I shudder a breath in and it seems clear what’s taking place.
Tony Fontana is a man who knows what he wants, and for once in my mom’s life, she’s not on the menu.
He couldn’t be… could he? I ask myself again, losing myself in this feeling, in those eyes and watching his strong hands as they flex as he takes another step closer, so close I can feel something inside me ready to burst.
I can hear my mom drawing a breath in too, getting ready to say something, when the chime of her cell phone cuts through the air like a knife, making me jump but Tony only looks more determined.
She takes her call, giving me a salty look before she turns and heads back out into the hall. It sounds like the agency calling, her work voice bubbles back up over her icy tone and echoes down the hall.
“That’ll be your agency,” Tony says huskily, matter of fact.
“My manager would have called them, ordering you out… hoping you’d be gone before I got back… I like to be alone,” he adds and I feel a pain in my heart.
“You... you want me to go?” I hear myself croak, my fingers knotting into the shirt I’m still holding.
It feels like this dream is ending, turning nightmarish real quick.
He can’t send me away… The way he just looked at me… his eyes…
Before I can say another word, his hands are over mine, the charge between them and my own is enough to make us both gasp.
“No!” he says sternly. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying right here, with me,” he growls, his eyes moving to the doorway. “But… her… your mom… she has to go.”
I should be offended, but there’s something in his tone that thrills me. Thrills me even more than his hand over mine, which is like a jolt of pure sexual energy.
“I’ll get rid of her,” I promise instantly, suddenly sounding like I have a full grasp on the situation, but it’s really just the strength I feel flowing from him.
I know what I’d rather be grasping.
Jesus! Listen to me. I’ve never so much as held a boy’s hand, let alone anything else. What this man does to me… the things I want him to do to me.
The things I want to do to him.
We’re standing so close now, hands touching, Tony’s shirt and underwear still in my hands, when my mom finally reappears in the doorway.
She clears her throat, looking flushed with embarrassment now, any anger she had has long since disappeared.
“C’mon, Ashlee, we’re leaving. We’re very sorry to have disturbed you Mr. Fontana.”
I look from her to Tony, then back to my mom.
“Ashlee, c’mon,” she says firmly.
Tony’s hand grips mine a little harder, squeezing a signal for me to stay.
“Thank you, Stacy. But Ashlee is mine… for the rest of the afternoon, at least. I’d like her to stay and help me with my… laundry,” he says firmly, dismissing my mom with a casual wave of his hand which has the pair of his underwear in it I’d been holding for so long.
“I think we’ll both be going now, if it’s all the same,” mom starts to say, giving me an insistent look.
But Tony turns his back on her and motions me towards his laundry basket and closet, murmuring something about most of these clothes having never been worn, only needing sorting for charity.
“I’ll get an Uber home, mom,” I tell her, craning my neck past Tony’s huge shoulders.
Tony turns swiftly, giving my mom a ‘still here’ look. The idea of me leaving makes him swell up and stand in front of me, guarding me from my mom.
Guarding me from the whole world, it feels like.
“That will be all, Stacy,” he says firmly, almost snarling. Tony only starts to relax once my mom backs out of the room and once he hears the front door slam does he seems to change into a totally different person.
He spins around, his mane of dark hair flecked with silver glossy in the light, and his perfect pearly whites flash me a show I know is especially for me.
“I thought she’d never leave,” he sighs. “Sorry to be such a grouch, I know she’s your mom and all…” he starts to say.
I open my mouth to say something, but think better of it.
Being this close to Tony Fontana, having him want to be alone with me, it’s enough to make me want to pinch myself and like my mom said, I don’t want to fuck this up.
Not now.
Not ever.
“It’s just…” he starts to say, moving in closer than ever, so close I can feel the heat from his body and the blood pounding in my ears starts to ring.
I’m in the doorway of his dressing room, a huge walk-in closet that feels as big as our whole apartment. I take a tiny step back, but he moves closer, clutching my hand again, pulling it and me closer to him.
I’m staring up at him, breathless again. “It’s just…” I say, wanting only one thing from him right now, forgetting all about my mom, the shitty cleaning job, everything.
“Just tell me you’ll stay,” he says firmly. Not asking, not telling. Recommending.
I feel my head pumping so hard I get dizzy from the blood rushing to it and black spots dance before my eyes.
I feel giddy and gasp out loud before the room tilts sideways.
I feel his huge hands catching me, drawing me up into his arms as if I weigh nothing.
The only thing I hear is the single word from his lips.
“Mine.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Tony
There’s that old saying… About things not really falling apart, but falling together… falling into place.
I should be making calls, saving my movie contract and boosting my career, kissing the right asses to make sure I keep the Paris shoot. Keep all that money…
But my usual motivations have escaped me. I only want one thing right now, and although I still can’t figure out how such a goddess could have a mother like that, I feel like I can finally breathe now that the witch is gone.
But I might’ve pushed her too soon, overwhelmed Ashlee with my size, with my need for her to stay.
I’ve seen another kind of look before too, the eyes rolling back right before they faint.
Mostly from my younger days, I’ll admit. Not many fainters these days, but women have been known to swoon over Tony Fontana.
But Ashlee?
Would she really go for an older guy like me? She must be half my age.
I should feel bad about her fainting too, but it’s my one chance to do what I’ve wanted to since laying eyes on her, take her into my arms, and carrying her to where she belongs.
Onto my bed.
Our bed.
Only until she recovers herself, of course.
I can’t help but say what I’m thinking. She’s mine… she has to be.
Nothing this good has happened to me in a long time, and I just know she’s the one.
Feeling her soft, thick body against mine makes me moan softly and I bend down to sniff her hair as I try to lay her down but I can’t let her go.
Not yet.
I stand by the bed, cradling her in my arms until I can’t feel them anymore. Until I can’t feel anything but her warmth against mine.
Her eyes soon flutter open and she dreamily nuzzles against my chest, drawing another low and very satisfied sound from me as I become aware of my hard on pressing into the small of her back, which if I’m not mistaken…
Is she…?
She is. She’s pressing her body back against it, snuggling in even tighter, closer.
She suddenly goes rigid, regaining her senses. Her eyes wide as she gasps, and then feeling my body against hers, registering my arousal too, I hope… she relaxes back into my arms.
“You kinda fainted,” I observe, shaking my head slightly in disbelief as I watch her nodding face up close.
She’s just so goddamn perfect.
“I dreamt I was meeting Tony Fontana,” she murmurs, her eyes misting over and then narrowing again before closing.
I find my face drawing closer to hers. The urge to kiss her is beyond a thought, its pure instinct now.
I can’t though, not without her permission, I won’t kiss her until she’s ready or wants to kiss me.
Not until she gives herself to me.
I’d never force myself on a girl, especially Ashlee. She’ll be mine, but it has to be what she wants.
That’s what has me so messed up. It feels so right, so perfect… but I can’t be a hundred percent it’s what she wants too.
Yet.
Her eyes flutter again and then open wide. “You gonna hold me all day?” she asks, starting to look sheepish, letting me know she’s recovered herself.
“If I put you down though…” I start to say, noting her cocking a brow as her mouth opens a little before she bites her lip.
“Uh huh?” she whispers, almost whimpering again, and I feel her heartbeat start to course through her whole body, her chest thickening for me all over again as my own ache becomes almost unbearable.
“If I put you down, I’ll only want to hold you again,” I confess, feeling my own face flush and my pulse thunder from my ribs down to my groin.
She looks away, flushing harder and I feel like I’ve embarrassed her instead of complimenting her.
“You’re just saying that,” she muses, frowning and looking toward the door.
“Did my mom really leave?” she asks, changing the subject.
“Is she really your mom?” I ask, “…sorry,” I add, regretting the question instantly.
Well, this is getting more awkward by the fucking minute… what happened to holding her… kissing her?
“She’s not my real mom,” Ashlee murmurs. Her clear blue eyes settle on mine with a flash of rebelliousness in them, which I like.
A lot.
“Foster mom,” she confides. “I’m old enough to find my real mom if I want, but Stacy’s gotten me this far.”
Her voice drifts off, but her eyes stay on me, a sadness fills them though. Not a selfish sadness, but the sadness of not knowing something. The sadness of being left behind and never knowing why.
I know the look, I’ve seen it in the mirror sometimes when rehearsing for a role, even though I’ve never had to pretend it.
It comes naturally to me, although I never had foster parents.
Ward of the state care for me… the not so easy street that made me vow to move into and live on easy street for the rest of my days.
“What is it?” Ashlee asks, suddenly looking like she’s said too much, ruined the moment maybe.
“Nothing.” I assure her. “I’m gonna put you down now, but I don’t want you going anywhere. Not after a fainting spell like that.”
“You look sad though… do you want me to go?” she asks, a genuine pout forming on her sweet lips.
“No! You’re not going anywhere,” I assure her, patting her arm gently to let her know she’s safe.
“Do you believe in fate?” I ask her, surprising myself with my question. Her answer surprises me even more.
“Depends who it involves,” she says, almost teasing.
I kneel down by the bed, so I’m not towering over her, but also so I can be closer to her.
“I’m not dreaming, am I?” she asks me, and I shake my head with some authority, reaching out to stroke her face but again, holding back.
I think she wants me to, but thinking and doing are two very different things.
She’s so shy and I’m so certain, but certainly confused.
“Tell me you want to stay,” is all I can ask her now. “Tell me you…”
She clutches my hand, and holding it against her face like a pillow of relief, I notice just how big I am compared to her.
Her fingers wrap around mine, her breath shuddering as her mouth opens, I can see her wanting to put a finger in her mouth.
My heart is in my mouth, willing her to show me what she wants.
Then the fucking phone rings.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ashlee
I remember my mom leaving, then standing close to Tony again. Then everything gets cloudy. I know I’m not sick or anything, just overwhelmed, I guess.
I feel his hand on mine, then I’m in his arms at some point. It feels like I’m floating in a dream where I meet Tony Fontana.
A dream I’ve had before but know it feels more real than ever.
His face is so close to mine, all I want him to do is kiss me but he won’t for some reason.
He asks me about fate, and all I can think about is him asking me more questions about my mom.
Maybe that’s what he really likes, he could have any girl though… so why me?
I say something stupid and before I can fix it, before I can draw out this moment, a phone rings somewhere.
A house phone, and it sounds close by.
Tony’s eyes narrow and he makes a low sound of disgust, but in a second he’s upright and lurching towards a landline phone.
Who knew people still even have those?
I half worry about Tony’s mood again, until he turns to face me. His mouth creases into a smile as he shoots me a little wink before he speaks, making me grateful I’m laying down still as I feel myself swoon all over again.
He’s an actor alright.
I remind myself. I have to remind myself as he talks in english, and then fluent french to whoever’s on the line. Producer or something, I assume.
He’s apologetic, angry and insulted all at once, but the Tony Fontana everyone knows and loves still shines through it all.
The man is truly irresistible, and whoever he’s talking to must feel at least a little bit of what he’s doing to me as well.
“Marcel! I understand, I really do…but the flight, it’s been cancelled… even if the studio hired a jet I still wouldn’t make the scene by the time I…”
His face falls a little, then rises again as he hears something from the other end of the line that I can’t, then his eyes brighten and his shoulders relax.
The man’s pure muscle, but he looks so much hotter when he isn’t tense. When everything’s just… I dunno… perfect…
My high school French lets me know he’s putting off his commitments for at least another twenty four to forty eight… he agrees with an idea that seems to resolve the problem for both of them.
With a big sigh of relief after some more French he hangs up, his eyes focus on me and I can see the day, his commitments and most of his problems all disappearing in a second.
“Now… Where were we?” he asks, cocking his brow, not even trying to hide the bulge I’ve been trying not to stare at this whole time but it’s so obvious now I can’t help but fix my gaze on it.
It looked like it was waning for a minute there, but in a few seconds it seems to have set itself right again, like the thick trunk of a tree bending back after an unexpected storm.
“See what you do to me?” he says in a deep voice, a sparkle in his dark eyes telling me I’m not imagining this anymore.
Tony Fontana likes his girls a bit thicker, I guess. I’ve heard some guys do but I’ve certainly never come across any.
His face suddenly falls, a look of worry passing over it.
“You’re not offended, I hope? I don’t mean to-”
But my smile says it all, sitting up on my elbow I wish I had more experience so I could tell him to come over and show me exactly what he’s packing down there.
But I freeze, making the sudden silence that little bit longer until it becomes awkward but Tony only looks more determined.
His jaw flexes as his eyes run up and down my body, making me shiver. There’s something in the way he looks, the way he sounds too.
Truly a man who knows what he wants, and also one who’s used to getting it.
“Well…” He finally says. “I know we’ve only just met but you drive me crazy, Ashlee and a man is just a man, with his own reflexes.”
His usually husky voice gets deeper and huskier, and
the effect it has on me, along with the sight of his straining bulge is enough to make me lose some of my shyness.
Against my own control, I feel my free hand sliding up my skirt, shifting it up my thighs in time with Tony’s eyes that haven’t shifted from me for a second.
I only stop when I feel he can just see the beginnings of my sodden panties.
His low growl as he takes a step forward has me making another involuntary sound of my own as I become aware of the full effect he’s having on me.
I’m drenched, and aching in my own way for him now.
I have no idea what I’m doing, but trust in Tony to give me exactly what I need right now, even though I don’t quite understand how I could feel this way so suddenly.
“I did warn you,” he adds, his mouth pulling into a grin, “that if I put you down, all I’d want to do would be to hold you again.”
I feel my legs rubbing together, and a pleading, needful sound escapes my lips that has Tony’s kneeling by the side of the bed in a moment.
He takes my hand into his, and holding it to his face, he tells me one last time to make sure it’s what I really want.
“I want you, Ashlee. Right fucking now… like nothing else on earth. Tell me you’ll be mine or put me out of my misery… just don’t leave me hanging like this for another minute.”
“I’m all yours Tony,” I pant, trying my best to sound sexy and shifting myself closer, leaning in to be closer to his face as I close my eyes.
Here goes nothing.
Fuck! I’ve never needed anything so bad in my life.
It’s only a kiss, right?
CHAPTER SIX
Tony
She’s trembling.
Her eyes are closed and she’s puckered her sweet lip, ready for mine to meet hers.
I’ve kissed thousands of women… and every single one was for show, when the cameras were rolling. None of them meant a thing.
None of them were Ashlee.
I’ve never actually wanted to kiss anyone so much, and I feel a ripple of nerves rush through me. Good nerves, the anxiety that I only want this first kiss to be perfect, to mean something.
To show her just how much she means to me.
On my knees by the bed, and with one hand reaching behind her to pull her closer, I take her face in my other hand.
Maid For The Hollywood Heartthrob: An Instalove Possessive Age Gap Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 200) Page 2