by Frankie Love
"You have to get out to the set," Tammy tells me. "I have you booked on a flight that leaves at two this afternoon. You need to be on it."
"Fine," I mutter. "Text me the details, okay?"
"Sure," she replies, and she hangs up the phone before I can think better of anything that I have just agreed to. Am I really going to do this? It looks as though I don’t have a choice. Hopefully, it’ll just be a couple of weeks, and I’ll get back to Ellie as soon as I can.
"What’s up?" Ellie asks as she sits up in bed, noting my stressed expression.
"I have to go," I tell her. Her shoulders hunch up to her ears at once. I can’t help but think about what my sister said, when she told me to be gentle with this girl. This is the opposite of that. But it’s not as though there is a lot that I can do about it right now.
"Where?" she asks.
"Europe. I have to go do some reshoots for a movie," I tell her, and I reach for her hand – she barely even responds to me touching her. Shit. That’s not a good sign.
"Oh, okay," she replies. Her voice is hollow. I can tell that she is hurt.
"I’ll be back as soon as I can," I assure her, and she flicks her gaze up to meet mine again.
"When’s that going to be?"
I run a hand through my hair. "I don’t know exactly," I admit. "But you’ll be the first person to know as soon as I find out."
"Yeah, sure," she mutters, and she turns her back on me and climbs out of bed. She rummages around for her clothes, and I watch, gutted, as she prepares to get out of here.
"If this was just going to be a one-night thing, you could have told me that," she remarks, her back to me, her voice shaking. I want to reach out to her, to tell her that it is anything but that for me, but I know that she is not going to believe me, not now, not now that this has happened.
"It’s... it’s not what you think," I try to offer to her, but she doesn’t look around at me. I can still remember the way she smiled at me when she turned and saw me in bed next to her this morning, and I want that back, more than anything in the world right now.
"No, it really wasn’t," she agrees, and she gets to her feet and leaves the room to find her dress.
And, as she goes, I know that I am going to have to do something impressive if I have a hope in hell of seeing her again.
Chapter Eight
Ellie
I make it back to the house before the tears start to fall. Just barely. But I have to do everything that I can to contain myself right now, because I feel as though I have been stabbed in the chest.
He just wanted to use me. For sex? Maybe. So he could have a date to stir up some easy drama at his new premiere? That feels equally possible. I don’t even know if there was anyone on the other end of that call that he answered this morning, or if it had just been a polite way for him to get rid of me.
I rip off the dress that I had been forced to wear home, jump into the shower, and let the tears fall. I feel so used. I know that I should have seen through him – when a man like that turns up on your doorstep, you don’t just let him take you to bed and think that he’s going to stick around for anything else.
But what we shared the night before... I know that it was something real. There is no way that even an actor as talented as him could pull that off. I am sure that when he looked into my eyes, listened to me tell him about my parents, about how much I longed for someone to settle down with, he understood where I was coming from.
He had shared much the same thing, told me how much he wanted a life like the one the rest of his family had, but all of that... it must have just been a play. Maybe practice for some role that he was going to take on next or something. Maybe that was how he got so good as a leading man, by trying his hand with any women who came his way and using what he learned from them to do what he had to do on-screen.
Carmen is out, much to my relief, because I know that she will want to know every detail of what happened last night, and I don’t feel as though I can actually say any of it out loud yet. The water in the shower burns off the memory of his touch on my skin, and it takes everything I have not to think about how good it had felt for him to hold me, how happy I had been when I woke up this morning and saw him there beside me. I want to go back to that. To the moment before the call came and it all fell apart at the seams.
Wrapped in my bathrobe, I crawl onto the couch and rest my head on the arm as I try to push all of that to the back of my mind. The last thing I need right now is to go torturing myself with that. It’s just a mistake, we all make them, that’s what I always tell the kids in my classes. Nothing to get upset over.
But I feel as though we really had something, and the shock of realizing that we didn’t is more than I can take. I’m pissed with myself, annoyed that I didn’t think this through.
He’s a goddamn movie star.
How the hell is he ever going to have time for someone like me? My entire life is here with the kids that I teach, with Carmen. He’s probably only here a dozen or so days out of the year. He just wanted a fling before he took off once more. And I happen to be the one who stepped into his eyeline first. Nothing more to read into it than that.
But, in the back of my head, I had already been planning what came next with him. Spending the weekends together, going off to premieres with him. This life might not have been one that I was used to, but I was certain that I could find my way into it as long as he was there to lead me through.
Not that any of that matters any longer. He is likely on his jet to Europe right now. He told me that he would call as soon as he got back, but that’s probably just something he says to make sure that the women he brings home don’t cause too much of a scene. God only knows when he’s going to be back in town, and I am hardly of the opinion that he is actually going to bother getting in touch with me. He got what he wanted. And now, I am left to pick up the pieces that he has left behind.
I eventually manage to peel myself off the couch, and go to the fridge to scavenge for something to eat. Just as I open it, I hear a knock at the door – has Carmen lost her keys again? I go over to it and open it without looking through the peephole...
And there he is.
It’s as though I’ve conjured him right here in front of me, just by sheer power of thought. I stand there for a moment, too shocked to react to the sight of him.
"Ethan?” I manage, finally, my voice sounding as though it is coming from someone else entirely. He nods.
"I’m sorry to just turn up on your doorstep like this, but I couldn’t leave town knowing that you were hurting," he explains quickly. "My flight is in an hour, but I needed to see you again before I went."
"What for?" I ask. My heart is starting to beat faster in my chest. Being this close to him, it’s like everything else falls away. Even those very rational thoughts that I was having before about how much I needed to move on with my life and forget that he had ever been a part of it.
"I need you to know that it wasn’t just a one-night thing for me," he explains, speaking fast. "And I need you to know that I’ll cancel this whole shoot if it means that you’ll believe me."
My eyes widen. "What are you talking about?"
He takes my hands in his, holding them tight. "I know there’s something here between us, Ellie," he continues, his eyes fervent as they meet mine. "And I’m not willing to let that go. I know that you’re committed to your life here and I would never ask you to leave your school behind, but I know that spring break is coming up soon – how about you spend it in Europe? With me?”
My jaw drops. I can hardly process what he is saying right now.
"You mean it?” I ask.
He nods. "I mean it," he replies. "Come with me to Europe. We can talk every day on video chats till then – it'll give us a chance to get to know each other with less... uh, distractions."
He lets his eyes trace down my body as he says that, and I can’t help but laugh. I feel giddy. Is this real? The way he is talking, he sounds
sincere, as though he means this with every bone in his body, and I want to believe him more than anything in the world.
"Will you come see me in Europe?” he murmurs, and he plants a kiss on the back of my hand, the same way he did the night before.
Slowly, I nod. "Yes," I reply, a smile spreading over my face. "Of course I will."
He leans down to grasp my face in his hands, and he kisses me – soft at first, and then growing more hard, more urgent.
"I’m going to miss you so much," he murmurs, tucking his hand behind the back of my neck. I can feel the want stirring in me once again.
"How long before you have to go?” I ask, and he grins, kisses me again, and I pull him over the threshold and into the apartment.
I need to have him, one more time, before he goes off into the world once more – I need to make sure that we both have something to remember each other by. He scoops me off the ground, lifts me against the door, his strong arms maneuvering me with ease. I hold onto him tight, winding my arms around him as he pins me against the wood behind me.
"There’s so much that I want to do to you right now," he growls in my ear, and I reach down to feel his cock already hardening through his pants. I need him inside of me. There is something about his strength, his power, that makes me feel deliciously helpless. I know that he can do anything he wants to me right now, and honestly, I am more than willing to let him.
I unzip his pants as he unties my bath robe, it falls open and he groans as he realizes I am wearing nothing else.
“Fuck, Ellie. You are perfection.” His mouth plants hungrily against my neck, his teeth bared against my skin. How did I ever think for a moment that he could be faking this? This is real, so painfully, powerfully real that nothing else seems to matter to me right now. I run my nails over his strong arms, knowing that every moment that we spend here is another that he should be getting to that flight and taking care of his job, and neither of us care one little bit either way.
He kisses over my jaw and to my lips, and then pushes his tongue inside my mouth again as he takes his cock into his hand and presses it against my slit. I am already wet and ready for him, and he guides my body down onto his length, taking me in one long, smooth motion and making my toes curl with pleasure.
"Mmm," I moan, as I grip my thighs to him tightly, pulling him inside me, against me. I want to feel every inch of him that I can. If I am going to have to wait weeks to be with him in person again, then I am sure as hell going to do everything that I can to make sure that I don’t waste a second of the time we do have together.
He takes me hard and fast, using me as I hold onto him for dear life. His tenderness from last night is replaced by this frantic want, and honestly, I know how he feels. We are just trying to remind each other how good we are together, how much sense we make, before we have to say goodbye again; we’re trying to imprint ourselves on each other’s memories so that neither of us will forget how good this feels. How right.
His hands slide down to my ass and he sinks his fingers into my flesh, holding me still as he drives himself into me over and over and over again. I let my head sink back against the door behind me, close my eyes, and focus on nothing but the way that it makes me feel. I am his, I belong to him utterly – I have never felt like this before in my life, and it makes everything else feel unimportant by comparison. His mouth finds my neck again, his tongue tracing up towards my ear, to my throat, and I shiver and grab hold of his muscular biceps for dear life.
It doesn’t take long until I can feel my orgasm stirring inside of me once again. I groan and he covers my mouth with his, trying to contain the noise I am making before the people in the apartment next door hear it. Honestly, I couldn’t care less right now – I just want to give myself over to how good this feels, how right.
"You feel perfect," he murmurs against my mouth, his voice low and full of want that I haven’t heard from him before. I run my hand through his hair, balling my fist in it and pulling his head back so that I can gaze into his eyes – and, as soon as they lock once more, I feel the orgasm coursing through me.
My pussy clenches hard around him and I cry out, my body tensing and then softening in his arms, as he continues to piston his cock inside of me, but it doesn’t take long till he reaches his own release, letting out this deep, guttural groan as he comes. I feel the warmth of his seed rushing through me and it is everything that I need right now, everything that I want. Everything that’s going to tide me over till the next time that I see him.
He holds himself inside of me for a moment longer than he has to, as though he is unwilling for this to be over quite yet. I know how he feels, but I also know that he has a flight to catch, and that he’s going to get into a hell of a lot of trouble if he doesn’t make it.
"I think you need to get out of here," I murmur to him, and he slowly plants me back on the ground, making sure I am standing upright on my shaky legs before he lets me go.
"I’m going to miss you so much," he tells me again, and he catches my face in his hand and kisses me once more – I swear, it’s as though all the breath has been knocked from my body for a moment as I kiss him back. When he pulls away, I can’t help but smile.
"I’ll see you soon, all right?" he tells me. "I promise. I’ll call you as soon as I land."
"I can’t wait," I sigh, and I brush a strand of hair out of his eyes, taking one last look at him before I have to say goodbye for now.
"And I’ll be thinking of you the whole time I’m there," he promises. "It’s not going to be long till we’re together again. Right?”
"Right," I agree. And, with that, he plants one last kiss on my cheek, gives my hand one last squeeze, and then heads out of the door, leaving me to stand there and start the countdown until we get to be in the same room together once more.
But at least I know that it’s going to happen. At least I know that I’ll see him again. And at least I am certain that being apart from him is only going to make it all the sweeter when we can finally touch each other once more.
Epilogue 1
Ethan
Six Weeks Later…
"I can’t believe I’m on an actual movie set," Ellie says as we step into my trailer together.
I slip an arm around her waist and kiss her on the neck. "I can’t believe you’re actually here with me," I reply, and she smiles and nuzzles me right back.
I know that the two of us have been missing each other like crazy these last few weeks, but now she is here again, in Germany with me, and we have a whole two weeks together before she has to go back to work again.
We’ve been video-chatting every single night that I’ve been away, my favorite part of the day being when I get to boot up my laptop and see her smiling face on the other end of the line.
It’s the best thing that could have happened to us. Because, honestly, now that she is here again, having been flown out first-class on a jet to Germany to join me as I finish up the reshoots for my newest movie, I know that I am not going to be able to keep my hands off of her. When she was back in the States, I could actually take the time to get to know her without distraction. When all you have to do is talk, you end up learning a whole hell of a lot about each other. I have been gifted with a look into her life that feels more precious than anything else we have shared so far.
Everything that my gut told me about her the first time I laid eyes on her has turned out to be right. She is sweet, kind, caring, gentle, generous – her laugh is about the best thing in the entire world as far as I am concerned, and she is happy to share it with me when I catch her up on the little details from the set that I know she’ll find funny. She gushes about her work, about her kids, even tells me a little about how Tallie has been getting on. My sister knows how serious this is with Ellie, but I hope that I’ve stuck by my promise to her and not interfered with her daughter’s education in any way.
I have fallen for Ellie, truly and completely. And I know that she feels the same way. I can tell fr
om the way she looks at me, the way she listens when I am telling her all about my day, and I am so grateful that she has been willing to give me the chance to impress her.
I know that she’s second-guessed us a little, trying to work out just what it is that I see in her, just what it is that keeps me coming back, but I hope that what I am about to do will convince her, once and for all, that this is what we need.
That she is everything that I have been looking for.
"Can I just stay here?" she asks playfully, planting herself on the edge of my couch and looking around the trailer.
I have paid for a gorgeous hotel room at a five-star luxury place just outside of the set, but I know what she means. After spending so long apart, it seems a little crazy that I would want her anywhere other than here.
"Hmm, tempting," I murmur, and I sink down beside her, letting my arm trace over her shoulders and along her back. She snuggles against me and I hold her close. God, I have missed this. The way that she smells, the simple pleasure of her touch.
I never want to be so far from her again. Which is exactly why I can’t wait any longer to ask her the question that has been on my mind since we agreed on the day that she would get here.
I am not going to back out now. Not when I can feel, from the sheer presence of her touch, that she is going to give me the answer that I long to hear.
"There’s something I need to ask you," I tell her, nuzzling my nose against her head and sliding my hand down her arm. I am always amazed at how well she seems to fit against me, like she belongs there – like she always has.
"And what might that be?" she shoots back playfully. I can tell that she doesn’t want to have to think about anything but being here right now, and honestly, neither do I. But I know I am not going to be able to move forward with this amazing trip that I have planned for her until I have heard her say yes.