The Trouble with Marrying a Movie Star (20 page)

"I see," he said with that grin.

I watched as he moistened his lips, before swallowing, hard. I was starting to feel uncomfortable, yet intrigued by how this man was making me feel. In hindsight, I should have left, but if he could make me feel this way, what would other women feel if he was Thomas?

I continued. "When I placed the book back on the shelf, I found myself going back to it. I started sneaking peeks at the pictures, and then started reading the chapters. I'm not sure how long I stayed there until I got up enough nerve to buy it."

"How long did it take you to read it?" he asked with a knowing look.

"I finished it that night." We both laughed and took a sip of our respective tea. "That book showed me a different world." I spoke mostly to myself.

"Are you into the lifestyle?"

I dribbled some tea on myself. "No! I researched it, but that is the extent of it." He gave me an
'I think you're hiding something'
face. "Really, and if I might add, that is actually none of your business."

"I agree. I just wanted to see you blush again."

My mouth dropped. Okay, he was openly flirting with me and I was starting to think this little talk might not have been a good idea. "Look, Ethan. This is not a casting couch call. I'm not the one who has the final say in who's hired."

"I'm sure you're a very persuasive woman, Alexandria."

"Andria. You can call me Andria. I'm just letting you know,
this
," I pointed between him and me, "is only a get to know you kind of thing."

"That's all I was hoping for."

It sounded innocent enough, but the look on his face said otherwise. I sat up straight and folded my arms. "Do you have any other questions for me that will help you understand my characters?"

"Thomas is a true English gentleman who is fascinated by the culture of the American woman, ahh…"

"Maggie." I helped him out with the heroine's name.

"Yes, Maggie. Every time Thomas...let's say, took her," he smirked. "She was his in every way. There was something strangely romantic in their erotic relationship."

"I purposely did that," I stated as I eased back into my seat. "Thomas was never into the lifestyle. They just happened to share like interests for different things in the bedroom."

"Tired of vanilla?"

"Yes. It's the discovery of who Maggie really is, not what people characterize her to be."

Ethan leaned in. "I saw that. Even though he was ruled by his sexuality, she made him see that there was more to sex, than just the physical aspect. Add love and intimacy, and it made the pages burn."

We sat for a while staring at each other. I loved his insight, and it solidified that he would indeed be a great Thomas. Andrew said to go with my gut, and my gut was screaming that this was him. I felt so happy sitting there, seeing Thomas come alive. The separation of him and Andrew seemed complete, and now my character had his own identity.

By the time we left the café, it was close to dinner time. I had made plans with Andrew and told Ethan that we could meet again at the studio anytime. I gave him my business card and told him I was sure that we would be making a decision soon. He thanked me and I rushed home to meet Andrew.

"I found him, Andrew! I found Thomas!" I yelled excitedly as I walked through the kitchen door.

Andrew walked towards me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Glad you did baby. I told you, and you were worried for nothing."

"He's perfect."

"Hey! More perfect than me?"

I thought about that, as his one brow rose. When he huffed, I laughed and said, "No one is as perfect for me than you."

We all quickly came to an agreement that following Monday that Ethan was perfect for the role of Thomas. Grant said that he would approve the paperwork, and the contracts would be drawn up. We had our Thomas and Maggie. Maggie was the easy part. Christopher wanted to play a bit with my characters and make Maggie older than Thomas. An Indie actor named Makenna would be playing her.

When she had first come into read, I had fallen in love with her. Even though she was older than I had intended, she had an innocence about her that added to the depth of the character. Maggie had to come across as being pure and naïve when it came to sex. Her character was always easy to write. I had a lot of experience knowing nothing about that subject. We both grew together as I learned more and more about sex and intimacy from my research.

When Ethan and Makenna came to read together the next day, it was fireworks. Their chemistry was amazing and electrified the room. I literally got chills watching those two act out a scene.

I was looking forward to the Fourth of July weekend. I hadn't planned to work during the two months I had taken off, and it was coming to an end. I was drained, yet thrilled that everything seemed to be coming together.

I let the wedding planner, Erin, and Rebeca battle it out after I let go of the minute details. I picked out a few dresses, and color scheme of a blend of purples. Andrew and I had an appointment to look at tuxedos, and participate in the food tasting, but everything else, I didn't care about. I smiled and nodded my head when I was expected to. Well, to be honest, it sometimes still bothered me, but I loved Andrew and soon we would talk this all out.

Book two was almost complete. I had re-written a few chapters over the weekend, which everyone loved, and the only thing that I was having problems with was the title. It looked as if
Betrayal
would make the final cut.

Elena was up my behind to do promotional tours—which I would officially be starting next week. But, she had dropped that last-minute appearance on me for the end of this week. All because the frenzy around our up and coming nuptials were growing, and she had dollar signs in her eyes. It seemed as if everyone had dollar signs in their eyes, which made me think that eloping would be a splendid idea. Then what would the greedy vultures have to sell?  I even thought of pitching the idea to Andrew over our holiday.

Other than that, everything seemed to be going along smoothly, and I was ready to come home, relax, and spend tonight with Andrew.

When I opened the door, it was surprisingly quiet in the house. I walked into the bedroom, not noticing Andrew on the patio lounger outside until I heard the table scrape along the concrete.

It had started to rain when I walked out, and by the look of things it was going to be a heavy downpour, as thunder rolled overhead. "Andrew." I called walking towards him. He didn't respond.

I stopped in front of him, noticing the magazine next to him on the table. "Trouble in paradise?" was the title, and beneath the headline was a picture of me and Ethan sitting together at the café.

I grabbed it and flipped to more pictures inside. Seeing my picture in magazines was becoming more common, but it was usually with Andrew. "Can I not have tea without being photographed?"

"It's not the tea that they wanted to capture," he said snarkily.

"I know that. What's with the attitude?"

"I'm not used to seeing my fiancée having lunch with another man."

I gawked at him. "What? Oh, no!"
Was he kidding me?
This was a business thing.

"You have lunch meetings with several women every week. Should I get mad every time I pass one of these things at the newsstands?" I said waving the magazine in the air. "You're pictured with a new woman daily!"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "That is not true! It's usually Maisie or—"

"That's not the point. You want me to ignore this trash, but you're questioning when I'm in it?"

"Maybe if you had told me—"

"I did tell you! I told you as soon as I came home that I had found Thomas."

The thunder startled me as it roared above us. "You didn't mention lunch." He grabbed the magazine out of my hand.

"It was tea, and it was a spur of the moment type of thing. I'm sure that happens to you, and when do I have to defend myself? Do you still not trust me?"

"Of course I trust you."

"Then where is this coming from?"

He sat up swinging his legs onto the floor. I stepped in-between them. His hands slid up my legs, as his fingers ran up and down the back of my knees. "Sorry, baby. I didn't mean to be a jackass. When I saw this on my desk—"

"Who would place this on your desk?" He tilted his head as if to say, why did I have to ask. "Frank?" Andrew nodded. "But, why would he…"

"To irk the hell out of me."

"Why do you keep him?"

"Soon, he will be gone. Even though his contract isn't up for another year, we may have found a way to get rid of the asshole once and for all."

I stepped towards him, and he grabbed hold of both my butt cheeks, squeezing firmly as he pushed me closer in. I sprawled my fingers through his hair, feeling the dampened strands along my skin, as Andrew laid his head on my stomach.

The wind started to blow the rain as I stood there holding Andrew to me. The sound of the rain was relaxing, along with Andrew massaging anything he could hold on to.

It felt good to be home.

Both Andrew and I were packed for our getaway. We were going to drive north along the coast, sampling wine, eating cheese, and talking things out. We both had written a list of topics to discuss along the way. That had been Keira's idea. At first, I had told her that she was too anal, but I soon realized how great of an idea it was. I thought that I had placed Brittney at the top of my list to discuss, but when I looked over it, it was missing. I wrote her name on it in thick black marker and circled it, next to the word wedding highlighted in bright yellow.