by Susan Lewis
‘I probably won’t make it until eight,’ he answered, ‘but sure, I’d love to come. Do you want to give me your address?’
Ellen was about to go through the spelling of the elaborate Spanish name of the apartment complex when she said, ‘I’ll fax it over to you in the morning along with the directions.’
‘OK,’ he responded. ‘I’ll look forward to seeing you.’
‘Me too,’ she said and as she rang off and looked at Matty she muttered, ‘I don’t know if I can wait ’til Friday.’
By Friday Ellen was getting pretty close to calling the whole thing off. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so apprehensive about anything, not a deal, a date, not even a diagnosis. It was crazy to be so uptight, she knew that, especially when she spent at least fifty per cent of her time with some of the world’s most desirable movie stars, men who would turn most women to jello with a single glance. Yet here she was, a thirty-year-old highly successful woman, totally unable to hold it together over a man she barely knew, who was just an agent the same as her, with probably less clients than she had and virtually no Hollywood cred.
But what the hell did she care how many clients he had, or where he might rate on the Hollywood scale of who was pulling in the most bucks for whom? If anything, it only made him more attractive, as he was nothing like the Hollywood power-freaks and egomaniacs she spent so much time trying to avoid, in fact he was so different that she honestly couldn’t see a single reason for him to want to move here. Not that that was on the agenda any more, at least not so far as she was concerned. Ted Forgon, of course, would be sure to disagree, but tonight’s party wasn’t about Ted Forgon, nor was what might come after. But she couldn’t allow herself to think that far ahead. Even though the possibilities for him in Hollywood were endless and as he was anything but stupid, he had to know already that there were a lot more people in this town with real integrity and genuine artistic ability than the publicity machine ever gave credit for. In truth, he could be working with some of the most well-respected and highly paid talent in the world if he were to give up London and come here. There was nothing he couldn’t achieve if he set his mind to it, for she just knew that it would take him no time at all to sort through all the flakes and phoneys and get himself into a position where he could make a real difference to what was going on in this élitist little oligarchy that had so much influence on the rest of the world.
Groaning inwardly as she realized her thoughts were coming dangerously close to some kind of sales pitch for Forgon, she hit several buttons on her keyboard and made an attempt to carry on with her work. But the thoughts just kept chasing each other around in her head and as her emotions shifted from anger to indignance to excitement back to nervousness, and on to a wild and embarrassing hope of where tonight might end, she could almost hear the panic chanting through her head. What am I going to wear? Where do I get my nails fixed? Is there time for surgery? Will it be painful?
‘But you’ve never had your nails done before,’ Matty cried when she called to ask Matty’s advice.
‘Maybe it’s time I did,’ Ellen responded, putting a script over the flashing lights on her phone pad so she didn’t have to look at the incoming calls. ‘Did you do the shopping? Did you get good wine? He knows about wines.’
‘We got good wine.’
‘Should we set up the drinks in the kitchen or on the veranda? You know, I’m not sure about that top I bought. What do you think?’
‘Ellen, pull yourself together,’ Matty laughed. ‘Everything’s in hand. Gene’s here at the apartment with me now sorting out the music, we’ll set up the snacks and wine where we think best and all you have to do is come home and get yourself ready. And forget about the acrylic nails, you don’t need them and being no expert in these things you’ll probably end up doing yourself, or him, a lasting injury if you do get them.’
‘What about the top?’ Ellen asked.
‘It’s terrific. You’ll blow his mind.’
‘You don’t think it’s too revealing?’
‘It’s perfect. Now get off the line will you, I’ve got a party to organize here.’
Ellen hit a couple of buttons and took another call. She had so much to get through before she could leave there was every chance she was going to show up late for her own party. Actually, it wouldn’t be the first time, but tonight there was just no way she was going to allow her job to come first. She’d almost rather die than admit it, but she had two sets of new underwear in her cupboard, a three-hundred-dollar Moschino bustier still in its tissue and had earlier rushed out to buy a bottle of Hermès Vingt Quatre Faubourg, probably the most sensuous perfume in the world.
As she continued through meetings and phone calls and a ceaseless barrage of interruptions, she was persistently assailed by the dread of him calling to say he couldn’t make it. But then she reminded herself that there was still the première and God only knew what state she was going to get herself into during the build-up to that. She guessed she just had to be thankful that because of her job she was by now pretty skilled at putting on a front, so no one but Matty knew what a pathetic mess she was inside.
‘Rubbish!’ Matty declared later. ‘You look so terrible you’re giving me the jitters. It was a joke!’ she cried as Ellen’s face paled. ‘A joke. Remember them?’ As Ellen’s expression relaxed Matty turned back to the mirror and continued applying her mascara. ‘Anyway,’ she went on, ‘who are you trying to convince about Hollywood? I thought you said there was no way he’d ever base himself here.’
She carried on with her mascara until realizing she hadn’t received a reply, she looked down at Ellen in the bath tub and seeing the shy mischief in Ellen’s eyes she started to grin. ‘Except you’re hoping he might change his mind for you,’ she declared.
Ellen’s cheeks coloured as she said, ‘OK, I confess it. I want him to fall madly in love with me and come here and spend the rest of his life with me. There, I’ve killed it now by speaking it aloud.’
Matty’s carefully shaped eyebrows were raised. ‘Are you sure you only ever had dinner with this man?’ she asked.
Ellen sighed and dipped down in the water. ‘I’ve made love with him so many times in my imagination,’ she said, after resurfacing, ‘I already know what it’s going to be like, I mean, should we ever get around to it. And there’s something about him, you know, something I can’t quite put my finger on that just works for me. It’s like …’ Her eyes moved back to Matty’s and she started to laugh. ‘Get out of here,’ she cried, throwing a sponge at Matty who was gazing at her with love-struck, starry eyes.
‘You could always go live in London,’ Matty pointed out, turning back to her make-up.
Ellen pulled a face. ‘Not really,’ she said. ‘There’s not enough going on over there.’
‘He’s there,’ Matty reminded her.
Ellen gazed absently down at her outstretched legs. ‘You know, I really want him to come here,’ she said after a while. ‘Not necessarily because of me, but because I think this town could really work for him. And I want him to see that we’re not all vanity freaks or power junkies the way everyone seems to think.’
Matty looked surprised. ‘We’re not?’ she responded.
Ellen rolled her eyes, then, reaching for a thick, fluffy blue towel she stepped out of the tub. ‘Did anyone call to cancel?’ she asked, starting to dry herself.
‘Only Karla, but you expected that,’ Matty answered.
‘Did you make any bruschetta?’
‘Not yet, I’ll do it just before everyone arrives. And unless you want to greet your guests like that I suggest you get a move on.’
As Matty left the bathroom Ellen turned to the full-length mirror and looked at her damp, naked body with its glistening, creamy skin, taut red nipples and thatch of curled chestnut hair at the join of her long legs. She tried to see herself through Michael’s eyes and found that the mere thought of being naked with him was causing her pulses to quicken and a sharp bite of
lust to tighten her loins. She was in no doubt now that the desire she felt for him had only increased since that night in the restaurant, indeed there were moments when she thought she might go crazy with the sheer power of it. And right now she was very close to believing that the reason he had called her virtually the minute he’d arrived in LA was because he felt the same way. Except she hadn’t forgotten the way he’d turned her down last time and it was the horror of it happening again that would make certain she kept herself well and truly in check tonight.
It was a quarter to ten by the time Michael finally knocked on the door of Ellen’s apartment. The party was obviously over for there was no sound coming from within, though he knew she was there because the security guard had called up to announce his arrival. As he’d driven through the complex to the underground parking he’d wondered if she was angry that he hadn’t called to say he’d be late. He probably should have, but the meeting with Victor Warren had gone on much longer than he’d expected and in the end it had just seemed more sensible to get in the car and come.
He was on the point of knocking again, or kicking himself for coming empty-handed, when the door suddenly opened.
‘Hi, I’m Matty, Ellen’s cousin,’ the tall, attractive brunette told him. ‘You must be Michael. Come along in. You’re too late for some, not late enough for others.’
Laughing, Michael followed her inside. The lights were low and the debris of a finished party was still cluttering the room. He noticed a few people sitting out on the veranda, but for the moment there was no sign of Ellen.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ Matty offered. ‘We’ve got just about everything.’
‘Scotch,’ Michael said and was about to ask where Ellen was when he noticed her sitting separately on the veranda with a couple of others. She looked so lovely, so much more beautiful than he remembered, that all the tiredness and jet-lag he had brought from Australia was fused into a single desire to hold her.
‘Hi,’ he said as she walked in to greet him.
She looked at him and as her lovely dark eyes gazed into his it was all he could do to stop himself reaching for her.
‘Am I too late?’ he asked.
Her eyes held his a moment or two longer, then, smiling she said, ‘I hope not.’
It was hard to tell if she was mad at him, but he didn’t think she was.
‘Your drink,’ she said, as Matty came up behind them.
He took it, then, as Matty went to rejoin the others he said, ‘Next time it’s your turn.’
She frowned, obviously not understanding.
‘To be late,’ he explained. ‘This is the second time I’ve done it to you.’
She smiled. ‘Everyone’s gone for dinner at the Mirabelle,’ she said. ‘We were just about to go too.’ She paused, then said, ‘Would you like to come?’
He looked at her, holding her eyes with his and wanting only to touch her. ‘If that’s what you want,’ he said.
Her lower lip trembled as she caught it between her teeth. She was still looking at him and neither of them seemed to hear the explosion of laughter on the terrace.
His eyes were roaming freely over her face and neck, taking in the lush, coppery hair tumbling around her bare shoulders and exquisite honeyed skin that was so soft and inviting. The gentle slope of her breasts was rising and falling with each breath she took and the light in her eyes was reflecting the emotions in his own.
She gave a small, self-conscious laugh, then, with an absent wave towards the others she said, ‘You met Matty. The others are Gene, Matty’s boyfriend, Rosa, who I work with and Rosa’s date, Ernest. The two sitting in the corner, who I was talking to when you came in, are Joseph and Ally, they’ve just become Scientologists.’
He turned to look, then, taking a sip of his drink he said, ‘Shall we join them?’
Ellen smiled. ‘If that’s what you want.’
A flicker of laughter shot to his eyes and following her outside into the quiet, balmy night, he shook hands with everyone and apologized again for turning up so late. Almost before he knew it he was drawn into a light-hearted banter with Rosa and Matty, and though he held his own well, he was distracted by how closely Ellen was watching him. She had gone to sit the other side of the table, next to Gene, and each time she laughed he felt something deep down inside him start to respond.
Aware of the chemistry between them, Ellen watched the intensity of his expression and felt the heat burn through her. She had been hurt and angry that he had turned up so late and so afraid that he wasn’t going to show at all, that it had virtually ruined the evening. But now he was here and as the others laughed and joked around them, all she really knew was the commanding power of his eyes and a deep, inexpressible longing to touch him.
‘I guess we should be going,’ Matty said, putting her empty glass on the table. ‘The others will be wondering where we are. Are you joining us, Michael?’ she asked.
Michael looked at Ellen and as her eyes met his she heard herself say, ‘You go on ahead, we’ll catch you up later.’
Everyone got up to go. Ellen walked with them to the door and after saying goodbye, she turned back to find Michael sitting on the far balustrade of the veranda, watching her. She remained where she was, at the centre of the room, and as they continued to look at each other she could feel the strength of her need turning her body weak.
She started to speak, but her breath wouldn’t come and her heart faltered as he got to his feet and walked into the room. He stopped in front of her and when she raised her eyes to his, he leaned towards her and kissed her on the mouth. It was the most sensational and erotic kiss she had ever known and as the scent of him coasted through her senses, the taste of him and the feel of him carried her to a point of insane desire. Releasing her, he gazed down into her eyes, then lifting her hand to take her fingertips into his mouth in a way that was letting her know what he was going to do to her nipples. By now the ache in them was so fierce she could barely stand it and the harder he sucked on her fingers the closer she got to losing control.
He dropped her hand and began to circle her lips with his finger. She drew the finger deep into her mouth and sucked it hard. Then her eyes closed and her lips parted as the sensation of his other hand moving down over her neck and across the tops of her breasts stole through her with a soft, insistent command for more. He continued to stroke her, watching her face as she became so aroused she could barely breathe. She wanted his mouth on her breasts so badly she was on the verge of begging. Reaching behind her she unfastened the hooks and eyes of her top, and peeling it away from her skin she let it fall to the floor. His eyes remained on hers, but she could feel the sudden tension in his body, and when finally he lowered his gaze to her breasts she felt them burn into her skin like the most ardent caress.
He was standing so close she could feel his breath on her face and seeing the strain of desire around his mouth she almost fell against him. As though sensing it, he put his hands on her shoulders and holding her there, lowered his lips to her breasts and took first one, then the other nipple tightly into his mouth. Her head fell back as her legs turned weak and the urgency of her desire soared to new heights. He kept going, a relentless assault with his tongue, biting her and sucking until she knew beyond any doubt he could make her come this way. Then suddenly his mouth was on hers, his tongue moving deeply and sensuously inside as he slid his hands to her buttocks and pulled her to his hardness. Feeling him so ready for her she pressed herself in closer, then unfastening the buttons of her wrapover skirt she let it slide to the floor. All she wore now was a tiny pair of lace panties and gold, high-heeled sandals
The kiss went on and on, their lips moulding together, their tongues entwining, their need of each other sounding in the quickening of their breaths and soft moans of desire. Then he was easing her panties over her hips, drawing them down over her thighs and dropping to his knees as he removed them altogether. She looked down at him as taking her buttocks in his hands he pulled
her to him and began to kiss the most intimate part of her until she no longer knew how she was standing.
It was just as her climax was about to break that he reached for her hands and pulled her down with him. Gazing into her eyes once more, he began unbuttoning his shirt while she unfastened his trousers until at last he was naked too. She touched him and felt him so big in her hand, so hard and unyielding that she lay down on the carpet and pulled him down with her.
He groaned aloud as her hand tightened around him. Then suddenly his mouth was hard on hers and he was between her legs, moving right up inside her, stretching her with the enormity of his erection and holding her with the intensity of his desire. Her legs circled his waist and her fingers dug into his shoulders as he pounded her with the full might of his passion and looked down at her with a fierceness that pushed her so close to the edge. Then his mouth covered hers and the sudden change in his rhythm pushed her right out to oblivion.
She screamed and her whole body turned rigid as he raised himself up and looked down to where they were joined. The harsh, pounding break of her orgasm was clenching his cock and ricocheting through him like the commanding pulse of a storm. He could feel her limbs turning weak as her inner muscles gripped him anew. Her arms sank to the floor, but her legs clung to him tightly and her breasts shook with the power of his pounding hips. Then suddenly his own climax exploded, and as the force of it rushed into her he grew so hard and pressed himself so deeply inside her she moaned aloud with the ecstacy and pain.
He held her close, feeling her body meld into his as the thrashing rhythm of their hearts began slowly to subside and the desperate gasping for air became a normal quest for breath. His hand moved up into her hair and as he finally rolled on to his back, she rested her head on his shoulder and eased one leg gently between his.
It was some time before she realized he’d fallen asleep. Smiling to herself she drew herself up to her knees and looked down at him. He was so incredibly beautiful in a wholly masculine way that she felt a quiet surge in her heart as her eyes moved over his body and back to his face. Then, very gently, she shook him awake.