by Ada Frost
“I wanted to tell you. I just didn’t know how.”
“So what? You thought letting me find out this way would be easier?”
Sam stepped beside Lacey, Stone forgotten. I wasn’t sure who he was intending to protect but it was clear he didn’t want us ripping each other apart.
“You’re a porn star?”
She nodded, tears turning her eyes glassy.
“You fuck on screen for money. You let me walk in here knowing I would find that out.”
A fat tear rolled down her cheek. “Abby, please.”
“You do that every day and you didn’t tell me? I’m your best friend.” I pointed to the glass wall partitioning Mr Stone’s office off from the room of sex, with the most serious expression I could muster. Before bursting into a fit of laughter. “You silly mare. You can tell me anything, and whether you’re a porn star or Discount World cashier...” I sneered at Stone. “I will always love and support you. Besides, I hear you’re the best. What’s not to be proud of?” I beamed at her, as she wiped her eyes staring at me in utter confusion.
“You’re not mad?”
“I’m pissed you introduced me to this annoying turd of a man, but not at what you do. Lace, you can tell me anything and I’d still be your fabulously, quirky cousin. We’re best friends, we don’t hide stuff like - being a porn star from one another.”
Lacey charged at me, wrapping me in her arms to hug the life out of me. “I love you.”
“What did I interrupt?” I nodded toward the sex office.
She hesitated slightly before pulling her shoulders back and answering with a blunt honesty I’d always admired about her. “I was being fucked in the arse. I’m scheduled to do a M/F/M scene later.”
“Impressive.” I nodded, grinning at her. “Better get back to it. Make me proud, Lace, that’s all I ask,” I said, using my mum’s words. I wasn’t one hundred percent on board with this. My mind was ready to explode, because of all the scenarios spinning in my tiny brain; this wasn’t one of them. But I would go to hell before letting the uptight prick believe he’d taken anything from me. Lacey was still my cousin, still my best friend, regardless of what she did.
Lacey hugged me again tightly.
Once she left the office, Sam turned and fixed a glare on Stone.
“You’re a prick and we’ll be having words later. But firstly, you are giving Abby a job. She is going to be your new secretary. If not, you can have your mother and Abigail can be out front.”
“I am not having my step-mother as my secretary,” he snarled. “Wait. Why are you trying to get rid of her all of a sudden? This is the third time this week you’ve mentioned it. You haven’t fucked her already?”
“That’s your remit, Lawson. Not mine.”
“You shag your secretaries?” I asked, not quite believing Mr Arsehole would get down and dirty with anyone. It was baffling the uptight prat owned a porn company.
“He has a penchant for his dad’s women,” Sam teased, but for the first time since he entered the room there was malicious intent in his voice. He was out to wound.
Stone cleared his throat. “Once. And rest assured, Miss Warner, I never bed my secretaries.”
“Oh, that never troubled me.” At his raised eyebrow, I clarified. “Because unless you take your women by force, there was never a chance in hell I’d be in your bed. Vibrators were invented for women when their options were limited to men like you.” I drilled him with a fuck you stare.
“Perfect, well, that’s sorted then. Miss Warner, it has been wonderful to meet you. Now if you will excuse me, I have an empire to run.” Sam grinned, taking hold of my hand and kissed the back of it. He lifted his head and that sexy crease appeared at the side of his lips. “Be gentle with him,” he whispered before stepping away and leaving the office.
I watched his back, his hands casually tucked inside his pockets. The door closed behind him, locking me inside the glass tomb with the insufferable one. If I wasn’t so desperate for the money, I would tell him to shove his job up his arse.
“Miss Warner, would you please take a seat. It appears I have found myself a secretary.”
I glanced through the glass wall of windows into the office of sex and saw Lacey was back at her post – seemingly enjoying every moment of her employment. My curiosity about the setting had me greedy to take it all in as I glanced around the room. My eyes lingered on a highly muscled naked male back covered in tribal tattoos as he thrust into another man, gripping his hips while he slammed into him again and again. The raw masculine energy of their bodies working for one goal – euphoric release, was hypnotically arousing. My pulse quickened and my breast tingled with sensation. I wanted to pinch my nipple and slide my hand into my knickers while watching the live show. The top gripped the other man by the throat pulling him back to take his mouth with aggressive force.
“Do you like watching two men together?” A deep voice uttered close to my ear. I startled, but kept my gaze on the men in the room.
“Yes.” I hated how breathy I sounded. And I hated that I’d given him that insight. Most of all I hated that Stone’s close proximity was causing more of a violent reaction to my body than watching two men fucking. His clean, soapy scent wrapped around me like a physical entity.
“Why?”
Was he closer?
“I...I...” For the life of me I couldn’t form a coherent thought. I could feel his heat at the back of me, the towering formidable force he seemed to exude. The man was annoying as hell, but had a lethal pull that captivated me. He was a poison I couldn't resist. I knew it was deadly but needed that small taste anyhow. Turning my head to the side, I glanced over my shoulder at him, and shit, was that a mistake.
He was staring directly at me, his chin dipped slightly as he watched me from beneath his brow. If he was intending to burn me alive with such intensity, mission accomplished. My heart was ready to gallop right out of my chest. I realised his eyes weren’t black like his soul, but a pale grey blue with a hint of green. But the thick lashes and onyx eyebrows darkened everything. His nose was perfectly straight, leading to the most alluring mouth known to women. The perfect Cupid's bow. A defined line of a steely jaw that was shadowed with the blue hue of stubble. I tracked the contour of his neck to the tie hugging his throat, a part of him I currently wanted to both strangle and suck on.
“Miss Warner,” his voice was hoarse but effective in breaking the spell I’d slipped under. When I looked up at him I was staggered at the heat reflected back at me. Dare I believe I wasn’t the only one under some illicit spell.
“I like the power in men. I like the way their bodies move together. The rawness with which they fuck,” I rasped, licking my suddenly dry lips. His nostrils flared as his eyes tracked the movement of my tongue.
“You think a man can’t fuck a woman that way?”
“I’m more than certain a man has the power to make a woman happy. But the wailing and screeching of the women is distracting and annoying.”
He lifted those long fingers and pointed to the office of sex. “Happy?” He replied, incredulously. “You believe that is staged, that those women are faking it?” His stare never left mine, the intensity pulling at places that had no right to be awakened by him.
I shrugged my shoulder, not wanting to break eye contact but knowing it was a must. I turned my head to view the writhing bodies.
“I don’t know. I just know from personal experience there has been little to no ‘oh my God, do me harder’.” I moaned out a sigh and made a ridiculously loud sex noise. I smiled, turning back to face him, but the tense set of his jaw and blackness in his eyes had me wanting to fall to my knees and worship what was hidden beneath that stuffy suit.
“It is a tragedy, Miss Warner, no man has taken the time to make you cry out in ecstasy.”
I realised I’d been staring at his mouth and purposely sought eye contact. We stared at one another, neither blinking, and I was beginning to think he wasn’t even breat
hing he was so incredibly still. My teeth ached to sink into that bottom lip, to hear him hiss at the sting.
“It would be wise to try and relax, maybe not be quite so uptight during intercourse. I assure you, your partner will be a little more accommodating,” he quipped, breaking the magnetic spell into a million tiny pieces. My mouth gaped at his retreating back as he returned to the safety behind his desk.
“I’m uptight?”
“Please, sit, Miss Warner. I'm incredibly busy and don’t have time for these distractions.”
“Are you kidding me?” I shrieked, my hands balled at my sides.
“On the contrary, I’m quite serious.” He blinked up at me. The condescending arse was mocking me.
Think of the money, Abby.
I had one last look at the room of sex before it faded behind frost as Master Dickhead used his techy little gadget.
“Shall we?” He motioned to the chair in front of his desk. His poise and self-importance back in place. This was a bad idea, such a monumentally bad idea to work here for him. I’d never considered myself a violent person before, but now I was wondering how much pain a stapler could inflict.
Think of the money.
I would need to repeat that if I was to get through working with Mr Stone. He spent some time going over an employment contract, what my duties would be. Expectations of my conduct, etc. But every bullet point he explained was lost in the tornado of thoughts running through my mind.
When I eventually left the office after the most bizarre interview of my life, I smiled at Scarlet, who was seated behind the large curved desk. There was an, unnaturally orange-tanned older man perched on the desk chatting to her. She lifted her gaze to me and scowled. The sweet demeanour from before was completely gone and in place was a vapid little vixen.
“See you later,” I called in a friendly voice.
“I wouldn’t count on it,” she huffed sarcastically.
Part of me wanted to turn and call her on her attitude but I didn’t want to create enemies before I even started.
“Who’s that?” asked the guy sitting with her.
“Another one your son decided to throw out.”
A small smile graced my lips. She was going to be fun to play with. Little miss prissy pants was going to have a wonderful wakeup call tomorrow when I walked my arse back in here.
“Have you stopped being a total moron?” my insufferable partner asked as he entered my office without knocking – again. He threw a brown folder on my desk.
“I have no clue what you’re talking about. I don’t want that.” I pointed to what I knew was a detailed personnel report on Miss Warner. It was something we always performed for a new member of staff. Usually before the interview, so that there were no nasty little surprises like asking an interviewee about rather personal subjects such as deceased parents. I could have kicked Samuel for dropping Miss Warner on me like that without sufficient notice. I liked pre-prepared facts. Someone with a resume like hers would not have even made it to an interview and the ridiculous questions that caused her pain would not have happened. I worked with facts. Financial reports, just in case we had a thief or fraud on our hands. Police reports, for previous offences. It was compulsory to have a full health check when you were a performer. I’d offered it to Miss Warner, as I do all prospective employees regardless of their position here, and to my surprise she had no issue with it even though she wasn’t going in front of the camera. She had called at a clinic on her way home yesterday and the results would be back this week. Basically I knew everything there was to know before they stared. Now, with Miss Warner, I didn’t want to know. She was going to be my exception, a contradiction to my usual practises.
“Why?” He asked a little surprised at my refusal of the dossier.
“You wanted her here, so you take responsibility. I assume you’ve read her file?” I raved, pushing the file toward the edge of the desk
“I have. There’s more in there than I anticipated.”
“Like I said, your responsibility.” I held my hand up to silence him on the subject.
“So that display of Lawson the Wanker was totally normal to you?” He sat on the couch opposite my desk, making me wince. I hated when he sat there; the creases in the leather were a nightmare to polish out. The interior designer insisted I needed some piece of furniture in my office to make it more appealing to clients. I had no bloody clue why. They were here to either fuck on camera or buy rights to use our films, and I didn’t see how a three thousand pound piece of black leather was supposed to entice them more. But the woman had droned on so long I would have bought the entire catalogue just to shut her up. Samuel pulled out an apple and bit into the green flesh, squirting juice over his waistcoat.
“Samuel, you have juice from your apple down your...” I pointed to his vest, holding out a tissue. I couldn’t concentrate on a conversation he was so insistent to have with food juice all over the place. He glared at me before glancing down. His eyes lifted to the suspended tissue, and he huffed out a breath before getting to his feet and grabbing the Kleenex from my hand. When he turned to head back to the couch, I couldn’t help the words tumbling out.
“Don’t sit there. Use the chairs.”
His shoulders slumped and he turned to face me, his expression assessing. I hated when he did that.
“What’s got you so tense?”
“Hmm?” I watched as he wiped the juice away and sat in one of the office chairs opposite my desk, the same one Abigail Warner had sat in. In fact, he was now seated in the same seat that caressed her lush curves.
“You act extra crazy when you’re stressed.”
“No, I don’t, and I’m not stressed. Today has been a productive day. We even have a casting lined up.”
Samuel groaned loudly. “You know I fucking hate those things.”
“Has to be done.” I penned in a few reminders on my tablet, feeling the calculating gaze of my lifelong friend. “Also, I want to call a meeting with the talent, see who would be on board for an all-male set instead of mixed. We could even try an all-female, but to be honest everyone does that. I think an all-male set would bring in a new clientele. We could try different categories. Straight-to-gay, daddy, twinks, bear – the possibilities are endless.”
“Sounds good.” He nodded, glancing down at the plans I handed over to him. I’d already discussed an outline with the director.
“I know a few guys won’t be on board with it, and that’s why I’ve set up a casting. It will be mainly blokes, but there are seven women coming too. Oh, and we need two new fluffers.”
“Okay,” he said, reading over the itinerary. Samuel was mainly in charge of budgeting and financial matters with the company. However, I liked running ideas by him. “I refuse to leave until you explain what happened today. I’ll even follow you home until you tell me.”
“Fine. I woke this morning. I drove to work around seven thirty-five. Did my usual workout in the gym. By the way, we need a word with the cleaner because the smell was rancid down there.” We had agreed on having a private gym installed in the building for the staff’s usage. Helped keep them in shape for on screen and didn’t cost them any extra.
“Of what?” Samuel crinkled his nose.
“Sweat, just unclean.”
Samuel rolled his eyes. “It’s a gym. It’s supposed to smell of sweat.”
“Not if it’s sanitised right,” I argued. “So after that, I ate my usual muesli with banana, coffee and read the morning paper.” Samuel was itching to interrupt me, but years of being my best mate had conditioned him not to do it. “I organised the meeting with Jared for tomorrow. The health checks are complete, and we’re awaiting results. I interviewed an insufferable woman who my annoying business partner forced me to employ. Reagan handed her notice in. Apparently she and her husband are wanting to start a family. I had a tuna sandwich for lunch, which was a little disappointing because they forgot to add the cucumber. Then I organised some meetings we’
re overdue to have, and now here you are.”
“Finished?”
“Pretty much.”
“Abby.”
“Ah, Miss Abigail Warner. Yes, she will be here tomorrow morning. I don’t have very high hopes she will arrive on time. Or be up to the task. But at least then I can ask her to leave, and you can’t say shit about it. I can’t have an incompetent secretary.”
“Did you jack off after she left? Did you take some private time in your bathroom there with dinky Lawson?” He nodded to my office bathroom, a shit-eating grin crawling over his face.
“Don’t be absurd.”
Samuel threw his head back and laughed. “Lawson, there was no hiding the boner you had for that woman. You, my friend, were sporting wood for little Miss Warner. Scarlet creamed her non-existent knickers when she saw it.”
I ground my teeth together, hating he was right. Miss Warner was all kinds of chaos, annoying and downright insane, but my cock wanted something I clearly didn’t understand. It wasn’t due to lack of sex. I’d had my prearranged weekend romp. It was rather unfortunate Scarlet happened to interrupt the interview at an undesirable moment.
“You’re wrong.”
“I’m right.”
“Is there any point to this?” I asked, losing my patience.
“She has you wound up tight, and she was only here for an hour.”
“She’s unendurable. She’d drive anyone to distraction.”
“I quite like her distractions.”
“Well then, you should have Miss Warner for yourself.” I remained completely composed even though the words were like ash in my throat.
“Oh, buddy, I’m not falling for that. You have been whining about employing a new secretary for ages.”
“Scarlet is perfectly acceptable as the desk secretary, but as my personal one? Nope. I struggle to stay in the same room with her for more than five seconds.”
Samuel curled his lip at me, making a disagreeable noise by sucking through his teeth.