by Dee J. Adams
“Are you sure?” Kim grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward the car, her stilettos clicking on the pavement. “It could be. It’s pretty far away.”
“Kim, I can see just fine. That’s not a Mercedes. If anything it’s a Porsche.” Leo slowed as he squinted at the car. “Man, it is a Porsche. A Boxter S, just like Stella. God, I miss that car.” The longing in his voice proved it.
“Oh, well, if you know for sure it’s not the Mercedes, then I guess we can go back and call the police.” She started walking back, but Leo stopped her.
“Wait, wait. I just want to take a quick look. For old time sake,” he said, pulling her behind him.
“Oh. Okay.” Seriously, maybe she wasn’t so bad at this acting thing. This was kind of fun.
Leo got to the car and whistled as he walked around it. “This is one beautiful car.” He crouched in front of it. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was Stella.”
Kim finally couldn’t hide her smile. “Really? What makes you say that?”
“Stella had two little things that made her different from the crowd. One, she had a tiny divot right along…” Leo ran his fingers over the bumper and his eyes opened wider. “No fucking way. Couldn’t be.” Then he jumped up and ran to the back. “She also had a tiny crack in the back window.” Leo flipped the flashlight app on his phone and shone it at the window’s corner. “But this couldn’t—” His eyes widened more. “Holy shit! This is Stella! This is fucking Stella!”
Loving his excitement, Kim pulled the keys from her jeans pocket and tossed them at Leo. “Think fast.”
Leo caught them deftly, the surprise on his face better than anything Kim could’ve hoped for. “What? What is this? What did you do?” He walked toward her, dragging a loving finger over Stella’s frame as he moved.
“Surprise.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Stella’s home.”
“What?! How? When? I…” He finally shut up and kissed her. Kissed her stupid would be a better description. He raided her mouth while holding her head steady. Yeah…like she might possibly want to pull away. Ha. His beard tickled her lips.
When he finally pulled back, breathing hard, he glanced over at Stella then back to her. “Explain.”
Kim laughed then sighed. “Oh, where do I start? Okay, first, I thought you needed a Stella in your life. Second, I know how much you missed her. Third, I wanted to do something special for you. Fourth, I figure if we ever fight, I can use this to my advantage.”
Leo lifted her in his arms and kissed her again. “Seriously. How did you do this? How’d you find her?”
“I came across the guy’s number when I was in your account last month. You were working so hard and I had some extra money…” Like ten million dollars’ worth. “So—”
The love in his eyes filled her up…made her obscenely thankful to have found him.
“You’ve hardly spent any of your aunt’s money on yourself, but you bought back Stella?” He sounded truly perplexed. “What were you thinking?”
Her smile faded because she really only wanted one thing these days and it was important to her that he understood it. “That I wanted to make you happy.”
Gazing into her eyes, Leo brushed his thumb across her cheek. The tender gesture made her misty. “Babe, you make me happy just being in my life. You know that, right? You didn’t need to buy back Stella.”
“No, I didn’t need to. But I wanted to.”
His reckless smile flashed in between the new scruff. “Did you at least get a good deal?”
“Hardly.” She laughed at Leo’s frown. “Let’s just say that both parties are happy. I got Stella and Mr. Young made a good investment when he bought her from you in the first place.”
Leo glanced at Stella then back to her. “Where’s the Benz?”
“In your garage at home. I got Viv to make the switch while we were in the theater.” She waggled her eyebrows. “I’m pretty sly when I want to be.” She pulled back, summoning all her lost innocence. “Oh, I almost forgot… There might be something in the back seat.”
Shaking his head, Leo narrowed his eyes. “What the hell? Now what?” He hit the alarm and Stella double chirped a hello. “God, I missed that sound.” Leo opened the door and dug into the back seat. “No fucking way!” His voice was muffled, but the sincere mixture of appreciation and excitement mingled together and brought a smile to Kim’s lips. Leo backed out of the car, holding the Dangerous Race poster she’d bought back from Cesar. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, he just shook his head as he looked from the poster to her and back to the poster.
A giant wave of love washed through Kim. She’d never seen Leo speechless before. The man who always had a snappy reply or droll comeback couldn’t put two words together. Finally he eased the poster back inside the car and got close enough to pull her into his arms. “I know where you found this, but I don’t know how.” He lifted a dark eyebrow.
“I saw it at Cesar’s. Oh, put away the scowl,” she admonished when his forehead wrinkled. “He didn’t realize that I spotted it in the back room until I went back and offered to buy it. By then it was back on the wall where I’m sure he usually kept it. If I have my sleuthing skills working, I’m guessing that’s what you traded for the bag of clothes two months ago. Am I right?”
He studied her before nodding slightly. “Guilty.” His soft kiss plundered her mouth and she felt his emotion in his gentleness. “Thank you.” After long blissful minutes, he removed his lips from hers, but stayed close. “I’m going to have to keep my eyes on you all the time, I can see that now.”
She chuckled and nodded. “Very good plan. I think you should start tonight.”
Lying in bed a few days later, Leo was still thinking about Kim’s gift of Stella. Not much could’ve made Leo happier than driving Stella home. God, he’d missed her. She purred all around him as he cruised down the boulevard, taking the long way home in the middle of the night.
He distracted himself the rest of the weekend by making love to Kim at every opportunity. Not only to thank her, but to show how important she was to him, to show her how much he loved her.
Monday morning, the box office results came in. Leo just hadn’t had the balls to check yet. His phone had been pinging for twenty minutes, but he avoided the rush. It could’ve gone either way. A major flop would have everyone sending him condolences on the death of his film. He’d find out soon enough and right now all he wanted was a few more minutes of stroking the soft skin along Kim’s bare back. She hummed her satisfaction, but after another few pings, she cracked open a green eye.
“You ever going to check your phone?” She looked sexy as hell with her sleepy eyes and bed hair.
“Guess I should.”
“Don’t be nervous.” Facing him, she adjusted the sheet to cover her breasts and took his hand. “It’s going to be fine. I’ve been lying here dying to know and trying to be cool, but I’m done with that.” She sat up and brushed her messy, sexy hair out of her face. “C’mon, let’s see what the movie goers have said.”
So much rode on this minute, that Leo felt sick to his stomach. It had been years since a movie’s opening weekend meant this much. The outcome was out of his hands, but this was so close to home that he had no way not to let it get to him.
He grabbed his phone as it pinged again and a tweet showed up on the screen.
Congrats @TheLeoFrost! #anotherhit
The instant high that hit him was immediately tempered with the fact that this could be one of his millions of followers fucking with him. Leo pulled his laptop over, opened it up and went to the tab with the weekend’s box office results. He hit refresh and waited for the page to load.
Kim snuggled closer and looked on next to him.
Leo blinked a few times when he saw the numbers. His little film was sitting at the top of the list with thirty-four million dollars, one of the best opens for an indie film to date and the highest grossing movie of the weekend. “
Holy shit,” he muttered. He closed his eyes to fight the pressure behind his lids. He was in the black. No more debt, no more panic attacks in the middle of the night. No more worrying if he’d work another day in his life. He swiped a hand over his face and let out the breath he’d been holding.
“I’m so proud of you,” Kim whispered. She nuzzled his ear and her warm breath caressed his cheek. Since her mouth was right there, he couldn’t not kiss her.
“Thanks,” he said, right before setting his lips on hers.
“What’d I do?” She smiled as she pulled back.
“You’ve been here for me almost since the day I met you. So I’m going to do my damnedest to never let you down.” God, he wanted to do something for her. Something big. She’d not only bought Stella back, but his favorite movie poster, too, so she deserved an equally big gesture. What could he do for her? What did she want? Well, besides a baby and he’d already been working on that issue. Every chance he got.
The room shook with a tiny aftershock and Kim jolted and squeezed the hell out of his arm.
“I will never get used to those. Not ever.” She jumped out of bed. “I’m showering now before a bigger one hits. I can’t go through an earthquake with dirty hair.”
Leo watched her sweet ass disappear into the bathroom.
Bingo.
He knew exactly what to get her. Exactly.
The holidays had been low-key and now he knew why since Kim had known she was going to buy back Stella. His own budget hadn’t allowed for a big-ticket purchase, but Kim had promised that all she needed was him. Sweet sentiment, but now that he could do more, he planned to reciprocate for his Porsche.
The next weekend the movie made it into more theaters and To the West was still number one at the box office. Critics and audiences loved it. Carrie Ann’s reviews were the best she’d ever received and Leo’s weren’t too bad either. The best part was being seen in a new light as a writer and producer. He’d just rewritten his stock in Hollywood and he loved the feeling.
Move over Clooney.
He did a tour of the late night shows and the morning shows. Sleep became something he did on airplanes and in limos between appearances. Kim accompanied him, which had the paparazzi out in force. Leo downplayed the Oscar buzz. He was just happy his film was well received. Well, that and not losing his shirt—again—in the process.
Most of all, he was thrilled to be able to pay the crew members who’d worked so hard on that last day in the desert for practically no money. Especially since they’d finished the thing without him. Giving a percentage of the movie had made every one of those guys the best payday they’d ever received.
Another thing happened after the second weekend’s box office. He got a call from his manager that Global Star Entertainment wanted to secure him for a three-picture deal. Leo’s team negotiated for one of those pictures to be something of his choosing and the company went for it. With the signing came a giant holding fee. Enough to warrant that surprise for Kim.
After three weekends the film was closing in on the one hundred million mark and Leo decided it was time for a change. Thanks to a few referrals, he found a realtor who sent him pictures of some terrific prospects.
Following another red-eye to New York, Leo had the limo take them to Manhattan. But instead of dropping them off at Waverly Place, the car went to Tribeca.
“Where are we?” Kim asked, stepping out of the limo as the driver pulled their luggage from the trunk. Didn’t matter that they’d gone all night on a plane, she didn’t have a hair out of place and barely a wrinkle in her curve defining, navy, cashmere dress. She clutched her matching coat tightly against the frigid New York winter.
Leo tipped the guy a twenty then ushered Kim into the skyscraper. A doorman greeted them with a luggage cart and took their bags. “Just a little something I wanted to show you,” Leo said. They entered the opulent lobby with its massive crystal chandelier in the center. Off to the right a comfortable sitting area surrounded a square glass coffee table. To the left was the reception desk.
Working hard at playing it cool when he really wanted to sprint toward the penthouse, Leo gestured to one of the plush leather chairs in the lobby. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.” He checked in at the front and got the key to the condo, then waved to Kim.
She met him halfway to the elevators. “You’re being very cryptic.” Her green eyes narrowed.
He saw the accountant in her scanning the place and price tagging everything. “You’ve got your detective face on.”
“Because I think you’re hiding something.”
“Me? Hide something? From you? Not possible.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
She still looked skeptical as they took an elevator all the way to the top. The doors opened and they stepped out into a large carpeted hallway. Modern sconces created subtle lighting. Two doors marked the only two condos with about fifteen yards separating them. Leo grabbed Kim’s hand and went left.
“Leo? Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” He unlocked the door, his palms sweating. Even though he’d seen pictures, he wasn’t sure what the place looked like in person. He took a deep breath and walked inside. The polished bamboo floors of the large entryway opened into a massive living room decked out in warm earth tones. The place came fully furnished and it was just what he’d hoped.
“Oh, my God,” Kim breathed. “It’s beautiful.” She took a few steps in, craning her neck to get a better view of the custom kitchen off to the right.
“Not bad,” Leo murmured. “I hope you like it. Because it’s ours.”
She turned to him in slow motion, her eyes wide, her mouth open. “What?” She barely croaked out the word. “When? How?” She sounded just like him on the night she gave him Stella.
“You know that signing bonus I told you I wasn’t going to get for a few months?” He grinned as she nodded. “I lied. They gave it to me immediately. I took the check and bought this place. We still have a mortgage, but it’s not anything we can’t handle. We can afford it.”
“Does it take up the whole floor?” she asked.
“Half. The other side belongs to Seger Hughes. But I’m pretty sure his main residence is in Los Angeles these days.”
Kim nodded as she strolled over, wrapped her arms around his neck and set her mouth against his. Her soft lips enticed and teased. The things this woman did with her mouth should be outlawed. “This is very sweet,” she murmured as she pulled away. “But why would you do it without talking to me?”
Leo had to get his head back in the conversation. “You mean because you’re our financial advisor?”
“I mean, because I know you love Los Angeles.”
“Maybe.” But not nearly as much as he loved her. “I love New York too. Plus, we’re closer to Megan. I can see her way more often if we’re here. The best part is you don’t have to worry about earthquakes.”
Her jaw fell open. “You did this for me?”
He shrugged. “I did it for us. It’s not like I was going to make you live in the walk-up on Waverly. Not in the shoes you wear. That’s grounds for…”
She waited, but when he hesitated, searching for the right words, a ghost of a smile appeared on her lips and she stroked her thumb across his cheek. “How many bedrooms does this place have?” She always knew how to change the subject to save him from making an ass out of himself.
“Four, and four and a half baths.”
Her grin spread wider. “I think the first thing we should do is pick out the nursery.”
It took a second to register, then Leo canted his head. “What?” He held her face in his hands and studied her as a roaring built in his ears. “What did you just say?” As happy as they were together, he knew she wanted more. She wanted a shot at what she’d lost four months ago.
Her eyes sparkled. “I have a surprise too. Mine requires a nursery in about seven months.”
Leo’s heart expanded with the news. They had a baby
on the way, a new place, a hit movie in the theaters. All that was missing was the ring on her finger. And that was burning a hole in his pocket. Picking her up, he spun her then promptly set her down. “Shit! Sorry. Probably shouldn’t have done that.”
She laughed. “I think it’s probably fine.”
He tugged her in his arms again. “Are you okay? How do you feel? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was just waiting until I got past the last point. It’s still early, but I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize this.” She laid a hand over her stomach. “It’s been a crazy few months, right?”
Leo kissed her, brushing his lips over hers in a gentle tease. “The craziest. I say we make the next six or seven decades a little less drama intensive.”
She laughed and Leo’s chest expanded. Felt like his heart might bust past his ribs he was so damn happy. But then she sobered. “I still have to deal with Wilson’s trial. That’s a crazy I could do without.”
Turned out Wilson had an undiagnosed mental issue known as stress response syndrome and because he was now on medication, his lawyer seemed confident that he could get him released from jail before the trial. So far, the man was still behind bars and Leo was happy to put even more distance between Kim and her cousin.
“I’ll be with you the whole time.” He stroked his hands down her back. “Then we’ll be drama free.”
She lifted a bored eyebrow. “I’m not convinced we’ll accomplish that when you’re the drama king.” God, he loved her sense of humor. It made him horny.
“Because…” he insisted, blowing past her one-liner, “…the only drama we’re going to go through is the kind that happens on camera.” He looked into her eyes and saw his present and his future. “I already told Global Star that we’re spacing out those movies. I want plenty of time with you…” He placed his hand over stomach. “And our baby. And however many babies you want to give me.”
“You are so good at making me hot.”
He laughed. The feeling was very mutual. “I try. I really do try.” No time like the present. He stuck his hand in his pocket and came out with the black velvet pouch. He dropped the four-carat diamond into his palm, got on one knee and took her hand.