by Glynn, Anne
“A first draft is only a start,” he told her. “No matter how good it is, it isn’t good enough. Tell the writer she has to do a rewrite.”
“Caryn did a great job.”
“I’m sure she did but she’s a woman. She’ll have gone heavy on characterization, light on action. Nobody goes to those kinds of movies.”
“Some people do,” Leah said. “I do.”
“Get a Page One re-do, have her emphasize the guns, sex, and violence. Then we’ll have something to sell.”
Six weeks later, Leah hated the rewrite and wondered if she should pay for a third draft or find a different writer. Sitting in her home office, she frowned at the offending pages in front of her.
Then, from the front room, she heard what sounded like Tanner’s voice. “You are a beauty, Miss.”
The voice was deep and the hint of a Southern accent did nothing to hide the masculinity of the speaker. Leah was intrigued.
The speaker continued. “I’ll bet the boys are three-deep outside your front door and have been ever since you blossomed.”
“Are you flirting with me?” a female voice asked. The woman sounded cultured and slightly British. “I need a bodyguard, not a boyfriend.”
“What you think you want is a lap dog with a holster,” the man responded. “Someone who will do what you say, when you say it. Well-behaved, appropriate for the society crowd. Housebroken. No good for you when things grow heated but you won’t realize that until it’s too late.”
“Who do you think you are?”
“Chris Stark.”
Tossing the screenplay aside, Leah went into the living room. The television set lit up the dark room, providing a comfortable presence in an otherwise-empty house. From inside the flat screen, the actor playing Chris Stark grinned out at the viewing audience. Like so many women before her, Leah sank into a chair to watch him.
On the cable television series, King and Country, Bradi Kotsworth played Marissa King, stepdaughter to the United Kingdom’s richest man. In the pilot episode, this beautiful party girl’s life underwent an upheaval when she discovered her birth father was still alive and the head of a crime syndicate in the American South.
Daniel Kucera played Chris Stark, an Alabama bad boy who saves King’s life before joining her in her fight against her father. Her oh-so-proper stepfather is disgusted by the rough and tumble Stark and his humble origins. His stepdaughter is amused and then charmed and, in season five, swept into his bed.
As in Leah’s personal experience, interest waned following intercourse, and the show’s ratings were falling. Although the program remained in production, no one expected it to survive past season six.
Intrigued by the actor, Leah messengered the first draft of To Protect and Service to H & R Creative. Kucera’s talent agency responded with interest. With Gil’s reputation behind her, they agreed to let Leah see their client privately. A meet-and-greet, no agents present, just to see if the parties involved liked one another and might enjoy working together.
“He has all kinds of offers,” the girl from the agency said.
Leah knew better. Gil had already made some calls, visited the actor’s favorite coffee shop and joined his weekly cycling class, before sharing his opinion: Danny Kucera would be collecting unemployment the day after King and Country went off the air.
“We’re probably going with James Franco, anyway,” Leah lied right back to the agent. “He’s desperate to fit this into his schedule.”
Which is a possibility, she supposed, if his manager ever returns one of my calls.
On the set of the cable show, she was escorted to Danny’s trailer after the day’s filming ended. He opened the door and Leah Preston melted.
Not only was he handsome, he was beyond sexy. When he gave a crooked smile, she could almost feel the pheromones dancing about his perfect body.
“I heard Gil had a new partner,” Danny said. “When I heard ‘Leah’, I thought...”
“Junior associate, not a partner.”
“Worse, I’m sorry to say. Secretary.” Closing the trailer door, he said, “You are definitely not anyone’s secretary.”
“I started as a secretary. Been an assistant, too.” She found a place on the sofa. Without asking, Danny brought over two bottles of sparkling water. The cap of her bottle was still in place and she let a finger wander over it as he resumed speaking.
“If I was a producer,” he said, “bright and young and beautiful, I’d hesitate before wasting my afternoon on the set of a show like this.”
“You would?”
“Absolutely, sugar.” The Southern accent lingered in the air, reminding her of her past. “A man like Raymond Service, he deserves to be played by a star. A real star. I’m not surprised Jimmy wants the part.”
“He doesn’t,” Leah blurted. “I’ve never talked to him about it.”
She thought, God, what is the matter with you?
Danny will share this conversation with his agency and his agency will share it with everyone in town. Gil will hear about your big mouth – probably over at the little Korean deli he loves – and he’ll be furious.
Why are you incapable of keeping a secret?
Chapter Five
It was too late to backtrack now. Leah said, “His manager won’t even return my calls.”
“That’s not what Emma, my agent, told me.”
“I lied to her.” She felt her face burning.
Danny cocked his head, considering what she’d told him. “You want the truth? Franco’s too pretty to play the character, anyway.”
Leah nodded. Danny’s face was manly, with a strong jaw, and she knew no one had ever thought of him as pretty.
“He’s a little soft,” Danny continued. “Jimmy can act the shit out of the piece, I’ll give you that. But, to play the part properly, a man’s got to have edge.”
Most television and movie stars were short and slender, made larger through the magic of a camera’s lens. Danny was 6’2” and gave a sense of being even bigger. While his contemporaries built their bodies with a regime of Pilates and yoga, his powerful arms and broad chest left the impression that he spent his off-days moving boulders and tearing tree trunks from the earth.
Not completely unlike Tanner Boyd.
More importantly, just like Ray Service.
He leaned forward on the sofa, his eyes locked on her. “Emma told me something in confidence, something I’m not supposed to tell anyone. Want to know what it is?”
Why not? Leah thought. Since we’re sharing and all.
“My career is in the crapper.” Danny said it without shame, almost as if he was a disinterested observer. “It’s my own fault, too. Pilot season is almost here and I can’t even get an audition.”
“Why?”
“Our show runner doesn’t love me. He tells everyone who asks, too. Rightly so, since I’ve caused my share of delays. Complained a little too loudly when the scripts weren’t up to par. Failed to be a proper gentleman when my lovely co-star showed up so loaded, she couldn’t remember her lines.”
“People say you’re trouble.” Even Gil had said as much. Leah had chosen to ignore his warning.
Sometimes, she thought, a little trouble is kind of fun.
“But my heart is pure.” Danny knocked his bottle of water against hers. He took a deep swallow. “Where do we go from here?”
Leah pried at the cap on her water. It resisted her efforts, so tightly held it might have been a permanent fixture on the bottle. “It’s getting late. I’ve kind of got a rule to avoid business after hours. It’s my own personal kink, I know, but money isn’t everything.”
“I’m in no hurry. My appointment book is a little light this next decade.” A mischievous look crossed Danny’s face. “You know what I like? My own personal kink, so to speak?”
Oh, Jesus. Please don’t let this involve creepy, sexual stuff. Leah still remembered the nineteen year-old sitcom star who had hit on her in Aspen.
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sp; He’d wanted a threesome. Him and her and his former nanny.
“I love slender women with short brown hair and brown eyes.” Gently, Danny placed his large hand upon her knee. “There’s something about deep brown eyes.”
Leah yanked at the bottle cap. A geyser of sparkling water erupted from the bottle, spraying over the actor’s chest and drenching his shirt.
Danny jumped up, buttons popping as he tore the sodden garment from his body. He laughed. “Cool me off, huh?”
“It was an accident.”
His chest was broad and his abdomen was flat and tight, with washboard muscles. Leah had seen him shirtless on the screen but he was even more breathtaking in person.
Seeing Danny on the show had often caused her to reflect about Tanner, her homegrown version of Chris Stark. Even in her fantasies, her former boyfriend had never looked quite as gorgeous as this.
She said, “I’d better go.”
“You want to grab a bite of supper first?”
Absolutely not, her conscience told her. You have a job to do. This has to remain a professional relationship.
A single drop of naturally-carbonated mineral water fell from his chin, landing on his magnificent chest. The drop slipped across his pecs, then rolled bump after bump over his stomach muscles before disappearing beneath his belt line.
“I’d love to,” Leah said.
Chapter Six
The restaurant was tucked into the corner of a strip mall. A blocky sign proclaimed it was Café 3, with no indication of whether there was or had ever been a Café 1 or 2. The exterior was bland and the interior uninspired. The hostess at the door frowned when she saw Danny.
“Not tonight, mister,” she said. “How many times have I told you, you have to make a reservation.”
Behind her, the small space was packed. Every table was full of customers. Some were dressed casually but most had arrived sprinkled in bling.
Leah couldn’t believe it. The ‘beautiful people’ are coming to this dump?
“All we need is a nibble, Giselle,” the actor responded. “We’re starving.”
“A tragedy, alas, but not of my doing.”
“We’ll sit anywhere. By the kitchen. You never seat a service by the back doors.”
Giselle’s eyes flicked over Leah. “You brought a date?”
Leah started, “I wouldn’t call it –”
“She’s special,” Danny interrupted.
Giselle frowned. Clutching a pair of menus, she said, “Follow me.”
Seated at the entrance to the kitchen, Leah had a glass of house wine and a terrific amuse-bouche of hamachi and basil flower. It was followed by a glass of California wine and a lobster soup with avocado and mango; a glass of Australian wine and caponata estiva with Sicilian olives; and a glass of French wine and a cedar plank grilled loup de mer. When even the dessert was flavored with sea beans, Leah decided this was the most nautical meal of her life.
It was also one of the best.
Draining her dessert wine, she told Danny, “My compliments to the chef.”
“When the bill comes, pretend you have to go to the bathroom,” he told her. “Climb out the side window and I’ll meet you in the alley.”
Leah gaped at him.
Grinning, he pulled a black AmEx card from his wallet. “Maybe next time.”
Despite all of the alcohol she’d enjoyed, she didn’t feel the slightest bit drunk. Back at Danny’s house in the Hollywood Hills, she wondered if she was as sober as she’d imagined.
What happened to acting professionally?, she asked herself as she lowered her body into the warm water of his hot tub. Her clothing was folded neatly at the side of the tub. Discarded more casually, Danny’s clothes had been left in a pile.
“You’re so fucking hot,” he said. He reached for her, bringing her body onto his lap.
Just this once, she decided, maybe it’s okay to leave the office behind.
Steam rose around them. She felt his sex, hard and ready, press the inside of her thigh.
Danny was a big man. The size of his cock didn’t feel quite up to scale.
He kissed along her neck, bringing his mouth to her ear. “Can’t you see it? If Raymond Service moved from the Magnolia State and lived in Hollywood? He’d buy a place exactly like this.”
“Seriously?”
The actor couldn’t have been more mistaken. Even if the fictional hero-for-hire could afford the seven figure price tag of Danny’s glass and pseudo-stone mini-mansion, he’d never have taken ownership. Service lived a simple life, one that was rigorously self-disciplined and highly moral. He’d rather take a bullet in the shoulder than carry a shopping bag across the sidewalks of Rodeo Drive.
“Did you actually read the script?” she asked.
“Ummm.” A burp of wine wafted past her.
So this really is only business after all. The television star had wined and dined her, hoping to push his career along. He didn’t care about her. He probably didn’t care about the movie, either.
He just needed a paying gig.
“Maybe we ought to move a little slower, Danny,” she said, still not sure if she meant it. Under the moonlight, his chiseled body was flawless.
He thrust his hips upward, his manhood sliding along her leg before bumping into the soft down of its target. Staring glassily at her, a cocky expression of self-satisfaction on his face, he moaned loudly.
Danny released her. Throwing his arms onto the spa’s wooden platform, he rested his head on one shoulder.
“Danny?”
His eyes closing, he said, “God, I’d love a doobie right now.”
Leah stood up. From the head of the man’s cock, she saw a thin line of white drift upward. It disappeared beneath the jet’s bubbles.
“You were great, babe. I mean it. The absolute best….” His mouth falling open, the actor began to snore.
A bubble of cum floated in her direction and Leah felt repulsed. Experiencing a sudden urgency to avoid any contact with Danny’s bodily fluids, she quickly climbed from the tub.
So much for my tryst with a t.v. star, she thought, unhappy with herself.
Picking up a towel, she quickly dried her body before dressing. Danny was a wonder to see, she had to admit. His body was beautifully cut. Even here, passed out in the water, he was the best-looking man she’d ever met.
The best-looking but far from the best.
Tanner was so much better, wasn’t he?
She wished she could erase the memory of her Southern sweetheart. Her mind refused to cooperate.
You remember Longenecker’s Pond, don’t you? How could you not?
Bastard memory.
Out loud, she said, “Give me time.”
Time. She remembered, years ago, sitting beside Tanner as he drove them out to Butch Longenecker’s abandoned ranch. Then, too, she’d been thinking of time.
*
Longenecker’s Ranch
It’s time, Tanner Boyd, she thought that hot summer day. Aren’t you ever going to make a move?
They’d been together for two months now, and she was ready to go beyond deep kisses and heavy petting. With the sun filling the sky, it wasn’t difficult to entice Tanner into the ranch’s pond. Her cream-colored bra was exposed as she bobbed happily on the surface. She knew he had no idea that she’d pulled her panties off and sent them to the muddy floor of the waterhole.
“Tanner,” she called out to him. He drifted over slowly, his muscular arms and wide chest making her want him all the more.
His hands went beneath the surface and she felt his fingers curl around her bare buttocks. Realizing that he’d found skin instead of fabric, he smiled.
Holding onto his waist, she felt his sex, instantly rock hard and ready. She’d had no idea that he’d pulled his briefs off, too.
His legs kicking lazily at the water, keeping them afloat, she felt his cock brush her as he lifted her up. A moment later, she felt him enter her.
“You’re s
o…big,” she blurted. “So thick.”
Her body stretched to accept him. Cool liquid around her, her cunt felt as if it were burning. He filled her completely. Repositioning his hands, he drew her still closer. Slowly, his hips began to pump.
It was an odd sensation, as if his shaft had become a part of her. Even as he gently moved inside her, she could feel his legs working to keep them above the water.
He kept her ass in his grip. The burning feeling faded, replaced by a different kind of heat. His cock caressed her, fantastic and gloriously large, stroking and pleasing her. Tanner began to thrust with more urgency, his own lust growing and his dick, wonderfully, even harder.
Leah threw her arms around his neck. In the middle of nowhere, no one watching them, she whispered in his ear, “Go ahead.”
“You – ?”
“I don’t. I can’t.” She knew she could have faked orgasm. He was close to coming; if she pretended to join in, would he even know?
She wasn’t willing to play that game. Not with Tanner.
“I don’t think so.” He pulled out from her.
“Don’t!” Leah said, a little too loudly. “I still like it. A lot.”
He bent into the pond, his tight, bare butt flashing her as he dove underwater.
“Tanner?” Seconds later, she felt his mouth on her. “You’ll drown!”
He didn’t drown. He felt so very, very good….
*
That afternoon had been remarkable. So much better than what she’d experienced this evening.
Slipping the strap of her purse onto her shoulder, Leah bent over Danny and yanked his short hair. He sat up sharply, his eyes wide. “What?”
“I was just thinking about tonight,” Leah said. “I’ll never forget it.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Sleepily, he hoisted himself out of the water. “Me, too.”
He sat on the edge of platform, his physique an artist’s dream. His shriveled penis drooped sadly, as if aware that it hadn’t lived up to expectations.
Danny rubbed at his scalp, apparently deciding that a hair tug after sex was another of Leah’s personal kinks. “Hey, if the movie goes into production, I’ve got the part, right?”