by Tobin, Val
“No. I mean, it sounded like a question, but I know I like spending time with you. When we’re not together, I miss you, and I want to hear your voice, tell you little things. Sometimes, I talk to you in my head because I want to tell you something and you’re not there.”
“I can fix that. I’d love to spend more time with you. My parents are having a party on Saturday night. Come with me.”
Dani sucked in her breath. “To your parents’ house?” What would his parents think of her? Never mind. She wanted to see him. If she didn’t go with him, she’d spend Saturday night without him, and he’d ask someone else instead. “Yes, I’d like that.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up around seven ... ” He said it in a whisper and trailed off. Cope slid a hand under her chin and raised her mouth up to meet his. They kissed, light nibbles at first, then more insistent, demanding, each devouring the other.
The earth seemed to tilt when Cope lowered Dani backward onto the bed. With one hand, he captured first her right wrist, then the left, and raised her arms above her head. He stopped the kiss, and she gasped in protest.
“Do you want to keep going?”
Dani nodded, whimpered.
“Say it.” Cope’s body draped half on her.
Dani pulled her wrists free and cupped his face with her hands. “Yes. I want to keep going. Don’t you dare stop.” A slight hiss emphasized the ‘s’ in stop, the ache for him rising through her body.
Cope plunged his mouth back onto hers, lips and tongue working on her, tasting her. Dani moaned. She’d never wanted anyone the way she wanted Cope right now. The weight of his body on hers wasn’t enough.
Fingers trembling, Dani plucked at the buttons on his shirt. He rolled to the side to give her room, and one of his hands brushed her thighs and slid under her dress.
The shirt peeled back to reveal a taut, muscular chest. With frantic movements, Dani stripped the shirt from his arms, even though it meant pulling his hands from her body. Freed from the shirt, Cope gripped the bottom of Dani’s dress, pulled it up and over her head, and tossed it to the floor. Dani kicked off her shoes while unbuckling Cope’s pants and came close to ripping the button off them in her frenzy.
“Take them off, now.” Dani panted and tugged at Cope’s pants. “Don’t make me beg.”
A growl sounded from low in his throat, and he slid his pants and underwear off and hurled them to the floor. Dani slipped off her thong and with the distracting clothing out of the way, attacked his body with gusto.
“You’re so fit.” She loved the hard, smooth lines of his chest and arms and ran a hand along the curve of his ass.
Warm palms massaged and kneaded her breasts, her butt, and her thighs, moving, caressing, and leaving her breathless, while his mouth feasted on hers. Dani lost herself in him, savored his touch, which covered the gamut from tender and gentle to passionate and forceful.
When she was ready to take him into her, Cope put on a condom. Dani used her hand to guide him and wrapped her legs around his waist in a deep desire to be one with him.
“Ah, Daniella. Oh, God.” The cries, soft, urgent, reverberated in her ear and stimulated her to move faster—meet force with more force.
“Robert. Oh, Robert.” Need. Dani was need and nothing else. Take me, please, just take me. But she didn’t say it out loud, willing him to know it. And to her delight, he did.
He made love to her in a way she’d never experienced. She responded to him, received his ardor, and absorbed it. Cries and moans escaped her lips. Dani screamed in wild release when she climaxed, and he followed right after.
Eyes damp with tears from the unbearable poignancy of it, Dani struggled to contain her emotions. Cope collapsed on her, and she stroked his back, an affectionate gesture she’d never made with anyone else.
How much intimacy had she missed with the random men who’d passed through her life? With John’s associates, she’d been desperate for attention, spiteful, uncaring. She’d taken from them and gave nothing though they had used her as much as she had used them.
Most of the time, it had been alcohol induced, as every time she’d made a play for John she’d been sauced. It wasn’t an excuse and didn’t justify throwing herself at a married man and expecting him to take the bait—it’s just what had happened.
“You okay?” Cope kissed her cheek and ran a finger along her tear-damp temple. “You’re crying?” Concern laced his voice, and he raised himself on an elbow.
“You’ll laugh.”
“Of course not. What’s wrong? Did I do something?”
Dani pressed him to her body in a bear hug.
Cope exhaled, the breath forced from him when she squeezed her arms tight around his back. “You’re stronger than you look. But you’re not getting off that easy. Tell me, why the tears?”
“I feel moved, somehow, as if the intimacy was too much for me.”
“Are you sorry?” He frowned, looked worried.
“Oh, God, no. I’ve never felt that close to someone while having sex. That’s the thing, Cope. That’s the first time I’ve made love instead of just fucking.” Dani shivered, chilled.
“Let’s climb under the blankets,” he said.
He helped her snuggle under the covers, and she curled into the crook of his arm, laying her head on his chest. “Your body—so warm. It’s heaven under here.”
“Oh, damn. Dinner. There’s a lasagna in the oven. That timer will go off soon.” He glanced at the clock. “I was supposed to make the salad and garlic bread while it baked.”
Dani laughed, carefree and happy. “It’s not important. We’ll get up when the buzzer goes off, take out the lasagna, and I’ll help you make the other stuff. Did you really make a lasagna for little ole me?”
Cope grinned, and her heart melted. “Sure did.”
“I didn’t know you could cook.”
“You might want to taste it before you decide I can.”
A strand of her hair wrapped around his fingers, and he absently played with it. Dani stroked his cheek, rough with five o’clock shadow. She pressed her lips to the bristles, then poked her tongue out and teased him with the tip.
Cope groaned. “We won’t get to dinner if you keep that up.”
Dani giggled.
Cope rolled her off him and pinned her under his body. Instantly, the passion ignited again, and when he bent his head to kiss her lips, she moaned, stopping short of screaming.
When the buzzer went off, they didn’t hear it.
Chapter 13
Dani checked the time. Henderson was ten minutes late. She sat in her dressing room, a trailer on the location set lot. He’d texted that he wanted to meet with her before they started the first day of shooting. If he didn’t show up soon, they wouldn’t talk, and there’d be no chance to hash out whatever he thought needed resolving.
At least the scene they were about to film wasn’t one of the romantic ones. Her heart jackhammered in her chest at the prospect of seeing him alone for the first time. The anticipation was excruciating. It was so like him to keep her waiting. No doubt he was aware how much anxiety he was creating.
Footsteps approached, and there was a tap on the door. Dani’s heart fluttered, and she swallowed, and her dry throat clicked. She didn’t get up, unsure if her legs would hold her up. A mental picture of herself falling to the floor in front of him made her cringe. “Come in.”
The door opened and Greg Henderson stepped inside. He looked like a golden god, the fucking asshole. Dani’s breath caught in her throat. She forced herself to look away, feigning indifference, and picked up the bottle of water on her dressing table.
“Water, Dani? Or vodka in a water bottle?” Henderson didn’t sound like he was mocking her, but she wasn’t sure.
Dani let it roll off her. “I’m not drinking, Greg. What do you want?”
“I didn’t want our first time together to be on camera. That meeting at DP didn’t count. You barely said two words to me.” The hurt behind
the words stabbed at her, and she flinched. Henderson continued, not noticing or not caring. “I thought it might be difficult for you.”
Again, she listened for mockery and found none. Dani let her gaze drift back to his body, then his face. He wore jeans, a plain, black T-shirt, and a crooked smile. She’d always loved that smile.
Henderson closed the door, and Dani gasped when he locked it. His presence stifled her, and she felt the air leave the room. Her hand trembled, and she had to set down the bottle of water.
“I was afraid you’d boycott the picture if I was involved.” He tilted his head down and looked at her through half-lidded eyes.
I’ve never seen his humble side. Could be he’s up to something.
Henderson cleared his throat. “Thank you for that.”
“If I’d forced them to choose between us, I suppose they might have picked me. But, let’s be honest: the picture would suck without you, and the public wants us together—at least on screen, anyway.”
“Maybe off screen, too, baby.” He moved closer to her. “I’ve missed you.”
“Stay away.” She hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but his proximity was triggering memories she’d rather leave buried. Dani had a flash of herself face down on the floor, Henderson on his knees behind her, both of them naked and rutting like pigs.
She pushed it away. He’d used her. He’d discarded her. Another surrogate father though he’d been younger than the others—only ten years older than she was. Dani licked dry lips.
Henderson exhaled, loudly. “Baby, it makes me crazy when you do that.”
“Go to hell. Do you really think you can come in here and pick up where you left off? Just because we’re co-stars doesn’t mean I’ll let you use me again.”
“I didn’t use you, Dani.”
“What else would you call it? You fucked me, and when your next picture started filming, you moved on to the next starlet. Typical. I don’t know why I thought I’d be the exception. Oh, wait. Because you told me I was different—that I was the exception—that I was the one. You played me, you used me, and you cheated on me. I’m not interested in a fuck buddy for this movie.”
“I didn’t intend for things to get so out of control. Sorry, baby. That other girl meant nothing to me. We weren’t even dating. Yes, we slept together during filming, but only after you blew up and threw me out.”
“You hurt me, Greg—physically hurt me. You hit me. I had enough of that growing up.”
“Jesus, Dani. How many times do I have to apologize for the same thing? It was an accident. I wasn’t even aiming for you. You never let me explain. I’d never hit a woman—especially not you.”
Dani hesitated. Eyes closed, she recalled that night. They’d both been drinking. In those days, they’d hardly spent a sober moment together. They drank, and they fucked. Sometimes they ate something.
Henderson had conned Dani into having a threesome with a waitress they’d met at the restaurant where they’d had a mostly liquid dinner. Dani couldn’t control her jealousy after, and Henderson couldn’t control his rage. He took a swing at her during their fight. Wasn’t aiming for her? She laughed. “There wasn’t anyone else in the room, Greg.”
“I didn’t mean to hit you. Sure, I was angry and wanted to hit something, but not you.”
“Yet that’s what you did. We’re lucky that girl didn’t go to the tabloids with the whole sordid story.”
Henderson flinched and looked away. He was hiding something—she knew him well enough to see that.
“What did you do?” It hit her. “You paid her off?”
He nodded. “I had to make sure it didn’t bite us in the ass.”
Dani realized she was standing, but couldn’t remember getting up. She’d almost taken a step toward him. She sighed. They were dynamite and poison together: explosive and toxic. “We can’t go back there.” Dani didn’t sound as convinced this time.
His handsome face and electric blue eyes drew her to him. Dani caught herself before the moan escaped and turned her back on him. “Leave, Greg.” She faced him again. “Please. We’ll be okay on set. But I can’t see you outside of work. Besides, I’m sort of seeing someone else.”
“Who?”
“No one you know.” As soon as the words left her lips, she remembered that wasn’t true. How many times had Cope chauffeured her and Henderson around on one of their all-night benders? She winced when she thought about her past behavior, what Cope had borne witness to.
“Then it doesn’t matter if you tell me his name.”
“Sorry, Greg. I’d rather not say. We’ve just started dating. If it’s going somewhere, I don’t want anyone to interfere.” I don’t want you to interfere. The unspoken words hung in the air between them.
“Babe, give us a chance. If you’re not serious about this guy, then have dinner with me tonight. I’ll take you somewhere private or back to my place. We’ll have a romantic dinner and see where the mood takes us.”
Dani shook her head. “You’re not hearing me, Greg. I’m seeing someone. It’s serious enough that I don’t want to jeopardize it. Let it go. We ended badly, and we can’t make that mistake again. Focus on the film. That’s what’s important.”
Henderson looked like he was going to step toward her, but he turned away instead and unlocked the door. He put his hand on the doorknob though he didn’t turn it. “Sorry about your father, Dani. When I heard what happened, I wanted to call you, but didn’t know if you’d want to hear from me.”
“I saw the interview, Greg.”
To her surprise, he blushed.
“Christ. That wasn’t one of my most shining moments.” Henderson dropped his hand from the doorknob and turned back to her. “Sorry, Dani. For everything.” His expression told her he wanted to say more, but he shook his head, opened the door, and walked out.
Dani sighed, relieved, and didn’t stop him.
Chapter 14
“Cut.” The director, Jake Ferguson, stepped over to Dani and moved a lock of hair off her shoulder.
“When you turn around next time, keep the hair out of your face. Let’s do this again.” Ferguson returned to his chair, and when the actors returned to their marks, he called action.
Dani walked across the room, prop gun raised and aimed at the guy playing her brother. “I don’t want to shoot you, Ralph. Get up slowly and step away from the body.”
Ralph, kneeling on the floor next to the “corpse,” rose to his feet and said, “It’s not what it looks like, sis.”
“I think it’s exactly what it looks like.” Dani took a step back when Ralph turned toward her. “Stay where you are. Charles. In here.”
Footsteps behind her alerted her to Henderson’s presence, her cue to turn her head. She pivoted, but her hair slid onto her face again.
“Cut.” Ferguson stood, but before he could come near her, Henderson stepped over and smoothed the hair aside, his finger brushing her cheek.
“Take a break,” Ferguson said. “Someone get the stylist in here. I don’t want hair dropping into her face every time she moves.” Most of the time, Ferguson talked around the actors, not to them, unless to give a curt command or instruction. It was his weird way of focusing on the story, Dani had learned.
At first, she’d felt hurt and had worried that Ferguson disliked her, but when she saw it wasn’t a slight, she found it reassuring. His directions were minimal, his conversation non-existent. It allowed her to immerse herself in her character.
The actors relaxed. The actress playing the victim remained on the ground, trying not to disturb her makeup or smear the fake blood. Dani sat on the sofa, and Henderson took a seat next to her.
Ralph—for the life of her Dani couldn’t remember his real name—sat on the floor next to his victim, and the two chatted. Dani thought they might be sleeping together already, and filming had only started a week ago.
So far, Henderson had behaved though Dani thought he acted too familiar with her sometimes. Perhaps, it was
because, in the film, they were lovers, and she could accept that. But other times, she worried that he was trying to winnow his way back into her personal life.
Henderson’s knee rested against hers now, and Dani wondered if she should tell him to back off. Afraid to cause problems on set, she decided against it, and, as casually as she could, disconnected herself from him by crossing her legs.
“You avoiding me, babe?”
“Not more than usual. Don’t call me babe, Greg. I’m not your babe.”
“A little touchy, aren’t you? I don’t mean anything by it. You wouldn’t take it so personally if you felt nothing for me.” He leaned in close and lowered his voice. “Admit it, babe: you miss me as much as I miss you. Loverboy isn’t cutting it in the bedroom. Am I right? I’ve spoiled you for other men, haven’t I?”
Dani thought she caught a whiff of alcohol and looked him in the eyes. She squinted, trying to gauge if he was drunk. Henderson was being more arrogant than usual, and he was never a happy drunk. If he’d started drinking on the job, there’d be trouble. Sooner or later, he’d do something stupid and obnoxious, and it would cause problems. If she were lucky, the fallout would only affect him, but she suspected she’d be collateral damage.
“Have you been drinking?” Dani kept her voice to a whisper.
“I had one shot before I came out to do the scene. I’m not drunk.”
Uneasy, she wondered what else he might be taking.
The stylist arrived then, and Dani occupied herself with getting her hair fixed.
Henderson lounged beside her, legs stretched out in front, one arm draped across the back of the sofa behind Dani.
Back ramrod straight, Dani sat forward, away from the possessive reach of his arm, hoping he assumed she did it to make things easier for the stylist. Unable to resist commenting, Dani said, “You going to make this a regular thing?”
“The shot? Nah. What do you care? It’s not affecting my work.”
“It will if you keep doing it. Be professional. Don’t drink on the job.”
“You telling me what to do? Sorry, babe. You don’t have that right.” Now Henderson sat ramrod straight, casual air shattered.