Take Two (10 page)

Maddie flashed a mischievous grin. “We’re alone.”

Hmm. He liked the tone of this conversation. Too bad they weren’t really alone. He was very aware of the waitress eyeing him and the couple in the booth behind him and the woman at the bar. “Mostly.”

“Mostly enough.” She took a deep breath—was she nervous?—and slid herself around to the farthest part of the booth. “I’m glad. I need to give you something.”

“You do?”

She nodded. “Come closer.”

Micah moved closer to her, his curiosity piqued as Maddie took a long swig finishing off her Corona. Then she put a cloth napkin on her lap and dug in her pocket for her ChapStick. He watched entranced as she applied it leisurely to her full, pink lips, just as he had seen her do so many times on set. Thank God for the dry weather.

When she’d finished with her lips, she began to rub the ChapStick liberally over her left hand. Her eyes drifted to a hoodie draped on the back of the booth behind them. She pulled it into his lap.

He raised an eyebrow. What the hell was she doing?

He was answered by the approach of her hand underneath the table and the hoodie where his cock throbbed painfully in his jeans. His jaw dropped as she undid his zipper and freed his aching member, her eyes never leaving his. Well, this wasn’t characteristic of the Maddie he thought he’d begun to figure out. What a nice surprise.

Maddie circled his penis with her lubricated hand, eliciting a gasp. A nice surprise indeed.

He shot a glance around the bar, hoping no one was paying attention to them. But then her thumb grazed the top of his crown and his eyes raced back to her. Who fucking cared if they were noticed? It was worth the risk of being caught.

In fact, that was half the excitement.

“So, Micah, I’ve been meaning to ask you—why so many women in your life?”

Micah blinked several times before answering, not sure he could converse with her hand on his dick. With effort, he managed, “I have a very strict no-strings rule. Relationships in Hollywood are near impossible.”

“That’s pessimistic.” Slowly, Maddie began to move her hand up his shaft from the root to head of his member, driving a shiver down his spine. “There are plenty of actors who have girlfriends in Hollywood.”

Micah put his palms down on the table and stilled himself. “Hardly any of those work out. And the no-girlfriend thing has kept me focused. It’s gotten me to the top.”

She met his stare full on, a glint in her eyes. Her hand slid back down to base camp. Ho. Ly. Fuck.

“Maybe you got to the top because you’re talented.” Again, Maddie moved her hand up his shaft, dragging her thumb along the thick vein on the underside of his cock.

He suppressed a groan. “Talent means nothing in Hollywood.” Was he even making sense? It was so hard to concentrate on…uh…words.

“And lucky.” She paused then moved her hand over his head in lazy circles before sliding it back down the other side of his shaft.

He gritted his teeth. “I am very lucky.”

“And incredibly hot.” She pumped quickly once before returning to her unhurried drag up his member. Micah almost blew his load right then.

He sucked in a haggard breath, amazed that her words could have an additional effect on him. “You think I’m hot?”

“I think you aren’t bad on the eyes.” She repeated the pattern, circling his head, then moving her hand down the other side.

“No, you said hot.” She pumped twice this time, then followed with a slow tug up. “Incredibly…hot.”
This
was incredibly hot. So…incredibly…hot… Sure, he’d had handjobs in public before, but usually in darkened, private corners, not at a table with coworkers nearby. Certainly not from reserved serious types such as Maddie. It was totally thrillingly unexpected.

“And what do you do if you fall in love?” Three quick pumps. His cock felt like steel, he’d never been so hard.

“That would be tricky. To fall in love.” He could only produce short sentences. “When you only spend. One night with someone.” Though, if you asked him right then, he’d likely say he loved this woman. He definitely loved what she did to him, what she was doing to him.

Her eyes clouded, but her hand didn’t stop moving, continuing her rhythmic pattern. Her voice was quieter when she continued. “You’ve never considered breaking your rule?”

He’d done more than consider it. He’d broken it hardcore. And that fiasco did nothing but enforce his no-love stance.

But his answer to Maddie was much simpler, though it came out strained. “No. I don’t. That rule got me here. I love it here.” He was close. So close. A few more strokes and he would be done for.

Her eyes darkened. Was that hurt? Disappointment? He couldn’t tell and he was too consumed with what she was doing to him to fully register meaning in her expression.

She leaned over giving him a perfect view of her round breasts and pumped four times fast. It was her final harsh whisper that threw him over the edge. “You would have gotten here anyway.”

Micah brought his hand to his mouth to stifle his moan as he exploded into her hand. Even as he came, he wanted more, knew that this would not be nearly enough. Maddie Bauers was completely and utterly under his skin.

Chapter Nine

Micah closed his eyes as Maddie caught the hot fluid with the cloth napkin from her lap. She cleaned him up, wiped off her hand, balled the napkin and threw it onto the table. She’d never done anything like that—ever—and she was unexpectedly roused.

But she was also resolved. She’d needed to give this to Micah, to even the score and put a cap on their night from the past. Their most recent conversation confirmed again that messing around with Micah would lead to nothing but heartache. He was in love with his career. Why she even bothered to argue it with him, she didn’t know. “You would have gotten where you are in Hollywood too. Don’t kid yourself that a woman would have held you back.”

Micah paused to calm his breathing as he tucked himself back into his pants. “I don't believe that.”

“What about Lulu?” She was taking a stab in the dark, but she’d heard Fudge and Micah talking about the woman in the car ride from the airport. It was evident Micah had feelings for the woman, whoever she was.

“Lulu?” Micah laughed, tossing the hoodie on the back of the booth. “Lulu has never held me back. She’s a major factor in my decision to not date, but it’s not for the reasons you’d think.” He paused. “Lulu’s my mother.”

“Oh.” She blushed. “Whoops. I thought I’d stumbled on a woman you were seeing on a regular basis.”

“Good guess. I do see her on a regular basis, after all. But she’s honestly the only woman I can say that about.”

She sat back, attempting to put everything in perspective. He was a player. A self-declared gigolo. At least he didn’t deny it.

And she couldn’t deny that she was mildly interested. More than mildly. More like wildly.

But she knew herself. She was too into him already. It wouldn’t take much to make her fall for him. As Bree had said, he would make her cry.

She sighed then leveled an even stare at him. “I can’t date you, Micah.”

His eyes hinted amusement. “Who said anything about dating?”

“And I definitely can’t do that with you.”

He leaned forward, challenge written all over his face. “Why not?”

“Are you serious? To just be a random number in a group of women? A notch in your bedpost that doesn’t mean anything?”

Micah put his hand over hers. His touch burned like fire on her skin. “You wouldn’t be random. You’re Maddie from the party.”

“God, Micah, that’s just…gross.” She slid her hand out from under his. “I’m not against one-night stands in general, but you said it before. You’re different. You’d be different.”

Micah leaned forward and placed his hand on her leg under the table, sending electric shocks throughout her body. “If by different you mean the most insanely hot, wicked pleasure you’ve ever felt, then yes, I’ll agree.”

His fingers moved in circles on her leg, and her mind filled with unwanted images of the insanely hot wicked pleasure Micah promised.

Shaking the fantasies out of her head, she removed his hand from her thigh. “Though I imagine what you say is true…” He winked at her and she had to look away. “That’s not what I meant. Most hookups you can love and leave. But not you. I’d see you everywhere after and I’m not talking about in person. And it would make me a major hypocrite. I don’t approve of how you use women like Kleenex—”

“Hey, no one’s ever complained.”

“I’m sure they haven’t.” His cavalier attitude about the whole thing just reinforced her decision. “And I’m sure you aren’t used to hearing those words, but I'm not interested, Micah. Not in the least.”

Okay, that was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that.

Micah fixed a somber stare on her for several long seconds and she began to wonder if he knew she was exaggerating her disinterest. But finally he said, “That’s too bad you feel that way.”

She took the last swallow of her beer, trying to drown the cloud that had settled around them. She hadn’t meant to take this to such a serious place. It wasn’t like they were breaking up. Strange how it felt like they were. “Hey, you were fun.” She patted his knee to lighten the mood. Okay, and to get in one last grope.

Micah glanced suggestively at his crotch. “I can still be fun.”

“Oh, no, no, no.” She pulled her hand away from his knee, blocking out the knowledge that he was hard again, suppressing thoughts of what she could do with that knowledge.

“Then what was all this?” He waved his hand, referring to Maddie’s, uh, gift.

Shit. She’d given him the wrong idea. That hadn’t been her intent. She was trying to end things. Not make him want more. “I owed you.”

“You really didn’t.”

She threw his words back at him. “I don’t believe that.” All right, maybe she’d done it just as much for herself as him. To give herself closure. Or maybe to prove something—that she wasn’t a prude, that she could make a move like that without getting attached. Hell, she wasn’t quite sure why she’d done it. Micah confused her so much she had no idea why she did anything anymore. In fact, if he asked her again, she might go to bed with him now.

Micah sighed. Was he really going to give up this easily? She was both relieved and disappointed. “I guess I have to settle for friends.”

She scoffed. Friends? That was ridiculous. He didn’t know the first thing about her, didn’t even seem interested in her beyond the physical. “We’re not friends.”

“We could be friends.” He rubbed his leg against her lower calf, sending tingles up her spine.

Besides, his version of friends didn’t seem the same as hers. She pulled her leg out of his reach. “No, we can’t. You can’t even keep your hands to yourself.”

“I can, and my hands aren’t even touching you.” He waved his fingers in the air to further his point.

“Whatever.” He was flustering her. As always. “Your feet, your hands, your things.”

Micah grinned. “Are you sure you want that? My things are awfully fun.”

She flushed. “We are totally not friends.” She didn’t even want to be friends with him—spend more time with him so she could crush on him even harder? No way.

Micah sat forward, suddenly serious. “Look, we have to spend the rest of the shoot together. Work together every day. And that means you might drop your tape measure in front of me and I might get all turned on and we have to be able to laugh about it like friends.”

He was getting cute. She needed another drink.

“Or Beaumont might want you to run lines. I still have a sex scene coming up. What if you get sent in to help with that?”

“I won’t.” Fuck no. She’d be naked within half a page. She signaled the waitress for another round.

“You won’t be sent or you won’t help?” He propped his elbow on the table and set his chin in his hand.

She glared at him then melted at his boyish expression. God help her. She kept up her protest, hoping he hadn’t realized her crumbling resolve. “Well, I might be sent, but I’m not helping.”

“What? That isn’t any kind of friend to be.”

She covered her eyes with her hands, hiding her amusement. “Because we’re not friends.”

When she removed her hands she found him grinning at her. He gave a half-wink. Oh, for the love of God. He knew he’d won her over.

His ocean-blue eyes sparkled. “You say that, but you don’t mean it. I’m fun. Even when I keep my things to myself.”

“All right, all right.” She sighed. “Friends.”

He sat back, basking in his win. “Awesome.”

Maybe they could be friends. She liked talking with him and hadn’t felt so relaxed in…she couldn’t even remember how long. She enjoyed his banter, almost as much as she enjoyed his hands on her.

No, she couldn’t think about that. They were friends.

The waitress delivered their beers, lingering to stare at the Hollywood star. Micah appeared not to notice. He raised his own beer and clinked Maddie’s bottle. “To newfound friendship.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She took a swallow.

“Now that we’re buds,” Micah said, setting his glass down. “I have to tell you: do not go on a date with that P.A. scum.”