Role Play (Silhouette Studios)

by Katana Collins

  “Yeah?”

  Kelly gave a sharp nod. “Yeah.”

  A stunning smile twitched at the corner of Lucy’s mouth and I hated the way my stomach twisted at that gorgeous curve of her lips. “Thanks,” Lucy said. "But I didn't design anything. That's all on Andrea."

  Kelly sighed. "Yeah, but you recognized the talent." She rolled her eyes, smirking. "And I'm not going to repeat the compliment a second time."

  Lucy bit her lip and pushed her glasses higher on her nose. "Well... thank you."

  “Before we can talk compensation, though; Jon, Ash, and I need to discuss numbers,” Kelly added, directing her attention back to me.

  “Whatever it is, I’ll take it!” Andrea squealed, beaming.

  Kelly snorted, rolling her eyes. “Newbies,” she muttered, but I didn’t miss the smile that splayed on her cherry red lips.

  My eyes shifted back to Lucy. I shouldn’t be staring. I should be paying more attention to Andrea or Kelly, but the way Lucy’s mouth pressed into a suppressed smile as she shook her head at her best friend... She was mesmerizing. And she isn't mine. I swallowed hard, and forced my eyes back to Kelly.

  I cleared my throat and stood from behind my desk. “Well, Kelly, Lucy, you two can go finish prepping for tomorrow’s shoot, and Jon and I will get Andrea the initial independent contractor forms.”

  Lucy didn’t wait for me to give further instructions. She launched out of her seat and lunged for the door. Kelly watched, curiously, glancing briefly at me before following her assistant down the hall.

  Once they were both gone, Jon jerked his head to the door. “I have to finish some prep for tomorrow, too. Can you handle the contract?”

  I nodded, relief relaxing deep in my muscles. Like an aching release as I unclenched all the tension I’d been holding. I stood, grabbing a few forms from the printer and handed them to Andrea.

  She took the papers, eyeing me. “What’s going on with you and Lucy?” She asked, after Jon had left. Blunt as ever. "She’s being weird and quiet.”

  Shit. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, keeping my eyes on the paperwork and sliding them across the desk. “Lucy’s always quiet at work.”

  Andrea’s head dropped to her shoulder, and she gave me the best cut the shit look I’d seen since my mom caught Lauren Delseco hiding in my bedroom closet at midnight, senior year of high school.

  Andrea narrowed her eyes at me. “I have known Lucy since we were five years old. I know the difference between her professional introverted-ness, and when she’s so pissed she doesn’t want to risk opening her mouth. The last twenty minutes?” Andrea pointed at the now empty chair Lucy had been sitting in. “It’s the latter. So, I’ll ask again—what’s going on with you two?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “There’s nothing going on with us. I’m her boss. She’s my wardrobe assistant. That’s it.”

  Andrea nodded, her mouth dipping comically into a thoughtful frown. “It didn’t look like nothing Saturday morning. Nothing doesn’t usually involve sending manatee care packages or helping a drunk girl safely make it through the night. Nothing doesn’t come in the form of the same clothes she was wearing when she left our apartment Saturday afternoon.”

  My brows lowered. How the hell did she know that? Lucy wore the same damn thing every day. I didn’t even need to ask the question before Andrea leveled me with a single look.

  “Those jeans have an ink stain on the thigh. Lucy’s pen broke in class during our final semester of college. I took a guess on the shirt.”

  We had washed her clothes on Sunday, and spent most of the day naked and in robes. But I guess washing doesn’t matter when one of you has permanent stains. “We both got a little … carried away this weekend. Besides, you don’t need to cover for her anymore. I know Lucy is seeing someone else.” Didn’t girls tell each other everything? As Lucy’s best friend, Andrea had to know about her relationship with Richard.

  Andrea snorted. “Lucy’s not seeing anyone else. I haven’t seen that girl go on a date in almost two years.”

  It was my turn to give her a look. “Now it’s your turn to cut the shit.”

  Andrea lowered the contracts and looked me square in the eye. “Honest to God, Ash. Lucy doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

  I snorted and shook my head. The air conditioning kicked on in the corner, and the low hum which I usually found so comforting was now grating on my nerves. “Well, it seems I wasn’t the only one she was hiding her relationship from.”

  Momentarily, concern passed over Andrea’s features. But in a blink, it vanished. She dropped the papers into her lap. “Okay, then. I’ll bite. Who is it? Who is this mystery man she’s with? And how do you know they’re together?”

  I didn’t want to say. It was Lucy’s place to share with Andrea, not mine. I swallowed. “Let’s just say, he works here and I walked in on them in his office.”

  Andrea narrowed her eyes. “Walked in on them… having sex?”

  “Kissing.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Lucy. Kissing how? Like … making out.”

  I grunted. “No. Not making out.” Somehow that would have been better. That tender, intimate moment was like a knife to my heart.

  Comprehension relaxed Kelly’s tightened features. Her eyebrows softened and her lips parted as she whispered, “Ohhh.” Shaking her head, she opened her eyes and looked to me once more. “It was Richard Blair, wasn’t it?”

  I didn’t say a word, but every single muscle in my body went rigid. So she did know. Maybe they had a history together. Maybe they were broken up for a while and just got back together.

  “Ash Livingston… you are such an idiot.”

  I jerked back like she had physically struck me. I hadn’t been called an idiot in years. Maybe even a decade. “Excuse me?”

  Andrea shook her head and chuckled softly. “Rich isn’t her boyfriend, Ash.”

  “I know what I saw—”

  “Seriously. You are the mayor of Idiotville, floating down Idiot River in a canoe built from wood grown in the Idiot Forest.”

  Anger twisted in my stomach. “Not a lot of people get away with calling me an idiot. Especially not when I’m offering them a contract for a movie deal that’s about to turn their world upside down.”

  Andrea snorted and shoved the contracts back across the table at me. “Yeah, well, you’re not my boss yet. And if you pull this deal because of some stupid personal shit, I’ll call Richard in here myself to tell him about how unprofessional you are. I’ve got some pull with Mr. Blair, too, you know.”

  What? How many twenty-somethings was Richard fucking?

  Pot calling the kettle black, Brie’s voice rang in my head. I took a deep breath, forcing my racing heart to calm down. “You’re right,” I sighed, sitting back in my chair. “That was inappropriate. However, if you are to sign that contract, you can’t be in here calling me an idiot during work hours.” A smile twitched at my lips and I stared, studying Andrea as she placed her palms on my desk, leaning confidently over the edge toward me.

  “Can’t I?”

  “No,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “You can’t. Just like I can’t talk to you about Lucy while working.”

  She leaned back, folding her arms elegantly across her chest. “But I haven’t signed shit yet. So until I do… I’m going to say that you don’t know what you saw. Richard is not Lucy’s boyfriend. And it’s not my secret to share with you… but I am going to tell you to do a little Googling of Luciana Rodriguez and see what turns up. Then after you find the truth and want to talk to Lucy—and believe me, you’re going to want to talk to her—I’ll find a way to get her to LnS tonight.”

  I snorted. “What makes you think I can’t get her to join me at LnS myself?”

  Andrea’s brow arched and she shook her head. “You’ve known Lucy for weeks. I’ve known her for years. Don’t let your ego get in the way of me helping you. Because trust me… if you even implied that she was with Richard or doing
anything of questionable morals, she’s not going to listen to your apology willingly. You will need my help.”

  My eyes fluttered closed briefly. Fuck. I hated myself even more for what I said to her in the hallway. Even still, I couldn’t imagine any scenario where I would understand why Lucy and Richard were kissing. But then I pictured her wide brown eyes and how moisture brimmed to the edges. I cleared my throat. “Okay… let’s pretend for a second that you’re right. That whatever it is you want me to find in this Google search explains everything and I want to bring Lucy with me to LnS tonight. How in the hell will you be able to get her in there?”

  “She signed the paperwork for the club, right?”

  I huffed a laugh. The LnS contract was the first and only one she had signed. We’d never even finished filling out my Dom/sub contract together. Until now. Until today, I thought, looking down at the now signed consent contract. The contract that now didn’t matter at all. “Yeah. She did.”

  “Then leave the rest up to me. You just be at LnS in the back hallway at nine p.m. I'll handle the rest.” Andrea scooped up her own contracts and sauntered toward the door. “I’ll have my lawyer look these over tonight. Get Googling, mister.”

  She shut my door behind her and I stared at the blinking cursor under the Google bar. I shouldn’t do this. We’d made a promise to each other. A promise to talk rather than do internet searches. But frankly, I didn’t want to talk to her. I didn’t even want to look at her.

  And her best friend told me to research her. That had to be worth something.

  Typing slowly, I punched in Luciana Rodriguez into the toolbar. It took a few minutes of sifting through non-relevant names but eventually, I found several articles from Santa Barbara. Mostly honor roll postings in the newspaper. A few small articles about her college. A Facebook profile—which was set to private. And a notice about her college graduation as the salutatorian. Luciana Blair Rodriguez. Blair.

  Richard Blair.

  Holy shit.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Lucy

  I yanked my phone out of my purse as it buzzed for the millionth time. Andrea’s name lit up across my screen. Hip checking my car door closed, I swiped my thumb to the right and balanced the phone between my shoulder and ear. “Girl, patience!” I snapped, not meaning to take my shitty mood out on my best friend. Even so, Andrea’s day had been one of her best and mine had been utter shit. Well, actually, my day had been fine. Uneventful with little smiles exchanged between Ash and me. But then, it all turned to shit, crashing and burning when Ash had fucking accused me of sleeping my way to the top. I snorted, grumbling incoherent words beneath my breath that sounded a lot like brother pucker and smasshole.

  “Are you here? Please tell me you’re almost here,” Andrea pled.

  I sighed, looking up at the neon LnS sign. “I just got here.”

  “Oh my God, you’re a lifesaver, Lucy. My boss would kill me if she knew I forgot my ID.”

  “Why? Is it really that big a deal?”

  “If we get hit with an inspection and I don’t have that ID? It’s a huge fine.”

  I locked my car, heading toward the building. “Remember,” Andrea said, “Come in through the back entrance. I gave Chloe your name and I'll meet you in that hallway.”

  If I could have narrowed my eyes at the phone, I would have. Andrea was being awfully dramatic. “Seriously? Your boss will freak if she sees me hand you something across the bar?” I did not want to be in this building for half a second longer than I needed to be.

  Andrea was quiet for a moment and cleared her throat. That alone was enough to make me stop in my tracks. Something was weird here. “Okay, fess up. What’s going on?”

  Andrea’s voice dropped to just above a whisper. “Look, I don’t know what happened between you and Ash, but something weird was going on during that meeting. Right? Like… that’s not how a guy acts after spending a night caring for your drunk ass. That’s not the behavior of a man who seemed so enamored, he sent you an adorable care package, then spent the rest of the weekend holed up with you.”

  I sighed. I never was good at hiding things from Andrea. I was trying so hard to hold off on telling her all my drama because Andrea deserved a celebration. She deserved dinner out and a champagne toast to her contract with Silhouette Studios. But I guess that flew right out the window. “Let’s just say a lot has happened since you saw me Saturday.”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  I resumed walking around the back of the building. Looking up a small set of iron stairs, there was a woman in a leather corset and a short black skirt with a clipboard in hand. “A big, stupid misunderstanding.” My throat burned at the accusations he threw at me. I could maybe forgive him for the comments about sleeping my way to the top. But that Daddy Dom comment? When he knew my history with my father? Anger seized my body and I dug my fingernails into my palm to calm my raging pulse down. That was so uncalled for. So hurtful. He’d said it knowing it would hurt me.

  And now I was alone again. Which normally alone was fine. Alone was safe. I was used to alone. But now? Now that I had gotten a taste of Ash… the last thing I wanted to do was go home to my empty, small bedroom and my Netflix, minus the chill. Unless chilling with my vibrator counted.

  I climbed the stairs to where the woman was waiting and placed my hand over the phone’s mouthpiece. “Chloe?” I asked.

  The woman nodded, giving me a quick once over. Those dark eyes scanned up and down my body, seeming curious about me. Story of my effing life. Women judged me when I did myself up with makeup and heels. And now that I was back to wearing flats, zero makeup, and t-shirts every day, I still get scrutinized. Only instead of a threat, they see a puzzle. “I’m Lucy Rodriguez. I believe my name is on the list.”

  She didn’t even look at her iPad. Just held out her hand. “ID please.”

  “Oh, um, sure.” I handed her Andrea’s ID and she quirked a black, perfectly shaped eyebrow at me.

  “Your ID.”

  Oh, hell. I took Andrea’s back, flashing her an apologetic smile as I pinched the phone between my ear and shoulder and dug through my purse, looking for my license. I handed it over, breathing heavily like I had just crossed the finish line of a marathon. These were a lot of freakin’ hoops to jump through for a simple pass off to Andrea.

  “Lucy,” Andrea said, still on the phone with me. There was something in her voice. Something shaky and unsure. Andrea was hardly ever unsure. She was confident and strong and overtly sexy without looking like she was trying so hard. She was basically everything I was not. “Maybe you need to talk to Ash about whatever happened today.”

  I snorted, waiting as Chloe checked my ID. “Definitely not. It’s safer this way. Maybe after the movie is over we can reconnect. But for now...” My voice faded away. I didn’t even believe myself with all this bullshit. Which was ridiculous. Ash and I knew each other for a week. Yes, I’m allowed to be sad. But I’m not allowed to feel broken up over it.

  Andrea gave a sad chuckle. “Safer. Right. You always did like the paved, safe route.”

  “I hate that analogy. Who in their right mind would take the unpaved road where you don’t have a map or GPS signal? That’s stupid. And irresponsible.”

  Andrea giggled. “Sometimes you have to go off the beaten path to find the cool shit. Like that road trip we took to Vegas where we found that llama farmer who had the country’s largest ball of yarn.”

  I snorted switching my cell phone to my other ear. “That was fun…I guess.”

  “See? You never would have known that the largest ball of yarn was in our backyard if we had stuck to the map. That’s what makes us such a good team. I push you when you need the nudge. And you tug me back before I go over the edge.”

  Chloe handed me back my ID and held the door open for me. “Here you go, Luciana.”

  “Thank you.” I stepped through the door into a nearly pitch black hall. It had sconces on the wall, but instead of light bul
bs, the warm glow of candlelight lit the corridor. It was hard to believe I had been here just this morning. That I had spent two nights tucked away in one of these quiet little rooms. “I’m in. I’ll wait right here for you.”

  “Just remember…” Andrea said. “You love my adventurous side. It’s what keeps us balanced.”

  I leaned against the brick wall. The rough, textured concrete scraped against my arm and was cool against my heated skin. “Okay weirdo. Hurry up and get back here before I run into—”

  “Lucy,” a deep, raspy voice said from the dark end of the hall.

  “Ash,” I whispered his name into the phone. “Andrea, what did you do?”

  “Love you,” Andrea said. “You needed to take the dark, winding road tonight.”

  The line went dead. And from the shadows of the hallway, Ash Livingston stepped forward.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Lucy

  We need to talk,” Ash said and took a step toward me, closing the small amount of space that was between us. His chest moved up and down with each breath, nearly brushing against my hard nipples. Stupid, traitorous nipples that pierced toward him.

  The door behind us shut quietly causing a breeze to pull a bit of my hair free from the messy ponytail. My hand trembled with nerves as I lifted it to my face and tucked the stray hair behind my ear. “We really don’t. You made it perfectly clear what you thought of me earlier today—” The words tasted bitter in my mouth as I said them, cracking with flavor at the back of my tongue. Pain slammed into me at the memory. That he could ever think I was sleeping my way to the top. Daddy dom. I swallowed, hating him for that. Hating him so, so much. But as I looked up into the hard lines of his face, it wasn’t hate that consumed me. It was another emotion entirely. That dreaded four letter ‘L’ word.