Not wanting to interfere with her work, I’d wait until it was over, since my presence was sure to catch her off guard. She wouldn’t expect to see me in a place like this, but I’d had a stylist set me up with the right kind of clothes on short notice, so at least I wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb.
At the airport, it had taken me ten minutes to describe to the cab driver where I wanted to go. That had been complicated enough, so when I checked into my hotel, I had the concierge hire me a car with a driver who spoke English, so that I wouldn’t have to worry about that again.
When I arrived at the venue for the fashion show, the place was packed, and I was glad I could just tell my driver to come back in a couple of hours when I called him, because parking would have been insane. I dodged the red carpet out front by sneaking in the side, where I snagged a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. I weaved my way to the front of the building and stayed near the back wall so I could observe without drawing too much attention to myself.
This place was definitely not my scene, but it also occurred to me that this was Dynassy’s world, and if I wanted her, I would have to learn to fit in. With this in mind, I focused on my experience as a successful entrepreneur rather than as a SEAL; I’d relate to this crowd better that way.
I wandered aimlessly through the crowd, catching the eyes and smiles of several women, and a few men for that matter, but I just kept walking. Socializing wasn’t my objective, and I was starting to wonder if coming all this way to see Dynassy without giving her any warning was such a good idea after all. Just as I contemplated leaving, the lights blinked a couple of times and people began to take their seats. I found a spot in the back of the room, grabbed another glass of champagne and sat back to watch.
The music began to play, a bunch of models took the stage, and the fashion show was underway.
If I had had any doubts about this trip, they were all laid to rest when Dynassy appeared from behind the curtains and stepped onto the runway. She wore a long red dress, and she sauntered down the runway with a feline grace that made it look like she was gliding on ice. I found myself grinning with pride. Even though she might not be my girl at the moment, I was still proud of her. She shook those hips of hers as she walked, owning every step, and I couldn’t help but feel a stirring in my groin.
Fortunately, the lights hitting her in the face prevented her from seeing farther back than a few rows of people. This rendered me an anonymous admirer in the back, which was exactly what I wanted. At the very end of the show, Dynassy appeared wearing a long white dress, and it occurred to me that while it was more modern and unusual than most wedding dresses I’d seen, it was clearly meant to be a bridal gown.
Seeing her wearing that made my heart leap. I wasn’t sure if Dynassy was interested in marriage, but I knew at that moment that if I could convince her, I would take her on a trip down the aisle and claim her as my bride.
My hands started to sweat, and I grew nervous about confronting her. What if she felt like I was stalking her? She’d probably had experiences with that sort of thing, so I doubted she would appreciate it. At the same time, I had to believe that what we had was real, and that she and I could find a way to work something out.
Dynassy might have dissed me, but I was here to fight for what was mine.
28
Bridger
* * *
A reception was being held in the adjacent room and while I waited for her to come out of the back, I nibbled on a variety of strange foods I didn’t recognize.
Finally, when Dynassy came out, I began walking towards her. My eyes locked on hers, and she froze mid-stride. She shook her head, but I had come too far to be put off now.
“Dynassy, I have to talk to you.”
She plastered a smile on her face and looked past me. “Later,” she said under her breath. “My mother is here.”
“The Imperial Resort. Room 1432,” I whispered in her ear, pressing my key card into her hand. “Imperial. 1432. Got it?”
She nodded and slipped away without a word, and I was left standing there, feeling like a fool.
Unsure if she would come looking for me at my hotel, I called my driver and slunk back to the dark gray limo outside. During the ride back, I felt more depressed than ever. When the car pulled up at the hotel, I realized I’d been so lost in my dark thoughts that I’d neglected to look around, to see what the city had to offer. Great, I was here in a place I’d never been before, and I was squandering what little time I had available. But even as I chastised myself, I didn’t care.
The only thing that interested me about Milan was that Dynassy was here.
But coming here had been a mistake. I was clearly out of my league. This girl was an international supermodel, and I was just some meathead from nowhere special.
I wasn’t an international billionaire or a sophisticated entrepreneur or a celebrity. I was a simple guy, locked into a seedy business that revolved around women taking off their clothes and doing dirty things to themselves.
It wasn’t glamorous or cosmopolitan. It was crass.
All I wanted was to be with the woman I loved. I didn’t need all the trappings of wealth and fame, but clearly Dynassy did. Our worlds would never come together, and the sooner I accepted that, the better.
I felt like shit the rest of the night. I ran up a big bar bill in my room, ordered a big steak from room service, and finally gave up on Dynassy ever coming by.
I lounged on the couch of my suite, nursing a whiskey and watching the hotel’s tourism channel, which switched back and forth from Italian to English. After seeing it fifty times, I thought I was beginning to pick up some actual Italian. I was repeating the foreign words on the screen, practicing my new language skills, when I heard the key card in the door.
The door opened a crack before it was stopped by the security bar at the top. I’d latched it about an hour ago when I gave up on Dynassy and decided to call it a night.
“Bridger?” The husky tone of her voice floated in the air, and I had to blink a few times to be sure it wasn’t some alcohol-induced hallucination.
“Dynassy?” I called. Jumping off the couch, I hurried to the door.
“Yes, it’s me. Let me in.” Her voice was insistent.
“Just a minute,” I said, closing the door and unlatching it. Then opening the door again wide, this time ushering her inside. “I didn’t think you were coming.”
“I’ve had parties all night.”
My heart sank. Parties?
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m here for business. I have to see and be seen.”
“That’s fair. Hey, I’m sorry for just showing up like this.”
“It’s okay. I’ve been calling you for days, but you won’t answer.”
“What?” Was she lying? “I haven’t gotten any calls from you. In fact, I’ve texted you and called you, and I haven’t heard a thing from you. What the hell is going on?”
“Bridger, that’s because I had to get rid of my old number and get a new one. Every time we have one of these blowups, the media get hold of my number and my phone will not stop ringing off the hook, so I had to get a new number. I tried to text you from the new one to tell you but you didn’t respond.”
“I didn’t get any texts from you. I don’t think…” But I’d quit looking at my texts once the reporters started sending them to me. I put my phone on silent and had only been using it for data the past few days. Dynassy hadn’t answered me, so it didn’t occur to me that she would have started texting me now.
“I’m sorry, but I did send you one. Things have been so crazy lately. I also sent you an email. I really have been trying. It’s just, my life has been insane ever since this came out, and I had the show… I’ve been traveling, and honestly I’ve been a little confused.”
The anger started to build. “You? You think things have been crazy for you? You’re used to this kind of life, with tabloids and people hounding your every move. I am not.” My voic
e came out harsher than I’d intended.
“Yeah. Look, Bridger, I’m sorry. My mother can be very manipulative, and she told me we had to get out of this thing. She and her PR people wrote these statements and said that I said all that stuff. Which I didn’t, but I don’t know how to make people understand the way I see you.”
“So you don’t think those things about me?”
“Well, when I first found out, I was mad that you’d lied to me, but I understand how you got to where you are, and I don’t think that makes you a bad guy.”
“You don’t?”
“No, but do I really want to have a boyfriend who watches girls fuck themselves for a living? Not really. I have to admit though, the more I thought about it, the more it made me feel kinda special that you’d seen all those girls at your porn studio, but it wasn’t until you met me that you got your mojo back.”
“It’s true, Dynassy. Not one of them made me hard, then I met you and BAM!”
She giggled. “I know. I think that’s great. Almost like a cosmic sign that we’re meant to be together. Does that sound ridiculous?”
“Not at all,” I said quietly. Because I’d thought the same thing.
“But then there’s the future. I mean, a guy who makes porn isn’t really the kind of person you want to settle down and have babies with. That’s kind of insane, you know?”
“Of course I do.” I could just see me now, dropping the kids off at preschool on the way to the set of Debbie Does Dallas. The other dads would high-five me and the moms would give me looks that killed and probably try to get my kids kicked out of their school. “I know my current profession wouldn’t work for a future with you, but I’m not sure what I can do about that.”
“Well, have you considered selling it?”
“Not really because I don’t know who would be able to buy it. Barvo’s not really in a position to buy me out, and I would hate to set him up with a different partner. I guess that’s a possibility, but a buyer might take a while to find.” I noticed I’d forgotten my manners. “I’m sorry. Come on in and have a seat. Do you want something to drink?”
“You’ve had enough for both of us,” she chastised, “and besides, I have two more fashion shows tomorrow. I can’t get all bloated and puffed up from alcohol.”
I sat back down on the couch and patted the spot beside me. To my relief, she perched there.
I lifted my glass and took another sip. “Don’t be upset. Can you really blame me?”
“No, I’ve felt like drinking every day since you told me about that stupid business of yours. What were you thinking, getting into that?” she pouted.
“I wasn’t thinking. That was the problem. I had nothing in my life I cared about at that time, so the idea of making money…well, that sounded good.”
“As hard as it’s going to be, I can’t stay away from you.”
“That’s good, because I can’t either. I need you in my life, Dynassy.”
“I need you too.”
My heart soared at her words.
She burrowed her way into my arms, forcing me to set down my drink and hold her. I needed the warmth of her body next to mine, and I needed to figure out how to make things permanent with her. Whatever it was, I would do it, even if it meant walking away from Luv Machines altogether.
“I’ve missed this,” she whispered, her cheek against my chest.
“Me too.”
“Can we forget about all that for a few hours?” She raised her hands and tickled the back of my neck as she lifted her lips to mine.
At that moment, all I wanted in the world was to possess her, to make her mine.
“I’ve already forgotten about it.” I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her again.
“About what?” she breathed, getting up and straddling me.
“Exactly.”
She wrapped her legs around my waist and I stood up and carried her to the bedroom, and we pretended the world outside had disappeared.
29
Bridger
* * *
I’d grown much more comfortable with the Barnes family, but I wasn’t looking forward to my first meeting with them since what I did in my spare time had come to light.
But Dynassy and I had hashed things out ourselves, and decided we wanted to be together no matter the cost. Now she wanted to talk with her brothers and sister about the subject without Lucinda present. Nick and Eden had invited us all down to their home in Fresno, which was several hours away.
Lucinda had made it clear how she felt in the papers, and I wasn’t sure how the rest Dynassy’s family was going to feel about me now. I was embarrassed to see her little sister and Nick’s soon-to-be wife, Eden. I knew how respectable women felt about my line of work—they usually found it degrading, a practice that was against women.
I didn’t expect Nick to be thrilled either, seeing as I was dating his sister, but guys generally tended to have a more favorable opinion of porn. Lots of guys would’ve been jealous the first time they heard about it, but I had the feeling that a professional athlete of Nick’s caliber had the opportunity for all the women and sex he wanted. But the guy had been recently converted into a family man, so I didn’t expect him to be a big fan, especially now that he had a daughter to think about.
Wasn’t that every guy’s worst nightmare? That their daughter would be in porn? Any daughter of mine would be required to wear a turtleneck and long pants everywhere she went the minute she hit puberty. Hypocritical, sure, but I never claimed to be perfect.
When we arrived at Nick’s Fresno mansion, to my surprise the Barnes crew greeted me like I was a regular person rather than as the devil I’d been portrayed.
“Hey, man.” Leo was the first person I saw, and he offered up a fist, which I bumped with my own. Nick shook my hand while juggling one of the twins in his other arm. I assumed it was the boy, Albert, because he was dressed in blue, but in this day and age, in California, you could never tell. I recalled hearing Eden say that nowadays it was more politically incorrect to put your baby in blue and pink, but that she was determined to get away with it, using the excuse that it was the best way for her to tell her infant twins apart at a glance.
“All the new baby clothes are either green or yellow these days. I’ve been waiting my whole life to put my little munchkins in pink and blue, and it’s almost impossible to find.”
Eden was cordial, and Ivy was the most standoffish, although she was perfectly polite. I got the feeling that she was the one holding back, reserving her judgment and being protective of her sister.
“So what’s the big meeting about today?” Ivy asked.
We all sat down under a tent, poolside, where a lady who I assumed worked for Nick came out and offered us some drinks. I chose a longneck.
It was late afternoon, cooler for a summer day, a nice change from the sweltering ones we’d been experiencing, so it was enjoyable to sit outside. Leo went over to the side of the pool, sat down and sank his feet into the water. Eden and Nick both held a baby until Dynassy took the one Eden was holding and bounced her on her lap while we talked. The sweet coos from the baby lightened the mood. You couldn’t help but smile back when a baby smiled at you. Dynassy’s eyes met mine as she watched her niece coo and bat her eyelashes at me. I definitely wanted to make babies with that woman.
Dynassy opened the conversation. “So, we’ve got to figure out how to do some damage control with the public, but also how to deal with Mom on this thing with Bridger, and we wanted your ideas.”
“I think we’ve got to figure out how to get Mom off our backs in general,” Ivy said.
“I also wanted to apologize to all of you,” I said. “I should have been honest from the start about my business. I never intended to hurt any of you, or damage your careers by being associated with what I do. That’s on me, but I just want you to know I did it because I love Dynassy. I was afraid the truth would end things between us.”
Eden looked at Nick when I said th
at I loved his sister, and he winked back at her. Those two were so in love, and I hoped some of their happiness would rub off on me and Dynassy.
“That’s sweet, Bridger, but how are you guys going to do this? Lucinda may be a bitch, but she’s right that we have a family-friendly brand, especially me and Leo.”
“I know, Ivy. Bridger is going to distance himself from Luv Machines. He’s trying to split the company with his partner. Keep the rights to his invention and give up the video rights.”
Ivy looked doubtful.
“Look, I’m going to distance myself a little as well. My brand isn’t the same as your brand. Plus, you and Leo are getting older. You’re no longer teenagers. You’re both over eighteen, so technically adults, regardless of your fan base. Nothing Bridger has been doing is illegal for you to see,” Dynassy explained.
“That’s true, sis,” Leo said to his twin.
Ivy made a face. “Look, I just want to know how to get Mom off our backs more.”
“What do you mean?” Nick asked.
“I mean that Leo and I hardly ever get a say in our careers. She sets up the schedules, and we’re supposed to just dance, sing…do whenever she wants us to.”
“I knew you guys would come around eventually. I’m just surprised it took you this long.” Nick shook his head.
“Do you feel the same way, Leo?” Eden asked.
Leo picked up his drink. “I could do with a bit more freedom, I guess. I mean, nobody wants their mom telling them what to do when they get to be my age.” But he wasn’t all that convincing. Ivy seemed to be the driving force behind their discontent. Leo was just too laid-back to get too worked up.
“You’re an adult. The best thing you two can do is get your own agent. Mom will have a fit, but it will be in your best interests. I wish I’d done it sooner,” Nick said to the twins. Then he turned to Dynassy. “And I recommend you stay as far away from Mom as possible. When she gets mixed up with your relationships, it’s the biggest nightmare that can happen to you.”
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