We headed to the elevator and pressed the call button. While waiting, I opened the package, curiosity getting the better of me, and saw it was the revised shooting schedule for Monday. Call time five am. I groaned.
“No rest for the weary,” Charlie said looking over my shoulder.
The elevator arrived, and we stepped in. Since Charlie was loaded with the bags, I pushed the button for the sixth floor. Charlie started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Six is one letter off from sex. I dunno why but that thought just popped into my head. Sorry, that was immature.” He tried to school his smile, and I tried to glare at him for his mind always being in the gutter, but we were soon laughing our heads off.
The door opened on the sixth, and we started down the hallway, trying to quiet our giggles. Kevin’s door opened as we were walking by, and I stopped. I hadn’t seen him since the day I tore out of here to go to Georgia and let him know that I would be out of town. Charlie apparently recalled the last time he had seen Kevin, and my shameless flirting with him, and the insinuations I’d made about a relationship that didn’t exist, because he flung the duffle over his shoulder and tucked me into his arm.
“Boots! How are you? Did you just get back?” Kevin beamed, leaning in for a quick cheek kiss.
“Yeah. Stayed an extra day. Char—Chase’s mom has a beautiful farm down there. She grows sunflowers. Isn’t that cool?”
“Very,” Kevin agreed. “Chase, she looks good. Thanks for taking good care of our girl on this trip.”
Charlie’s jaw ticked, and his grip on my shoulder tightened slightly. “Keith, good to see you again,” he said, in near full actor mode.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I didn’t know if Charlie really didn’t know Kevin’s name, or was getting it wrong on purpose, but I stepped in quickly. “Yes, Kevin, Chase took good care of me,” I said, trying to smooth over Charlie’s faux pas. “You look good. Heading out?” I chirped, going for a change in subject.
“Tonight’s the night. I’m taking Shelby to dinner, an adventuresome meandering on a hunt for dinner like you suggested,” he smiled. “Then we’re going to see Avenue Q. Your mom said she’s been wanting to see it since it came out. She, your mom, is covering Shelby’s shift tonight for us.” Kevin smiled bright. I was happy that he’d found someone to make him smile like that…the way Charlie smiled at me.
“Great show, man. Have fun.” Charlie shook hands with Kevin, and it seemed genuine. I guess Charlie sensed the competition was over? I smiled.
“Will do. And you keep taking good care of my Boots, here. She’s positively glowing with your arm around her.” My smile faltered, of that I was sure. Didn’t people say that pregnant women ‘glowed.’ Did Kevin somehow know?
“You betcha,” Charlie said and pushed us toward my door, as Kevin headed to the elevators, whistling.
Safely inside my apartment, I flopped on the sofa. “You don’t suppose Kevin knows something, do you?” I asked.
“Impossible. I think I just really make you look good,” he joked, doing a terrible job at hiding a smile.
“Hardy-har-har,” I said, dryly. I let out a deep sigh, and reached for my laptop that I’d left plugged in for the whole week. “I need to find a doctor.”
Charlie grabbed us a couple bottles of water from the fridge and came over to sit with me. There were thousands of doctors listed. Who would I choose? How would I choose? Using the filter for the insurance carrier that I was under since I was still a student, was of no help whatsoever.
“What about asking a friend who she goes to?” Charlie asked. Just then, his phone rang. “It’s Michael. I have to take this.” I nodded, and he answered the call.
I thought about Charlie’s suggestion. Jenny immediately came to mind. Her father was a doctor at one of the best hospitals in the city. But I wouldn’t want her family to know. It was just too embarrassing. Although, it was only a matter of time until they found out. I decided to bite the bullet and give Jenny a call. As much as I tried to remember I couldn’t remember what her future husband specialized in, or even if I ever knew.
“Hi Jenny, it’s Phoebe,” I said as she picked up her call.
“How was your getaway with Chase? Was it romantic?” she asked right away.
Because I wasn’t really ready to be acknowledged as his girlfriend, I went with the original reason for the trip. “Like I said when I left, it was for moral support for a family emergency.”
“Mhmm,” she said. “And the Twitter pics from when you returned? Girlfriend.”
I dropped my head into my hand. Really? I had turned off notifications for Twitter after my whole passing-out-on-set. I must still be on Georgia brain to not consider the paparazzi that attacked Charlie and I at the airport.
“I… I… I really don’t… I don’t know what to say,” I groaned. “Listen, what are you doing this afternoon? Or evening? Can we get together? I really need to talk to a friend.”
“Sure! This afternoon would be great! Having dinner with Ankur and my parents along with his parents tonight. They’ve just flown in. They’re spending the afternoon with Ankur and I’m here with my mother who is making me a nervous wreck. It’s not like I’ve never met his parents before. Yeesh. I’ll be there in twenty minutes?” She really sounded eager to get out.
I sighed. Jenny just had a confident way about her that made me feel better. We agreed that she’d come here, despite my protests to meet her elsewhere, and ended our call.
Charlie was wrapping up his call as I hung up with Jenny. “Yeah, yeah. I know.” He rubbed his head and tried to see his reflection in the window. “Thanks… I will… I promise.”
He ended his call and shoved his phone in his pocket. As he did, my phone rang. The caller ID was just a random phone number, but I chose to answer it. “Hello?”
“Welcome home,” Valerie’s voice came through the line.
“Oh, Ms. Cocozza. Hi. Thanks,” I replied, recognizing Valerie’s voice immediately, and trying to find my professional voice.
“Phoebe, how could you let him do that to his hair? And girlfriend? What happened on that trip? We needed you there to keep him out of trouble.”
Shit, where do I start? In the couple of texts I’d shot to Valerie, I didn’t mention the hair. I mean, what could I have said? ‘Hi Val. Chase shaved his head because he loves his mom. Sorry.’ I swallowed and struggled to find the words. “It was kind of out of my control. Char—er, Chase went with his mom to a doctor’s appointment, and…” I couldn’t say anymore. I couldn’t believe I had to defend Chase’s actions when they were done so selflessly. And when it came to girlfriend, well, I had no clue how to handle that. Not to Jenny, and certainly not to Valerie.
“I know. I heard his proclamation about standing with women with cancer, but this is his image. We wanted you to go with him to keep him out of trouble. He still has three shooting days. Now hair and makeup need to create a wig for him.”
“Ms. Cocozza, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I—”
“Stop,” she said. “Listen, I’m having new shooting schedules written up and messengered over. His call time will have to be much earlier on Monday for that wig.”
“Okay. Thank you. I’ll look for that.”
“So, Chase is moving to New York, and going to school?”
“I swear, I had nothing to—” I rushed.
“I know. He’s impulsive and a lot to handle. I tried to warn you. Keep things quiet. Be careful of the paparazzi…And don’t let him break your heart,” she added quietly. I looked at Charlie who was thumbing through his smartphone. He looked up and gave me that warm smile I’d come to crave.
“I won’t,” I replied.
“I look forward to having you back working with me on Thursday.”
“Me too,” I said. And it was true. Although I was looking forward to getting back to the office and getting back to work with Valerie on Thursday, it meant that I wouldn’t be at Charlie’s side a
ll day. My heart sunk a bit. And that on Wednesday he was flying back to L.A. Suddenly, I wanted Charlie to move to New York more than ever.
We said our good-byes and I set my phone on the table.
“She saw Twitter?” he asked, holding up his phone and showing me screen—a picture of the two of us at the airport, me taking his hand, head ducked. I nodded. “Yeah, Michael’s pretty pissed, too.” He rubbed his practically hairless head. He shrugged. “I know Michael, and he probably would have done the same thing. He said Valerie was fuming.”
“Well, I guess she’d calmed down some before she called me,” I shrugged. “But yeah, she’s not happy. I guess that five o’clock call time is now earlier.”
“That’s show business,” he said. “Listen, if I’m serious about moving to New York, I have to go look at these condos the realtor has scouted for me, sooner than later. One place has a potential offer going in on it, but she thinks it’s perfect for me and doesn’t want me to miss out.”
“Are you serious about moving here?” I asked, equal parts hope and fear. What if we didn’t work out? What if I wasn’t as strong as he said I was, and couldn’t take his fame? That little paparazzi flurry at the airport was mild to what I knew it could be. There was also my mother’s advice. I started out this summer single and resolved to remain that way. Yet, here I was just a month later, “with” a guy—a famous guy, who was taking charge of everything. It was a mixed blessing, though because I seriously had no idea what to do or where to turn. I wanted to be a strong, self-confident woman who knew what she wanted. And right now, especially now, I had no idea who I was.
Charlie knelt in front of me and took both of my hands in his. “Sweets, I’m as serious as I’ve ever been about anything. For once, I feel like my focus has purpose. And I like it.” His comment was all southern drawl. True Charlie. He kissed the back of my hands. “So, what do ya say? Wanna go look at some places with me?”
“Actually, Jenny is on her way over…so…” Charlie’s face dropped. “But she won’t be here for about fifteen minutes,” I said, scooting to the front edge of the sofa, closer to the gorgeous man kneeling between my legs.
Charlie perked up immediately. “Really? And what to you propose we do in that short span of time?”
My eyes glanced at the bedroom door. Charlie glanced over his shoulder, and cocked an eyebrow at me. I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “But only if you wanna,” I said, feigning disinterest.
Swiftly, Charlie stood and scooped me off of the sofa and raced us to the bedroom.
He set me on my feet and his hands gripped the hem of my shirt. In a swift motion, the shirt was ripped off of me and the soft plop of my shirt hitting the floor was barely audible over the pounding of my heart. Next, his hands busied themselves at the front of my jeans and were moving them down over my hips and legs. I helped him shimmy them down to my ankles and I kicked them aside.
He stood back to take in the view, adjusting us so that I was standing in the beam of sunlight that shone through the window. Suddenly his appraisal was making me self-conscious and I moved to cover myself, but Charlie halted my arms. The fact that I wasn’t supermodel, or standard actress thin, never far from my mind. In the past his gaze had been hungry, and never lasted long because we were usually on each other, like white on rice. This moment, he took his sweet, Georgia time. It was like he was taking possession. His eyes made it back to mine and the violet-blue windows to his soul were clear and peaceful.
I looked down at his fully dressed body and raised my brow. He smiled warmly and chuckled quietly. He started to reach behind his head to pull his shirt over his head, but I stopped him. His body was in the “shadows,” and that just wouldn’t do, so I moved us so that now he was the one in the ‘spotlight.’ He grinned and my heart nearly exploded. He started to do a beat-boxing with his mouth, a rendition of stripper music, then slowly pulled the hem of his shirt up. I flopped on the bed, and got comfy watching him.
He pulled his shirt up, just on the left side, his hips gyrating, flexing his abs. He worked it hard and gave everything he had with his little dance. Revealing his abs, then chest. Rolling his hips he took off his jeans and kicked ’em aside revealing that he was wearing a pair of Calvin Klein tighty-whities. I gulped as I took in his rock hard cock straining against the tight cloth. Then he turned his back to me. His strong, muscular, broad-shouldered back was a work of art. He shook his ass at me, and shot me an over the shoulder look, aiming for a smoldering look that started the giggles in me. In one swift move, he slid his briefs down and stepped out of them. As he flexed his butt cheeks at me, he spun his Calvin Kleins on his finger then released ’em. It was an unfortunate release, though, and he nearly knocked a lamp off the dresser. He quickly ran over and caught the lamp and Calvin Kleins before they crashed to the floor.
I covered my mouth to prevent myself from laughing. Charlie quickly pushed me down on the bed and kissed me hard to swallow that laugh. “It’s not nice to laugh at the talent…” he laughed against my teeth.
I continued to attempt to repress my giggle fit, but I was unsuccessful. Charlie, however, knew just what to do. His lips moved down my jaw and neck, sucking on that small hollow at the base of my neck. Mission accomplished. Giggle fit over.
He moved lower to my right and raked his teeth over my lace covered nipple. I groaned, and he decided he wanted more. He pulled the lace over my breast, and took as much of it in his mouth as he could and swirled his tongue around my throbbing nipple, his hand gripping my left breast and freeing that one, too. He pinched my nipple gently between his fingers, releasing a firestorm in my belly.
I reached down between us and gripped his silky shaft, marveling at how something could be so hard yet so soft. Slowly, I stroked him as he worked me into a frenzy with my breasts alone.
“God, you make me crazy!” he breathed, sliding one hand down between my legs. He dipped a finger in and then dragged it back and over my throbbing clit.
“Oh, shit,” I blurted. “I don’t have any condoms.” We’d both agreed that Charlie need to get tested before we had unprotected sex with as many girls as he’d been with. And with Dickwad’s history, we felt that I needed to get tested as well.
He pulled back and half grinned at me. “Be right back,” and he ran to the living room. I heard the rustling of his duffle bag. And he was back with a strip of condoms. “How much time did you say we have?”
CHAPTER 36
Twenty minutes later, I was sweeping my hair into a messy bun on top of my head.
“But I like your hair down,” Charlie whined, sliding up behind me, still shirtless.
“I know, but you won’t be here, and Jenny is on her way over.”
“Hmmm,” he said, kissing the nape of my neck. “Maybe I like your hair up better…”
“I think you like me no matter what I do with my hair,” I teased.
“I think you’re right,” he groaned, not releasing me.
The intercom phone buzzed, and I peeled myself away to go answer it. Jenny was here and I told Gilbert she could come up. I checked my cellphone while I was there, too. The badge on the Twitter app showed that there were more than fifty tags.
Shit!
I knew Valerie and Michael had seen those paparazzi photos from the airport, but I must have been tagged in them again. Opening the app, my suspicion was solidly confirmed. @PhoebeFair was trending.
Double Shit!
I walked back into the bedroom expecting to find a dressed Charlie, instead I found him rummaging through my underwear drawer, and a tiny black dress laying on my bed.
I cleared my throat to alert him of my presence. “Looking for something?”
“No. I found what I wanted.” He held up a black lacey thong. “Wear this later, with that dress, okay? I want to take you out to dinner.”
“You are something else,” I said shaking my head at him.
He grinned back, and replied, “I know. And you like me no matter what.” Then he charged me, s
wept me into his arms and pressed me against the wall, kissing me like it was his last day on earth.
“But, can we stay in tonight? I don’t really want to go out.” That’s all I needed were more paparazzi photos. I seriously needed to double think this being-Chase-Smythe’s-girlfriend thing. “I’ll cook. Whatever you want. Stir-fry. Pasta. Burgers…”
Charlie silenced me with a kiss. “Whatever I want, huh? Oh, Sweets, that’s a loaded proposition.” His kisses lowered and were tickling my neck hopelessly and making me weak in the knees.
There was a knock on the door, and then I heard Jenny say, “Hello?” from the living room. “Phoebe?”
“Hi, Jenny,” I called back, trying to push Charlie off of me. “Okay, you can let go now,” I whispered to Charlie. “Now go find your shirt.”
He just shook his head and kissed me again, this time that soft spot on my neck that drove me insane.
“Oh, hey, hi,” Jenny said, catching Charlie in the act.
“You must be Jenny,” Charlie said, barely tearing himself from my neck, and letting me wriggle free.
“Yes, and you must be Chase. It’s nice to finally meet you,” she grinned, taking in his impressive bare chest and arms.
“I am,” he smiled, that paparazzi smile.
When Charlie’s back was turned to Jenny, she mouthed ‘Oh! My! God!’ to me.
“Go put a shirt on,” I said pushing him into the bedroom.
“Oh. My. Gawd!” Jenny shouted in a whisper as I came into the living room and closed the bedroom door behind me. “You are dating Chase! And a bit more, it seems.”
“Shhh…” I whispered, glancing back at the bedroom door as I felt my face grow hot. I knew I must have been beet red. “Can I get you water or something?” I offered, trying to change the subject, at least until Charlie was out of the apartment. I was really looking forward to talking to a friend about all the crazy in my life.
Chasing the Dream: Dream Series, Book 3 Page 27