Gage: A Love Under the Lights Novel

by Paige, Rochelle

  “So how do we do this?” I asked. “Exchange phone numbers like normal people and go from there?”

  Six

  Gage

  “Fuck normal. Think more along the lines of extraordinary since that’s what you deserve.”

  Laughter spilled from her plush lips, but I couldn’t see them because she was hiding behind her coffee. “Was that a line from one of your movies? Because it was so . . . cheesy.”

  I stepped forward and tugged the mug from her fingers, setting it down on the counter before placing my hands on her shoulders. Staring into her startled blue eyes, I opened myself up in a way I’d never been tempted to before with any other woman. “Cheesy, but true. What’s also true is that going the normal route would most likely mean getting your phone number and walking away today.”

  She cocked her head to the side as she studied me. A silky dark lock of hair slid along the top of my left hand, and I swiveled my wrist to wrap it around my finger. “Would that be so horrible?”

  I wasn’t the world’s most patient man, and with Morgan, I found myself being even less so. I had a feeling I was going to be greedy when it came to spending time with her, which would be interesting considering who we were and the kind of coverage we’d get if it became known that we were dating. “Not horrible. But a disappointment? Yeah.” I slid my right hand along her shoulder and up her neck to cup her cheek. “I’d prefer to spend time with you now, instead of waiting for who knows how long before seeing you again.”

  “Well, then,” she sighed, her eyes turning a little hazy. “I guess we can let the wooing commence since we’re both already here and all.”

  After swiping my thumb across her cheek, I forced myself to step away before I did something to fuck things up like kiss her. I was desperate for a taste of her, but it would send the wrong message when I needed to prove to her that I really could do the work when it came to dating her. “Have you eaten yet?”

  “Nope.” She snagged her mug and took a quick sip from it. “I got a late start to my morning. So unless coffee counts—and it should since I consider it a vital food group—I haven’t eaten anything today.”

  She looked amazing, but for all I knew, she felt like shit after a late night celebrating her win. “Are you hungry?”

  “Starving,” she confirmed with a smile.

  “What are some of your favorite foods?”

  “Sushi, pasta, pizza, tacos,” she rattled off, waving her free hand up and down her body. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly a salad kind of girl—no matter how many times my trainer tells me I should be.”

  “Remind me to give you the contact information for mine since he knows better than to pull bullshit like that,” I growled.

  There was no way in hell I wanted her to spend any time with someone who gave her a hard time about her weight. “Your curves are fucking gorgeous. They haven’t kept you from landing roles or from earning yourself a Daytime Emmy a couple of years ago and a Golden Globe last night.”

  Her cheeks filled with a pink tinge. “Has the infamous Gage Ryan been following my career?”

  “If I wasn’t before, I sure will be now.” I planned to be up close and personal about it, too.

  “Aww, that’s sweet. Should I start calling you stalker-boy?” she teased.

  “I’m forty-two years old, beautiful. There isn’t anything boy-like about me.”

  Her gaze dropped down to where my hard-as-steel cock pressed against my zipper, and then jerked it back up to my face. The pink in her cheeks deepened to red, and it only made her more attractive to me since most of the women I knew had long since lost the ability to blush. “No, there sure isn’t,” Morgan agreed.

  I chuckled softly, appreciating how she was a much-needed breath of fresh air.

  Fresh air! I had the perfect idea for our first date. “Let me take you out to lunch. A picnic somewhere private for just the two of us.”

  “It sounds perfect, but it’s going to be difficult to find a private place for us to go.” She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. “Somewhere that had better not be your house.”

  I held my hands up and gave her an innocent look. “I promise to wait until at least our third date for that.”

  “And you know that last night doesn’t count as a date, right?” she asked, wagging her finger at me. I nipped at the tip, and she yelped in surprise.

  “Yes, Morgan. I’m aware that last night wasn’t a date because if it had been, then I would have actually gotten to spend time with you instead of chasing after you from party to party.”

  “You really did that?” I nodded, and she beamed up at me. “Allie thought you might have, but it was pretty hard to believe.”

  “Then I guess I’d better bust my ass to prove it to you.” I flashed her a wink. “Starting with the perfect first date.”

  “Okay,” she agreed softly.

  “I need to call my assistant to get everything set up. Can you be ready to go in about fifteen minutes?” I wanted to get her out the door and in my car before she had a chance to change her mind.

  “That depends. Do I need to change first?”

  I eyed her up and down, my gaze lingering on her perky tits long enough for her to start laughing. “Never mind. I’ll take that as a no. I’ll go take care of a couple of things and grab my shoes from my room while you make your call.”

  I pulled my cell out of my pocket, but that was as far as I got because I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the way her ass swayed while she walked down the hallway to her bedroom. Once I could no longer see Morgan, I pulled myself out of my daze and got Shawn on the phone.

  “I need you to get me into that Japanese garden in Little Tokyo. The one downstairs from the cultural center. Set it up for an hour from now with a picnic for two. Sushi and sake.”

  I heard him typing in the background while I was talking, and then he heaved a deep sigh. “You’re asking for the impossible, Boss. They’re closed on Mondays. Plus, food and drink aren’t allowed.”

  “C’mon, if anyone can pull it off, you can. It’s why I pay you the big bucks.”

  There was more typing and then the sound of a ding. “Damn straight; because I earn every single penny.”

  “Now would be the perfect time for you to give me yet another demonstration of your skills.”

  “Lucky for you, I was able to get a hold of someone who can get us in. It’s going to cost you, though,” he warned.

  “I’ll pay whatever it takes as long as your contact knows how to keep their mouth shut.”

  “Of course, she does, Boss. I wouldn’t use her otherwise,” he assured me.

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. Getting you in the door was only the first step. Now I’ve got to run so I can make sure the picnic is perfect,” he warned before hanging up.

  “Did you get everything situated?” Morgan asked from behind me. When I turned around, the first thing I noticed was that she’d added a pair of knee-high boots to her outfit. Then I realized that in the short amount of time I’d been on the phone, she’d also managed to pull her hair back into a low ponytail and put on mascara and lip gloss.

  “Wow, you really were able to get ready in ten minutes,” I said with appreciation. “I’m beginning to suspect that you’re the perfect woman.”

  “I’m far from perfect,” she laughed as I led her out the door and to my car.

  Nothing she said or did during the drive downtown proved me wrong. Our conversation flowed as though we’d known each other for years. If I hadn’t been excited to surprise her with our picnic location, I would have been sorely tempted to keep driving instead. But after I’d led her into the cultural center, onto the elevator down to the basement, and along the hallway, her gasp of surprise made it all worthwhile.

  Shawn had outdone himself. On the small stone patio, overlooking the garden, was a wrought-iron table with lanterns strung above it. Two places were set with linen napkins folded into the shape of cher
ry blossoms on top of each plate. A stack of white boxes from my favorite sushi place were off to one side, along with two bottles of sake. The soothing sound of the waterfall surrounded us.

  “Wow,” Morgan breathed out. “You weren’t kidding when you said you could give me romance if I wanted it.”

  I promised myself, right then and there, that I’d get that same reaction from her as often as possible.

  Seven

  Morgan

  We hadn’t even truly started the date and already it ranked as the best one I’d ever had. My stomach was full of butterflies as Gage pulled my chair out and helped me into the seat before shaking out my cloth napkin and setting it on my lap. I forgot to breathe for a second when he turned his head and grinned at me like he knew that his closeness affected me. Only when he stepped back did the butterflies back off even a little bit.

  As he took his seat across from me at the table, I looked at the tower of sushi. I chuckled as I gestured to the boxes. “Did you order the entire menu?” I teased.

  He laughed dryly as he reached out and raised one of the bottles of sake, lifting an eyebrow at me in question as he gestured to the ceramic sake cup in front of me. I nodded my head as I used my index and middle finger to slide it forward so it would be easier for him to pour.

  “You said you liked sushi, but we hadn’t narrowed it down to exactly what kind, so yes, I had my assistant order most of the menu.”

  He set the sake bottle down after filling both of our cups. When I lifted my cup, he held his out to toast.

  “To new adventures,” he said.

  Taken at face value, it was a perfectly innocuous statement, but I knew he meant it in a deeper way. My pulse raced as I nodded and clinked my cup with his before I took a small sip of the tasty rice wine.

  “Perfectly chilled and incredibly delicious,” I said as we set our cups down in unison. “But if I want to be functional when we leave here, I need to put something in my stomach.”

  Gage nodded as he lifted one of the white boxes, took off the lid, and surveyed the contents. “We’ve got rainbow roll, dragon roll, and spider roll in this one. Any interest?”

  I picked up the beautiful wooden chopsticks at my plate and started plucking pieces out. “I’m all about the spider roll, but I’m a solid no on the dragon, and I have to be in the mood for rainbow roll,” I answered.

  “Funny”—he chuckled—“because that’s my stance as well. I’m not a fan of eel, so I never order the dragon roll.”

  We both took a pass on the next two boxes of rolls. Although artfully presented, the eel avocado roll was an obvious no from both of us, and the firecracker, snowcorn, tataki, and spicy tuna rolls didn’t entice us, either.

  I wrinkled my nose as I pinched a good amount of pickled ginger between my sticks and set it down on the corner of my plate, the only thing I’d taken out of the last two boxes. “We’re going to have so much food leftover. I feel bad,” I said.

  “Next time, I’ll ask what you like so we can narrow down the field,” he answered as he opened the next container.

  “Ah, this is a good one,” he said cheerfully. “California roll, Philly roll and dynamite roll.”

  I nodded enthusiastically as I began plucking pieces out and setting them down on my plate. “All of these are a solid yes.”

  “We’re very sushi compatible,” he noted as I scooped out a bit of wasabi and added it to my plate. Gage’s choices mirrored mine, but he took triple the amount of wasabi. I raised an eyebrow as he closed the container and set it down.

  “I’m ninety percent certain your insides will melt if you eat that much wasabi paste,” I laughed.

  He looked over at my plate and shook his head. “I’m the one with the normal amount on my plate. You’ve only got enough to lightly graze your food,” he teased. “Do you even taste it?”

  “I’ll eat super-hot wing sauce on everything, but wasabi is a whole other beast. When I first started eating sushi, I was a little too generous with it. My eyes didn’t stop watering for almost an hour, and later that day, my nose was still burning. The four glasses of ice water I guzzled didn’t help at all. A little goes a very, very long way.”

  “Ah, yes,” he chuckled as he lifted the last box. “I can see where that would certainly have put a damper on things. The knee-jerk reaction is to drink ice water, but that doesn’t help at all. Anytime you eat something too hot, drink a glass of milk. That’ll help the most.”

  I grimaced. “I love ice-cold milk with a warm chocolate chip cookie, but the idea of drinking it with sushi is just wrong.”

  “You’ve got me there,” he conceded. “There’s definitely a reason milk isn’t the drink of choice in sushi restaurants,” he said as he took the lid off the final and biggest box.

  The tantalizing scent of tempura wafted across the table just then, dismissing all thoughts of milk. “Tempura is my downfall,” I sighed as I leaned forward.

  “And now I know for sure,” he said with a chuckle, “we’re a match. I’ve got shrimp tempura, lobster tempura roll and a ton of tempura veggies.”

  “All of that is a yes,” I said cheerfully as we each took what we wanted from the box.

  We each prepared our sushi a little differently—meaning Gage used a heck of a lot more wasabi then the minuscule amount I waved over each piece. When I was finished, I was left with half of the amount I’d taken from the container, but Gage used all of his and went back for a little more. I chuckled as I picked a piece of shrimp tempura roll up and dipped it into the bowl of soy sauce on my plate before popping it into my mouth. The roll was perfection, the delicate tempura batter melting in my mouth as I chewed the succulent shrimp. The lanterns above us swayed gently in the breeze as we enjoyed the sushi. I was a little surprised at how comfortable I felt with Gage, all things considered. He’d been so off-putting the night before, but there was no sign of that version of him anywhere. Instead, he was relaxed and pleasant, the tension between us sensual, the anxiety of the night before gone. It was a testament to the quality of the sushi that I was able to eat as much as I did, considering I felt hot and flushed inside because of the way he focused on me.

  “What’re you working on now?” he asked between bites.

  “Lots and lots of voice work for the next few months,” I laughed. “On Wednesday, I start laying down vocal tracks for the new Pixar movie I signed on for. I’m a unicorn named Maude who hates glitter and fun. Think Grumpy Cat with a horn and a rainbow colored tail. After that’s done I’ll move on to doing post-production work on a movie I wrapped about four months ago. Just the usual—dubbing and a possible reshoot of one scene the director thinks he might want to change direction on. How about you?”

  Gage grimaced as he finished chewing a bite of asparagus tempura. “I’m headed to Georgia on Thursday to finish the second half of principal photography on the next installment of my Hunting Evil series.”

  I’d seen all five of the Hunting Evil movies multiple times. They were a cross between James Bond and the Underworld franchises. High intensity, edge-of-your-seat thrill rides that were like box-office crack, each one bigger and more successful than the last.

  “I love those movies.”

  “Normally, I do, too, but right now, I want to leave town like I want a hole in my head.”

  I wanted to think he was talking about us—about me—but I couldn’t be sure. “Bad timing?” I asked.

  Gage’s head cocked to the side as he gave me a devilish grin. “Fishing for compliments, beautiful?”

  I felt my cheeks heat as I bit my lip and looked down at my plate. “I didn’t want to assume—”

  “Assume away,” he answered. “I promised you dates and romance and leaving town right when I’ve found you isn’t ideal.”

  If someone had told me yesterday that Gage Ryan would upend my entire life in about twenty-four hours, I’d have rolled my eyes and called them foolish. But there I was, less than a day after meeting him, and I already felt attached. I wasn’t e
ager for him to go to Georgia, either.

  “Anyone who dates someone that works on location has been through this,” I murmured. “If it’s meant to be, we’ll figure it out.”

  “You’re damn right we will,” he said firmly. “I’m not letting you go, Morgan. Not for a minute. I’m not looking forward to the separation, but I’m all about keeping this going for the long haul.”

  And just like that, the butterflies were back.

  Eight

  Gage

  I ran a hand through my hair, my patience at its end as I sat across from my agent. Yesterday hadn’t gone how I’d wanted, with Morgan and I having opposite schedules. It had sucked not to be able to see her. We’d only managed to text between meetings, and I’d had to be satisfied with knowing that I’d see her one last time before I left town in the morning. But I had to make it through my day before that happened.

  “Stop making excuses and meet me at Casa Vega for dinner,” Mario snapped. “We have shit to go over before you head to Georgia.”

  “I already told you, Mario. I can’t do it,” I clipped out, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “You don’t have anything on your calendar for tonight. I know because I checked.”

  I ground my teeth in frustration. If I knew for sure that he’d keep a lid on my relationship with Morgan, I’d tell him about my plans for the night. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Mario; it was that I knew him too well. He’d see the situation as too good of an opportunity to pass up because the media would go crazy over a matchup between me and an actress who had won a Golden Globe, was nominated for an Oscar, and whose name had been romantically linked to another actor.

  The story would make damn good fodder to sell papers, and it would potentially boost my box-office worth for the contracts Mario was currently negotiating for me. But fuck if I would use Morgan as leverage. I wasn’t certain about exactly what was going on between the two of us, but I damn well knew that it was more than the usual superficial Hollywood relationship where both parties used the other to boost their career. Morgan deserved better from me, and she was going to get it no matter who I had to piss off.