Perfectly Scripted (10 page)

Tracing her little finger over the buttons on my shirt, Leah asked, “Daddy, is Holliday your girlfriend?”

“
Yes, I’d say that she is my girlfriend. When you come to stay with me in New York, Holliday will be living in the house with us. Would that be okay with both of you?”

Smiling, they both nodded. Jade leaned up and kissed me on the cheek.

“
Why thank you so much for the lovely kiss.” I squeezed them both tighter. “My sweet girls.”

We lay there for a few more moments, talking and laughing, and I wished it could go on forever.

Holliday stirred when we hit a patch of turbulence. The cabin phone’s red light came on. The captain explained that we were experiencing some weather somewhere over the Rockies. He didn’t seem that concerned but said it might be a bit choppy for a while. I decided not to wake Holliday yet, since the captain hadn’t instructed us to put our seat belts on.

I scanned the messages from Dean, paying particularly close attention to the ones related to Saunders.

I powered up my iPad and began reading through some of the material I had researched on rape trauma.
Triggers: Many victims will have a particular “trigger” that remind them of the attack and victimization. These can include smells, sights, noises, birthdays, holidays, or the anniversary of the rape.

Since I hadn’t been part of Holliday’s initial recovery process, I carefully read everything on the stages of recovery. I spent most of my time making notes about the third stage, “return of distress responses.” Before realizing it, an hour had gone by.

After brushing my teeth and slipping out of my clothes, I climbed under the covers. Then I realized I would be climbing into bed with Holliday every night at our new place and waking up to her beautiful face each morning. When my head hit the pillow, I thought about lazy Sunday mornings in bed, me reading the paper and her watching some romantic movie on Netflix. We’d shower together before noon, and I’d order takeout or cook lunch. To burn off the calories from our meal, we’d spend the rest of the afternoon in bed—fucking, laughing, having sex, talking, making love. And at the end of the day, we’d fall asleep in each other’s arms and it would be perfect.

“
You like honey on your oatmeal?” I asked.

“
Yes. Do you think that’s odd?”

“
No. I like honey on my toast,” I confessed, pouring a dab on the bread.

Holliday arched one of her gorgeous eyebrows, and a slow smile crossed her lips. “Interesting. Well, it seems I have more to learn about you, Ronan Connolly.” She pushed her chair back from the table, giving me a wink. Taking a bite of my honey-drizzled toast, I watched her sexy body sashay from the patio to the living room. Her perfect tits bounced underneath the lightweight fabric when she hopped up to reach something on the top shelf of the bookcase. Every move she made had me aching to fuck her. God, she was one gorgeous woman.

“
What are you up to in there?”

“
Well, after we unpacked, while you were snoozin’, I was snoopin,’, and I came across a deck of cards.” She paused for a beat. “Aha! Here they are!” Giddy as a kid with a new toy, she hopped back out the patio, grinning from ear to ear. “When I was in college we played this getting-to-know-you drinking game. Basically, it’s Twenty-One and the winner gets to ask the loser or losers three questions.”

“
Why don’t we play strip poker instead? The loser can lose clothes in addition to an interrogation,” I offered smugly.

“
Very funny,” she smirked.

After she’d explained the game to me, we began playing. Holliday won three rounds in a row. She asked me what my worst haircut was. I admitted that, when I was younger, I’d grown my hair longer and had a ponytail. That earned me a long laugh, and she begged for pictures. I indulged the rest of her questions and we laughed a lot. After I’d confessed I rather enjoyed the movie
Love Actually
, she dealt the next hand. I ended up getting a six, a three, and a nine. Holliday drew a ten, a two, a four, and a king.

“
Three questions. Okay...” I thought carefully about what more I wanted to know about this stunning beauty. “Question one: Favorite book you read growing up? Two: If you could have any superpower, what would it be? And, finally, since we’re on vacation, I want to know what the best vacation you ever took was.”

Without skipping a beat, she answered me. “Favorite book growing up was
Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great
by Judy Blume. If I could have any super power, it would be mind reading—duh. And the best vacation I ever took was with Charlotte and my parents to Big Bear, just before my father died. Char and I were on winter break from school, and my parents rented an enormous house overlooking the lake. We went snow tubing, shopping in the village, and my parents looked happy. I thought we all were.”

Smiling, I gripped her hand. She looked as if she might cry while thinking about that memory, but surprisingly, she kept talking. This was the first time Holliday had opened up to me about her father. I was grateful, but it made me realize how much his death affected her. How had Holliday managed so much strength with everything she had been through?

“
My favorite part of that weekend away”—her voice broke, and she turned her gaze towards the sea and sighed—“was dancing with my dad. We went to this local restaurant, and they had live music. The band started to play the song “Dancing in the Moonlight,” and my dad ushered my sister and me to the dancefloor. We swayed from side to side, and Char danced circles around us, showing off her ballet moves. Mom stood near the stage, laughing and snapping pictures.”

She looked down at her hand, still clasped in mine. I stayed quiet, rubbing small circles against her skin with my thumb.

Her eyes returned to mine, and she said softly, “To this day, every time I hear that song, it reminds me of my father.”

The cabin phone rang, pulling me from my dream-filled sleep. Somehow, I managed to jump out of bed at lightning-quick speed and answer on the second ring.

“Good morning, Mr. Connolly. This is your six-a.m. wake up call as you requested.”

“Yes. Good morning, Noelle.”

“The captain said its clear skies this morning over Manhattan…”
Blah
…
words…more words.

Noelle was still talking, but somewhere between the weather report and a review of the breakfast menu, she’d lost me. Every cell in my body vibrated. Blood surged in my veins at the stunning sight of a naked Holliday. Seducing me with a sinful stare, the little vixen parted her legs, giving me a tempting view.

“Mr. Connolly, I can bring the coffee and tea back along with the pastries now if you’d like.”

Food?
Who needs food? Fuck the food…I’ll eat Holliday for breakfast.

“Change of plans, Noelle. We’ll take our breakfast
to-go
. Thank you.”

She spread her legs wider, purposely teasing me. And I don’t even remember hanging up the phone, because my mouth was pressed to hers in an instant as I slowly seduced her with my tongue. I’d managed to pin her beneath me—
perfect
. Lowering my mouth to her ear, I whispered dirty, lust-filled words. I told her how beautiful she was, how much I needed her, and all the ways I was going to take her before arriving at the airport. Her hips bowed up towards mine, craving friction. Then I teased her with my cock before plunging my mouth to devour her sweet cunt. I planned to savor the last few moments of bliss before we got back to the real world.

The captain’s announcement of our upcoming arrival sent Holliday and me scrambling for our clothes. We dressed just in time for the landing.

“Well, here we go. Are you ready?” I asked.

“Ready for anything, as long as I’m with you.”

As I descended the stairs of the plane, the icy wind cut through me, sending a chill up my spine. Holliday walked to the limo, her teeth chattering all the way. After Dean and I had loaded the luggage, I settled in the backseat, lacing my fingers with hers.

“I have a surprise for you,” I murmured against her lips.

“What is it?”

“Dean.” I cocked my head so I was staring into her lovely blue-green eyes. “Take us home—to The Addison, please.”

A slow smile spread across her beautiful lips. “
Home
,” she breathed.

“Home,” I repeated, brushing a tender kiss on the back of her hand.

Holliday

Our first few weeks of living together were an adjustment. One major change in our plans was that Jade and Leah would be coming to stay with us during the summer instead of right away. The guidance counselor at Jade’s current school had made several points about the disruption, citing that pulling her out midsemester could upset the balance in her education. I wasn’t so convinced, but I was not an expert on the matter or a parent, so it wasn’t my place to voice an opinion. The good news was that Ronan and Emma were able to enroll both girls at The Hawthorne Academy in the city for the fall semester.

During the first week home from Cabo, Ronan’s filming schedule had been brutal. Late nights alternated with early morning call times. I’d eaten dinner alone nearly every night. My loneliness had made me realize I didn’t enjoy going to bed by myself. That was a different feeling for me, because it had just been me and my cozy bed for the longest time.

The house was extra lonely over the weekend because Ronan was in Los Angeles. He’d been asked to present with Heather at the Golden Globes. I stayed behind, because I’d previously committed to watching the twins while my sister and Lucan attended an event on Saturday evening. Charlotte showed up on my doorstep last night with goodies in tow, and we watched the awards together. We’d had a blast sipping champagne¸ drinking wine, and consuming terrible junk food.

As much fun as we’d had, though, I couldn’t wait to see Ronan later. I planned to surprise him at the airport.

After my second cup of coffee, the lingering effects of the hangover dissipated. I powered through the rest of my morning, returning phone calls, sending e-mails, and finalizing details for the editorial shoot at
Belle Magazine
. With Fashion Week quickly approaching, I had my first prep meeting with Charlotte and the production team later. And now, I was on my way to meet with Cassie and discuss the blog posting schedule for the website.