A STELLAR AFFAIR (A Hollywood Bad Boy Romance) (13 page)

Reena was so crazy like that Ava ended up in stitches, her fall from grace momentarily forgotten.

Wes finally turned his phone
on to receive normal calls. It didn’t take five minutes for it to go off like there was an Amber alert. He reluctantly took the call.
 

“Wes! What the fuck? Been calling you all morning!”

He grunted. “Sup, Tim?”

“Sup? The fuck?! Have you checked your messages?”

“No. Why?”

“You and Ava are all over the place, man! Wooohooo! That little speech at the AVMAs was pure genius. Got everyone talking. We need a follow-up right away!”

“Follow-up?”

“Yeah, we need to set up a date between you and Ava. A proper date. Like dinner or shit like that.”

Dinner date? I already balled her, man, and possibly got her pregnant, too.

Shit, why couldn’t he stop thinking about babies with Ava? The more he thought about it, the less it made him feel freaked out now.
“I don’t know. Have you talked to Reena?”

“Sure. I just got off the phone with her. Our teams are meeting up this afternoon to put things in motion. Everything must fit within your respective work schedules.”

“Wait, does Ava know about this?”

“Of course, man. Why’d you ask?”

“Nothing…”

“By the way, how’d you find her? Did you get to talk last night? Sorry, Reena and I kind of forgot about you guys, but I wasn’t too worried.”

“Yeah, no problem, man. We were fine.”

“Well…?”

“Well, what?”

“How’d you find the Empress? She sweet, charming, feisty, bitchy?”

All of the above. And some. No. So much more.

“She’s fine, man. A real pro.”

“Great! So, you take a rest for the day, do your shit, sleep, hit the gym or whatever. I’ll call you later to talk more about this.”

“Okay.”

“And Wes…”

“Yeah?”

“You’re officially Ava’s boyfriend today. Absofuckinglutely no banging other chicks on the side, publicly or privately. Like nada, zero, zilch model or starlet pussy in the next two months, got that?”

“Are you fucking serious? I can’t last that long! I can’t even last a week!”

“What, you lost your hands?”

“Fuck you, asshole.”

“I’ll order a hot blow-up doll for you. Well, unless you’re bangin’ Ava Ryder, then you got my big, fat ejaculating meat screaming yes, fuck yes! And Wes, I’m fucking serious as 15-mil a pic. Don’t. Fuck. My. Game. Ciao, motherfucker.”

The line went dead before he could utter, “Fuck me.”

Or he could be fucking Ava Ryder in the next two months.

His junior twitched in a resounding ‘yes!’.

C
hapter
N
ine

Her phone went off.

Ava checked the screen and nearly dropped it.
 

Think of the devil and devil calls.

Wes’ name was flashing on the screen.

What the hell? She didn’t have his number. Reena must have encoded his digits in her phonebook. But the thought that Wes had her number sent a traitorous thrill running down her spine.

She ignored the call but her heart was already beating double-time and she hated it. Hated that she was palpitating like a giddy teenager.
 

The phone stopped ringing.
 

It pealed again after a few seconds.
 

She bit her lower lip, resisting the urge to hear his voice. It had been days since she last saw him. Three days and 18 hours to be exact.

No. Don’t pick up. No, no, no.

She sighed when it stopped ringing. She left the bed and entered the en suite of her bedroom when it rang again. She ran back to the bed and picked it up.

She swallowed twice before saying, “Hello,” trying to sound casual when she was anything but.
God, this is pathetic.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist me,” he drawled on the other line, his voice, lazy and amused.

She could almost picture him grinning smugly. He was both infuriating and…adora—
shut up!
“I presume Reena gave you my super-secret number.”

“Super-secret. I like that.” His voice turned an octave lower.

She rolled her eyes. “What do you want, Stoner?”

“You sitting on my face.”

Her jaw dropped. Jeez! The man took blunt to a whole new level. “I can’t believe you said that.”

“What, that I wanna suck your clit and make you come again?”

“Bye!”

“Wait-wait-wait!”

“Behave yourself!”

“Alright, alright. Boy scout here.”

“Why are you calling?”

“Nothing. Just checking if you’re okay.”

“Is this in the script?”

“Don’t sass me. I mean it.”

Wes Stoner checking if she was okay. Like what for? But her tummy was a tank full of squirming catfishes now. Weird feeling. Weird and arousing. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well…I was kind of rough last time and you were…kind of a virgin.”

If every chat with him was like this, the red patches on her face would become permanent. “I really don’t wanna talk about that. You said you’ll behave.”

“I’m serious, Av. I’ve been so worried that I hurt you.”

“No, you haven’t. Hurt me, that is.”

“But you bled.”

“It was nothing, okay? Drop it.”

“Okay…”

Silence.

She could hear his sighs.

“Anything else?”

“Uhm, what are you doing?”

“Now?”

“Yeah.”

“Just…reading.”

“About what?”

“Stuff…”

“Aha, you’re googling Stoneryder.”

She was shocked. How could he know this? Was the man psychic? “I’m not… Well, just a little. I have to find out if it’s working,” she alibied. In truth, she was staring at her pictures with Wes at the AVMAs before he called. God, they looked great together.

“I’m googling about us, too. This is fun!”

“Yeah? What are they saying about us?”

“This one article said…” he cleared his throat,” “it said that maybe you’ve finally found the love of your life.”

She was glad they weren’t face to face. She felt like a kid caught lying and her face might just give her away.
 
Now, what is it you’re lying about?
“These blogs can be so imaginative.”
 

“I won’t mind.”

“Stoner, you’re getting paid to break my heart in the end. Stick to the script.”

“I’d rather stick something unscripted in you.”

“Okay, bye perv!”

She heard his chuckle before she ended the call.

She shook her head. Incorrigible!

Her phone dinged after a few seconds. She read the message that arrived.

“See you tomorrow, my Empress.”

She couldn’t help it. Her heart was now singing a really happy tune after hearing his voice.
 

Oh snap! This is a job. Stick to the script.

But she was tempted to rewrite the script now.

Wes arrived at four
in the afternoon aboard a sleek, yellow Maserati.

She watched him disembark from the vehicle from her bedroom on the second floor of her villa, her breath, catching. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding it since the sports car entered the driveway and only released it in a long exhale when he’d gotten out of the car.

A soft knock at the door startled her. Stepping out of the window and schooling her expression into neutral, she said, “Come in!” She was jumpy and she hated it.
 

It’s just Wes Stoner visiting you, ninny, not the president of the United States.

Jaci, her PA, showed her lovely head into the room. “He’s here, Av. Are you ready?”

“Sure, Jace. Is everything set?” she replied in a casual tone, hiding the excitement in her voice. She was really wary of her staff reading anything into her actions.

“Yup. We shoot in fifteen minutes. We’ll just orient Wes on what to do. We’ll see you in a bit?”

“Alright. I’ll be there in ten. Thanks, Jaci.”

Jaci disappeared from the door.

The script had been written for today’s Stoneryder episode. This was a peek into their “new” private life as a couple so it had to be intimate in all aspects. She decided it should happen in her beachfront property in Malibu.
 

She’d hardly had enough work done the past days. Too distracted, her mind would wander into the “Western” territory at the slightest trigger. Graphic memories of him played like a movie loop in her head and manifested in the most intimate parts of her body. Add the fact that Reena had been gleefully filling her in on the Stoneryder phenomenon that was currently taking the world by storm—Reena’s words— Wes was all she could think about.

She was supposed to be pleased, too. Everything was happening according to plan. But she was…oh god, she didn’t know what she was feeling. Wes was quickly turning her into a mental hot mess.
 

How could she pretend in front of the camera now after what happened between them? How could she even act like it was nothing but business when she’d experienced ecstasy in his arms the likes she’d never even dreamed of? But she had to be as professional as possible and not give him any ideas she was interested in any encores.

Who said encore?
her conscience snickered.

Me! One major fuck-up is enough.

Her villa was huge.
His house would probably fit inside this place.
 

It was hard not to feel small compared to Ava Ryder’s wealth. That wealth came with staggering success and undeniable talent, too. She wasn’t one of those Hollywood players who capitalized on their looks alone, mastering self-promotion to get ahead of the pack. She really was the real deal. If he had no Oscar, he’d probably feel insecure, or if he had a small dick.

He cursed at his juvenile thoughts.

Truth was, he was feeling insecure and he resented it. Where was it coming from? He’d dated a few very successful women in the past, far more successful than he was in their own field and not once did he feel like he was a lesser individual. How come he was feeling like he needed to prove something to Ava?

Was it because he’d never wanted anybody for real? Like keep a woman as HIS in the real sense. Not just a passing fancy but a real relationship.