Over Exposed

by Stephanie Julian

  “Uh-huh. Pam’s great. You’ll meet her in a few minutes. She’s also completely crazy.” Greg’s quiet laugh held wry amusement. “Guess she had to be to put up with Tim. Love the guy like a brother, but he’s one of those mad geniuses. Know what I mean?”

  She thought she might but she liked hearing him talk so she shook her head.

  “Smart as hell but he can’t remember what he had for breakfast and he always has to be doing something. That’s why he’s great in the kitchen.”

  “So he cooks at the restaurant?”

  He nodded. “Make sure you get the chicken and waffles. Best damn food you’ll ever eat.”

  “Did you warn them you were coming?”

  “No.” He frowned at her. “Why should I? They own a restaurant. It’s not like I’m dropping by to eat at their house. Besides, they know I’m in the area and I always make a point to stop by. Every time I do, I swear my goddaughter gets more beautiful.”

  The smile on his face made her heart trip. “What’s her name?”

  “Alexis. I remember holding her for the first time when I came back for her baptism. She was so small and I’d never held a baby before. Hell, I’d practically never seen one before. But now my best friend is a dad and he’s expecting me to be responsible for this little human if anything happened to him and Pam. I almost said no.”

  “But you didn’t.” And she knew he wouldn’t have. Greg never turned his back on his friends.

  He paused for a minute. “I sometimes wonder if he ever knew how pissed off I was at him when he wouldn’t go with me to California. That had been the plan. We were both going to go. But he screwed up the works.” Another pause. “Then again, I guess some things turn out the way they’re supposed to.”

  She didn’t have the chance to get him to tell her why he thought that because he turned into a parking lot.

  Shifting in her seat, she almost thought maybe he’d had to make another stop before they got to the restaurant because this didn’t look anything like she’d been expecting.

  This looked like a fifties-era gas station, one of those really cool-looking ones that were either bulldozed or later renovated. This one had managed to remain standing but it seemed to be in pretty bad shape.

  But it was surrounded by cars and Greg had to go around the back of the building to find a spot.

  “I know it doesn’t look like much,” Greg said when she turned to him with a puzzled expression. “But keep an open mind.”

  With a hand low on her back, he steered her toward the front door and into the lobby, outfitted to look like the garage office it’d been fifty years ago.

  The L-shaped glass case that served as the check-in counter was filled with antique motor parts. Racks full of old-fashioned candies sat on the top next to a register that looked original to the period.

  “Hey, you rat fink,” said the woman behind the counter as she nearly jumped over it. “Where the hell have you been? It’s about damn time you showed up.”

  She grabbed Greg and squeezed, an embrace he returned just as enthusiastically.

  “Hey, Pam. I’ve been a little busy, you know? But I’m here now.”

  After Greg introduced her to Pam by name and nothing else, Pam hustled them into the former garage bay, which now housed the dining room. There couldn’t have been more than twenty tables, but they were all full.

  But Pam didn’t stop in the dining room. She took them straight through to the kitchen, where the tall, gangly man who was working the grill looked up when Pam yelled, “Look what I found skulking around our front door.”

  During the next few minutes, Sabrina was introduced to too many people to remember, most of them Pam and Tim’s family, including Pam’s parents, Pat and Harry, who helped on the line, and their three kids, all of whom called Greg “Uncle.”

  Every one of them smiled at her but she knew what they were thinking.

  Who exactly are you?

  Good question.

  Several minutes later, Pam took them back into the dining room, where she seated them at a red vinyl booth near the back and served them the best chicken and waffles Sabrina had ever had.

  No one bothered them while they ate, but after their dishes were cleared, two people came over to shake his hand. One had been a high school teacher of Greg’s. The other, his parents’ neighbor. No one else approached, though a lot of heads had turned their way.

  “Did your friends put up some ‘Don’t approach the famous Hollywood guy’ sign that I haven’t seen?”

  Greg leaned back against the booth, stuffed and more relaxed than he’d felt in days.

  All of it due to the woman sitting across from him. They’d talked for the past two hours, about anything that came to mind. Mostly, he kept her talking. He knew if he started in about filming, that’s all they’d discuss. And he didn’t want to be that guy who only ever talked about himself.

  “Most people who pass Steven Spielberg on a street outside of Hollywood don’t know him. Same goes for Harvey Weinstein and George Lucas and Ron Howard. The people here who do know me know I deserve to have a private life.”

  “I guess that’s pretty hard in L.A.”

  He thought about sugarcoating his response, telling her it wasn’t that bad, but he refused to lie to her. “Yeah, it is. That’s why I’ve been giving some thought to moving back.”

  Her eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open for a few seconds before she quickly covered her reaction. “Seriously? Wouldn’t that make it hard for you to do what you do?”

  He didn’t answer right away, tried to get all his thoughts together. He hadn’t talked to anyone but Tyler about his idea, and then only in hypothetical terms.

  But the trouble he’d been having with his business partner had made him think even more about it.

  “The business isn’t as tied to Hollywood as much as it used to be. It’s actually part of the reason I’ve been having trouble with my production partner. He’s afraid if I move, I won’t be as committed to the business and we’ll fail.”

  What his partner didn’t know was that, if Greg didn’t do something, he was going to flame out and that might be a disaster of epic proportions.

  Since he’d been here, he’d felt more grounded. And part of that was due to Sabrina.

  Tell her. Tell her you want more.

  But more what?

  More sex? More talk?

  Just more of her. All of her.

  Sabrina looked stunned, but he couldn’t tell if that was good or bad.

  And he didn’t get the opportunity to follow it up because Alexis stopped at their table.

  “Hey, Uncle Greg. Mom said lunch is on the house and not to try to pay or Dad’ll shave his head and force you to abide by your bargain.”

  His goddaughter’s amused expression held no trace of artifice or sarcasm, so different from the kids her age he saw at casting calls.

  No, eighteen-year-old Alexis was headed to college in the fall. She wanted to be a math teacher. She’d apparently gotten her mom’s brains because Tim had absolutely no head for figures.

  “And what was the bargain?” Sabrina asked.

  Greg shook his head, a smile curving his lips. “When Greg was going through chemo, he lost most of his hair and shaved what he didn’t. So I told him, whenever he shaved his head, I would, too.” He turned back to Alex. “Your dad doesn’t have enough hair left to lose, so tell him thanks for me. Wait a minute, kid.”

  Greg looked around Alex to make sure her parents weren’t watching. They always made too much of a big deal about his gifts to the kids.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the cash he’d stuffed in there. “A hundred of this is for you. The rest split between your brother and sister.”

  The girl’s eyes got huge and she started to shake her head. “Uncle Greg . . .”

 
; “Early Christmas present.” Even though he already knew he’d be getting Alex and her siblings a few more things. “And the check is for your college fund. Just deposit it, sweetheart.”

  Now her eyes widened even farther and she looked ready to hyperventilate when she saw the five followed by four zeroes. “Oh, my God, Uncle Greg, I can’t take—”

  “Yes, you can and you will. Think of it as an investment in your future. After college, I’m holding you to that unpaid internship at the company.”

  Her smile spread from ear to ear as she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “Love you, Uncle Greg.”

  “Love you, too, kid.”

  Alexis bounded away, blond ponytail swaying.

  “She seems like a smart girl.” That half smile of Sabrina’s was back, making his blood begin to heat. How the hell did she do that with just a look?

  “Kid’s a genius with numbers. She wants to be a math teacher, which is great. But if she ever decides to make a shit-ton of money, she’s going to have a hell of a career as a stockbroker and I want her working for me.”

  Rising, he reached for Sabrina to help her out of the booth. When she laced her fingers with his, she didn’t let go.

  Desire raced through his veins, and his cock ached. Good thing he’d left his shirt untucked.

  If he didn’t get her out of here soon, he was going to kiss the hell out of her. And he wasn’t sure she’d appreciate him taking their relationship even more public than he had today.

  Saying good-bye to everyone took longer than he expected because he had to go back in the kitchen to say good-bye to Tim, then he stopped at a few tables to say hello. He saw two people he’d gone to high school with and a couple of his parents’ friends. He introduced Sabrina by name only and no one pushed for more.

  In the lobby, he got a tight hug from Pam, who smiled at him with tears in her eyes. “You’re a regular son of a bitch, you know that, right? You’re spoiling her.”

  “No clue what you’re talking about.”

  Shaking her head, Pam turned to smile at Sabrina. “Watch this one. He’s sneaky. So nice to meet you, Sabrina.”

  Back in the car, Greg finally felt his shoulders unkink as they headed back to the city. Darkness had fallen completely by that time.

  “You look much more relaxed than you did when we left.”

  Sabrina’s quiet voice filled the car, causing his muscles to tighten, although in this case, that wasn’t a bad thing. Those muscles were lower and connected to other things that hardened and flexed.

  “Helps to get away sometimes. Guess I needed the break.”

  “How’s filming going?”

  He started to tell her what he’d been telling everyone else. It’s going fine, thanks for asking. Never better. Love my job. Yada, yada.

  Sabrina wasn’t everyone else.

  “It’s been tougher than I expected.”

  “How so?”

  He paused and she turned in her seat so she could watch him.

  “Because I’m second-guessing every move.” Jesus, it felt like a weight had lifted off his shoulders as he started to talk. “It’s been nearly a decade since I directed a movie and I feel like I’ve forgotten things I used to know.”

  “I don’t think you’ve forgotten a damn thing. It’s okay to be nervous, you know. It makes you human. I look at you and see . . .”

  He frowned. “What?”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shake her head. “I . . . I’m not . . . You’re . . .” She sighed. “Oh, never mind.”

  She started to turn but he reached for her chin, holding her still for a second. “No way. Don’t worry about upsetting me or pissing me off. Just spit it out.”

  She huffed. “I think sometimes you’re just so much larger than life. There’s nothing you can’t do, and it’s a little intimidating. I kind of like knowing you’re . . . human.”

  “Well, wait ’til we get back to the hotel. I’ll show you how human I am.”

  She shook her head. “Now you’re avoiding.”

  Yeah, he was. He realized it was a reflex, using sex to diffuse a situation he didn’t know how to handle. Which wasn’t something that happened a lot.

  “Possibly. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to get you into a bed as soon as possible, though.”

  He barely caught her smile, it was there and gone in seconds. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I don’t work tonight.”

  Did he hear an edge in her voice that hadn’t been there before?

  He didn’t like the feeling he was missing something. He’d had so many balls in the air for so long that maybe he’d gotten a little arrogant about being able to keep everything going.

  Okay, maybe “a little” was underplaying it. And when the hell did he underplay anything?

  Silence fell as he mentally chewed over things. Sabrina had settled back into her seat and stared out the front window. Turning up the radio, he let himself fall into Sebastian’s music. He’d given Greg a CD of original music, what he’d been playing for him and Sabrina.

  Greg had pretty much made up his mind that he wanted Sebastian to score the film. He didn’t think convincing the guy to do it would be all that difficult. Baseline Sins was on hiatus and the other band members were working on solo projects. Greg had seen the pain in Sebastian’s eyes when he’d revealed that fact, although he’d tried not to let anything show. The guy blamed himself for the band’s imminent implosion, and yeah, maybe it was his fault to a large degree. That didn’t mean he had to continue to beat himself up about it.

  So Greg was going to plead, cajole, browbeat, and basically force Sebastian to do his film. And the guy would nail it. Greg had no doubt.

  Why couldn’t he be as confident about where his relationship with Sabrina was going?

  Maybe because he hadn’t been thinking in terms of a relationship until recently. And now that he was, that’s what he wanted. He had to bite his tongue so he didn’t start badgering her about taking this to the next level.

  And when he said next level, he meant having her tied to him through more than just sex. Sure, there’d be hurdles. But he’d become a damn good hurdler in the past fifteen years.

  And if he moved his business . . .

  He was still thinking about that when they arrived at the hotel. It was almost eight at night and he’d already planned to have a snack sent up so they could eat in bed.

  He didn’t care if George Lucas called and wanted him to collaborate on the next Star Wars film. He wasn’t answering the damn phone, wasn’t opening his damn door.

  He didn’t bother to ask her to come to his room. He just steered her toward the guest elevator in the garage and swiped his card for the fourth floor.

  She didn’t complain so he figured she was on board with his plans, which definitely included them naked and rolling around on his bed as soon as possible.

  Dinner could wait. Hell, everything could wait.

  Ten

  God, she was being so stupid. She should’ve pleaded insanity and headed straight to her own room.

  Instead, Sabrina followed Greg into his apartment, trying not to have a panic attack. It’d started about an hour earlier, after they’d gotten in the car to drive home.

  He’d started to open up to her. And then he’d shut her down. With sex.

  Not even actual sex. Just talk about sex.

  He was never going to let her get close. Never going to let her in.

  And what did you expect?

  She’d broken her own damn rule. She’d gotten attached. She’d let herself fall for him.

  And now he was going to break her heart.

  Hadn’t that been the plan all along?

  Yes. But . . .

  But what? Had she really expected things to change?

  He’d be gone by mid-January. And she�
��d be here.

  She couldn’t breathe. She should leave now. Thank him for dinner, tell him she’d had a great time, but say good-bye.

  Yes. That’s exactly what she should do.

  She turned—

  And nearly slammed into his chest, he was that close behind her.

  Gasping, she put her hands out to stop her forward motion and they landed on his chest, just below his pecs. God, the man threw off heat like a furnace.

  Before she knew what she was doing, she’d leaned in and rubbed her nose against the soft cotton of his T-shirt. She breathed him in, his scent an aphrodisiac. It set all her nerve endings on alert. Her nipples tightened, her clit tingled, and her thighs clenched.

  Damn, she didn’t think she’d ever get used to the way he made her feel.

  And that in itself should’ve been a huge yellow warning light telling her to step back.

  But did she?

  Of course not.

  Instead, she flattened her hands against his chest and dragged them down his torso.

  She heard Greg suck in a deep breath and mutter something, then he put his hands on her ass and dragged her hips against his.

  He held her there with one hand while his other wove through her hair, tugging her head back so he could kiss her.

  More like stake a claim. His lips moved over hers with a sense of possession she swore she could taste.

  Urgency made her hands shake as she grabbed the waistband of his jeans. Her fingers fumbled with the button but Greg didn’t seem to mind. Or maybe he just didn’t notice because his hand slipped between her thighs and cupped her sex, fingers pressing the seam of her jeans into her clit, sending splinters of need through her lower body.

  Moaning, her urgency became frantic, clawing need, an ache deep inside that could only be eased by him.

  Ripping open the button, she shoved one hand into his jeans, wrapping her fingers around his cock and tightening them until she felt his pulse beating against her palm.

  With a rough curse, he tore his mouth from hers and moved to her neck, where he pressed biting kisses against her skin.

  Shuddering in his hold, her body writhed as he worked her clit. He didn’t even have to put his hands on her skin for him to drive her crazy. He did it just by breathing. But apparently he wasn’t satisfied with the arrangement.