by M. P. Hingos
It was one stupid statement that ended it. I joked about losing my virginity to America’s biggest movie star and that was tantamount to throwing a cold bucket of water with ice cubes in it on him. He rejected me when he found out I was a virgin and even though he tried to convince me I deserved better for my first time all I heard was his rejection. The hurt and humiliation was too much and I made it my business to stay clear of him. With time I finally saw him as the good person that he is but that didn’t stop his rejection from stinging every time I thought about our time together.
Which brings me back to now. It was inevitable we would eventually have sex according to him, so what’s change? Great, another thing to worry about, his stalker as well as my sex life, a very, very bad combination.
We ate dinner on the balcony overlooking the ocean and maybe it was the ocean breeze, jetlag, Marianna’s rich dinner or a combination of all three but after dinner and my second glass of wine I felt my eyes becoming heavy.
“Ally you must be tired, why don’t you go to bed,” Gabriel said, noticing my half-assed attempt to stifle a yawn.
“I’m too comfortable sitting here to move right now,” I replied, stifling yet another yawn.
“I could carry you to bed if you wanted,” he offered.
That offer had me jumping out of the chair and a quick goodnight escaping my lips. Being the gentleman that he is he walked me to my bedroom door.
“I can’t remember the last time I went to bed at 9. I hope I’m not wide awake at four in the morning with nothing to do,” I said, trying to ignore the electricity between us, as I entered my bedroom.
“Well, you’re still on New York time so technically, for you it’s after three in the morning.”
“That’s true,” I replied.
“Good night then.”
“Good night Gabriel.”
“Oh and Ally if you’re wide awake at four in the morning you can come find me if you want to, I’m right across the hall. I’m sure I would be able to find something for you to do to occupy your time until daybreak.”
With a super sexy smile on his face he left me standing there with my mouth wide open.
**********
Chapter 5
My eyes slowly opened, embracing the sunlight that brightened my room. I lazily stretched out on the bed enjoying the sinful feel of the silk sheets that cocooned me. I reached out for my cell phone and checked the time.
Holy crap, it was 9:23 am. I couldn’t remember the last time I slept for more than four hours much less twelve. I knew I wasn’t here for a vacation but that was not going to stop me from enjoying a few more minutes of lazy time.
Completely rejuvenated and full of energy after a long, hot shower I went in search of Gabriel.
With him nowhere to be found upstairs I headed downstairs and into the kitchen.
“Hi sweetheart, did you sleep well?”
Startled, I turned in the direction of the voice, coming face to face with Marianna. Her ever-present smile had me smiling at her.
“I can’t remember the last time I slept for twelve hours,” I replied, hoping she didn’t think I was going to be a lazy houseguest.
“It was all the traveling you did yesterday sweetheart. Your body needed it.”
She had no idea how much I needed that twelve hours of sleep.
“Come, sit, and let me fix you something for breakfast.”
She didn’t have to ask twice. Making myself comfortable at the breakfast bar I watched her as she bustled around the kitchen, whipping up eggs. Watching her work I felt guilty for missing breakfast and giving her extra work.
“I would be fine with just toast you know.”
“Child if you’re going to keep up with my boy’s busy schedule you’ll need a full tummy. Sometimes I feel if I don’t shove something down his throat he’d forget to eat.”
She reminded me of the women back in New York who made it their business to baby me. Mrs. Mavis Montgomery or Mrs. M. as Tessa affectionately called her, was Tessa’s sixty-year-old best friend. She became the mother and family Tessa needed when she believed she had no family left. Mrs. M. and her sister Betsy worshipped the ground Tess walked on and when I met them they accepted me with the same warmth and love they showered her with. I was bombarded by their phone calls on a daily basis filled with all the concerns a mother would have for a daughter. I could say it was a bit overwhelming at times but it made me feel loved.
Then there was Sophia, Connor’s, Gabriel’s and Tyler’s mom. She treated me with the same love and affection as she did her sons and Tessa. She also hounded me like she did Gabriel and Tyler about finding someone and settling down. If she knew I was with her son in California I could only imagine the possibilities she’d come up.
There was also, Rebecca, Connor’s and Tessa’s housekeeper. She was the one always shoveling food down my throat. If I didn’t show up at the penthouse for breakfast or dinner she made it her business to walk across the hall to my apartment with a plate and a frown, for not showing up, for me. I loved them all and thanked God everyday for bringing them into my life.
I look at Marianna and wondered if she knew the real reason I was here.
Digging in into the delicious plate of eggs, bacon and toast with fresh fruit on the side I finally asked her,
“Where’s Gabriel this morning?”
“He’s in the study. The fire inspector personally came by early this morning and he’s been holed up there ever since he left.”
Eager to find out what news he got I quickly devoured my breakfast and with a heartfelt thanks and a peck on her cheek I left Marianna, and once again went in search of Gabriel.
Gabriel opened the door just as I was about to knock.
“Hey, I was on my way to find you. Did you sleep well?”
Was he nervous? He sounded nervous. Or was it just me.
“Best sleep I’ve had in years and a great breakfast too,” I replied with a smile, hoping to put him at ease.
“Good, good.”
He stepped aside for me to enter the study.
It was a huge, very masculine room, furnished with dark stained oak furniture. The bookcases were filled with hundreds of books, all in mint condition and the showcases contained all the statues he received as validation for his talent.
I turned and faced him.
“Ally…”
“Gabriel…”
“You go first,” he conceded.
“Thanks,” I replied, taking a deep breath before launching into the little speech I rehearsed in the shower.
“Gabe, I had my doubts about coming here but you needed my help and I am here for that. There is no denying that there’s something more between us, there always was and I appreciate you giving me time to come to terms with that. I can’t predict the future so I can’t say if something is going to happen or not. If it does we deal with it but no matter what I am here to help you as best as I could.”
“It’s going to happen Ally, it’s just a matter of time and I appreciate you being here and your help. There isn’t anyone else I trust to deal with this shit that’s landed at my feet.”
“Okay, now that that’s out of the way why don’t you show me everything you got from your little friend.”
I turned to walk away from him but he grabbed my hand and turned me back to him.
“One condition, kiss me before we start.”
“Gabriel…”
“One kiss Ally.”
His lips on mine were magic. He tasted like a little piece of heaven and I leaned into him for a little bit more. Intense and erotic were the only words I could use to describe it.
“I want you so much,” he whispered after we pull our lips apart.
“I know,’ I whispered back, knowing if I admitted my want as he did we’d be naked in seconds.
“Good, want to get started now?”
I nodded, thankful that common sense prevailed.
He laid out a number of books on his desk before d
ragging a chair next to the one that was already at the desk. I counted five books, each one meticulously bounded with a bold, neat, handwritten title, “The Real Gabriel Steele” on the cover.
We both sat and he reorganized them in front of me, placing the first one he got at the top. I slowly opened it. Each page contained a page-sized photo of Gabriel with a caption at the bottom, detailing the date, time and place the photo was taken. All five books were the same. Whoever did this put in a lot of time and thought into this project. The note written in the inner cover of the last book was written in the same handwriting as the books’ titles.
“When and how did you receive these books?” I asked him.
“They were all mailed to the house except the last one. I don’t allow my work staff to come here so all my mail to the house is opened either by Marianna or Jonah. They were the ones who found the first one about eight months ago and brought it to my attention. The last one came on Monday, in the same package as the others but instead of being mailed it was placed in my truck sometime during the night. I found it the next morning.”
“Do you have the packages they came in?”
“Yes.”
“Okay good. I need to see those.”
I started flipping through the books again, this time taking note of the dates the photos were taken. With the exception of the last book he received, the other books contained one or more photo taken for every day he was in California dating back ten months ago. The angles at which the photos were taken, the places they were taken and the expressions they captured made a very telling story. The person who took these photos did not romanticize him by taking intimate pictures. They were bold and captured his seriousness and dedication to his work. They were neither posed nor glamorous. They captured him in the moment, at business meetings, on set, in restaurants and events he attended. This was someone who was familiar with his itinerary. I believed it was someone who worked for his production company, someone he did not have any contact with but was around him every day, someone who admired Gabriel for the man that he is despite the glitz and glamour that came with his life. This was someone who liked the path of Gabriel’s life and as much as they craved his acknowledgement, had no confidence to interact with Gabriel. A fear of rejection forced this person to remain in the shadows and praise Gabriel from afar but my instincts told me the moment Gabriel deviates from the path his stalker deemed right for him there was going to be serious repercussions. From all the evidence I had in front of me I learnt something else. Gabriel’s stalker was male, my guess, between the ages of thirty-five and forty-five.
I explained it all to Gabriel, who seemed stunned for a moment that his stalker was male. After that he took it all in stride.
“Gabe, tell me about the fire yesterday.”
“The fire inspector was here this morning. He said it was deliberate. Someone lit up a bunch of promo posters of Julie Summers and I in the storage room. If it wasn’t discovered in time the damage could have been a lot worst.”
“I want you to think about what you did before the fire yesterday, the conversations you had. Did you say anything that was not work related?”
He sat there, chasing the memories in his mind.
“We were reshooting a small scene for the movie yesterday morning before I had to leave to pick you up at the airport when the fire occurred. It was a closed set so other than the crew and production staff there wasn’t anyone out of the ordinary there.”
“Did you mention that to anyone?” I asked, knowing his answer before he said it.
“I remember saying to one of my assistants that I had to pick you up at the airport, but it was only so she’d know where I was if I was needed.”
“He was there and he heard you Gabe. He didn’t like the idea of you rushing off to pick up a girl at the airport. You were going to deviated just a little from the part he wants you on so he did something to keep you there.”
That truth hit home for him and I knew he didn’t like it. We were at this for a couple hours now and I decided it was time for a break. My ideal afternoon would be spending it on the beach and I hoped he didn’t have plans for the afternoon so he could join me.
“I assume you gave the surveillance videos from yesterday to the fire inspector?”
“Yes, but I can get you a copy if you’d like.”
“Great, now last thing before we stop. We need a cover story for my presence. You’re a public figure and everyone knows your family. I’m thinking we could say you’re thinking about doing a biography and I’m a friend of Tyler’s, whose here to help you with that. I’m following you around for a couple of weeks to get a feel of what your life is like to know what direction we should take for your biography.”
“Smart and beautiful Ally, I like that, I like that a lot,” he said leaning forward and smacking my lips with his.
“I’m all yours for the rest of the day baby, do with me as you please,” he said before jumping up and stretching his gorgeous body.
**********
Chapter 6
The weather was perfect, with a slight, cool breeze embracing us on the beach. When she mentioned she wanted to spend the afternoon on the beach I immediately ran in search of Marianna and had her pack us a late picnic lunch. I left her in the house to change and hurried down to the beach to lay out a blanket and lunch for us. I was not there for more than five minutes when I heard her shuffling down the path towards me. I turned to her and immediately let out a small moan as she walked towards me. My body reacted to the sight of her, in a tiny blue bikini with a blue wrap tied at the waist, instantly.
This was going to be a long, tortuous afternoon. My cock was already rock hard and I wanted to take her, right here on the blanket I laid out on the beach. She was nearing me now and before I embarrassed myself in front of her or scare her off with my uncontrollable want for her, I turned away and very awkwardly and uncomfortably started running, straight into the ocean. I felt her eyes on me and knew she was probably wondering if I had somehow lost my mind. I knew I was. I am a grown man whose spent my entire adult life surrounded by and bedded some of the most beautiful women in the world so why is it every time I’m around her I turn into a bumbling, sex starved, hormonally charged idiot with an erection? Because everyone paled in comparison to her. She was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.
I turned towards her and she was just standing there staring at me, when, suddenly, she pulled of her wrap and made her way into the water. She waded in far enough to dive in and disappear under the water. The rippling around me told me she was circling around me and I felt her emerge behind me.
“This is absolutely sinful, no wonder you didn’t wait for me,” she exclaimed, giddily.
She bobbed around me playfully until she was standing in front of me. I grabbed her by the waist and she threw herself back, arched her upper body back until her head was slightly dipping into the water. Damm, she’s flexible.
Her playfulness was infectious and not long after I was splashing her and dunking her under the water while she squealed and tried to escape.
After her breathing became a little labored, I suggested we head out and enjoy lunch and she surprised me by jumping on my back, demanding I give her a piggyback ride to the shore. I was more than happy to oblige, happy to see this playful side of her and only when I was standing near the blanket I allowed her to slide down to the ground. I quickly wrapped her in a towel before taking one for myself.
“Thank you Mr. Steele, always the gentleman aren’t we.”
I looked at her and smiled, a devilishly wicked smile.
“Always a gentleman, me lady,” I replied with mock flourish.
Her laughter captivated my heart. I wish she laughed more because it was such a beautiful sound.
“Okay you scoundrel, feed me,” she demanded.
“From a gentleman to a scoundrel in mere seconds. I’m wounded.”