“This is fucking ridiculous. We didn’t do anything wrong, so you don’t need a lawyer.” He turned to her. “When you say stuff like that, it makes you look guilty. Don’t you get that?” She only looked away. Maybe she was guilty. Maybe that was the point. She knew that whatever she’d say would get her in trouble.
“Weren’t you supposed to stay away from the set from now on?” I could help asking. Spencer shot me a look, but I didn’t care. He was being weird, anyway.
Andrea shrugged. “I go where I want to go. Weren’t you supposed to stay away from my husband?”
“This again?” I rolled my eyes. “You need to find something new to care about. Maybe somebody new.”
Ricardo walked in a few minutes later. I caught a look at the hair and makeup crew outside the trailer door. There was no way to miss the gossiping that was going on out there, either. I could just imagine Stephen throwing a fit because shooting would be held up yet again. It was a miracle that he hadn’t been to the trailer yet to complain.
“Mrs. Christian,” the detective said. He sounded exhausted. I could imagine, dragged out at that time of morning. “We’ve been trying to get in touch with you for days, which I’m sure you know.”
“I don’t have anything else to say to you.” She looked at the floor when she spoke.
“We still haven’t substantiated your alibi for the time of Miss Banks’s attack. Maybe there’s something else you can tell me about that time, something you’ve remembered since the last time we met.” He put his hands on his hips and looked down at her with an expression I reminded myself I would have to use in my performance. Knowing the truth, but pretending to go along with the person I was questioning just to humor them. I would use that in my scenes with Mark.
She glanced at Josh, who had clearly decided it wasn’t worth backing her up. I didn’t blame him. He wanted to distance himself from her. She was only trouble.
She saw it was pointless to try, so she looked back at Ricardo. “I don’t remember anything new.”
“And what are you doing here this morning?” he asked. He didn’t sound so warm or understanding then. “It was my impression that you were asked to stay away from the set.”
She gathered her leather jacket tight around herself. “I wanted to see my husband before he started shooting today.”
“Are you sure that’s all you were here for?” It was the first time Spencer had spoken since Ricardo got there. His hands were balled up in the pockets of his jeans. Tension seemed to vibrate from him.
Josh pointed at him. “My wife and I were having a private conversation—”
“Outside your trailer,” Spencer cut him off. “Out in the open. I happened to be outside on a phone call of my own. I heard your, uh, whispering.” He looked at Andrea, and her face reddened a little.
“What did you hear, Spencer?” Ricardo asked.
“Something about making Miss Banks pay for what she did.”
The blush in Andrea’s cheeks deepened to dark red. “You what?” I whispered. “Making me pay for what I did?” I wanted to strangle her myself, right there, so she would know how it felt to be on her knees, gasping for air. Wondering if she was going to die. What would she think about in those last moments? Would she regret anything?
“You know what you did,” she laughed. “It’s not a secret.”
“Babe, please,” Josh whispered. He took her hand. “I told you, that’s all in the past.”
“What, you mean sleeping with him?” I pointed to him with a laugh. “That was over ages ago, and we’ve both told you that. I have nothing to do with him outside of shooting our scenes together.”
Her eyes widened when she looked at me—something like disbelief was all over her face. Then, she laughed. We all froze, silent.
“You think it’s that easy?” she asked. Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, sure. You can sleep around with whoever you want. It’s just an on-set fling, no big deal. As long as you get what you want in the moment. And then, when the movie’s over, you move on to the next guy and the next guy. You think you can just toy with people for as long as you want to and toss them when you’re finished. Your life doesn’t have to be any different. You just go on. But there are other people, too. You’re not the only person involved.” She was full-out crying by then. “I hate you for that. I just hate you.”
I looked at the floor. Wow. I didn’t expect that.
“There are wives, girlfriends,” she whispered.
“Who their man cheated on,” I muttered with a glance up at her.
“Excuse me. Can we get back to the subject at hand?” Poor Ricardo, losing his grip on the situation. “I didn’t come out here to hear about domestic affairs. I’m sorry if that sounds harsh.”
“But that’s what this is,” Andrea said. “I don’t know what you think I’m doing to her, but I haven’t done anything except getting in her face at the restaurant and coming to the set to watch her. I thought I would maybe tell her off again today, scare her a little—I know she’s shooting with my husband today. I couldn’t help it.”
“What did you mean when you said you would make her pay?” Spencer asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just…I want her to stay away from him. I want her to know how it feels when she knows I’m watching her. She can’t do the things she does and just get away with them.”
“Babe, you need to let go of this. It’s not even Charlotte’s fault.” He took her by the shoulders and turned her to him. “It’s my fault. We were separated then, and I could have chosen not to sleep with her, but I didn’t make that choice. I slept with her. I should’ve known it would hurt you, and I did it anyway. So I hurt you. Not her. Me.”
“But I love you,” she whispered through her tears. “I want to be with you. I want us to go back to being happy like we used to be.”
“We were separated for a reason, Dre.” He looked at us. “I’m sorry for this. I really am.”
“Andrea, where were you on Friday?” Ricardo asked. He was at the end of his rope.
“I wasn’t here. Nowhere near here.” She looked at Josh, then back at Ricardo. “I went to visit my parents for a few days last week. I didn’t get in until Saturday morning.”
“Oh, God.” Josh’s head sank into his hands. “I didn’t even think about that.”
“Where do your parents live?” Ricardo asked.
“In South Carolina. I have the reservations and everything. I bought dinner one night on my credit card.”
“I didn’t think about that. I forgot you were visiting with them,” Josh muttered. “I thought you did it.” Of course, that made me wonder how close those two actually were, if he didn’t know she was out of state for days. The woman lived in a delusion.
“Did what?” she asked, looking around. “What did you think I did?”
“There was another attack on Miss Banks,” Ricardo said.
“I didn’t have anything to do with the first one, or this last one. I mean it. I’m not insane, for God’s sake. Even if some people think so.” She glared at me.
I could tell the detective was at a loss. “We’ll look into those records you referenced,” he said. “I’ll have my team on that. You’re free to go.” He turned to Spencer. “I’d like to have a word with you.”
He waited until Josh and Andrea left—Andrea shot me one more dirty look as she went—before he turned to Spencer. “Your job isn’t to do my job. Do you understand?”
“What?” Spencer spat. “I thought I was helping.”
“And I appreciate that, but you’re not helping when you’re pulling me down here for a domestic dispute.”
“Look what you found out,” he said. “You know Andrea was out of town. She didn’t plant the Palcohol.”
“All right. Fine. But we have photographic proof that she was on-set during the first attack.”
“And I heard her, very clearly, telling her husband she was going to make Charlotte pay. I mean, it doesn’t get much more dam
ning than that.”
Ricardo sighed. “All right. I’m not trying to argue with you. This just feels like a waste of time. I feel like we’re running around in circles. We’re not getting anywhere.”
“That’s not my fault. I heard something that sounded a lot like a confession and called you down here.”
“You’re right.” He looked down at me. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have just witnessed that, either. I think I’ve slept maybe a dozen hours the past week.”
I thought back to what Andrea had said about me doing whatever I wanted without thinking of the consequences. She was right about that. And that could mean that whatever happened to me, and the people around me, because of my attack was my fault, too.
“I’m the one who’s sorry,” I said. “I won’t tell anybody that I watched you bawl out my security guard.”
He smiled—it was a tired smile, but it was still a smile. “Thanks for that, but what are you sorry for?”
“Oh, a lot of things.” I turned back to the mirror as he excused himself. I heard him promise Spencer that he’d be in touch with confirmation of Andrea’s alibi. I was sure she was telling the truth. She only hated me because I’d slept with Josh. She didn’t have it in her to attack me. I didn’t even think she was smart enough to plant the alcohol in my trailer—and I knew Josh, so I knew he wasn’t smart enough. Just a pretty face.
“You okay?” Spencer asked.
“Are you?” Our eyes met in the mirror. “What was with the caveman act back there? Why did you look at me like you wanted to rip my head off?”
He let out a grim laugh. “It wasn’t your head I was after. I’m sorry if I looked that way.”
“Yeah, well, it was pretty off-putting.” I called in the hair and makeup team, who I could still hear gossiping away outside the door. There was nothing else to say to Spencer, anyway. Nothing at all. Not when I came to understand that I was doing with him what I had done with Josh and too many co-stars to count. Sleeping with him out of convenience. And what would happen when it was all over? Nothing. We would both move on. Well, I would. I didn’t know if he would or if he was even the sort of man who could. When he looked me that way…like he would kill anybody who tried to hurt me…
I was careful not to look at him for a long time after that, as the team did their work as fast as they could. I heard Stephen screaming bloody murder about the day’s shooting being held up again. There would be hell to pay in the form of his nasty attitude.
All I could worry about just then was Spencer, with Andrea’s words repeating over and over in my head.
Chapter Seventeen – Spencer
Things weren’t the same that day. There was something between us that I couldn’t put my finger on. Whenever I asked Charlotte how she felt, she told me she was fine. Every man in the world knew what that meant. Nothing was fine when a woman said she was fine.
But damned if I could get heads or tails out of her.
“I think you had a good day today, but I don’t know enough to know that for sure,” I said when we got back to the apartment. I nodded up at the camera in the corner, knowing my buddies were watching.
“Yeah, I guess it was okay. All things considered, anyway.” She went straight back to the bedroom. “I’m exhausted.”
“I can see why.” I followed her back there. It was way past eight o’clock. She’d been on-set since five that morning. “I never knew you people worked so hard.”
“Us people?”
“Actors. You know what I mean.” I rolled my head on my shoulders.
“Come on. Like you didn’t work ten times harder when you were overseas,” she smirked. “Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m not trying to patronize you.” I watched as she undressed. Why did she have to be so hot and cold? “What’s with you, damn it? You’ve been sniping at me all fucking day, and I’m getting tired of it.”
“You don’t need to be here if I tire you out,” she muttered.
“Yes, I do, because I don’t just run away from the way I feel like some people I know.”
She whirled on me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think I was pretty damned clear. Why don’t you try telling me what’s going on in your head? You were fine before this morning, and now you’re acting like a bitch again.”
“I just love it when you call me a bitch, you know. It really makes me want to keep talking to you.”
“Then stop acting like one. What’s the point of this?”
“Of what? Of this?” She waved her hands around. “I was just starting to wonder that, too.”
“I meant the attitude you’re giving me, but if you wanna talk big picture, that’s fine.” I folded my arms.
She turned away. “I’m just tired. And if I can’t blame this on Andrea, who can I blame it on?”
I didn’t think that was the whole story, but I wasn’t going to press the issue. It wasn’t worth fighting over. “We still don’t know it wasn’t her.”
“It wasn’t. I know now.” She sat on the bed.
“How do you know?” I sat beside her. “I mean, there’s no proof she didn’t.”
“There’s no proof she did. Even if she was on-set that day, so were a lot of other people.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “I’m so tired of never knowing if something’s going to happen. If somebody’s watching me.”
“I know that feeling,” I said. I didn’t talk about my time in Afghanistan often, but it seemed to apply. “You always have to look over your shoulder. You need to be aware of what’s around you at all times, just in case somebody wants to take advantage of you not being aware.”
“Yes.” She looked at me with sad, tired eyes. “How did you get through it?”
“It wasn’t easy, but it was my job.”
She shook her head. “This isn’t my job. It’s not my job to always be afraid.”
“That’s why it’s my job to protect you now.” My chest clenched when I thought about the one time I didn’t protect the people I was in charge of. This was nothing like that, of course. I wasn’t up against radicals trying to kill as many as they could. It was only one person I was against, and one person I could handle. I had to handle them.
She didn’t move away when I reached out to stroke her hair. I guessed she was over her little fit. I couldn’t even blame her. Both of us were drawn about as tight as we could be without snapping.
“It’s my job to look over your shoulder. I’m here to keep you safe. You don’t have to worry.”
“You couldn’t keep me safe when I got drunk the other day.” She shook her head. “And no, I don’t blame you for that. I’m just saying, you can only be in one place at one time. You don’t know how this person thinks. Neither do I.”
“Ricardo will find them. And I’ll take care of you in the meantime.” I ran my hand down her back, then up again. She moved a little closer and put her head on my shoulder, then snuggled up even closer. I couldn’t be that close to her without wanting to touch her. There was so much need in her, it was almost too much to handle. I could feel how much she needed to be held and comforted.
Chapter Eighteen – Charlotte
The good thing about not having an early call was, well, not having an early call. The bad thing was that I was already so used to waking up before dawn, I couldn’t sleep in even if I wanted to. It helped that there was a warm, sexy man in bed with me. I slid my foot along his bare calf, just behind mine.
I pressed myself against him, taking notice of the hardness pressing into my lower back. He was ready to go, for sure. I groaned when I thought about what he did to me with that thing only hours earlier. We’d made love all through the night—even though I had told myself all day that it wasn’t right, that we shouldn’t anymore. I didn’t want to hurt him. But I couldn’t resist him, either. I needed that feeling of connection more than ever, and he was the only person I’d ever felt so close with.
He thrusted his hips forward just a little, enough to g
rind his length against me.His hand found my breasts, which he softly stroked as he rubbed himself against my bare body. I almost purred, it was so good. He knew just how to touch me. The room was still dark, the sun nowhere near rising. The sound of our breathing slowly became louder, the little sighs he teased from me filling the room. It was sweet, sexy, slow. Delicious.
I moved along with him, grinding my butt against his stiff member. The growl he let out, his mouth close to my neck, sent goosebumps across my skin. I shivered even though I felt like I was on fire. I covered his hand with mine, guiding him, showing him how I needed him to touch me. My body strained, more desperate with every stroke.
My nipples were almost painfully hard, and when he stroked them with his thumb I arched my back and let out a low, throaty groan. “Yes,” I gasped, throwing my head back in rapture. He latched onto my throat, licking my sensitive skin, sucking gently. I let go of all inhibitions and begged for more.
He rolled me onto my back and took one of my nipples into his mouth. I arched my back again, taking his head in my hands to hold him closer. He took his time, driving me crazy with his tongue, making me plead and whimper as the wetness between my thighs only increased with each lick.
I groaned in disappointment when he moved on, kissing my stomach, licking at my navel, but it still felt so good. He kissed every inch of me, going slow, planting sensual kisses along my skin until I begged him to let me come. I couldn’t take anymore.
I spread my thighs, urging him to touch me, lick me. He couldn’t resist. I groaned in near-relief as he ran his thumb up and down my wet, aching cleft, and I rocked my hips upward to help him pleasure me.
“Please,” I whimpered. “Please, let me come.”
I cried out when he touched my throbbing clit, and my entire body began shaking as an orgasm built inside me.
He exchanged his tongue for his thumb, running it up and down my wet flesh as I came. I gasped for air as he worked me, holding me down so I couldn’t buck him off. It was too much. I couldn’t take it. I writhed helplessly, wishing he would stop. Wishing he would never stop. My head rolled back and forth as he sucked my clit, then flicked it with the tip of his tongue. I went crazy, bucking my hips even though he held me down, crying out until I went hoarse.
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