by T. A. Foster
“But if I do this, we’re going to be back in the headlines together. I’ll be working with her every day.” Evan grumbled, barely able to stomach the idea.
“Look at it this way.” Jeff paused. “Let the press think Emmy is your personal life. Feed them what they want to see. Then, back here, you can have whatever life you want. I could think of worse cover stories.”
Evan smiled. Now that was an idea. Maybe there was a way to keep the press brigade away from Haven after all.
He slapped Jeff on the back. “All right. Give me tonight to think about it. I have someone I need to talk to first. I’ll call you in the morning and let you know which direction I want that horse pointed.”
“Call me tonight if you need to. Call me anytime. I’m here for you—” He hesitated.
“Evan, you can call me Evan.”
“Talk to you later, Evan.” He smiled then walked out of the office.
Evan collapsed into his desk chair. Half of his problem had been solved, but there was a much bigger one on his plate. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he had hoped to never use again.
“Evan, oh my God, I can’t believe it’s you. How are you?” Emmy’s sweet voice chimed with happiness.
“Hey, Em. Do you have a second?”
“Of course, of course. Hold on. Let me step out of this meeting.”
“Why don’t you call me back later?” He realized there was no way to tell who she was with and whether she could be discreet about anything they discussed.
“No, I wouldn’t think of it. Ok. I can talk. I was meeting with my stylist, but she can wait. What’s going on?”
“I wanted to talk to you about Red Lines.”
“Oh my God, does this mean you’re doing it?”
“No, no. Just calm down a second. I wanted to talk to you about it. That’s all. Nothing more than that.”
“Ok, I get it. What did you want to talk about?” She had surprisingly reined in her excitement rather quickly.
“I wanted to talk about us.”
“Us? But I thought you told me last week you were seeing someone. Change your mind?” Her voice was playful.
“I am seeing someone. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m with Haven still. That hasn’t changed and it’s not going to change. But, I need to know from you if that’s a problem if we were to work together. Because if it is, I get it. I just need to know, Emmy.”
“Why w-w-would it be a problem? I’m a professional. You think I’m over here pining away for you? You should see my Evan scrapbook and the posters I have of you on my bedroom walls.” She giggled.
“I didn’t say that.” He shook his head. She wasn’t making this easy.
“Isn’t that what you’re insinuating? I can’t handle being around the sexy, hot Evan Carlson if I’m still carrying a torch for him?”
“Emmy, come on. I didn’t say any of those things. I’m trying to see where you stand on us working together again since we broke up. It’s not a normal situation. I don’t want to make things difficult for you or me.” He was starting to regret the call. Emmy was more playful than usual.
“Evan, if you will sign on to do this movie, I can handle it.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. Besides, I think it would be fun to work together again. Like old times.”
That’s exactly what he was afraid of. Emmy and her flirtatious, seductive moves. Not to mention that half of their scenes would be in bed. He tried not to think about that part.
“All right, thanks, girl. That’s all I needed to hear.”
“Does this mean you’ll do it?”
“I don’t know. Thinking about it. But I swear if you leak a single word of this conversation—”
“Hey, I wouldn’t do that. Oh, gotta go, babe. I have another fitting. Bye.”
He looked at the dark phone. He had to hope and pray that he hadn’t just made the biggest mistake of his life. Haven should be home from her meeting with Bruce any minute. Once they talked about it, he would know what to do.
HAVEN THANKED Bud for the ride into town and walked into the kitchen. Lenny was humming and he hovered over the stove. She tried to pick up the tune before interrupting his routine.
“That smells amazing. What are you cooking?”
“Just a little white sauce for the pasta tonight.” He smiled then returned to his work.
“I can’t wait to try it.”
He held a spoonful in front of her. “Go on, try it now. It’s one of Mr. Carlson’s favorites.”
“Mmm. That’s delicious.” It was savory and sweet.
“Thank you. I have a few more steps, but I think it’s coming along nicely.”
Haven wondered if cooking was to Lenny as songwriting was to her—layering the right words or ingredients at all the right times.
“See you at dinner.” She walked past him, through the great room, and down the hall to find Evan. Her steps felt light and airy compared to her morning pre-meeting dread.
Her head was still swimming from the Bruce and Carly meeting. Her father had been advising her about the contracts and business decisions, but right now, the only person she wanted to talk to was Evan.
It sounded like he was wrapping up a phone call. She waited outside of his office before peeking around the corner. “You busy?”
“Hey, darlin’. How’d it go?”
“Good. Better than good.” She couldn’t stand to be on the other side of the room from him. Just seeing him made her heart race. She made her way to where he was sitting.
“And Carly? You two get along?”
“Oh, definitely. I think we’ll work well together.” Once she had gotten over the initial jitters, she realized she and Carly weren’t that different. Well, other than the fact that Carly had been in the business and made a name for herself. She smiled.
“You look happy.”
“I am. It was a good meeting, but I was hoping you could help me with a few things.” She sat on his lap, pushing the files out of his hands. She wanted all of his attention.
“If it has anything to do with you, me, and this desk, I’m in.”
Her cheeks flushed. That wasn’t the plan, but as soon as he mentioned anything involving less clothing, it was hard to think about anything else. She wondered if he had a remote control lock for the office door.
She adjusted her position so that her knees were on either side of his hips, sliding her skirt to the tops of her thighs. “Actually, I was hoping for business advice.” She tilted her head to the side, letting her hair fall over her shoulders.
If anyone knew about being a part of a brand, it was Evan. He also knew her songs and whether she could pull off building a genre that Blue Steel wanted to promote.
“I might be talked into that.”
“Might?”
“Yeah.” He ran his fingertips along her neck, bringing them to rest between her breasts. “Are you willing to negotiate?”
“But you don’t even know what my question is.”
“Oh, I’m not talking about your question. What are you willing to trade for my sage business wisdom?”
Haven laughed. “So I have to pay you now to get advice?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Call it what you want. What are you bringing to the table? Or should I say desk?” His eyes trailed the space behind her.
Suddenly, her pulse was racing, throbbing in her veins as she thought about Evan lifting her onto the desk and taking her body under his. Her breath quickened. Blue Steel and girl power music could wait.
“What kind of payment are you willing to accept?” She toyed with the buttons on the front of his shirt.
His hands pushed the sides of her skirt higher until her legs were completely bare. She caught his hungry stare as he brought her mouth toward his. His tongue twisted against hers, and she gripped the back of his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. She groaned when she felt his hand slide between her legs. First one finger, than another dipped inside her.
The motion sent electricity through her core.
She moaned against his ear when she heard the zipper on his jeans move. “The door. The door’s open,” she whispered. If Marta or Lenny walked in, she would be mortified.
“Dammit.” He maneuvered to the side and sat her on the desk. He jogged across the room to close the door and turn the lock. “Better?”
She nodded as he approached, taking in his broad shoulders and the hungry expression on his face. This wouldn’t be the first time he had thrown her plans aside.
“You haven’t told me what you’re willing to give me for my expert business opinion.” He growled against her neck, before shoving the files off the desk. She heard the pages scatter on the hardwoods. His pants dropped to the floor as he hiked her leg around his waist.
“You don’t know?” She ran a hand along his chest, anxious to feel him pressed against her. This game had become torturously fun.
Evan seemed to forget the banter and the negotiations. He pulled her close to him as his mouth devoured hers. They were supposed to be talking about her business meeting, his agent interview, but instead here they were tangling limbs, breathless to taste each other, desperate to forget everything but how they felt together.
“I can’t get enough of this. I can’t ever get enough of you.” His kisses turned rougher. He broke away and stooped to the floor, taking her lace panties with him. His lips grazed over calf, her knee, and the softness of her inner thigh. He gripped her bottom and rocked her forward until he had pushed inside her.
Haven wrapped her arms around his neck and widened her legs, allowing him to move deeper. The intensity fell on them like a blanket. He reached behind his neck and unlocked her hands from him. She stilled, watching his eyes for answers, but he kept moving as he laid her on the desk until her back was against the mahogany. She couldn’t keep her eyes off him. His hands roamed over her breasts, pulling and tugging at her through the fabric of her shirt.
One thrust followed another until she was vibrating and rolling from side to side with quivering that started between her limbs but was slowly spreading throughout her body. She gripped the edges of the desk with all her strength while Evan’s hands steadied her hips as he moved faster. Finally, the tenseness consumed her, and she whimpered as she felt the last threads of tightness snap and fade away, leaving her feeling exhausted and satisfied.
Evan smiled and laid his head on her chest. “Sorry if I surprised you.”
She shook her head as she ran her fingers through his hair. “Don’t say that. Middle of the afternoon office sex should be an everyday thing. I like this kind of negotiation.”
“Is that your offer?”
“Yes.” She giggled. “Every day in exchange for that sage business wisdom, as you call it.”
Evan stood to retrieve his pants and handed Haven her lacy black underwear. “Girl, you really are going to kill me.” He flashed one of his killer grins while shoving his belt back through the loops.
“Did you get that idea from Red Lines?” she teased. She remembered something about an office scene, but she was pretty sure the scene also involved a tie, a pair of high heels, and the guy was the one on his back.
“What? That? No, I wanted you. I have my own inspiration.” He poured two drinks from a decanter near the couch. “Why, did you like the kind of stuff they did in the book?”
Haven hopped off the end of the desk, her underwear in hand. She blushed. She had only talked about those scenes with her college roommate. Discussing the details with Evan was a little intimidating. “Some of it.” She chewed on her bottom lip.
“Like what? Tell me.” He handed her a brown liquid. It smelled like bourbon.
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Why not? Haven’t we been sleeping together all summer?”
“Because it’s-it’s—” She didn’t have a particularly good answer. She knew there was no one who knew her body like Evan did, and she had done things with him that she had never experienced before, but talking about sex specifics felt embarrassing. She didn’t know if she could open up to him like that.
“Come on. I sleep with you naked. You can tell me. What if there’s something you really want and I don’t know it.” He smiled, as if he knew that wasn’t possible.
“You know that’s not it.”
“How about this?” He paused, and pulled the underwear from her hand, stuffing it in his pocket. “Every once in a while I’ll try something from the book, like this.” He patted the pocket. “But you have to tell me right then and there if you want me to do it. None of this quiet, keep-your-opinions-to-yourself thing. What do you think?”
“You want to try the scenes from the book?”
“Only if you do.”
She nodded. “Yeah, let’s try it.” Her body was still flushed from desk sex, but she felt a new heat emerge under her skin.
He kissed her on the cheek. “So, speaking of Red Lines, how would you feel if I took the role?”
“As in, you want to be the next Dexter Red?” Sure, they had talked about it in passing, but Evan didn’t seem interested. She was still surprised he read the book on the flight home.
“I don’t know. I met with the new agent today, great guy by the way, and he says I’m at an all-or-nothing crossroads. I either need to retire or do this movie. There’s no gray area. I’m thinking about doing the movie. I can’t say I’m ready to completely give up acting.”
“I can’t imagine you retiring right now. That seems extreme. You’re only twenty-eight. Do people your age retire?”
“I don’t know of anyone. But the movie? How would you feel about me being in the movie?” He asked it quietly, and Haven knew he was worried.
She sat on the couch. “If you want to do it, I don’t see how it has much to do with me.”
“Darlin’, it has everything to do with you.” He paused. “Emmy’s signed up to play Karina. I’d be in it with her, so I can understand if that would make you uncomfortable. I talked to her today, though, and she’s completely onboard. She knows about you. She knows this would be all business. I made that completely clear.”
It was hard to focus. Evan had just asked her to play Red Lines sex games and now was asking permission to star in the hottest movie to ever hit the big screen with his ex. What in the hell was she supposed to say? This was coming at her from two completely different angles.
“I trust you, Evan, and I know it’s a movie. It’s not like you’re actually sleeping with her.” The last part came out more like a whisper. She realized she knew nothing about moviemaking.
“Definitely not.” He wrapped an arm around her. “But, just say the word and I won’t do it. It has to work for both of us.”
Her lips were still swollen from his kisses, and she could smell his soapy-scented cologne on her shoulder. He was all around her, part of her, in her head, her heart, her body. If this was what he wanted, she wasn’t going to stand in his way.
“Do it. I think you should do it.”
“Really? You sure?”
“Yes. Absolutely sure. You’ll be an amazing Dexter Red.”
“And you’re up for helping me prepare for the role?” He winked. “Because I was wondering if we could start rehearsals right now.” He placed his glass on the table and took hers next.
The palms of his hands ran along her thighs until he had wriggled her skirt up to her hips again.
Haven smiled. “Yes, we can start right now.”
“Wait.” He paused. “You wanted to ask me about something from your meeting?” He crawled forward.
“Rehearsals,” she whispered. “Let’s start with rehearsals.”
She leaned against the arm of the couch as Evan’s hand slid between her thighs. If she had to play this part to help him prepare for the biggest role of his life, she wasn’t going to say no.
EVAN LOOSENED the ties from Haven’s wrists, and then unlooped the ends from the bedpost. She smiled and rotated her wrists in circles. It had been thre
e days. They had locked themselves in his room, barely coming out for food or water. Lenny left trays of food by the door as if it was part of the Carlson Ranch room service package.
“You ok?” He looked at her wrists, hoping they weren’t bruised.
She smiled. “Better than ok. That one was a yes.” She crawled toward him on the bed.
He didn’t know if he could explain it, he doubted she could either, but ever since he had signed the contract to play Dexter Red in Red Lines, they couldn’t get enough of each other. They had tried almost every scene in the book, improvising on some, and getting creative on others. For three days, they had worn clothes only to answer the door, or if they were a prop needed in one of the scenes.
Owning the decision for Evan to star in the movie had ignited something in their primal sides.
“You realize we have to get back to the real world some time?” Haven teased.
“I thought this was our real world.” He swooped her underneath him and feathered kisses along her collarbone.
“Stop, stop.” She laughed. “I’m going to take a shower.” She rolled out from under him and sashayed to the bathroom.
“Hey, what if we go out tonight?”
“You mean out of the bedroom or the house?” she called over the shower water.
“The house. I think we could use some air.” He ran a hand through his hair. Air was the last thing he wanted. All he wanted was her. She was his air, but something in the back of his head told him that maybe they needed to get out of the ranch walls for a while.
The contract with Jeff was signed. The contract with Heart Shock Studios for Red Lines was signed. According to Anna, the foundation was running smoothly. Everything was back on track, but at some point, they had to emerge from their sex spell.
“Sure. You want to take me to a real cowboy bar? I’ve been in Texas over a week and I still haven’t been to one of those.”
“Yeah, baby. Let me show you Texas.” He smiled. Over the summer, she had taught him how to shag and introduced him to beach music, but now it was his turn. This girl was going to two-step.