“Is that your way of saying you tracked me down at all?” I twisted my body to face him. “Oh, Ace, you bad boy. Did you get me the role because you wanted to stare at me every day?” As I tsked disapproval, he rolled his eyes.
“You got that all on your own, I swear. Just a happy coincidence.”
“Mhmm. If you say so.” I looked back at the movie playing on his enormous TV screen and wrinkled my nose. “Your movies are so much better than this shit. What is this, number four in the series? How many times does a guy have to lose his daughter to know maybe he shouldn’t let her out of his sight? At least switch it up and have them take the mom or something.”
“That guy sells movie tickets, that’s why.”
“Please. He doesn’t even do a high kick to the face or kick major ass or take off his clothes like y—” I caught myself, and when he lifted his eyebrows, I said, “What? You know we get excited when you get naked on screen. That’s why you work out so much and eat shit like kale.”
Ace gave a belly-busting laugh. “I like that that’s why
you
watch me.”
“Is that right?” I leaned over and slowly ran my finger down his shirt. “Feel free to take this off and give me a show.”
Ace stopped my hand before it got to the buckle of his pants. “As much as you deserve one after that amazing meal, I’m afraid I’m too full to even get off this couch.”
“Sunshine always said no heavy-duty activity like swimming or sex for at least thirty minutes after a big meal.”
“Who’s Sunshine?”
“My mom.”
Ace’s eyes went wide. “Your
mom
told you not to have sex after you eat?”
“I told you, my family’s…unusual.”
“And you call her Sunshine? Is that her name or a term of endearment?”
“Her name,” I said, grinning. “I’ve always called my parents by their first names. Total hippies, those two.”
“How did you end up with something normal like Dylan, then?”
I waggled my brows. “It’s not what they call me, but it’s the name I was born with. They’re my adoptive parents.”
“And slowly the layers start peeling back.” Ace rested his arm on the back of the couch and then propped his head up with his fist. “Please do go on. What do they call you? And when were you adopted? Do you know your birth parents?”
“What is this, twenty questions?” I teased. “Okay, first, I’m
not
telling you what they call me, because you’ll never let me live it down. Second, I was a teenager when Ziggy and Sunshine took me home, and fuck no do I ever want anything to do with my birth parents. I never knew my father, and my mother…yeah, I couldn’t give a shit about them.” I didn’t realize until Ace’s eyebrows shot high that my voice had risen.
“I’m sorry if that was too personal—”
“No, it’s fine. Really. I’ve had years to come to terms with it, and I couldn’t ask for better parents than the ones I have now. Just wish they’d found me sooner, is all.”
Fuck
, I really didn’t want to talk about that
part of my childhood, but there I was, laying my soul bare for this guy. For all I knew, he had a perfect life growing up, with perfect parents who’d never make him do anything against his will. I wasn’t about to give him all the heavy shit, though, so I cleared my throat.
“So what about you?” I asked. “Ace Locke can’t be your real name. It’s too perfect.”
“Oh, but it is. My real name, that is.”
“It’s not short for anything?”
“Like…?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, like…uh…Pacey? Chase? Horace?”
“
Horace
? You’ve got to be joking.”
“Hey, your parents could be total nutjobs, ya never know.”
“Uh…well, lucky for me they weren’t.”
“Lucky for you? I think you mean lucky for me. Can you imagine me calling out,
Harder, Horace! Harder!
”
“Aaaand my dick just went soft. Thanks for that.” Ace shook his head, but his eyes were twinkling. Then, as he stared at me, the amusement left his face. “So we’re really gonna do this?” he asked softly.
“Fuck while I shout out ‘Horace’? I mean, we
can
…”
“No, I mean…” He looked away. His expression was vulnerable, and he didn’t have to spell out what he meant for me to get it.
“Is that what you want?” I asked.
His gaze came back to me, his eyes a darker shade of blue in the flickering glow from the television. “Is that what
you
want?”
Shaking my head, I said, “I asked you first. You want me, Ace?”
Ace bit down on the inside of his bottom lip, and the shy response to my question almost took my breath away. The Ace sitting in front of me was so different from the huge personality on the big screen, or the self-assured one he radiated when others were around. For some reason, the thought hit me that
this
was the real Ace, the one who seemed almost nervous as he sat mere inches away from me, contemplating how to answer my question.
Was he worried that I’d reject him if he told me he wanted me? Or tease him about showing me his feelings? From what I knew about him, he’d never been in a relationship with a man, at least not publicly, so maybe that had him hesitating.
“I do,” he said, so quietly that had I not been looking at him, I would’ve missed the answer over the volume of the TV.
“Yeah?” I asked, and when he nodded, I said, “Good. Because I want to get to know you, Ace.” I scooted in closer to him and ran my fingers over the veins in his brawny arm.
He let out what sounded like a relieved sigh, and when I leaned forward and angled my head, he met me halfway. This time when he kissed me, it wasn’t with urgency, but with a deliberate slowness as his tongue explored mine. I cupped his strong jaw and deepened the kiss, and his hand went to the back of my head to bring me in even closer.
A shiver ran through me at what his mouth was promising, and in the back of my mind I had the random thought that this must be where the term
sealed with a kiss
had come from.
Ace’s powerful fingers moved down the back of my neck, massaging away the stiffness, and I moaned into his mouth. Then I said against his lips, “That feels amazing,” before kissing a trail down his jaw and neck.
As his hands moved to my shoulders to knead the muscles there, he said, “So, I’ll need to introduce you to Roger, my manager, and Martina, my publicist, so they can help us keep things out of the papers. And Frank, my security—oh, wait, you met him at the party.”
“That’s fine,” I murmured, sucking on the skin beneath his ear.
“And then you’ll have to sign an NDA, which is just a standard privacy thing. And they’ll need your contact information and your social security number for a background check—”
I nodded against his neck. “Okay.”
“And we might need to think about getting you a car, since the press knows mine—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said, sitting up. “How about we worry about that later and just focus on the kissing for now?”
Ace stopped and then let out a chuckle. “Shit, sorry. This is new for me.”
“New for me too. But we’ll figure it all out.” I laced my fingers with his and squeezed. “And whatever it is you need from me, you can have that too.”
A broad smile lit up Ace’s face, and the effect was fucking stunning. I wanted to pinch myself. There was no way this was really happening. No way I was sitting on Ace’s couch, holding his hand, and talking about seeing each other. Surreal didn’t begin to cover it.
I gave him a gentle kiss, and when I pulled away, my eyes landed on the time displayed on the digital readout below the TV.
“Oh shit, is it really after eleven?”
Ace did a double take at the time. “I didn’t realize it was so late. Do you just want to stay here tonight, or…?”
“That is seriously tempting, but we’re gonna have a killer long day tomorrow, so we should probably get some sleep. And if I stay here with you, sleep is
not
gonna happen.”
A devilish look crossed Ace’s face, and then he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Let me just grab my keys—”
As Ace pushed himself off the couch, I grabbed the hem of his shirt and then pulled out my phone. “No, don’t do that. I’ll take a cab.”
“A cab? I’m not letting you take a cab home.”
“Yes, you can and you will. If you want to be smart about us and keep things on the low, then you don’t need to be seen driving to my apartment in the middle of the night.”
Ace opened his mouth, no doubt to deny what I’d said, but then closed it. “Fuck. You’re probably right.”
“I know I’m right.”
He looked conflicted, and then pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. “At least let me pay—”
“I’m not destitute, Ace. I can pay.”
Ace sat on the edge of the couch and handed me a short stack of bills. “I’m aware of that, but it’s the least I can do for the inconvenience.”
“Absolutely not—”
“Dylan.”
“What?”
“I made thirty million dollars on my last movie. I’m paying for your goddamn cab.” His voice brooked no argument, and my eyes went wide.
“Yeah, okay, when you say it like that…”
“Good,” he said, smiling to himself. “Now give me your phone. I’ve got a number to save.”
11
DON’T LET THE BAD JUJU WEIGH YOU DOWN
DYLAN: SO ARE you a morning person?
I yawned as I reached for the phone, and saw the time had just hit 3:45 a.m. on Friday, and then I typed back,
Yeah, I don’t hate them. Why?
I stared at the three little bubbles that indicated Dylan was typing back, and when his message came through, I grinned.
Dylan: I hate them. I find it difficult to get up.
I snickered at the first thought that came to my mind, and then I heard Dylan’s words from a couple of nights before telling me I could say whatever I wanted when it was just him and me and decided, what the hell.
You know, they have pills for that.
No more than a handful of seconds passed before Dylan’s text lit up the screen and had me laughing out loud.
Dylan: I meant getting out of bed…which I suspect you already know. But if you require proof, maybe a slumber party is in order.
I reread the words over and over before finally writing back.
When?
My heart was thundering at the possibility of spending an entire night with Dylan, but I was also aware that, unlike everyone else on the planet, I couldn’t just decide to stay the night with somebody. It all had to be planned and executed perfectly to keep the gossipmongers at bay.
Dylan: Tonight.
I wasn’t too proud to admit that the eager way Dylan responded to me, the immediate acquiescence he always gave, was extremely arousing. It made me wonder what else he would say yes to, and was there anything to which he’d say no…
Dylan: Ace? Are you free tonight?
Even if I hadn’t been, I knew I would’ve moved heaven and earth to say yes to that, but luckily I was wide open.
Yes. I’m free. Do you want to come back here like the other night?
I waited for a response, and when my phone vibrated in my hand and I saw that Dylan was calling, I answered immediately.
“Hey,” I said, my voice still full of gravel from having just woken.
“Oh, now this is some fantasy shit right here,” Dylan responded, and his voice was pitched almost as low as my own.
“What’s that?”
“You talking in my ear while I lie in bed. Wait one sec.” There was a rustling sound—sheets, maybe? I wasn’t sure, and then he was back. “Okay, now speak.”
I chuckled at that. “Speak? Okay, bossy. What would you like me to say?”
“I don’t give two fucks what you say, just keep talking to me.”
Dylan’s breathing was a little off as he answered, and I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “And what are you going to be doing while I’m speaking?”
There was a muffled groan and my dick instantly paid attention, stiffening in a second.
“Certainly not touching myself, because that would be…inappropriate.”
Shit. I reached down between my legs and pressed a palm to my now throbbing erection. “Yes, that would be very inappropriate, especially with a costar.” I heard Dylan suck in a breath. “What are you wearing?”
“Now who’s being inappropriate with his costar?”
I could imagine the teasing glint in Dylan’s eyes at his words, and fuck if that didn’t have me spreading my legs a little wider as I continued to stroke myself. “I’m allowed. I’m the star of the movie.”
“Ohhh…I see how it is. Big man on top, huh?”
Those words elicited one hell of a hot visual, and had a groan escaping my lips. “Sometimes…I hope.”
Dylan’s sensual laugh was like fingers trailing over my heated skin. “Fucking often, I hope.”
“Jesus, Dylan.”
His words were arousing, the images he was depicting exactly what I wanted, and when he hummed into the phone I wished like hell he was there beside me.
“So tonight…”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation.
“How about you come over and spend the night at my place? And I’ll prove I don’t need any assistance when it comes to getting it up in the morning.”
I pressed my head back into the pillow and shut my eyes. There was no question what my response would be. We both knew I was going to be at his place as soon as I would be able to, because I couldn’t wait to hear him making those erotic sounds in my ear, as he hovered over the top of me or stretched out underneath me.
“I’ll head that way after the shoot today. But I’ll wait a little and walk over. That way I can just leave my car at the lot.”
“How scandalous.” Dylan sighed, and as I imagined all the things I wanted to do to him and for him to do to me, he wasn’t far from being wrong. This would be a huge fucking scandal if the press caught wind of it.