Center Stage (Bright Lights Billionaire #2) (9 page)

Chapter 12

Riley

We flew throughout the night, and Ethan barely moved through the whole event. Not even when we hit a pretty bad storm near the end of the trip. It was almost lunchtime the next day in Rio when we finally got off the plane. I'd never been so glad to see solid ground before. Not being someone who'd flown more than once in my life, I'd held it together pretty well through the whole ordeal. Having to help Ethan was almost a godsend. It kept my attention on him and not on my worries about being in the air for so long.

I'd tried to sound like a Billy-bad-ass with Deza the day before like dying on the plane was all part of the risk, and was no big deal. Truth be told, I was terrified and hiding it like I did everything else.

"It's beautiful here." Ethan moved up beside me, looking a little too pale still.

"Yeah. How are you?" I turned to face him and reached out to press the back of my fingers to his forehead. "You feel good."

"You ain't seen nothing yet, baby doll." He winked and turned as Deza moved up beside us.

"All right. We have two small cars coming to take us to the beach condo we rented. You boys ride together and me and Riley will ride together. We get the first car that comes though. I need a shower or I'm going to turn into a class-A witch." Deza gave us a look as if to compound her words with truth.

"Turn into? What are you now?" Ethan chuckled and lifted his hands as she moved to pop him. "Be careful with the goods please. I'm feeling better, but I'm not nearly one hundred percent yet."

"You'll be better by tomorrow. We have the rest of the afternoon to lay around the condo, or soak up the sun for those of us who are desperate for a tan." Frank pulled up the sleeve of his Hawaiian shirt and we all flinched.

"Oh the agony of the whiteness." Ethan turned and acted as if he were ducking from a nuclear blast. "That's bad, man."

"I told you." Frank chuckled. "Here is car one. You girls go ahead."

"Unless you want to go with Deza and I'll ride with Frank. I know you're not feeling good." I turned my attention to Ethan.

"No. I'll be all right. Really." He smiled. "You're being too sweet for your own good. I wanna marry you instead of just turn you into my bedroom toy. Be careful, woman. You'll get yourself in too deep."

"Does he use these lines on everyone?" Frank snorted.

"Nope. I'm going to give Riley the down low in the car. She's in trouble and the boy has hearts in his eyes."

"Hey. We're right here." Ethan winked at me. "Hearts in my eyes? Dumb. You guys are old."

It was interesting how open everyone was with one another. I wasn't sure if I would ever get there, but it was fun to watch the others in action.

"Yes, well, I'm taking my old ass to the condo." Deza moved toward the car as Ethan motioned for me to join her.

"I'm good. Go to the condo. I'll find you tonight and we can have a drink or something." His eyes moved across my face as if memorizing me. How easily it would have been to fall in love with him.

I was lying if I thought I wasn't already there, but was it him that I was in love with, or his talent? Or the parts he played, even better yet?

"All right. Thanks." I rolled my bag to the small car, and thanked the driver for loading it for us.

Deza was resting with her eyes closed when I got in. I didn't want to bother her, so I pulled out my phone and worked through the text messages I had from Charlotte. She was about the only one I spoke with. It would seem that my boss from the restaurant had called a few times in the last day to apologize for being so harsh with me. Funny how people realized just how good they had it, but only when it was gone.

"Did Ethan offer you a friends with benefits-type relationship?" Her voice caught me off-guard.

"Hm? No. I don't think so." Embarrassment raced through me. He's hinted at it, but I couldn't really tell if he were being cheeky or honestly wanted me to come to him when I was horny and away from home. It seemed far too casual for my liking.

"You sure? You can tell me, you know." She pinned me with a hard stare.

"He might have mentioned it, but honestly, I figured he was just kidding."

"Right, well, he wasn't." She rolled her eyes. "I swear that boy is going to be the death of me."

"Did he mention it to you?" Horror raced through me that they were
that
open. The teasing and picking at Ethan about his man-parts and stuff, I could get used to. Getting into the intimate details of my sex life? Not so much.

"Yes! Yes, child. He wanted to make sure I was good with it." She pressed her hands to her face. "He has absolutely no sense of modesty at all. You should be warned. If you were on one film with us, no biggie, but knowing that you're most likely going to do three? That's three to four years of working together. Be warned."

I forced a laugh and leaned back, turning my face to look out the window as we passed the busy city and headed out to the water. She seemed to take the hint that I was done talking for the moment, and I was grateful for the silence.

I didn't know how I felt about him mentioning to Deza a friends with benefits relationship between us. Where the idea of stripping him naked and making him moan was something I could find at the edge of my desires, it was a risk. A risk I wasn't sure I was ready to take. My daydreams were more than enough for now, and even though getting sweaty and rolling around in the sheets with him was inevitable, I was going to hang on for as long as I could. Hopefully.

*

"I'm going to the beach for a while. You wanna come?" Deza stood by the front door with her sunglasses on and towel draped over her arm.

"No, I'm good. I'm going to read for a while. I'll find you later." I offered her a warm smile and turned onto my side as I pulled up Ethan's bio on my phone. It seemed almost like snooping around, and yet I couldn't help it. He wasn't going to give up too much information from what I could tell. He protected himself almost to the extent that I did.

"No wonder he doesn't have anyone close in his life but those that work beside him." And his brother. Thinking of Liam brought a smile to my lips. He'd been so entertaining on the boat ride out to Catalina Island the weekend before. He and Ethan had the type of relationship I'd want if I had a brother or sister. The thought of my brother Derick brushed across my thoughts, but as always, I dismissed it quickly. Too much sadness surrounded it to let it penetrate my soul and bring me down.

I switched to my texts and shot my mother another one. It would be the fifth one in the last week without a reply from her. I was worried, but there wasn't much I could do until she returned my calls or sent me a text back.

"Not gonna worry about it. I've been waiting for this big break half my life." I flipped it back to Ethan's bio as a knock resounded at the door. I groaned softly and got up, half-expecting it to be Deza.

Ethan stood on the other side of the door in a pair of swim trunks, sandals and a bright pink towel over his shoulders. "Come down to the water with me."

"Deza just went down. Go find her. I wanted to read for a while."

"Nope. I want time with you. You saved my life yesterday. The least I can do is buy you dinner and a drink." He moved around me into the room. "This is nice. Why are you guys sharing a room? The house is huge. It's almost like a mini apartment complex."

"This is the only room with two beds. We figured it would be easier for us to share a room than to get one of the film crew guys to share rooms." I shrugged and walked into the room, letting the door close behind me. "I'll go down for dinner, but I'm not very hungry."

"We'll share something." He pulled my white bikini from my open suitcase. "Wear this. I like it."

I laughed and snagged it from his fingers. "I don't care what you like. I'm wearing what I have on."

"You can't get wet like that. Well, you can, but not the way that would keep us both safe." He sucked in a deep breath and ran his eyes along me.

Chill bumps broke out along my skin as my body tightened due to his nearness. I reached out and gripped his wrist, pulling him toward the door.

"Let's go. Out of my bedroom."

"This is new. I've never in my life heard those words put into one congruent sentence together." He offered me his arm, and I would have been an ass for not taking it.

"Stop being cute. It's getting on my nerves." I smiled at him as we moved down the hall and out the side exit of the condo.

"Would you rather I be an ass?" He released my arm and touched the small of my back as we moved through a crowd of people. They whispered something which included his name. "Damn. I thought we were staying on a private island."

"We are." I glanced around. “I don't see many people here. They're probably part of the camera crew. New movie, new people working for you guys, right?"

"That's true." He seemed to accept my explanation and relaxed again. "Thanks again for helping me yesterday."

"Of course. Are you feeling better?" I wrapped my arms around myself and glanced up as the sun sat near the water's edge. It was going to be a beautiful sunset, but felt a little too romantic beside him.

"Much better." He glanced toward the water. "Look... the sun's going to almost look like it bursts when it hits the water. Let's go watch." He gripped my hand and moved us out there as tension drove me toward silence. "Beautiful."

"Can I ask you something?" I looked up at him as my heart shuddered in my chest.

"Anything." He glanced down at me and turned back to watch the sunset. "Just don't ask me to marry you. It's too soon, and I'm not sure we're compatible in the bedroom. If you wanna have dinner and use each other for dessert just to make sure everything fits in its proper place, you can hit your knees afterward.”

"Hit my knees?" I yelped and popped him in the chest as he laughed loudly. The expression on his face stole a part of my heart and left me weak.

"To ask me to marry you. Shit... I didn't mean." He lifted his eyebrow. "Well, that would be fucking awesome too, but-"

I hit him again.

"But... that's not what I meant." He reached out and slid his strong hands over my shoulders. "Ask me the question."

"Why did you deny me the kiss at your house? Was it because you had someone else coming over for the night?" I tried to remain calm, though everything inside of me prepared for the worst. There was no good answer. Either way I looked at it, he'd slept with the pretty girl and kicked me out. Rejection stung the center of my chest like I was right back there again.

"It was a test, right?"

"No. It wasn't." I glanced out at the sunset. "I lied to save face. I'd not been rejected too many times in my life. It was a first and it was embarrassing. I covered it up."

Was I really being this honest with him? Ugh. I hated myself.

He slid his hands up my neck and cupped my face, forcing me to look at him.

"I did it out of respect for you, and for me. Deza asked that I stay hands off with you because whatever is happening between us needs to happen for a long time. I'm horrible with relationships, so I figured it would be a respectable thing to do, but the minute I did it... I regretted it. I just knew one kiss wasn't enough."

"Am I talking with the real Ethan Lewis?" I smiled and cupped my hands over his, finding a warmth in his embrace that I'd almost expected
not
to be there.

"I'm the one and only." He brushed his thumbs over my cheeks. "Forgive me for denying us both? I'm afraid they expect me to keep doing that."

"And it's probably smart that you do." I pulled his hands off of me as the sound of voices stole my attention.

"Oh, shit." He put his back to me as a huge group of girls jogged down the beach toward us, all of them yelling his name. "Private doesn't exist anymore, does it?"

"Go get 'em tiger." I popped his butt and turned to walk back up toward the drink hut.

"You're not leaving me here. Seriously?"

I laughed all the way to my barstool, where I sat for the next hour waiting on him. A whole host of emotions ran through me, but by the time he dropped down beside me, I was sure of one thing.

I was also glad that he hadn't kissed me. God only knew where we would be if he had.

Chapter 13

Ethan

"Oh my God! Ethan Lewis. You're my favorite actor of all time. I've loved you since I could walk!"

The women seemed to be multiplying like gremlins as the ocean water sprayed us with a light mist. I glanced over my shoulder, praying that Riley had come back to save me, but she was long gone. Not that I blamed her. As much as I appreciated my fans for buying tickets to my movies, I wanted the relationship to have a big-ass movie screen separating their greedy fingers and my body.

"Aww... thanks. I appreciate that more than you know." I signed a few more papers, bags and purses, and a few sets of tits before I could get away. How women knew to carry a Sharpie with them wherever they went was a mystery I wouldn't soon figure out.

I finally wrapped up things with them, denied the free dinners and blow jobs and walked back up toward the cantina, where Riley was nursing a beer.

"What is your definition of private? I'm thinking Frank and Deza have a completely different idea of what a private, secluded beach looks like. That, or they fucking hate me." I sat down on the bar stool beside her and ordered a Corona when the bartender stopped in front of us.

She laughed and ran her eyes over me, leaving my attention only for her, once again.

"Private is relative, right?" She lifted her beer to her lips and took a long drink.

"Private honestly doesn't exist when you live in the eye of the public. I know Deza was hoping that I would mentor you a little, so consider that lesson one. Honestly. Anything you do, have done or are contemplating doing, the world will know about it, and the press will be hot on your ass to get the gory details and publish it."

She paled a little. "Great."

"Yeah. It sucks. Just be ready. If you have anything in your past that-"

"I do." She turned back toward the bar and glanced down. "I have a lot of poverty, a mother that acts like a fifteen-year-old slut and a brother that was killed in a drive-by because of shitty choices. I'm sure the rags to riches story is going to be touted across the airways before we can blink twice."

I tucked the information away to dissect that and simply nodded and pressed my forearms to the bar in front of me. I’d never have guessed that she had such a fucked up family life. That had to be where some of her high emotion came from during our scenes. "Unfortunately it is. My situation with my folks has been aired enough times that the media refer to me as the star with no beginning." I snorted. "As if I popped up from an underwater aquifer and started living the life of a movie star."

She glanced over at me as a smile tugged at the side of her perfect mouth. "It's funny because I've been watching you grow up on screen most of my life, and I honestly can't remember a mention of your mom and dad."

"That's because we keep them in the closet with the rest of the skeletons." I winked at her and lifted my beer to my lips. "You know, I wonder..."

She turned, brushing her knee by my thigh as she put her full attention on me. I enjoyed the weight of it almost too much. My body hardened, but it was nothing new around her.

"Tell me what you wonder."

"Those girls down there..." I glanced over my shoulder praying they hadn't crept up the beach like something out of a horror film. "Some of them had me sign their breasts. Do you think guys ask female actors to sign their dicks or do they just use paper?"

"That is an interesting thought. I'll let you know whenever it happens. I'd assume it's probably their chests or paper, right?" Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, though she seemed unaffected otherwise. "Speaking of dicks..."

"Man, I'm falling in love with you. What other chick has a conversation starter that most men would die to hear the rest of?" I laughed as she chuckled and swatted at my chest. She was beyond beautiful. It took everything inside of me not to reach out and drag her in for a long, hard kiss. My patience was running thin on having her in my bed and it hadn't been more than a few weeks since we'd met. If I were playing the good guy part that Deza wanted me to play, that moment would never come, nor would I.

"Did you tell Deza that you wanted to have a friends with benefits relationship with me?"

It felt like ice water got tossed in my face. It was like being in the throes of talking dirty with a woman and she mentioned having babies together. My happy, rock-solid boner dropped like the stock market during the Great Depression.

"No." I gave her a silly look like
she
was the idiot. "I mean, I might have mentioned that I was joking with you about sleeping with me if you needed a good, long, hard-"

"Okay. I get it." She narrowed her eyes in a way that had my dick rising back to attention. The woman was going to give my crotch pneumonia. Up and down. Up and down. "She doesn't seem like the type to twist the truth."

"She's not, but... she is a girl." I licked at my lips and took another drink of my beer. "You guys have been known to skew the truth in your favor, bend words to get your way and twist thoughts of the most unsuspecting males to end up where you wanted to."

"No way. Guys are way worse than women at all of that." She wagged her eyebrows.

"Nope. That takes far too much effort for a dude. We just tell it like it is and take cover under the nearest bomb shelter. Life's too short to pussy-foot around, right?"

"True. So you did mention it to her."

"Kinda, not really." I shrugged. "In all honesty, I might have laid the idea before her just in case she flew off the handle and didn't like it. I was teasing you when I mentioned it, but after thinking it through, I really liked the idea."

"Because you want to protect each other." She was leading me down a dark path and looked like Goldilocks doing it. Sweet, innocent, hot as fucking sin. Women like her were the reason most men
thought
they were going to end up at the pearly gates only to drop down into the smoking section. Trickery had to be her calling card, but regardless... I was in it to win it. At least for a night.

"Absolutely. You don't want crotch-rot, do you? I hear sexually transmitted diseases are a bitch. Or how about someone starting a fan club and talking about what a piece of shit you are?" I finished off my beer and tried not to dive too deep into my own horror show that played in my head. If I had any piece of advice that I could back up with loads of painful personal experience, it was not to sleep with strangers. It never turned out well.

"Maybe I'm the kind of girl who doesn't need sex, Ethan. Just because you seem to thrive on it doesn't mean the rest of us do."

"Thrive on it?" I laughed. "Let’s be honest here. I haven't had a proper fucking in the last two to three years."

"Really? Why is that?" She got up and motioned for me to join her.

Had I really opened up the conversation to talk about the one thing that left me feeling inadequate as a male altogether? My brother could joke about it all day long, and I understood quite well how fucking stupid it sounded when I spoke it out loud, but my dick was too big. In a way that left me without any measure of pleasure far more often than not.

We walked to the edge of the water in silence and sat down in the sand as the moonlight bathed the shore in its ethereal light.

"Well? Tell me." She slid her hand behind her and tilted her head toward me. The position jutted out her breasts.

My mouth grew dry and nervousness raced through the center of my chest. What the hell was it with this woman? She shouldn't have had the power to intimidate me, but she did. It was a turn on nevertheless, so I was willing to put up with it to the point of being uncomfortable.

"You tell me that Jace is your boyfriend that you're in love with and would never cheat on first, and I'll explain a little bit of my shit to you." I ran my hand through my hair and glanced back at the ocean. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore brought a balm to my soul that I didn't realize I needed. Maybe the trip would do me some good.

"How are you feeling? Your stomach okay?" She turned her attention back to the water and looked up at the sky.

"What? You're so horrible at transitions when deflecting. We need to work on this. You gotta treat it like a scene in a movie. So, like, if I didn't want to answer the question about Jace, I would have said, boyfriends are a difficult topic. They sometimes make you feel like a million bucks, and sometimes make you feel like barfing up your guts. Hey... speaking of barfing up your guts." I glanced over at her. "How are you feeling from earlier? Your stomach okay?"

She laughed and pressed her shoulder to mine. "I don't care if the transition is horrible. The end result is the same. He's none of your business."

"I agree, but I'm just asking about the relationship. Anyone could ask that. Fuck, they will. I promise. I'm just trying to see if you're locked into something good and solid with the guy."

"And if I am?" Her eyes moved across my face slowly.

She might be with him, but she wasn't with him. There was no way. She was far too much woman for the playboy-looking jock.

"Then I'll leave you alone about being fuck-buddies." I shrugged and turned back toward the water. "I think we'd be quite compatible in the bedroom."

"Do you now?" She moved up to her hands and knees and pulled something from the sand. A seashell. "And you really think I can do something with that monster you're packing?" Her smile was contagious, but her words drove deep into the center of me.

"Monster. Right." I got up and stretched, trying not to let the moment drown in my own issues, and yet failing miserably. "I'm going to grab some crackers and head back to my room. This was fun. I'll see you in the morning for rehearsal."

"What?" She looked up with a tense expression. "Why are you going?"

"I'm tired." I turned and walked toward the condo as anger swirled in the pit of my stomach. I was quite proud of myself for not barking out some nasty comment about having to pet the monster alone.

A friends with benefits relationship with Riley would have been the perfect answer to both of our problems, but until I figured out how to shrink my shit and she stopped pretending that the thing between her and Channing Tatum's twin was anything more than an occasional romp in the sheets, it wasn't happening.

Funny enough, the worst part of realizing that was coming to terms with the fact that Deza was getting her way without even trying. I growled low in my chest as I walked into the cool air of the house and paused.

I was in Rio and we weren't on a private beach at all. I wasn't going to bed like a little old man. Nursing my wounded ego would feel much better. All I needed was a six pack of beer and a hot woman. Both couldn't be too hard to find.