by Alice Raine
Thankfully, Sean must have guessed how I would be feeling, because he grinned at Rick and then shook his head. ‘Afraid not, Rick.’
A few more questions were aimed at Savannah, until one of their publicity agents stepped in and announced the end of the press conference, stating that Sean and Savannah were due back on set. The four of them stood, waved at the crowd, and left the stage.
It was over.
A relieved breath left my lungs. Bloody hell, that had been intense.
Standing up, Cait linked her arm through mine as we started to make our way towards the back and I found myself very glad of the support because my legs actually felt a bit shaky.
Pulling me close, she grinned happily. ‘You look like a different person already! The colour has come back to your cheeks and everything. Maybe this won’t be such a bad birthday after all, eh?’
I nodded, still feeling a bit dazed. As it sunk in, one thing stuck in my mind and caused frustration to rise in my belly –Sean was due back on set, which meant I couldn’t see him until later. Damn it. I really wanted to get things back on track once and for all.
‘I wish I could talk to Sean, but it sounded like he was due back at work.’ I murmured dolefully.
‘Yeah, it did,’ Cait agreed. ‘Tell you what, let’s go for some birthday cocktails instead. The time will fly by and you can see him once he’s finished.’ I was immediately cheered by the idea of birthday drinks, and we began to head towards the studio exit.
Eleven
Cait
As we were jostled by the throngs of people trying to leave, I felt my phone vibrate in my handbag. Once we had reached the relative calm outside, I pulled it from my bag and immediately felt my cheeks heat.
‘Aww, did somebody get a message from their boyfriend?’ Allie teased in a sing-song voice. It would seem my bestie was back to her usual self. Grinning, I nodded as I opened the text.
* * *
From: Jack F
Hey, sweetheart, I know you’re not working today, but I was wondering if you had time for a coffee? J x
* * *
Biting my lip, I re-read the message and began to type my reply as excited butterflies settled in my stomach. I still couldn’t believe that a man like Jack wanted little ol’ me. But it would seem that he did, and the more I adjusted to that fact, the closer I would come to moving things along physically.
We were four days in, and with him being in hospital it had limited us to remaining at the hand-holding stage. He messaged me though, a lot, and I found it amusing that he put kisses on his texts when we hadn’t yet properly kissed in real life. Not since the encounter in the park, anyway. The electricity between us was potent though, making my skin tingle and body heat whenever we were near each other. To be honest, if I weren’t so cautious, I suspect we’d already be humping like bunnies by now regardless of his hospital accommodation.
As of the day before he was out of hospital, and keen to see me, which made my stomach do a loop-the-loop of happy nervousness.
* * *
To: Jack F
Hi I’m with Allie at the moment, just about to start her birthday celebrations. Sorry. I’ll be in later though if you want to pop round? x
* * *
I felt a bit silly putting a smiley face, but he always, always, wrote ‘Hi, sweetheart’ in his messages, and replying with a plain ‘hi’ seemed to be a bit lacking. I didn’t have a pet name for him, and I couldn’t bring myself to write ‘babe’ or ‘darling’, so I’d started to add the emoticon instead.
Once I’d pressed send I looked up to find Allie still grinning at me. Apparently the press conference had acted like a stress reliever, because she looked positively radiant.
‘All done, sweetheart?’ I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. After the ribbing I’d given Allie for Sean calling her ‘gorgeous girl’ she clearly loved returning the favour. Before I could come up with a smart remark my phone gave another buzz in my hand.
* * *
From: Jack F
OK, sweetheart. I finish filming at 6, I’ll come after that. Looking forward to seeing you. x
* * *
This would be our first ‘date’ outside of the hospital. Would we kiss? My pulse thumped in my ears as I considered the idea of Jack laying his lips upon mine.
Wanting to avoid more soppy comments from Allie, I quickly pushed the images away, shoved my phone in my bag, and tried distracting her the only way I could think of–booze.
‘Yep. What kind of mood are you in? Cocktails? Beer? Wine? Maybe we could grab some snacks too.’ It worked a treat, and a second later her teasing was forgotten and she began dragging me towards the studio gates professing a sudden need for a Strawberry Daiquiri followed by cheeseburger and fries.
Twelve
Sean
I couldn’t bloody believe I had to go to work. After Allie’s surprise appearance at the press conference, all I wanted to do was see her.
I also wanted to kiss her senseless. My heart sped up and my groin gave a twitch as I realised my understatement. I didn’t just want to kiss her senseless, I wanted to bury myself inside of her and fuck her senseless. Oh God, I would definitely do that as soon as humanly possible. As I thought about her soft lips parting below mine, a groan rose in my throat, causing my director to flash me a look. Oops. I’d been so lost in thought I’d almost forgotten he was here. My cheeks burned as I cleared my throat, trying to pretend my groan had been linked to a cough.
Unfortunately, after my jaunt to Las Vegas and my week off work, we were now behind schedule, so Finlay was on my back to catch up. My knuckles were still strapped up, but we had been managing to get the majority of the shots done with some clever camera angles so my hand wasn’t featured.
Glancing at my watch, I saw I had just under twenty minutes until I was due on set. Finlay was blathering on about some scene he wanted to adapt, but I was still buzzing from Allie’s messages and could barely focus.
P.S. Of course I still want to be with you, you silly sod.
That line had been particularly great, but a grin as wide as the Grand Canyon split my lips as I recalled the one which had followed it.
P.P.S. I am 100% yours.
Damn right she was. Frustration was buzzing in my system, because I was stuck here when all I wanted to do was see her. Did I have time to squeeze in a visit? Glancing at my watch, I realised I probably would if Finlay would piss off.
After what felt like an eternity, Finlay finally fell quiet, and I tensed in anticipation of his departure. Taking the hint, he left, thank fuck, with a barked command not to be late to set.
I immediately pulled my phone from my pocket, but just as I was about to dial Allie’s number, a plan formed in my mind and instead, I dialled Cait.
As the ringing tone sounded I prayed Cait wouldn’t say my name when she answered. Finally she accepted the call. ‘Hello?’
‘Cait, it’s Sean. Don’t let Allie know, I want to surprise her. Just say “yes” if you’re still with her.’
There was a pause, and then Cait hummed. ‘Mmm-hmm, yes.’
‘Brilliant. OK. I was hoping you’d bring her backstage. I’ll only have a few minutes but I really need to see her. If I arrange for Security to let you through, would you do that for me?’
There was another pause. ‘I see. OK, I could do that.’ She was playing along. Relief flooded my system.
‘Thank you, Cait. Pretend that someone from your studio was at the press conference and needs you to do them a favour or something.’
Dropping further into the roleplay, I heard Cait hum and answer. ‘I guess that won’t take long. I’ll pop around now. Bye.’
‘Great! I’m in studio two, dressing room three. I owe you one, thank you.’
Dumping the phone down, I dashed to the corridor to let Security know to expect two female visitors. They smirked at me for my over exuberance, but I didn’t care, I was going to see Allie again in mere moments and I could barely wait.
Allie
We hadn’t even made it out of the studio gates when Cait’s phone rang for a second time. The first call had been a message from Jack, but this time she gave the screen a slightly odd look and then answered.
‘Hello?’ Her eyes narrowed, flicked towards me before bouncing rapidly away again, and then she nodded. What was stranger though, was that I could have sworn her cheeks flushed slightly. Who was calling her?
After talking for a few seconds she shrugged, gave a heavy sigh, and then hung up. Cait deposited her phone in her bag, all the while looking decidedly flustered, which further peaked my curiosity.
‘I’m sorry, Allie, we need to nip to one of the studios, I’ve got a quick thing to do for work.’
Work? I really was confused. ‘But you don’t work at these studios.’
‘I know. Uh...one of the ... uh ... managers was at the press conference and they’re doing some work here this afternoon. He spotted me and wants to pick my brains on something. You can come too.’
With that she grabbed my arm and started charging off, leaving me stumbling at her heels as I saw my dream of a Strawberry Daiquiri disappearing before my very eyes. ‘I’ll get you one of those extra thick frozen Daiquiris to make up for it,’ she promised, targeting my weakness for frozen cocktails.
Cait quickly examined the site map before dragging me to her left. ‘Sorry to spoil your birthday afternoon, but this won’t take long, I promise.’
We entered a studio and almost immediately came up against two burly security guards. The taller of the two widened his stance, crossed his arms, and gave us a penetrating look. ‘Can I help you, ladies?’
Cait fidgeted for a second–which wasn’t surprising considering the intimidating glare she was receivingfrom the man mountain –pinged her elastic bands, then nodded. ‘I’m Caitlin Byrne. My name should be on the list.’
The bodyguards immediately relaxed, sharing an amused look before both breaking out into grins that were completely incongruent with their harsh demeanours of a second ago, and then they parted like the red sea, stepping back and directing us to the third door down the corridor.
Passing the burly men, we exchanged a relieved look as Cait shook her head and whispered, ‘Jeez, they were so tall.’ Once we were outside a room labelled ‘Dressing Room Three’ Cait hesitantly raised her hand and knocked twice.
As the door swung open, Cait swiftly stepped away to the side and shoved me so I stumbled into the doorway with a yelp. ‘Cait! What the heck!’
But then I was met by a very familiar sight. Sean.
My jaw dropped open, eyes as wide as saucers, but Cait was grinning from ear to ear, looking incredibly pleased with herself. ‘Catch ya in a minute, kiddo. I’ll go hang out in the sunshine with my book,’ she announced before disappearing back down the corridor.
Cait was usually dreadful at keeping secrets so I could barely believe she’d managed to trick me like this, but thoughts of my friend’s deception instantly left my mind as Sean ushered me into the room.
Closing the door behind me, he fixed his gaze on mine as he finished buttoning up what appeared to be a freshly ironed blue shirt. He was changing into the uniform he wore on the show, and as I ran my eyes from his booted feet, up the navy trousers, and across his form-fitting shirt I swallowed and couldn’t help but bite on my lower lip. He looked stunning. I really was a sucker for a police uniform. Especially when it was Sean underneath the badges and buttons.
And cuffs.
My eyes lingered on the shiny metal loops on the utility belt at his waist and my brain almost malfunctioned.
Swallowing again, I leant back on the door, still slightly shell-shocked. As I drew in a deep breath and raised my eyes to his face, I found Sean rapidly closing the gap between us.
‘Sorry about the trickery, but I wanted to surprise you before I get back on set. I’ve only got...’ he glanced at his watch, ‘...damn, eight minutes but I needed to see you after all that’s happened.’
My head was spinning, but one thing was clear. The air around us was now thick with attraction. My body had responded as it always did when he was near: by heating up and coming alive with sensation. If it were possible for two bodies to create actual sparks, there would be some serious electricity flowing through this space.
Looking into his curious eyes, I knew I had made the right decision to come to the press conference today. We were meant to be. I’d have to learn to deal with my jealous streak, and his high profile career would mean that things would not always be smooth sailing, but there was no other option, because there was no way I could give this man up.
Without speaking a single word, I threw myself at Sean. The quicker I kissed him, the quicker I could banish the last clingy images of Savannah kissing him from my mind. In my haste to reunite us, our noses bumped together clumsily and teeth briefly clashed, but I eventually settled on his parted lips and kissed him furiously.
Sean groaned against my lips, the vibrations seeming to travel straight to my core. My hands found his hair and dug through the strands as I dragged him closer and moaned as his tongue met mine. In response, Sean's arms entwined around my waist and pulled me to him so desperately that the air was pushed from my lungs and I was lifted off my feet.
After several breath-taking moments, Sean pulled back, lowering me to the ground and I saw that his face was flushed, as mine surely was too. His hair was a mess thanks to my exploring fingers, but it looked so sexy that I left it as it was.
‘What does this mean then?’ he asked in a hopeful whisper, causing me to chuckle.
‘Well...it means I have a few jealousy issues to deal with, but they are my problems, and I will overcome them. After lots of thinking, I understand that acting is your job, and I trust you completely when you say it doesn’t go beyond the set.’ I paused and chewed briefly on my lip. ‘It also means that however proud of you I might be, I never want to be in the studio when you're filming a scene that involves kissing anyone else, ever again...otherwise I might have to kill them.’
Sean sighed in relief and gathered me to him, holding me so tightly I struggled to breathe. Giggling with relief and pleasure, I pushed myself away with another laugh. ‘Finally, it means that...yes, of course I still want to be with you.’
Happiness flooded Sean’s handsome features as he placed another light kiss on my lips.
‘God, I wish I didn't have to be on set,’ he said as he playfully pulled me against him to show just how much he wanted me. Judging by the rock solid shaft I could feel pressing into my stomach, he really, really wanted time for us to reconnect.
‘Huummmm...me too,’ I murmured, eyeing his incredibly sexy uniform and plucking open the top button on his shirt.
‘Don't start down that road, Allie...’ Sean warned with a groan. ‘You know I'd love to let you carry on, baby, but if you do I’ll never make it to set and Finlay will go ballistic. I'm already in his bad books.’
I made a noise of protest, but just as I was about to be a good girl and do his button up, Sean let out a low, almost animalistic growl, and then he stepped towards me and slammed us both against the door.
‘Fuck it...’ His lips crushed onto mine, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth as I desperately tried to draw in a breath. ‘This is going to have to be quick, my gorgeous girl,’ he murmured, as one hand lowered between us and dragged my sun dress up my thighs until it bunched around my waist. His sudden advance sent a rush of heat between my legs and I started to squirm in his arms.
I didn’t care where we did it, or how long it lasted, I just needed the re-connection. Sliding my trembling hands from his shoulders, I immediately joined his hurried movements by reaching down and tugging on his belt buckle and zipper.
With a groan his fingers dug inside my knickers and found my heat, where he began rubbing slick circles on my clitoris that caused me to gasp as pleasure swept through my body. I was so dizzy that it slightly hampered my attempts at undoing his trousers because my fingers
were suddenly too shaky.
‘So wet. You’re so fucking perfect.’ His murmurings only intensified my arousal and sent another thrum of desire to where his fingers were quickly working me towards my peak.
Finally I managed to open his zipper and dig my hand inside his boxers to wrap around his erection. The silky hardness felt so good and I tugged it free with a soft gasp. His cock bobbed out of its confinement, prodding insistently at my stomach as I gave several impatient tugs. This certainly wasn’t my most refined sexual repertoire, that was for sure, but primal need seemed to push finesse aside.
‘Are you OK?’ he asked urgently.
Dragging air into my lungs, I nodded frantically. ‘I’m good to go.’
Without warning, Sean nodded, grabbed my hips, and spun me around to the dressing table where he swept several things aside and practically threw me backwards so I was laid out before him. I heard things crashing to the floor, but my focus was completely on Sean. We could clear up later.
With his hands on my thighs he shoved my legs apart and unceremoniously dug his fingers through the thin lace of my panties and ripped them clean off. My body jerked but the material seemed to give way relatively easily and was quickly tossed over his shoulder.
He paused briefly, groaning at the sight now before him, and holy cow was the look of determination on his face arousing. He really, really wanted me, and knowing that was undeniably powerful. He didn’t stop for long though, his hands shifting to my hips as he stepped closer and thrust into me in one long, hard stroke that had me shooting backwards along the counter as I tried to mute my cry of pleasure.
‘Fuck!’ I think we both yelled at the same time as our fingers clutched at each other to deepen our connection.
He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said this would be quick, because Sean set off at a pace so frantic that our bodies were slapping together furiously as he repeatedly dragged his cock in and out of me, hitting my g-spot on every one of his jerking thrusts.