Changing His Game (19 page)

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Oh, so him visiting me in his office is work related.

"Um, you have to be at your cameraman's house at one. You're shooting today in his basement's man cave. He said something about three naked women and strategically working a pool stick." When the man told me this in his email yesterday, I tried to ignore the images that came to my mind. Anything my imagination showed me had me holding my vagina in pain.

Jared doesn't look too interested in this information as I catch his eyes staring at the top of my cleavage.

"Jared," I snap my fingers to get his attention. "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, one pool table, three chicks... what's with the outfit?"

I look down at my business casual attire. Kelly came in one afternoon that Jared was busy in business meetings, and took me shopping. I guess if business acquaintances of Jared's were to ever come by the house, I couldn't be walking around in yoga pants and tank tops.

"This is my new dress suit. Kelly picked it out." I'm wearing a fitted pinstripe pencil skirt with a matching blazer, and a white low cut blouse underneath.

"I don't like it."

"Your eyes on my tits a second ago beg to differ," I snap back.

"I don't mean you don't look good," he appraises my body up and down. "You look fucking fantastic, but you look like a naughty secretary and it's distracting."

Is he flirting with me? God, yes. Maybe things are going back to normal.

"Do you want a naughty secretary? I mean, you are my boss so I want to please you however I can," I joke back to him, fluttering my eyelashes in his direction.

"Stop that shit now."

"What? We used to go back and forth like this all the time."

"I just... I'm not comfortable with that kind of relationship with you anymore."

"What do you mean by 'That kind of relationship'?" I ask using air quotes to exaggerate my point.

"I just mean that we shouldn't do the whole flirtatious, sexual innuendos anymore."

I'm hurt, and I'm not even sure I have any right to be.

"Okay, if that's what you want."

"It is."

I stare down at the desktop keypad; every second that goes by becomes increasingly more uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry," Jared barely whispers and reaches his hand out to gently touch my arm. The touch of his hand on my body stirs the hunger I still have for him deep inside. I ignore the feelings stirring inside my body and speak from my heart.

"I just don't know what I did? I feel like you're slowly pulling away from me, and I don't like it. I miss you."

"I'm still here."

"But you're not, not the way you used to be."

He slowly pulls away from me, leaning back on his chair. "I'm trying, we'll get our vibe back. I've just been going through a lot at work and it's messing with my relationships. That's all."

"Are you sure?" I ask him. I still don't feel like he's being completely honest with me.

"I'm sure."

"Okay," I clear my throat, erasing our conversation from my thoughts and getting back to work. "Kelly won’t be with you on set today, do you need me to come?"

His head snaps up to meet my eyes, "No, I'll be fine. You stay here and work on... whatever you're working on."

"It's really no big deal, Jared, my day is light-"

"I said no. I'll see you tonight." I watch as Jared gets up from the chair and storms out of his office. I'm having the hardest time reading him. He is so up and down. I swear if I hadn't already seen him naked, I would think he was a chick on his period.

★★★

The next two weeks go by the same. Jared tries his best to make things between us normal, but I can still feel the awkwardness in our conversations. The one thing that's not awkward or weird is when Jared touches me. A brush of the shoulder, or the rare times he holds my hand, the few mornings I wake up wrapped in his arms, my entire body ignites with the simplest touch.

It's a physical chemistry I've never felt with anyone before and I know Jared feels it, too. It's why his fingers linger on my hand when they touch, or how I know he's awake in the morning, but he pretends to be asleep so that we can stay in each other's embrace, but then all too soon he'll pull away and it's back to cold Jared.

That's why I'm dreading this business dinner tonight. We're meeting with some marketing company that wants to work with Jared, and Kelly insists that I come.

"You calm him down, Autumn. I need you there," she said to me yesterday afternoon. We were finishing going through the few pieces of fan mail that were addressed to the house instead of his public P.O. Box. I reluctantly agreed after ten minutes of Kelly's desperate pleading.

That's why I find myself at one of the trendiest restaurants in Los Angeles, and arguing with the hostess in front of complete strangers.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but if you don't have a reservation then I can’t let you in." The redheaded hostess says from behind her host stand. She's tall and lean, most likely in Los Angeles to be an actor or model. Right now she's just a pain in the ass.

"I’ve told you a million times, my party is already here. The reservation is under Brandon Boner."

"Sure it is. I don’t care how you found out he's in this restaurant, but part of the reason celebrities eat here is for the anonymity. I can’t let back a crazed fan."

Jesus! If Jared or Kelly would just answer their damn phones they would know I'm here. It's bad enough I'm arriving fifteen minutes late. I got stuck in traffic on the 405 returning from an errand Jared sent me on.

I swipe the screen on my cell phone and try texting Jared again.

Me: I'm still up at the host stand and this woman will not let me back to your table. Would you and Kelly PLEASE pick up your damn phones!!! This is embarrassing!!!

I immediately send out a similar text to Kelly and then look back up at the host.

"They should be up here any second to clear this up."

"Sure they will. I'm going to need to ask you to wait outside," she says snidely.

Is she for real?

"I'm not waiting outside. Jared... I mean Brandon or Kelly will be up here any second to clear this whole mess up." I'm on the verge of shedding some embarrassing tears. I've had a long day and dealt with some questionable men with questionable morals for Jared today. One man slapped me on the ass, and the other wanted to know if he could pay for my services. After a day like this, all I want to do is go home and take a long shower, not be at some snotty restaurant and be treated like dirt.

I'm about to give up and just leave and go home when I hear his voice and it's music to my ears.

"Autumn, what are you doing up here?" I turn and see Jared dressed in slacks and a dress shirt opened at the collar. He looks good enough to eat, but I'm so mad at him. I ignore the feelings he draws out of me just from being in his presence.

"Do you ever check your fucking phone?" I shout a little too loudly. If people weren't paying attention to the conversation between the hostess and me before, they're definitely paying attention now.

"I have it on silent when I'm in business meetings."

"Well, if you would have checked, or been concerned about my lack of presence at the table, you would have realized something was wrong."

He moves closer to me and I can see the confusion in his eyes. "I'm sorry, babe. I was worried. That's why I came up here; to check if Mercedes had seen you at all."

He points over to the redheaded hostess and she smiles at him flirtatiously.

"I'm sorry, Brandon. Was this the girl you said to send back to your table when she gets here? I didn't know because she looks nothing like the woman you described."

I look over at her, sending vicious vibes her way and wishing right now I had some kind of super power to make her pay for purposely having me wait out here.

"Mercedes," Jared says coldly. "I described a woman exactly her size, same eye and hair color, and I gave you her name. What is so complicated about that?"

Her smile fades slightly, but she still stands confidently. "Yes, those all match up, but you said the woman was drop dead gorgeous," she looks me up and down, obviously disapproving. "How was I to know this is who you meant?"

Bitch.

I hate using that term for other women. I'm a firm believer in women needing to stick together, solidarity and all that crap, but this woman has pushed me too far.

"Mercedes, cut the childish shit or I'll have you fired so fast, you won't know what hit you." Jared grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers, and we start to walk into the restaurant. I’m feeling slightly better when Jared turns back to look at Mercedes one more time. "Oh, and she looks fucking fantastic, so stop being a jealous bitch. It doesn't suit you."

With that Jared turns back around and pulls me to our table.

I guess I don't need a superpower when I have Jared.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me. I'm so sorry you were waiting up there for so long. I'll talk to her again tomorrow."

"Jared, I don't want you getting her in trouble with her boss."

"There you are, I was getting worried," Kelly says from the table in front of me. Jared pulls out an empty chair and gestures for me to sit down. Once he's pushed me in, he takes the seat to my right and Kelly is on my left. The circular table seats six. The three other chairs are occupied by middle-aged men, who look far too serious for a meeting having to do with pornography.

"I got held up at the host stand, but I'm here now."

"Glad to hear it because I'm starving."

"You could have ordered without me." I feel even worse for making everyone wait for me.

The man in the middle of the trio speaks up first. "Brandon wanted to wait for you, darling, otherwise we would have ordered." His accent is hard to pinpoint, but he's definitely European.

I look over at Jared and smile slightly, happy that he's always thinking of me. "That was sweet, but you should definitely get an order in before everyone gets irritable."

As soon as the words are out of my mouth a waiter comes over and places three appetizer plates on the center of the table.

"Did you need a few minutes?" He asks me.

I must look undecided because Jared leans over to whisper in my ear, "We have appetizers so we can wait a few more minutes to order." His warm breath on my skin stimulates my senses and I have to hold back a whimper.

I turn and move my lips to his ear, whispering so no one hears me. "Will you order for me? I'll have whatever you're having." I lean back and he turns to me, smiling and nodding slightly.

"Lovers?" The man next to Kelly asks, gesturing to Jared and me.

"Oh, no-"

"Autumn works for me," Jared says at the same time I try to speak. Although I do work for him and we are at a business meeting, I find myself wishing he would introduce me in a little more of a personal way.

The man nods politely in acknowledgment of both our responses, before reaching out and placing a few of the appetizers on his plate.

We finish the appetizers before our meal comes. I have the sirloin; the same as Jared and we all make small talk while eating our meals. I get to hear some funny stories about when Jared was first starting out in the business and the men from the marketing company tell us some stories about their clients, not naming any of course.

By the time our dessert and coffee are rolled out, I'm stuffed from the delicious meal and ready for bed. I look down at the time on my phone and realize we've been here for two hours and no one has discussed anything having to do with a business deal.

I take a bite of my cheesecake when Kelly breaks the ice.

"Alright gentlemen, I've discussed your proposal with Brandon and although he was reluctant to agree, he's come around on the idea. You see, he was offered a similar deal not too long ago and turned it down."

The man to Jared's right, I believe his name is Roman, speaks first. "We're here to offer you a very competitive offer to the one you were offered weeks ago. Kelly disclosed with us the offer that was handed to you before, and we are confident our offer will intrigue you and be lucrative for your career."

"I'm listening," Jared says, setting his coffee cup down and leaning forward on the table.

"You see, you have a large female following. In fact the data we collected suggests that your female fans outweigh your male fans, two to every one. Let me ask you this, Brandon. What do you think these women are doing while they're watching you online, or buying your DVDs? Are they doing their housework, visiting with family, entertaining guests? No, they're watching you and finding a way to get off while doing it," the man seated in the middle says.

I nod my head at his description of what these women are doing, knowing first hand exactly what their response would be to watching Jared have sex on camera. I pick up my coffee to take another sip.

"That's why this line of sex toys through our distributor in Japan would be perfect to expand your image," he adds.