A STELLAR AFFAIR (A Hollywood Bad Boy Romance) (14 page)

A girlfriend. An official one.

Oh no. No, no, no. He wasn’t going in that zone, was he? Come on, he just met her last week!

Yeah, keep saying that.

But as he gazed at the perfect sunset, he knew he was skirting a territory he’d never been before. It was scaring the shit out of him but the alternative was not having her again, and that was no option at all.

He will have her again.

Damn the consequences.

One fuck-up was definitely
NOT enough, her stupid hormones screamed as Ava watched him walk toward her twenty minutes later at the beach.
 

Wes’ long-legged stride had her mesmerized. Even from afar, he looked imposing, tall and solidly-built like a warrior of the olden times. Magnificent in the sunset.
 

Strands of his longish hair was gathered at the top of his head by a rubber band or something, the rest, falling down his shoulders in a mass of deep golden strands highlighted by the blazing sunset.
 

He was getting nearer and his eyes were focused on her, as if she was the center of his universe. It was all she could do not to break into a run and jump in his arms, those strong, muscular arms which she knew could carry her like she weighed nothing.

Actually, it was what she should do. The script demanded it.

Run to him. Now.
 

The cameras were rolling discreetly somewhere, recording this momentous Stoneryder event. Her heart was beating double-time and she was literally pulling air into her lungs.

He opened his arms.

She ran toward him, covering the remaining distance between them.

She launched herself straight to him. He caught her easily. She was a good dancer but he was strong, perfectly on cue. He lifted her above him effortlessly. She spread her arms, letting her head fall back. He whirled her around a few times.

They were stealing a scene from Dirty Dancing. Reena’s idea. It was absolutely cheesy but god, his arms felt like a sanctuary of gentle strength and security. She wasn’t the type who’d constantly seek a man’s attention to feel secure. She’d been the boss in all aspects of her life since she hit stardom, but with Wes, he made her feel like a little girl craving attention. From him. Only from him.

She got lost in the magic of it, wishing it was real, this beautiful, beautiful moment.

He stopped turning. Putting her hands on his shoulders for support, she bent her head to look down at him, her long hair falling forward to frame his face.
 

“Hello, Empress,” he drawled in this oh-so-sexy nasal voice, a playful grin on his lips. Lips she couldn’t stop thinking about the past days. The things he did to her body with those wicked, wicked lips. Lips that had no doubt pleased a lot of women before her.

She quelled the errant jealous thought.
 

“Hey, bad boy,” she breathed out in a sigh, basking in his undivided attention. She would concentrate on this moment because in this moment, he was hers and hers alone. Even if it was just for show.

He slowly lowered her to the ground, their bodies rubbing at the front almost from head to toe. She came alive, her nipples unfurling, her lower belly contracting in this sweet, familiar ache she associated with nobody else but Wes now. It had quickly become a frequent little happy event within her system, so easily triggered by thoughts of him.

He hugged her tightly, burying his face in the crook of her shoulder, inhaling deeply. “I missed your smell.” His lips caressed the column of her neck.

She closed her eyes. She missed his scent too. Fresh soap, faint, woodsy cologne and all man.

He combed his fingers through her hair and pulled at it gently as their eyes met.

“You’re so beautiful.”

His gaze was intense and possessive. Hungry. She’d want him to look at her like that a lot. But only at her. Her thoughts were pathetic. She didn’t want to feel like a possessive girlfriend. He wasn’t her boyfriend. This was just a show. He was acting. She was acting, right?

She was lying to herself.
 
Pretending was easy. Pretending to be just pretending could become complicated. Complications she didn’t want or need in her life. Her life wasn’t anything exciting like fourth of July fireworks but she had zero macho-BS to deal with. She was doing okay on her own. Wes wasn’t even her boyfriend and she was already
a hot mess inside. No, she really didn’t need that in her life.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I barely slept the past days, wanting so badly to see you again. But Tim and Reena said I should wait a few days. It was fucking torture.”

He was verbalizing her own feelings and she wanted so much to believe he felt the same, that she wasn’t alone in the misery of missing him. How was it possible to miss someone you just met? But they didn’t just meet the first day. They had sex. That had changed her life overnight and she knew she’d never be the same again. It wasn’t only that. Wes had left her wanting for more. More of him. She hadn’t had enough. God, she wanted him again. That was the truth she couldn’t deny.
 

“I can see the feeling is mutual.”
 

Before she could utter some stupid form of denial, his lips descended on hers and her limbs liquefied. Her hormones high-jacked her common sense once again and she couldn’t think anymore, just feel.

She felt utterly weak but his arm supported her entire weight, wrapping around her securely, anchoring her to his body. He bent her backwards as his kiss deepened. She looped her arms around his neck, receiving the onslaught of his tongue. She’d been starving for this and she took her fill.

Their kiss turned greedy and voracious. They only let up when they needed air.

“Baby, I want you. I wanna be inside you again. I’m so hard for you, can you feel that?” he rasped, his voice gruff and so sexy. His hands cupped her ass and lifted her so that the V between her legs cradled his erection. His hard cock gorged the softness of her lower belly like a thick steel rod, reminding her of its power as it drove into her body. Her core clenched tighter, her juices flowing in response.

“Wes…” She ground her hips against him, unable to help herself.

“I’ve lain awake at night the past days, thinking about you, how I wanted to kiss you all over again, taste your sweetness. You lips are the sweetest baby, but your pussy is addicting. I want to lick you there again, taste your cream, feel your tightness wrapped around my cock.” This man uttered dirty words she’d cringe from if it came from anybody else, but from Wes, she drank each word like she’d composed it for her songs. They were vaporizing all her defenses like laser heat, making her forget her surroundings and focus only on him and his potent seduction.

He kissed her again and she melted into his arms once more, their tongues dueling in a carnal dance. But it was him who broke their kiss.
 

“God, Ava, I want you again.”

I want you, too. I shouldn’t, but I do.

“We can make this real, baby. We don’t need to treat this whole thing as just a job. We can both enjoy it for real.”

That was a bucket of cold water dumped on her overheating body. He just asked her to mix business with pleasure.

She was glad he said it. It certainly shocked her common sense back into action. She pushed at his chest. “Let me go now. Shoot’s over.”

He stared at her, a bemused
expression on his face. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Yeah, I heard you loud and clear. Let go.”

He dropped his arms from her body. She turned around and walked away.
 

He was right behind her.
“What the hell, Av? I know you feel exactly like I do. Don’t blow me hot and cold. ”

“I’m not doing anything!” she shouted. Anger was her only weapon against him. He could obliterate Ava Ryder The boss with just a fucking kiss! She hoped he hadn’t fully realized that power yet.
 

Oh god, this can’t be happening to me! I’m 25 years old. I earned my first million at sixteen! I’m a hardball player and I’ve been hustling with the biggest, meanest sharks in Hollywood and coming on top every single time. I can’t allow a man to play me like this!
 
Absolutely NOT! Over my precious Grammys!

“Look at me and say it again.”

The challenge in his tone made her hackles rise all the more. He was pushing all her buttons but she knew he was trying to game her. She should ignore his challenge. It was worthless if she didn’t call it.
 

“I don’t need to do anything for anybody, least of all for you.”

“Chicken.”

She stopped walking and faced him again. “What do you want from me, Wes?”

“What you want from me, Ava.”

She shouldn’t ask. It was a bait. “And what is that?”

“Two months of mutual sexual exploration. Work and pleasure. I want that. You want it, too.”

His sheer arrogance floored her. She put her hands on her hips and gave him a look that had wilted many an asshole’s inflated egos in the past. That superior look that reminded them she was worth 275 million dollars in her own right. “How dare you stand there and proposition me like I’m some bimbo you’re trying to pick up in a bar AND presume it’s what I want?” She shook her head at him in disgust.

He wasn’t fazed one bit. “I’m perfectly aware who you are, Ava Ryder, the Pop Empress, and I want you. I’m going to have you. Again. And Again.” He said the latter words lazily like everything would play according to his whim and she was just a puppet to it all.

Calm, Ava. Calm.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never met an absolute narcissist, until now.”

“It’s called knowing what you want, baby. There’s a difference. I’m not the type who’d beat around a hissy pussy. I’d rather be beating it with my stick. She’d love it, too, as you well know.”

She blinked at him, stupefied. How could she even form a decent comeback to such vulgarity? “Is this how you normally speak to women?”

“No. You’re quite special so you get VIP treatment from me.”

“VIP…?!” she exclaimed. “You know what? YOU. ARE. A slimeball!” She jabbed her forefinger at his chest with every word.

He smirked, amused by her outburst. “I can utter sweet stuff like the sun, moon and the stars and shit like that, or even roses and chocolates and dinners and all that sappy shit that mean nothing to a man trying to get in your panties. I’ve been there too, so I’d rather give you a million orgasms. I know for a fact my dirty language turns you on.”

“Oh god…not another word, Stoner!”
 

“Come to think of it, I’ve never met an absolute hypocrite either.”

She gasped. “Who are you calling a hypocrite?!”

“Someone whose panties are sopping wet right now and trying with all her might to deny it.”

Her jaw dropped. “Who would say these things to a lady?!” she spluttered, the veins in her temples about to explode in her exasperation. “But then again, you are no gentleman! You’re a reprobate with a hefty dose of sociopathy!”

“Whoa, I need to google those big words, sweetheart. Should I be flattered?”

She raised her fists at him. “Arrrgh!”
 

He crossed his arms in front of his chest, his biceps, bulging. She wished he’d suddenly morph into Gollum. Him looking badass-scrumptious like that wasn’t helping her case at all.
 

“Correction, a reprobate will never make his lady finish first. I think I’ve proven what a gentleman I am by making you finish a lot before I could.”

She had no smart comeback to that. He owned her with that, damn him!

“And this narcissistic reprobate with sociopathic tendencies is waiting for you to challenge him to prove it.”
 

“Prove what?!”

“That your panties are wet as we speak.”

She wished she could hide her mortification but it must be showing. She was usually good at schooling her facial expressions but from his knowing grin, she knew she had given herself away minutes ago by heatedly responding to his kisses. Oh why couldn’t she resist his damn kisses! She would ask Reena to eliminate kisses from the script from now on!

She turned away and resumed walking. “You are HOPELESS! Why you exist in this era is beyond me! You belong to the Stone Age!”

“Come on, enough of this bullshit, Av. Can we adult now?”

God, the guy was both unbelievably ridiculous and extremely maddening. “I’m being adult and you’re an overgrown child whose only concern is your self-gratification!”

“Wrong. I’m very concerned of your gratification, baby. I swear you’ll always come first, if we don’t come together, that is.”

Her clit throbbed at the wicked promise and she swore she hated having that part of her body right now. “The answer is NO. What part of N-O don’t you get?”

“You don’t mean that, come on. Your pussy’s protesting. Listen to it.”

“You’re so
cliché
,
Stoner. You think you’re god’s gift to women? Newsflash! You’re just a hired dick. Five million dollars cheap!”

“I won’t take offense to that. Yeah, you hired me, so why don’t you take advantage of our arrangement? And for the record, I think I’m god’s gift to your empty sex life.”