  He tried to hold her again and this time she let him. Her body’s reaction told her that this thing between them wasn’t over. His lips nuzzled her neck. “Give us a chance. Forgive me…please,” he said softly.

  She didn’t know why she believed him, but she did, at least about this. She turned in his arms and sighed his name before their mouths eagerly met in a greedy kiss. When she pulled away, her gaze wandered over his face, searching his blue eyes as if the answer were there. “You hurt me. After the night we had, I thought…well, it doesn’t matter what I thought, but I never imagined a week of silence while you were in Europe. And then when I saw you with her… it hit me that sex is a much more casual thing for you than it is for me. I was just one more woman you’d fucked. Nothing more.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but she put her fingers over his lips. “Wait, I’m not finished. I’m not a clinging, needy person. It’s not as if we’re in a relationship or you owe me anything, but that night I told you that I don’t do one night stands, that I’m not a slut, and I don’t like being treated like one.”

  “Hey are we ever going to eat?” Liz shouted. She turned toward Charles, “We’ve given them enough time to either kill each other or make up. Why don’t we finish cooking dinner and let them sit out here for a while?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but took his hand. They exchanged a look of surprise when their skin touched and although she’d made the first move, he tightened his hold and led the way to the kitchen.

  “Take it outside, you two,” Charles said. “Elizabeth and I will do the rest and bring the food out when it’s ready.”

  “Are you ganging up on us?” Kate asked.

  “Damn right,” Liz said as she shoved her friend toward the living room while Charles did the same with Drew. They slid the kitchen’s pocket door closed and exchanged satisfied grins. “We make a pretty good team,” she said.

  “Happy to be your co-star anytime, shh….” Charles stopped himself before he called her sugar again.

  He flinched when she reached her hand toward his face, expecting a slap, but instead she gently stroked his cheek. “You have my permission to call me sugar anytime, darlin’,” she said in her best Southern accen
t and laughed. “Now let’s get to work. You can cook, can’t you?”

  Kate sat at the dining room table crossing and uncrossing her legs while Drew strode from one end of the apartment to the other until he finally whirled around to face her. “Am I allowed to speak now?”

  “Of course.”

  “I hurt you. I get that and although I’m sorry doesn’t cut it, I am — very. And I already told you that slut is the last word I’d associate with you, so get that out of your head now.” He stared angrily at her, his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

  Then he took a calming breath, squatted in front of her and wrapped her hands in his. Blue eyes framed by thick lashes looked directly at her and his voice quieted, its earlier frustration gone. “Kate…Kate. This is new for me so if we continue to see each other and I hope we will, I’m going to fuck up and do things like not calling you for a week. When that happens, you need to tell me so we can talk about it before it turns into something bigger.”

  After she nodded her understanding, he stood and placed his hands on the arms of her chair, caging her. His face was close enough for her to notice the flecks of green in his eyes. The expression in them had softened, his skin was tanned from the high altitude week outdoors, and she couldn’t look away from his impossibly handsome face.

  “I may have overreacted so if you want to yell at me, I’ll understand,” she said softly.

  He tipped her face up with one finger. “”I don’t yell. I heard enough of that as a kid,” he said.

  That piqued Kate’s curiosity, but she’d save those questions for another time.

  “There’s only one thing I want to do, something I’ve thought about for the past week.” He kissed her gently, tenderly until she sighed his name and he was lost, demanding entrance to her mouth as the kiss deepened. His lips moved to her neck, intoxicated by the scent of cinnamon and something uniquely Kate that he couldn’t identify. Finally, he leaned his forehead against hers. “You drive me crazy, Kate Porter. What are we going to do about this?”

  Before she could respond, Liz and Charles cleared their throats loudly to announce their presence as they carried platters of steaming food to the table. Liz couldn’t resist teasing them. “Can you two keep your clothes on long enough to join us for dinner?”

  Charles piled linguine coated with garlic and olive oil mixed with colorful vegetables onto his plate. “Anyone else want some of this primavera or is it all for me?” Liz gave him a playful swat and sat next to him. He twirled pasta onto his fork and fed it to her. “Mmmm,” she moaned. “I love a man who can cook.”

  “Just one of my many talents, ma’am,” he said, in a way that made it very clear what talents he was talking about. He shifted in his seat trying to adjust his suddenly tight jeans without being observed.

  “I shouldn’t have worried about how you and Charles would get along,” Kate said once they began to eat. “Look at what good friends you’ve become in only an hour.”

  The two women exchanged a look. “A stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet, Big Daddy always said.”

  Drew smirked, trying not to laugh and Charles sputtered, “Big Daddy? Isn’t he a character in a Tennessee Williams play?”

  Liz nodded. “You know your literature, Mr. Morrison. Yes, Big Daddy is a character in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, but that’s also what we call my granddaddy. And grandma was Big Mama.” She squeezed his hand. “Don’t make fun of my Southern ways.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Charles said. “In fact, it’s charming.”

  “Oh, man, you’ve got it bad,” teased Drew, surprised when his old friend didn’t deny it.

  Charles smoothly changed the subject. “Although this dinner and the company is wonderful,” his glance went to Liz who lowered her lashes, “I think Kate expected this to be a working dinner. Am I right?”

  Kate waved her hand as if shooing something unpleasant away. “That’s right, but this is so much better. Business should be confined to the office anyway.” She ate a final forkful of pasta and leaned back, her hand over her stomach. “I’m stuffed. Liz brought dessert, but maybe we should wait a while.”

  Drew topped off everyone’s wine glasses and stood. “I have an announcement. Maybe it’s more of a proposal.”

  Liz gasped. “Already? My heavens!”

  “It’s not that kind of proposal,” Drew said with a sly grin, but his eyes went to Kate. “This has to do with the book she and Charles want me to write.”

  “You don’t have to…” Kate began.

  “Yes, I do. I’ve dragged this out too long and I appreciate your patience. I’m still not convinced that my life is interesting enough to fill a book, and I have no idea why you think I can write tens of thousands of words in a way that would make anyone want to read it.” He held his hand up to stop his agent and potential editor from speaking. “The only way I can do this, the only way I’ll agree to it, is if Kate writes it with me, not as my editor, but as co-author. You’re the only person who I trust to help me figure out what to say and how to say it. I’m not a writer and I’ve turned down enough deals for Charles to know I won’t be associated with something that will embarrass me.” He took a deep, settling breath, looked around the table and sat.

  Four people drained the rest of their wine and it became quiet enough to hear the clock ticking on the wall. Charles was the first to recover. “Your idea is brilliant.” He turned to Kate with raised brows.

  “I don’t know. It might work, but we’d need to figure out the logistics and — and this is a major and — I don’t know if my bosses will go along with it. I’d have to pass all my projects to someone else and take a leave of absence. That’s asking for a lot, Drew.”

  “I don’t think so and if they want me, they’ll do it. Other celebrity memoirs have gone to auction and sold for millions. I want to be paid, but I don’t need that kind of money. They’re going to make a ton of cash off me, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t agree to my terms. Charles is one of the world’s best negotiators and I’m sure he can make the deal happen. Right, buddy?”

  “Consider it done,” Charles said, wiping his mouth with his napkin.

  Drew leaned back and looked at the ceiling. “We’ll have to do some traveling so that you can see the places that have meaning in my life. We might start in Ireland.”

  “Ireland?” Kate and Liz said together.

  “Yeah, Ireland. It’s where I spent the first eight years of my life and then almost every summer until I was eighteen. It’s also the country that let me represent it in the Olympics. That’s where I want to start.”

  “I’ve been to England and Scotland, but never to Ireland,” Kate said with a far away look in her eyes and a dreamy look on her face.

  “It’s beautiful, but you’ll see that for yourself,” Drew said and covered her hand with his.

  The conversation continued through coffee and dessert until Liz announced, “I hate to break this party up, but I have an early call at the studio tomorrow so I’m off.” Before she could stand, Charles was on his feet sliding her chair back. “Why thank you, kind sir,” she said, but refrained from batting her eyelashes at him.

  Kate rolled her eyes and looked at Charles. “My friend is an actress and when she’s channeling Scarlett O’Hara, it’s as if the Civil War hasn’t started yet.”

  “Well then, Charles can be Rhett,” Liz replied and they all laughed.

  “My car’s downstairs so I’ll see you home,” Charles said, helping her into her coat. It was a statement of fact, not a question.

  “I’d like that,” Liz said, all traces of her Southern accent gone. When she hugged Kate, she whispered, “I like him.”

  Charles turned to Drew. “Can I give you a lift?”

  “Thanks, but I’ll stay to help Kate clean up. I’m a pretty good dishwasher.”

  As soon as the door closed behind their friends, Drew leaned against it. “Come here,” he said, holding his arms toward Kate. A moment later there wasn’t an i
nch of space between their bodies, but before Drew allowed himself to kiss her he whispered, “I’m a thoughtless bastard for not calling, but I swear I wasn’t with anyone else. I don’t want anyone else. I only want you.”

  There was nothing tentative in his kiss. It demanded entry to her mouth. Without hesitating, Kate parted her lips and their tongues met. He had one arm around her waist while his hand swept through her hair to cup the back of her head. His hold was intimate and fueled his desire.

  Heat radiated throughout her body and she ground her hips into his, craving a deeper connection. He slid his hands down her back and pulled her against his throbbing erection while their mouths continued to consume each other. Breathless, he broke the kiss to growl one word — “bedroom.”

  Their need had an urgency that was nothing like the slow seduction of their first night together. His eyes never left hers as they stripped in record time before tumbling to the bed, their legs entwined. She reached for his cock and he groaned. As her hand began to move, he hissed, “Stop or this will be over before we start.” She released him and ran her palms up and down his back enjoying how his muscles shifted every time he moved. He gently stroked her breast before drawing the nipple deep into his mouth and doing something with his teeth and the hot wetness of his tongue that made her squirm when the electric sensation zoomed to her sex. Kate writhed and moaned his name as he released the rigid tip and ran his fingers through her slick folds, zeroing in on one spot.

  “So wet,” he whispered, the words fueling her arousal. She parted her legs to give him better access and he used her moisture to help his finger slide in lazy circles over the delicate bundle of nerves, gradually increasing the pace and pressure until she panted, “Yes, there, don’t stop.” Her hips arched, moving rhythmically until she shuddered and shouted his name.

  The look of pleasure on her flushed face removed what little control he had left. Forgetting he wasn’t in his own bed, Drew reached toward the nightstand for his stash of condoms. “Fuck!” he shouted before looking at Kate and almost pleading, “Baby, do you have condoms?”