Starburst

by Jettie Woodruff

  Going in was worse than she had expected. Usually when she went in, it wasn’t bad, and the paparazzi wasn’t there until someone twittered or text her location. When she came out was when it was crazy, but there had already been three other actors dining together, and she was now a perk.

  Peyton put on her sunglasses, even though the sun was behind the tall buildings. Chase opened her door, and she dropped her head as she walked, and he used his arm as a shield and lead her to the door, away from the clicking of the cameras and the screaming questions, which she ignored and didn’t answer one.

  Once inside, she removed her sunglasses, and turned to see where Kevin was, and he was right behind her. The hostess led them to their table with all eyes on them as they made their way to the dark corner table. Kevin let her sit facing away from the room of spectators or as much as possible anyway.

  “Would you like a wine list?” The waitress asked her, and not him, and it kind of pissed him off.

  “No, the house wine will be fine, thank you,” she replied, and she left to retrieve their wine.

  “What if I didn’t want wine?” Kevin asked, only half joking.

  “Then you don’t have to drink it. Order something else,” she said in a flirtatious manner. He wasn’t about to ruin their night with his insecurities, and she was going to make sure of it.

  He couldn’t help but smile at her and then she surprised the hell out of him. She brought her hand to the middle of the table, palm side up and looked at him, gesturing for him to take it and he of course did.

  They placed their order, and he ordered the same thing that she did, when she told him how good the Seafood Thaliana was.

  “I suppose that the answer would be no, if I asked you to dance,” he stated.

  Peyton looked around to the dance floor and the room full of people. She knew that she would be on every internet tabloid site there was by the time she got home, but for the first time in her life she didn’t care what the media thought about who she was seeing or what they would say about her.

  “Ask me,” she replied.

  “Would you care to dance Ms. Paxton?”

  “I would love to dance with you,” she smiled, and he stood and took her hand. Again all eyes were on them as he led her to the middle of the dance floor, hoping for a little bit of privacy.

  Kevin wrapped his arms around her, and she put hers around his neck. The piano player was amazing, and between the romantic music, his hard body pressed against her, and the smell of his cologne, she was emotionally intoxicated.

  Peyton looked up to him with a warm smile, and he returned the smile and a kiss. She wanted to look around really quick to see if anyone had seen him, but she was sure that they did.

  “Have I told you how beautiful you are today?” he asked her pulling her closer to him.

  “I don’t think you have,” she replied, but he had, five times already.

  He snickered, “Are you a liar or you just like hearing it?”

  “I just like hearing it.”

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered, to the side of her lips and then felt her smile on his. “And I love you,” he added and felt the smile dissipate.

  She looked up at him with a serious expression.

  “You don’t have to say anything,” he said and kissed the top of her head.

  “But I do Kevin. I am just having a hard time saying it. I don’t think I have said I love you to someone since Fletcher, and I was too young to know what it even meant back then.”

  He kissed her lips softly again. “That’s close enough to saying it to me.”

  “I don’t want to go see a movie,” she whispered, to his lips, and he knew exactly what it meant.

  They ate their delicious meal and laughed and talked the whole time. Peyton could feel the effects of the three glasses of wine, and didn’t know if she was intoxicated from him or the alcohol.

  She text Chase after they had shared a piece of strawberry cheesecake to let him know they were ready. As soon as he text her back, letting her know that he was in front of the restaurant, they walked out and Kevin held her hand this time.

  The sidewalk was even crazier as he opened the door for them and shielded her as best he could with his arm.

  “Do you ever get used to that?” Kevin asked.

  “No, I don’t think you do,” she admitted. After spending two weeks in Utah, she wasn’t sure she loved the attention as much as she once had, and longed to be able to go out in public without the constant audience and publicity.

  Normally she would get a little break, and it wouldn’t be so bad for a while, but if she was going to go right into another movie, she knew that she would continue to be one of the marketing features for any and every tabloid out there. And for the first time in her life, she didn’t know if she wanted it.

  She slid over to Kevin, and he held her hand as they drove through the city. Kevin asked her what different buildings were, and she had Chase drive to where he could see the Hollywood sign after he asked about it.

  “This place right here will be where Alley does the red carpet event for her movie,” she told him pointing to the building and then explained to him how it all worked, how she would walk down the red carpet signing autographs, the press wall and the interviews.

  “Do the paparazzi chase her like they do you?” he wanted to know.

  “Unfortunately they do, but it is more my fault than hers. If she wouldn’t be my daughter she wouldn’t be recognized until after doing her first movie, but beings she is the daughter of not only one but two media whores, she got it full blown right out of the gate.”

  “Thanks Chase,” Peyton told him as he opened the door for them.

  “You’re very welcome and feel free to call anytime,” he replied, and reminded himself to call Trevas and thank him, knowing that he had never worked for Peyton Paxton before, and was sure he wouldn’t have then, had it not been for Trevas. He knew that she had always used Jolly Security, and he hated those bastards, and was more than happy to take their clients away from them.

  “Let’s go for a walk,” Kevin told her taking her hand.

  “Walk where? Did you not see the four or five cars that followed us, and are waiting right around the property line, someplace with their high powered cameras?”

  “I saw them, but I don’t care.”

  “I have heels on.”

  “So take them off,” he smirked.

  “We’ll go for a walk tomorrow. I promise,” she begged, not wanting to walk. There was no place to walk around her house. They could walk the lane to the gate, right into the eyes of the cameras but other than that they were in a very limited walking space.

  “Fine, we won’t go for a walk,” he agreed, and she was happy.

  Chapter 23

  Peyton was right about the tabloids, and when she typed her name in the search bar, twenty three articles appeared for her to take her pick. Her and Kevin sat at the table drinking coffee the next morning and laughed at the speculations of Peyton Paxton’s mystery man. They clicked on the pictures and of course there was one with them dancing, holding hands, kissing, and one of him feeding her the cheesecake.

  “You seem to be okay with this now Peyton,” he commented.

  She was sitting at the end of the table and pulled herself up, sliding her feet under her butt, she leaned over to him and kissed him. “I am okay with this Kevin,” she said and he smiled.

  “I am glad; you are okay with this because I am so madly in love with you.”

  “I am in love with you too, however that doesn’t change the fact that you are still nine hours away from me,” she said and sat back down. She hated the thought of him not living closer. How in the hell could this ever work?

  “Do this movie and commute from Utah and then take a break for a while.”

  “I was thinking about not doing the movie,” she confessed.

  “I don’t think that is such a good idea.”

  “Really? Why?”
r />   “Because I was there when you got the call, and I saw how excited you were to finally get the chance to work with this director.”

  Peyton thought about it, and she knew that he was right. She had always wanted to work with Craig Jenson, and was more than excited about working with Ben Samuel again. Maybe she could still do it and commute from Utah. It would be harder and she would be traveling back and forth to LA more than she would like, but at least she could stay in her own home and not get stuck in a hotel.

  “Are you sure you want anything to do with my crazy life? Because if I was the one on the sideline looking in, I would probably run as fast as I could.”

  “I tried that, it didn’t work,” he smiled. “I’m not running.”

  “Oh, I wanted to watch KCW’s morning news show,” she remembered, jumping up and going to the couch. “Alley is on right after that girl Hailey Arlington.”

  “Who’s Hailey Arlington?” he asked and followed her to the sofa.

  She threw her bare legs over him and flipped on the flat screen TV. “She’s Alley’s rival right now. Her movie premiers the same week, and when that happens it’s a big publicity battle, usually between the actors.”

  The show was just starting, and the host was already sitting with Hailey Arlington.

  “Thank you for joining us Hailey.”

  “Thank you for having me,” she replied.

  “Wow she is beautiful,” Peyton said as they watched.

  Hailey was tall, tanned and had beautiful long dark hair, and she wore a dark blue dress that looked sensational on her with a white diamond shape around the top half that showed her cleavage and at least three inch stilettos.

  The host was very good and stayed on topic of her new movie ‘Bitten’ and Hailey was a gem with her speaking presentation, and it made Peyton want to hire her to give Alley some lessons. They didn’t bring the two girls out together, and once Hailey Arlington was off the set they announced Alley Fletcher and Peyton moaned. She was wearing a pair of holly jeans with one of the knees completely missing, her black combat boots, white t-shirt with a black panther, and a black leather jacket.

  “Well, at least her hair looks good,” Peyton stated.

  “I think she looks awesome,” Kevin replied, and Peyton turned to look at him like he had just bumped his head or something.

  “Did you not see the girl before her?” she asked.

  “Yes, I saw her just fine, and that may work for her, but I have to give Alley credit for not being fake and staying true to herself. How many other actors do you think would have the nerve to wear what they want, say what they want and not give a shit what anyone else thought while they were doing it?”

  “I guess that is a good point. I shouldn’t expect her to be anyone but her, I guess.”

  “I don’t think it would matter if you did expect it with Alley.”

  “You are so right.”

  Alley did just fine, and she did seem to be getting a little better with the interviews. They continued to watch, and Alley stayed when they introduced Jerrod Jackson. He sat beside of her, and the host continued to ask questions about the movie and directed them more toward him now than her.

  Peyton flipped it off once it was over and asked Kevin what he wanted to do today.

  He ran his hand up her leg. “Before or after I make love to you?”

  “You want to make love to me?” she teased.

  “I am going to make love to you,” he corrected her, and she laughed.

  “Take your pants off,” she demanded.

  He listened, and she slid out of hers as well. She straddled him on the sofa, and he lifted her shirt off. She moved her hand down and stroked him a few times as she kissed him, and then slid him into her. They both moaned a sensual moan as they felt the sensations of each other’s body.

  Kevin kissed and sucked on her breast as she rode him deep, and slow until she felt herself building and picked up speed. He moved his thumb down to help intensify her orgasm, and it did just that. She dropped her head and moaned a loud pleasurable moan as he thrust deep into her, holding her hips and escaped with her.

  He pulled her lips to his and kissed her.

  “Now what do you want to do?” she asked, on his lips.

  Kevin didn’t have time to answer when the front door opened, and they both jumped.

  “Jesus Christ Fletcher!” She yelled, and grabbed her shirt to cover her breast.

  “Sorry,” he said and stepped back out, closing the door behind him.

  Peyton and Kevin dressed, and although Kevin was amused and didn’t really care that they had just gotten busted by Fletcher, Peyton was angry with him.

  She opened the door. “What the hell do you want?”

  “I’m sorry Peyton. I am flying to Chicago for a cast interview with Alley. She wanted me to stop by here and get her e-reader.”

  Peyton walked upstairs to her room with a glare at Fletcher. She looked around and opened a couple of drawers looking for it. She found it in her desk drawer, right beside of the bag of weed.

  “Here, now get the hell out and start knocking for God sakes,” she demanded.

  “I was hoping for breakfast,” he teased, and she threw him a dirty look. Normally she would have made them breakfast, and ate with him, but she didn’t want to have breakfast with him. She wanted Kevin all to herself and wanted him to leave.

  “Fine, I’m going,” he said retreating, “But I am a little pissed, you never did that to me,” he stated, and she shoved him out the door with him laughing.

  Peyton and Kevin spent the rest of the week together, and most of it was spent in bed. She had Chase come and drive them to the airport on Saturday morning. He ended up waiting outside of the car for over thirty minutes because Peyton didn’t want to let him go. She begged him to stay one more week, but he said he couldn’t, he had to work, and he was meeting with a contractor to start on the school next week.

  He finally kissed her one more quick time and got out, knowing that he was getting close to missing his flight. She called Alley on the ride back, and then Trevas when she didn’t answer. She was hoping that they were coming home, but Trevas said that they were not and wouldn’t be home until Wednesday.

  Peyton opened the front door and never felt so lonely in her life. She looked at the clock, and it was only eleven in the morning, and she wondered if it was too early to drink something really strong. She even thought about going upstairs and getting Alley’s bag and rolling herself a joint, but she wouldn’t have known where to start.

  She plopped on the couch and called Kay.

  “Hello,” Don answered her phone.

  “Hey Don, its Peyton, is Kay around there?”

  “Yeah, hang on. She just walked out to the mailbox. How are you?” he asked.

  “I am fine,” she lied. She wasn’t fine, and she didn’t want to be in this humongous house alone anymore. She wanted to be where Kevin was, and she didn’t care if it was Alaska. Well, maybe not Alaska.

  “Good, did Kevin leave yet?” he wanted to know.

  “Yes he is in the sky as we speak.”

  “Here’s Kay, you take care.”

  “You too Don.”

  “Hey,” Kay said, taking the phone.

  “I hate you Kay.”

  Kay laughed. “No you don’t.”

  “No I don’t, but why couldn’t you have had a great guy friend that lived in LA?”

  “Did you have a good time?”

  “Yes, we always have a good time together. That’s what sucks.”

  “So did you come to any decisions?”

  “Kevin wants me to commute from there for this movie.”

  “And what do you think about that?”

  “I think I am crazy in love with the man, and I would commute from mars to be with him.”

  Kay smiled and was happy for the both of them and hoped that it all worked out. She would love for Peyton to be closer to her, and looked forward to her and Don doing things with them.


  *****

  Kay and Don flew in with Kevin for the premier of Alley’s movie. The red carpet event was to be held on Monday, and they arrived on Friday and planned on spending five days at Peyton’s house, and attend the premier with them. Peyton’s plan was to fly back with them and spend a couple of weeks with Kevin, and she couldn’t wait to see them.

  Chase tried to tell her to wait in the car for them, but she refused, and he along with two other body men followed her into the LAX airport to wait on her friends. They shielded her as best they could away from the paparazzi and screaming fans, and they all were oblivious to her, she was too excited to see Kevin to pay them any mind.

  She knew that she was being photographed and could have cared less when she saw him. She ran to him and threw herself in his arms, and he embraced her feeling, the exact same way. He too was beside himself wanting to get to her for the past three days. They talked on the phone or text several times a day, but it didn’t help with the excitement. The six weeks of not seeing each other seemed like six years.

  She hugged Kay and Don, and then held Kevin’s hand as the three bodyguards led them to the awaiting car. Don sat in the front with Chase and Peyton wished that Kay would have sat on his lap so that she could attack Kevin.

  As soon as they were in the SUV and the doors were closed, Peyton turned and kissed him with all tongue. “Hi,” she said with a big smile to his lips.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he replied, and she moved away, for now.

  Kay didn’t mind a bit, and thought it was adorable that the two of them were so in love and couldn’t keep their hands off of each other.

  Peyton told Kay that they could put their things in the same downstairs bedroom that she stayed in before and then walked with Kevin to deposit his things in her room.

  He closed the door behind them and pulled her to him, crushing his mouth with hers. She lifted his t-shirt over his head, and they both toed their shoes off and undressed as quickly as they could. He grabbed her and tossed her to the bed, not letting her out of his arms. He was ready before they ever made it to the bed and plunged deep into her, causing her to arch her back and moan in ecstasy. There love making was quick, which was all they needed, and they both came together at precisely the same moment.