Locked (PresLocke Series Book 2) (9 page)

I glanced over to where he was unbuttoning the collar of his torn Navy jacket, and watched him dig around inside his bag for his cell. Once he located it, he took a seat at the small kitchen table and scrolled through his phone, looking for his event planner’s number, no doubt, and when I shut the door behind me, he looked up and aimed a half-smile in my direction.

“You’re looking pretty serious over there, Daydream.” There was humor in his tone, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You okay?”

I nodded slowly as I made my way over to where he sat. I reached for the phone and put it on the table, and when I cupped the side of his face and lowered my lips to his, I said, “I’m just great.”

Ace pulled away slightly and raised an eyebrow. “Great, huh?”

“Mhmm. I was just thinking…”

“Always a dangerous pastime,” Ace said, and brought a palm up to lay it directly over my heart, and I wondered if he could feel it thudding.
 

“No. Not this time,” I said.
 

“No?”

“Nope. I was just thinking how wonderful you are.”

“Okay, sweet talker—”

“I’m serious,” I said, bringing my other hand up so I was cradling his face between my palms. “I wish for one day you could be me, so you could see what an incredibly brave, sweet, extraordinary human being you are. You have so much, Ace, yet…you’re more generous and humble than anyone I know.”

“Dylan—”

“Shh,” I whispered against his lips. “I just wanted you to know that I…” I caught myself at the last minute as his eyes pierced mine and I was paralyzed by the enormity of emotions flooding me.
 

God, how is it that in twelve weeks this man has completely turned my world upside down?
But he had. Ace had me wanting things…things I’d never even thought about before. Things I always assumed I would
never
want.

“You…?” he said, but my mind had changed course. The emotions had blurred and morphed into something else entirely, and then, quite unexpectedly, I asked, “Do you want kids?”

From the stunned expression on Ace’s face, I might as well have asked him if he were a serial killer. His eyes had widened and his mouth fell open, and he looked so bewildered I couldn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled out of me.
 

“Uhh…” he said.

He appeared so shell-shocked it made me laugh even harder. “I’m sorry…but you should see your face right now… I promise, I’m not pregnant.” When I began laughing again, Ace’s mouth snapped shut and he brought both his hands up to my wrists to encircle them and tug me down into the booth with him. He scooted across the seat until he was lounging back against the wall and I was awkwardly sprawled across him.

“Excuse me if you took me a little bit off guard,” he said.
 

“A little bit?”

“Okay, a whole fucking lot. But that wasn’t where I thought you were going with that at all.”

I aimed a grin his way, trying to play down the fact that I’d been about three seconds away from handing over more of me than I knew I could ever get back should Ace decide he didn’t—

“Hey?” he said. “Where’d you go?”

“Huh?”

It was Ace’s turn to chuckle. “What is
up
with you? You’re all over the place.”

I sighed, knowing that he was right. Maybe it was like a postproduction crash or something. But I felt oddly sentimental. Like all of my feelings were right there on the surface.
 

I stroked my fingers down his cheek. “I just think you would be an amazing father, is all. And I was curious.”

He narrowed his eyes on me. “I don’t think that’s it at all,
but
to answer your question. Yes, I think one day and”—his eyes were so intent on holding mine then that there was no way I could look anywhere but at him, and his meaning was crystal clear before he even said it—“with the right person, I would definitely consider having kids. What about you?”

“I never really thought I would, considering where I came from and all. But…” I chewed on my lower lip, suddenly wishing I’d kept my damn mouth shut.

“But?”

My eyes locked with his and I decided it was now or never to really just lay it out there. “But watching you today on set made me think about what-ifs.”

The grin that curved Ace’s mouth then was cheeky, and for the first time since we’d entered the trailer, his eyes lit with the same amusement his smile was conveying.
 

“Are you trying to say you want me to knock you up? Because, Dylan, I have to tell you, I have some pretty powerful boys at work, but no amount of horny goat weed is gonna make
that
happen.”

It was my turn for my jaw to drop then, and when Ace started laughing his ass off I punched him in the arm. “Dick.”

“Aww, but you just said I was wonderful.”

“A wonderful dick.”

“But not magical enough to get you pregnant.”

“Would you
stop
saying that. You’re freaking me out.”

Ace’s rumble of laughter vibrated through him as he wrapped his arms around my waist, and finally, after a minute or two, when his mirth had subsided, he stroked a hand down my back to my ass and pulled me as close as was possible while wearing clothes.
 

“It’s okay to look at the future and think about what might be, Daydream.”

I laid my head against his shoulder and shut my eyes. “I know. This is all just happening so fast. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe it’s real.”

I felt his lips at my temple and then he whispered, “It’s real. So believe it. Plan it. Trust it.”

I nodded and then angled my face to see him look up at me. He had a soft smile on his face, and for the first time all day he looked relaxed, and I knew that as long as we were together the future looked brighter than ever.

8

I LIKE BIG BUOYS AND I CANNOT LIE

“YOU KNOW, AS much as I love looking at you without any clothes, there’s something about you in a suit that just has me…” Dylan leaned back into the leather seat of the Town Car and gave me a slow perusal. His teeth tugged on his lower lip as his gaze drifted back up the length of my body, and then he said, “Mmm. Wanting to tell the driver to turn this car around and head back to your place.”

“And miss your first wrap party? Why, Mr. Prescott, you wouldn’t dare deny me the opportunity to have you on my arm at our first public event.”

“Wouldn’t I?” The wolfish grin he gave me made me laugh. There was no way I was letting him off the hook that easy.
 

“Yeah, okay, you would. And as much as I’d like nothing more than to strip you naked and fuck you on every surface of my house, I promised the girls I’d introduce you.”

Dylan pretended to pout, but his eyes were sparkling. “Looking forward to later, but I’m excited to meet your friends.”

“
And
taste the best boozy shakes you’ve ever had in your life.”

“What the hell are boozy shakes?”

“My weakness. They’re basically gourmet alcoholic milkshakes. Just wait.”

“Do they come with pink umbrellas and shit?”

“Sometimes.”

He laughed. “And you’re going to carry that around the party proudly, aren’t you?”

“Damn right I am.”

As the car pulled up to the curb of Licked and the After Dark, where the wrap party for
Insurrection 2
was being held, the gaggle of paparazzi on the sidewalk turned in our direction, the flashes from their cameras immediate and nonstop.
 

“You ready?” I asked, meaning more than just
are you ready to get out of the car?
I needed to know that he was not only ready to face the onslaught we were about to step into, but ready for every little move we made to be dissected in the tabloids. But Dylan’s handsome face was calm and sure, so when he nodded, I smiled in return. “Then let’s do it.”

Our driver opened the back door and I stepped out first, keeping that smile in place as I gave the cameras a wave, and the shouts that filled my ears were immediate.
 

“Ace, did you bring your boyfriend?”
 

“Is it true you and Dylan are moving in together?”

I wasn’t about to answer or even acknowledge any questions tonight, or any time in the foreseeable future, so I ignored the shouts and moved to the side so Dylan could exit the car.
 

And what a fucking exit it was. As he stepped out, the paparazzi crowded in closer, wanting those money shots of the gorgeous man standing next to me, reaching for my hand.

“Dylan, look this way!”

“Can we get a shot of you two kissing?”
 

When Dylan threaded his fingers through mine, I gave them a gentle squeeze. Then I pushed us through the horde, keeping my eyes forward and my mouth shut, even as I heard:

“What do you have to say about sources who claim there was tension on the set because of your relationship?”

“Ace, did you get Dylan the part in
Insurrection 2
?”

“Dylan, how does Ace measure up in bed?”

At that last comment, I halted and Dylan came to a stop behind me. Then I turned on my heel in the direction of the photographer who’d shouted the out-of-line question, and when he saw that my gaze had landed on him, he lowered his camera a fraction.
 

But as much as I wanted to give the invasive asshole a piece of my mind, years of experience outweighed what was on the tip of my tongue, so I merely raised an eyebrow as he snapped away at me, and then we were gone. Moving quickly past the flashes that felt as though someone had put a strobe light spotlight on us, we were soon ushered inside Licked, and I could hear Dylan let out an exhale of relief that matched my own.
 

“Ace Locke,” Ryleigh, decked out in a swing-style dress straight out of the fifties, said as she sauntered toward us.

“Ryleigh,” I said as I let go of Dylan’s hand to embrace my friend and the woman who owned Licked and the After Dark. “I can’t thank you enough for letting us hold the party here.
And
for putting up with the chaos that came along with that.”

She laughed as she kissed my cheek and then took a step back. “Are you kidding me? That’s free press, baby.”

“Damn right it is,” a familiar voice piped up, and when I looked past Ryleigh’s shoulder I saw Paige, my event planner/giver of keycards to Syn, who was bent over slightly at the window to peer out the curtains. “They’re going nuts out there,” the brassy blonde said as she straightened and rounded on us, and then she started across the black and white floors in her tailored cigarette pants and crop top.
When she stopped beside Ryleigh, she gave Dylan and me a thorough once-over, and then held her hand out to him. “And I can see why. Hi, we haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Paige Iris Traynor-Ashcroft.”

Dylan chuckled, and my heart pounded when his dimples appeared.
 

“That’s quite a mouthful,” he said, taking Paige’s hand to shake, and, bold as ever, she looked my way and pursed her lips.
 

“He say that with those dimples the first time you dropped trou?” she asked me. “If so, I can see why you’re willing to brave the hordes of paparazzi out there.” When she returned her attention to Dylan, she stated matter-of-factly, “You’re sexy.”

“Uhh…” Dylan tried to speak, and failed.

“This is Dylan, and how ’bout you be on your best behavior tonight and let go of his hand?” I said.

“How ’bout you try and make me,” Paige said with a
good luck with that
grin.
 

“You do remember he’s gay, right, Paige?” Ryleigh reminded her friend, and my soon-to-be
ex
-
employee.
 

Paige acted as though she were thinking that over, and then nodded. “I
do
seem to remember that, but you never know—”

“I don’t mean to insult you because you seem really…well, intimidating,” Dylan finally said as he drew back his hand and cast his attention my way. “But trust me when I say that I like men. In particular, this man. I have since the first time I saw him, and that was years before we met.”

“Ouch. Shot down, P.I.T.A.,” Hunter Morgan, Ryleigh’s boyfriend, said as he arrived behind his woman. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her temple, and then he grinned at the two of us. “Hey, guys, don’t mind Paige. She’s a pain in everyone’s ass.”

“I never do,” I said, throwing a good-natured smile her way.

“Huge turnout tonight,” Hunter said, indicating the open doors that led through to the After Dark area where the party was taking place. There was no denying that Hunter was a good-looking guy, and as his dark hair fell away from his eyes I could see the appeal he held for Ryleigh—as could Dylan, apparently, who’d turned his head to smile at the man who’d just greeted us.

“Yeah, I have a feeling that’s going to be the norm for us for some time,” I said, placing a hand on Dylan’s back just to connect myself with him.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Ryleigh said. “It was crazy enough last year after you and Shay—” She squeaked off her final word as Hunter hugged her gently, and aimed a
what
look at her guy.

Dylan was the one to speak up. “It’s okay. I know all about Shayne and Ace.” He looked around. “Is she going to be here? I never did get to thank her for sending me upstairs the night of your birthday.”

As that hot memory hit, and transported me back to my bedroom and Dylan on his knees with—
huh, his mouth full
—I kissed his ear and said, “I never got to thank her either.”

“She’ll be here,” Ryleigh said, stepping away from Hunter and heading over behind a long counter with a glass case that housed tubs of colorful, and unusually named, ice creams. “She called to tell me that her and Nate were running a little late, which usually means…”

“She was banging her
young
man before they had to make an appearance and behave themselves,” Paige interjected as we all made our way to the counter.