Hot Set

by Ivy Blake

  “Ensley, I’m sorry that this happened to you, under my watch,” I said, and she turned to me and shook her head.

  “I don’t blame anyone but myself. Ryan was going to find me eventually. Jamison blames himself too, but you have no idea how grateful I am to you and your MC for rescuing me. You have all done a good job, and I want you to know that” she said and sat down on her bed.

  I was standing in front of her, watching her as she spoke.

  What had I done to deserve the company of this woman? Why was she even interested in still talking to me? What did she see in me that I didn’t?

  A smile was spreading on Ensley’s face.

  “Thorn, I need you to stop worrying about me,” she said, and I stepped up to her. I took her face in my hands and pressed her cheeks to my stomach as I stroked her head.

  “You will never have to be afraid again,” I said, and she looked up at me and nodded her head.

  “And it’s all because of you. You made that happen, thank you,” she said, and I leaned forward and kissed her lips again. There was so much that I needed to tell her. I needed her to know how I felt about her, but I didn’t have the words for it. I didn’t know what to say to explain to her what I was feeling.

  “Thorn, I’m glad you came back, that you came here,” she said when we parted again. I stroked her forehead and her head. I was in her bedroom. We were alone together in her apartment. There was only one thing this was going to lead to, but for the first time in my life; I wanted more than just sex from a woman.

  “There was nowhere else for me to go,” I replied, and I watched as Ensley’s eyes widened. That was not the response she was expecting from me. That was not what I was expecting to say either.

  “I’m glad we bumped into each other than night. I’m glad that stupid hipster was hitting on me,” she added with a laugh, and now I took her into my arms again. I was biding my time to say the words, but how long was I going to keep it to myself?

  “Ensley, I’m in love with you,” I said in a rush, and when the words came out of my mouth, there was a serene silence in the room. It was like I could hear the light bulbs glowing in the room, I could hear her breathing and my own heart beating.

  I had never said that word. I didn’t even know what that word sounded like aloud, coming from me.

  Ensley gasped when she heard it and then stood up with a jerk.

  “I’m in love with you too, Thorn,” she said and threw her arms around my neck.

  I was holding her close to myself like I wasn’t prepared to ever let her go. She was the most amazing thing that had happened to me, and even though I thought I had lost her there for a while, she was back in my arms again now. And she loved me! She felt the same things that I was feeling for her!

  We fell into bed together, still wrapped up in each other’s arms. I whispered in her ear, everything that I wanted to do to her, and she giggled and snuggled even closer to me.

  Outside her room, the sun was rising, and the sky had turned bright. The rest of the city was going to be waking up, and we had just gotten into bed. As much as I loved her, and as desperately as I wanted to fuck her again, with Ensley in my arms and with the threat gone now-we were both falling asleep. It was going to be the best sleep of our lives.

  Epilogue

  Two Months Later

  Ensley

  “Without my boyfriend Thorn, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Family is everything,” I said, just as a crowd of cheer rang out in the audience. It was another talk show and another host whose questions I had to answer.

  These days, I made it a point to be thankful every day for the blessings I had in my life. One of the most important of which, was having Thorn there with me. Waking up beside him was a blessing. I had never felt more valued and never been more in love before.

  In the past two months, I had recovered everything. It was only after being in a relationship with Thorn that I had discovered how deeply Ryan had affected me. I had regained my confidence, I had regained self-love, and slowly, I was also starting to rebuild my lost relationship with friends from my past and family. Not all hope was lost, and Thorn had been a major influence in that.

  Being with him had shown me that I could have both, a loving relationship and my own life.

  Everything I had thought about Thorn when he had first walked into the bar that night was wrong. I had misjudged him and stereotyped him. Yes, he was a hard man, toughened by the life he led. Yes, he was the President of a Motorcycle Club, and at some point, they had been involved in businesses that were illegal and dangerous. However, now, they were running a legitimate protection agency, and no matter how tough Thorn’s exterior was, he was the softest most genuine man inside. I was a lucky woman, even though he never forgot to show me how lucky he was to have me either.

  I unclipped the microphone from my lapel and stood up from the couch. I shook hands with the host of the talk show and slowly made my way to the back of the studio while waving at the audience who were still cheering.

  The show was going well.

  I had arrived on the sets of the shooting for the second season, with a few healing bruises on my face. To my publicist and makeup artist, I lied and said that I had fallen and hurt myself and they had worked their magic on my face with the makeup.

  Within two months, we had shot most of the episodes of the second season of the sitcom, and the streaming service had already signed us on for two more seasons. I was doing the talk show circuits around the country again, and in a few days, I was scheduled to be back in LA to complete shooting the remaining seasons.

  Thorn traveled with me sometimes but he was heading up a serious budding operation now, and I was fully supportive of the fact that he needed to be in LA as much as he could. He had a business to run, something that he was the boss of.

  When I got off stage, Jamison was waiting for me. He was on a twenty-four-hour security detail for me when I was traveling. Even though I tried explaining to Thorn that I didn’t need Jamison with me, now that Ryan was out of the picture; he refused to listen. He believed that with my growing national popularity, it would only be some time before some other crazy fans started stalking me and he wanted to be prepared for that.

  Jamison and I talked and laughed as he walked me to the dressing room at the back. In the past two months, we had become good friends, and I relied on him for everything when Thorn wasn’t around.

  “Oh, by the way, I was speaking to my co-star Julian today, and he wants Thorn to get in touch with him. He thinks he needs protection too,” I told Jamison, who nodded his head, looking impressed. In the past two months, I had recommended their business to all my friends and coworkers in the industry. Hollywood was full of people who needed bodyguards, and they all had enough money to pay for it.

  I was only too happy to help their business grow.

  “I’ll be waiting for you here when you’re done,” Jamison declared as I entered the dressing room.

  “And then, straight to LA,” I said, already giddy with excitement at the prospect of seeing Thorn again soon.

  “Straight to LA,” he chimed and I shut the door, so I could change.

  At the dressing table, I started taking off the layers of makeup the makeup artists had plastered on my face for the interview. I was excited to see Thorn. I had been away from home for the entire weekend and even though we would only have one evening tonight before it was back to work early the next morning; we needed it.

  It felt like I hadn’t seen him in forever. We had both been so busy in the past few weeks, that we had no time other than to fall into bed together every night, have sex and fall asleep in each other’s arms. It made me happy knowing that I went to sleep with him, but I also felt like we needed some time to ourselves.

  “See you tonight?” I texted him quickly before I left the dressing room again. Thorn replied almost immediately.

  “Can’t wait, my princess” came his reply.

  I had a skip in my step as Jamison
led me out to the parking lot now. We were going to drive straight to the airport from here, and I was already counting the hours before I saw Thorn again.

  I was grateful for having him and grateful for every wrong decision and twist and turn, that had brought me to this stage of my life. I wouldn’t have changed any of it because it had led me to him.

  ***

  I was on the phone with my publicist, when Jamison held the door of my limo open for me. I still lived in the same apartment in LA. The only difference was that now, I shared it with Thorn. On the days that I was out of the city, he spent his time in Pomona, in his old apartment so he could be closer to the MC and the business.

  “Thanks, Jamison, see you later,” I called out to him, while I rushed to take the stairs up. It was still only ten, which meant that chances were that Thorn hadn’t reached the apartment yet. He was a workaholic, who worked late into the night.

  “Thanks, Sandy, I have all of that, but I really need to go now. I’m almost home,” I said to my publicist, who hurriedly ended the call.

  Hopefully, I would have at least half an hour so I could change into something comfortable and prepare myself for the talk we were going to have.

  I had been rehearsing this for four days now. Even though I was a professional actor, it had been pretty hard keeping a secret of this caliber.

  I jiggled the keys in the lock and threw the apartment door open; only to find that I wasn’t alone.

  Our apartment had been covered in candles and vases of red roses. Thorn was standing in the middle of the living room, with his hands clasped in front of him and I had no idea how long he had been waiting for me.

  “The longer you stay away from me, the more I regret not going with you,” were the first words he said to me when I let my purse fall to the ground.

  “You did all this?” I asked with a laugh, noticing the cinnamon and sandalwood scented candles burning on the window ledge. He knew I liked those particular scents and I also knew that he despised them. Clearly, he wanted to make this night special.

  I rushed towards the man of my dreams, and he threw his arms open to me. I fell into him, and he hugged me close to himself. We were kissing before either of us had a chance to say anything else.

  “Welcome home, princess,” he murmured in my ear, and I looked up at him with nothing but pure love in my eyes. Thorn had given himself to me, in ways that I knew he had never imagined himself capable of giving. I had been keeping a secret from him for four days which he deserved to know about.

  “Thorn, I have something to tell you,” I said, and slowly, I loosened his grip on my arms and stepped away from him. I needed to look at him while I said it. I needed to see his honest reaction. Thorn’s brows were crossed while he looked at me.

  “I’m listening,” he said, and I gulped.

  “Four days ago, when you were away in Pomona, I woke up feeling sick and I went to my doctor for a checkup,” I said. Thorn’s green eyes darkened, and he closed the gap between us.

  “Ensley, whatever it is, we will get through it together,” he said, reaching for me again. I couldn’t have loved him more than I did at that moment, and I nearly choked when I spoke again.

  “Well, I’m pregnant. You’re going to be a father,” I said, and we both remained silent. Thorn was staring at me.

  His hug came out of nowhere. His usual, all-encompassing, tightest bear hug. The hug that was capable of making me feel like I was safe. Thorn had me in his arms, and he nuzzled his head into my shoulder and stroked my back. I couldn’t believe that I was nervous about telling him!

  He released me, then knelt down in front of me so he could cradle my belly in both hands.

  “There is a part of me growing inside you now, Ensley,” he said, and when he looked up, I could see a hint of what he was feeling. He was proud and satisfied, and if he was protective of me before, I could see that the feeling had tripled in the last few moments.

  I couldn’t stop laughing. I felt like I was going to cry too. This was the happiest moment of my life, and I was glad that I was sharing it with this man.

  “I was worried you wouldn’t be so happy,” I said, and Thorn stood up, to pull me into his arms again.

  “There is nothing you can tell me, Ensley, that will make me angry with you. I trust you. You are going to be the mother of my child. I can’t believe how happy that makes me!” he said, and as he held me, I knew that he meant every word of it.

  We were holding each other tightly. Neither of us was willing to let go. I had a baby growing inside me. I had a career to grow too and a man to take care of, who was equally taking care of me. Even three months ago, I couldn’t have imagined myself in a situation like this, and now, I had everything I ever wanted. I had things that I didn’t even know I wanted.

  We were kissing again. Thorn’s tongue was in my mouth, his hands were in my hair and then protectively around my shoulders.

  “I’m always going to keep you safe, Ensley. I’m always going to protect you,” he said in my ears as I gently swayed in his arms. I had no doubt in my mind that he meant every word. That he would fight until the end if that were what it took to keep our baby and me safe. My favorite music was playing in the background as we swayed together. He had remembered to turn it on before I came in through the door. Thorn had thought of everything, just so that we could have a memorable romantic night together.

  The truth was that there wasn’t much more I needed, besides this man and the baby we had made together.