His Sexy Bad Habit (18 page)

“Sounds like a damned coward,” Antonio said, thinking that nothing would’ve caused him to leave Serena standing alone at the altar. Emerson Bradford was the biggest fool he’d ever heard of.

“He is. And his career has been in a steady decline,”
she said. “This is a very sexy movie and I guess Emerson thinks it will put him back on top.”

“You don’t want the movie to be released?” Antonio asked.

Serena shook her head furiously. “It reminds me of one of the worst times in my life. It reminds me how I allowed someone else to take my dreams and turn them into mush. I wanted Emerson to succeed more than I wanted to build my career. Once I took up with him, I dropped out of school, fell into what he thought I should do, and lost Serena for a while.”

Antonio cocked his head to the side and looked at her. “I never would’ve guessed that,” he said. “I took you for the kind of woman who always did what she wanted to do.”

“That’s me now,” she said. “Because I learned the hard way that love hurts a lot.”

Antonio walked over to her and pulled her against his chest. “Real love doesn’t hurt,” he said, then lifted her chin. “When you’re with the right person and everything is right, you’re not going to feel any pain.”

“I guess that’s how it was with you and your wife?” Serena questioned.

Antonio ran his index finger down her cheek. “No. I wish I could say that it was, but it wasn’t.”

She stared at him. All the thoughts she’d had about Antonio and his dead wife danced in her mind. He seemed to notice what she was thinking.

“At first, it seemed as if it was going to be that way, but by the time Marian died, our marriage was over. She was having an affair and had served
me with divorce papers. After everything was said and done, I knew I would never allow anyone else to get close to me. Then you walked into my life and I was powerless to resist you.”

“Antonio,” she said.

“Listen to me,” he said. “I’m falling for you and I thought three things when I saw that video clip. One, this had better be a movie—because I didn’t want to think about another man touching you and kissing you. That’s my job and mine alone. Two, as I drove around looking for you, I started thinking this was something that you probably didn’t want out in public, and three, I was worried when I couldn’t find you, thinking what is Serena going to do when she finds out about this?”

Tears sprang into her eyes and Antonio brought his lips down on top of hers, kissing her gently. Pulling back, he looked up at her. “Serena,” he murmured, “I’m falling in love with you.”

“Antonio,” she said, tears falling down her cheeks.

“You don’t have to respond right now, but I want you to know that I’m going stand beside you while you fight this. If Emerson Bradford is behind this, he’d better get out of town because I might have to hurt than man for doing this to you.”

“Thank you,” she said as she hugged him tightly. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

“It’s going to take more than this for you to get rid of me.”

Since the news of the leaked movie clip got out, Emerson’s phone hadn’t stopped ringing. L.A. movie critics wanted to know when the film was coming out and who the actress was.

Of course, Emerson pretended to be shocked that scenes from his movie had been leaked, then he answered their questions. No, he didn’t have a studio backing him. Yes, he was surprised the clip had been viewed about a half-million times in the few hours it had been online. Yes, he wants the public to get a chance to experience the entire movie and not just some of the sexiest scenes.

The next few calls he took were from Lionsgate. They wanted to know how the movie got online as well. Emerson blamed his assistant.

“But,” he’d said to Luther, “the people want to see this movie.”

“Have you talked to Serena Jacobs? Did she sign off on it?”

“I don’t think we need her to sign off on it. Technically, her signature isn’t needed since I own the rights to the movie. The public has spoken. We need to hammer out a deal and make this happen. You know what I’ve been doing all morning? Fielding calls from the press. They wouldn’t do that if they weren’t interested.”

“Well, I got a call from a lawyer representing Serena Jacobs,” Luther said.

“Really? All this will turn into is free publicity.”

“Or an ugly lawsuit.”

Emerson slapped his hand against his forehead. “Luther, this movie will be a hit. Are we going to make it happen or do I need to go to another studio?”

“Shake the lawyers, get those edits done, and we will make this movie happen,” Luther said.

Emerson pumped his fist like Tiger Woods, but calmly said, “All right. Thanks, Luther.”

“Make this happen. If we’re going to capitalize on this buzz we have to get it going. When will you back in L.A.?”

“I need a few more days here,” he said, thinking he could focus on one last tango with Serena before the movie was released. He didn’t care what she said. He knew she still wanted fame and this movie was going to skyrocket her image.

“See me as soon as you get back,” Luther said.

Emerson hung up the phone and kicked back on his bed.
Serena, my muse, we will be together again and you’re going to leave this banker town as soon as you get a taste of fame.

  *  *  *

Serena nestled her head against Antonio’s chest and stroked his arm. This wasn’t how she expected the day to go. But she was lying in bed with Antonio, feeling safe in his arms. When he’d kissed her and told her he loved her, Serena had melted like ice on a hot summer’s day.

She was a little apprehensive about opening her heart again, but as she snuggled against Antonio while he slept, she knew not allowing love to come into her life would be the biggest mistake she could ever make. Antonio was nothing like Emerson. He was unselfish, and her happiness was just as important to him as his own.

Antonio stirred and turned into Serena. His eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him. “I hope I’m not keeping you from your work,” she said as his hand slid down the small of her back.

“Not at all. I had been planning all morning to steal you away,” he said, then brushed his lips against her neck.

“Umm, I would’ve been excited to get away with you,” she said as she straddled his body. “I really missed you last night.”

“Show me again.” He smiled as he recalled the lovemaking session they’d finished an hour ago.

She started with a slow kiss as she ground against him, causing his manhood to spring to life. Slowly, she inched down his body, kissing and licking his smooth skin until she hovered over his erection. Serena ran her tongue up and down the length of him making him shiver with
delight. As she took him into her mouth, Antonio shuddered as waves of hot pleasure roamed throughout his body. He buried his hands in her soft hair as she took him to the brink of exploding. Serena pulled back and looked at him with smoldering passion in her eyes. Reaching underneath her pillow, she retrieved a condom, opened it, and rolled it on top of Antonio’s pulsating member. Parting her legs, she mounted him, taking him deep inside her wet valley. Throwing her head back as Antonio thrust his hips, she placed her hands on his chest and rode him slow and deep. He gripped her hips, making sure she felt every burning inch of him as their bodies meshed into one. She rotated her hips against his, their breath seemingly becoming one as they moaned. Serena began to tremble as she felt her orgasm building and when Antonio palmed her breasts, his thumbs brushing against her nipples, she exploded from the inside out and he followed her with his own climax. She collapsed against his chest and Antonio kissed her on the top of her head.

“Damn, woman,” he moaned as he wrapped his arms around her. “Let me never allow you to miss me that much again.”

“You know what they say about absence,” Serena replied breathlessly.

“And now I see that it’s true.” His fingers danced up and down her spine, sending tingles throughout her body.

“Ooh, I wish we could just stay here for the rest of the year,” she said.

Antonio glanced at the clock on Serena’s nightstand and groaned. “As much as I’d like to do the same thing, I have to go pick up A.J. from camp.”

“All right,” she said, reluctantly letting him go.

Antonio glanced at her as he rose from the bed and grabbed his pants. “Why don’t you join A.J. and me for dinner tonight?” Antonio said as pulled on his pants.

“I wish I could, but I’m stuck working the bar for one more night. But tomorrow, I’ll bring dinner over. And yes, it will be from the restaurant.” Serena climbed out of the bed and stood in front of Antonio.

His eyes traveled down her naked body and he was tempted to climb back into bed with her for just five more minutes. Instead, he placed his hands on her shoulders and kneaded them gently. “Come over after your shift and we can have French toast for breakfast before A.J. goes off to camp. Then I’m free for the rest of the day. I want you to wait for me in my bed. If you have another one of those lacy numbers, you can be wearing it when I return,” he said, then kissed her with a smoldering heat that buckled her knees.

“I can do that,” she said when they broke their kiss. “I’d be more than happy to do that.”

Serena pulled on her robe and walked Antonio to the front door, hating to see him go but excited that Emerson’s leak hadn’t changed anything between her and Antonio. But he hadn’t had to explain it to his son yet.

Stop tripping,
she thought.
I’m sure that little boy
isn’t going to go online and look up that movie clip. Maybe this isn’t going to be as bad as I think. As long as Kenya and I can block the release of this movie, everything will be all right.
Serena bounded up the stairs with a smile on her face and headed for the shower. She had hope and Antonio’s support. She could face this and bring Emerson down where he belonged.

As he drove to Discovery Place to pick up A.J., Antonio called Norman realizing that he never checked with him about the Ray’s Splash Planet deal.

“I was wondering what happened to you,” Norman said when he answered the call.

“I went to see Serena to make sure she was all right. And she wasn’t. She was very upset about that movie clip being released online.”

“Then why did she make it? How long ago was it made?” Norman asked.

“Five years ago. She was actually engaged to the director and that sorry son of a bitch left her at the altar,” Antonio said.

“Wow,” Norman said. “So, she’s a real actress?”

“She said she did the movie because she thought they were going to be married and she thought it would make him happy. Instead, he just tossed her aside and now he’s trying to use this movie to rebuild his career.”

“And she doesn’t want it released? What is she going to do about it?”

“She’s going to try and block it.”

“That’s good. I’m proud of you,” Norman said.

“For what?”

“Sticking by that woman. I can imagine this is hard for her. There was a story about it on the noon news.”

Antonio swore under his breath. “Then I guess the whole city knows about it.”

“Yeah. Casey called me looking for you. She had some unkind things to say about Serena.”

“That’s just what I need. I’m about to pick up A.J. What happened at Ray’s?”

“We got the deal,” Norman said. “We can get started next week. Do you want to call the regular crew?”

“Sure.” Antonio brought his truck to a stop in front of Discovery Place. He groaned when he saw Casey standing outside with A.J. “Norman, I’m going to have to call you back.”

Antonio hopped out of the truck and A.J. rushed over to him. “Daddy,” he said. “I had so much fun today. We got to see the snakes.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun,” he said, then glanced at Casey, who had a scowl on her face.

“We drew pictures of snakes, too,” A.J. chattered, ignoring the looks between his aunt and his father.

“I can’t wait to see them. Hop in the truck. I need to talk to Aunt Casey.” A.J. got into the truck and Antonio turned to Casey. “What are you doing here?”

“I assume you’ve seen the news and heard
about your special little friend and the near porno she’s the star of,” Casey spat.

“Casey, I know about Serena’s movie and I know that she made it when she was young.”

“Do you know that the man she made the movie for is in Charlotte and has been hanging around her restaurant? Do you know that she’s going milk this and be seen all over town in that movie? How is A.J. going to react to that?”

Antonio folded his arms across his chest. “Is that all you have, Case?”

“I told you she wasn’t the kind of woman you needed to have around my nephew. Now the world will know. I guess that’s why she didn’t mind lying around your house naked.”

“Casey, stay out of my business,” Antonio said. “We’ve all made mistakes.”

“Yes, but our mistakes aren’t all over the Internet and the news. Wait until Mom and Dad find out about this.”

“Your family doesn’t run my life.”

“This isn’t about you. It’s about what’s best for A.J. If Serena is the kind of woman you’re going to have influence him, then maybe it’s best that he’s not with you.”

Anger flowed through Antonio as Casey’s words registered with him. “Are you out of your damned mind? No one is taking my son away from me. You’re using the fact that I don’t want anything to do with you romantically cloud your judgment. But if you think I’m afraid of your family, you’re dead wrong.” Antonio stalked over
to his truck and pulled out without looking back at Casey.

When Serena arrived at the restaurant that evening, she was ticked off to find two of the local news trucks camped out in the parking lot. “Not this again,” she muttered as she circled the parking lot, then parked a half block away from the restaurant. She wished she had a hat in the back seat so that she could hide her face from the reporters. The last thing the restaurant needed was more bad publicity.

“I could kill Emerson,” she muttered as she walked up to the back of the restaurant. “This is the last thing we need right now.”

Though Serena wished people were coming to Hometown Delights for the food or for a chance to see Devon Harris, she couldn’t deny that the press was drawing people in. The restaurant was packed again. With the economy the way it was, she had to be thankful for that. Still, as she walked behind the bar, she couldn’t help but feel that everyone was looking at her.

“I’m glad you finally made it,” Alicia said as she stalked over to the bar. “Reporters have been in and out of here all day. Kandace told me that one of her friends in Los Angeles who does a lot of work in Hollywood said she has documented proof that Emerson leaked this himself.”

Serena slapped her hand against the bar and swore under her breath. “I knew it.”

“I still say we should go kick his ass,” Alicia said.

Serena shook her head. “He’s not worth all of us getting in trouble over. I’m tired of him toying with my life and I’m going to put a stop to it. Can you cover me for about an hour?”

Alicia nodded. “I can stay for the rest of your shift if you need me to.”

“I’ll be back. I don’t plan to give him that much of my time.” She headed out the front of the restaurant, ignoring the calls from the reporters who had been sitting in the parking lot. Serena dashed to her car and headed for the Westin where Emerson was staying. He was going to stop messing with her life and it was going to stop tonight.

Walking into the bar at the Westin, Emerson was riding high. His movie was going to be released and thanks to Serena’s scene on the Internet,
De Chocolat
had a buzz that money couldn’t buy. Even if Serena tried to sue him, the movie would be released because he owned the rights. All she would do with a lawsuit was keep the publicity machine churning. Emerson took a seat at the bar with a huge smile on his face. “What can I get you?” the bartender asked.

“A scotch, neat.”

The bartender nodded and turned to fix the drink. Emerson turned his back to the bar and watched as Serena stalked over to him.
This is an interesting turn of events,
he thought as he saw her. Rising from his seat, he crossed over to her.
Serena glared at him, then hauled off and slapped him.

“You bastard,” she spat. “How could you do this to me?”

“That wasn’t very nice,” he said as he stroked his cheek. “I’ve made you the star that I promised I would. You could show some appreciation.”

Serena shook her head and laughed sardonically. “I made that movie when I thought you and I would be married and have a life in Hollywood. I’m not that woman anymore. If you gave a damn about me, you’d know that.”

“This isn’t about you.”

“No, because you’re a selfish bastard who still believes the sun rises and sets on you. You’re all that matters in the world of Emerson Bradford. What, can’t come up with anymore movies on your own? Have you forgotten that I basically rewrote that piece of crap screenplay?”

“I haven’t forgotten,” he said. “We were good together and when it hits the big screen, we will be good again.”

Serena pushed him backwards. “There is no we, you asshole. We died when you left
me
at the altar. This movie is not going to happen.”