Dreaming With A Broken Heart (Hollywood Legends Book 1) (9 page)

“The pudding? Delicious.”

“Oh,” Jade whispered.

When she tried to turn away, Garrett kissed her again. His
tongue outlined the shape of her lips, teasing — asking for entrance.
Gradually, Jade opened her mouth. Satisfied, he ended the kiss.

“However, the kiss?” Garrett whispered back.
“Addictive.”

Against his better judgment, Garrett took Jade in his arms.
This time the kiss was no tease.
Take it slow
became
take it all
.
Not that he forgot what Jade had been through. One indication his actions
caused the slightest distress, he was ready to end the embrace. Before he
formed the thought, Jade kissed him back with a passion to equal his own.

Oh, boy
, Garrett thought.
Stopping now was going
to be murder
.
He would
stop
. He sank deeper into the kiss.
Soon
.

“Tell me to stop.” Garrett said the words against
her lips.

“No.”

Garrett groaned when Jade wrapped her arms around his neck,
practically crawling onto his lap. Being good would be so much easier if Jade
didn’t taste like chocolate-coated sin. He was at his breaking point. Well,
maybe just a little longer.

“Jade,” Garrett sighed. “Honey, we need to
stop. Now.”

Summoning the last thread of his willpower, Garrett gently
disentangled Jade’s arms, setting her back on her chair. Her moist, parted lips
looked so inviting he almost pulled her back. The vulnerability in her eyes steeled
his resolve. Too much, too soon was not a good idea. He wasn’t an out of
control teenager with raging hormones. He wasn’t controlled by his erection.
However, at this moment, it was an extremely close call.

“You want me to help you? Trust me to know how far to
go. How
fast
to go.” Garrett didn’t want there to be any
misunderstandings. If they were going to do this, he was in charge.

“I feel ready. Achy.”

“Me too.” He smiled. Jade seemed surprised by his
admission. “Men get achy too.”

“I know,” she said. “I didn’t know they
stopped. Especially when the woman is willing.”

“I’m not a caveman, Jade. I won’t jump on you, grunt a
few times, and then pass out while still on top.”

“It hasn’t always been that bad.” Jade played with
the edge of a crumpled paper napkin. “I’ve had lovers who made some
effort.”

“Spare me the details.” Garrett wasn’t in a
sharing mood. Even if it happened before he knew Jade. “I will say,
some
effort,
is the definition of damning with faint praise. Lord, save me from
any women describing my love-making in such a manner.”

“Take me to bed. Now. I promise I will you praise to
the sky.”

“Damn straight you will,” Garrett told her.
“But not tonight.”

“Next time?”

Jade asked the question with such earnestness Garrett had to
laugh. He couldn’t fault her eagerness. He planned on feeding it with patience.
Building anticipation. For them both. She needed a gentle hand. He needed…
Jade.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Garrett told her.
“Better a little at a time. Now, when can we meet again?”

THE NEXT TWO weeks followed a similar pattern. Work during the
day, Jade at night. Not
every
night. Sunday, Monday, Friday. Missing
three days was his fault. Something that couldn’t be avoided. He had a job
where people depended on him to show up on time and be productive. Movies
didn’t make themselves. It was Garrett’s baby. Neither his crew nor his backers
cared about what was going on in his love life.

The paparazzi were another matter.

You didn’t grow up in Hollywood, the child of superstar
parents, without a healthy disdain for the tabloid press and the vultures who
fed off of it. Still, Garrett was low on anyone’s radar. Or he always had been.
A few pictures here and there. Never any scandal attached to him. He was
boring. If word got out about his clandestine meetings with Jade Marlow, that
would change in a heartbeat.

So, for the first time in his life, Garrett became a
skulker. Finding out he was good at it came as a bit of a surprise. Making
excuses when friends invited him out for drinks. Leaving his Lamborghini parked
at the studio while he drove off in a newly purchased turn-of-the-century
Toyota. He couldn’t afford to keep borrowing Hamish’s car. Not unless he wanted
to start answering the inevitable questions.

Putting off his friends and colleagues was a piece of cake.
His family? That was another matter altogether.

“Let’s go out and get stinking drunk.”

Nate walked into his office the way he usually did. No
warning and mid-thought. His twin flopped onto the couch, his big body crushing
cushions.

“Because?” Garrett was certain he knew the answer.

“My next gig starts the day after tomorrow. They
estimate a ten-week shoot. Which means…”

“Closer to fourteen.” Garrett finished. Stan
Packer was directing the film. The man was notorious for his run overs.

“Exactly,” Nate huffed. “I don’t drink when
I’m on the job. I can live without the stuff; you know that. But on location?
In Bumfuck, Tennessee? There is nothing to do but count each other’s mosquito
bites.”

“That can be entertaining.”

“No women in the movie or on the crew, little
brother.”

“Well, damn.” Garrett sympathized. He was sexually
frustrated and he
had
a woman. Sort of. Nate was staring down more than
three months without even a chance of sex. Brutal.

“You shouldn’t be getting drunk; you should be getting
laid.”

“Been there, done that,” Nate said with an
exaggerated sigh.

“God,” Garrett chuckled. “Save me from the
day I make sex sound like it was a chore.”

“Not a chore,” Nate conceded. “A bore. Or
rather, so by the numbers I can barely remember it happened. Two hours ago,
Garrett. The sex was the equivalent of junk food. It seems great while it’s
happening. After, you feel empty and unsatisfied.”

“When did you start waxing philosophical?”

“Philosophical, hell,” Nate scoffed. “I’m saying
I need a more imaginative bed partner.”

“I think it was you who once pointed out this town has
an endless array of choices. Women at every turn.”

“Hmm. There are more women than one man can hope to get
to. The problem is I haven’t been making very good choices lately.”

Nate leaned his head back, his eyes closed. He wore his
usual. Jeans and a t-shirt. Both were well worn, though fastidiously clean.
Black, steel-toed work boots. Around his right wrist, he wore a red and gold
braided friendship bracelet — a gift from a young cancer victim Nate met
through the Make a Wish Foundation. The boy wanted to grow up to be a stuntman.
Through superior medical care and what the doctors called a miracle, that
dream, and the boy was still alive. Nate would cut off his hand before he
parted with those woven pieces of cloth.

“Dare I ask who your latest disappointment was?”

“Tawny Bright.”

“Oh, come on.”

Nate lifted one eyelid. Seeing the disbelief on his
brother’s face, he grinned.

“I swear on my vintage Harley.”

“Stripper?”

“Hippies,” Nate corrected. “Her parents
carried on the family tradition of living off the earth and naming their
children ridiculously over-the-top names. I figure you have two choices.
Legally change it or embrace the crazy.”

“I take it Tawny chose the latter.” Garrett loved
when his brother stopped by. He had the best stories. Most of which were true.

“Top to bottom. She looks like she stepped out of the
touring company of
Hair.
Or maybe
Godspell
. I always thought that
one was completely out there.”

“It cracks me up that my badass brother knows the
difference. Guys with bulging muscles and tattoos aren’t supposed to be musical
theater fans.”

“Ya,” Nate nodded. “I’m a fucking enigma. And
it’s
one
tattoo. Singular. Mom had a fit when she found out about it.
She would skin me alive if I got another.”

“A badass, musical-loving momma’s boy.” Garrett
ducked when Nate whipped a cushion his way. “Missed me by a mile. You’re
losing your touch.”

“I had my eyes closed.”

“Excuses, excuses.”

“Speaking of excuses. Wyatt tells me you’ve been making
a lot of them lately.”

Nate stretched out on the couch. Since all the Landis men
were tall, their furniture ran toward oversized. Normally, Nate’s feet would be
hanging over an armrest. Instead, his boots barely skimmed the end.

“Wyatt needs to get a life so he can stop worrying
about mine.”

“Come to think of it, you blew me off a couple of times
lately.” Nate tucked his hands behind his head then wiggled his eyebrows.
“Want to tell me about her?”

“No.”

“Ah, ha.”

“Christ.” Did he never learn? “No, because
there isn’t anyone to talk about.”

“Right.” Nate simply shook his head. He let his
eyes drift shut. “What’s the big secret? Is she married?”

Oh, no. He wasn’t falling for that one again.

“What is the obsession with married women?”
Garrett countered. “Is there something you want to tell
me
?”

“Fine.” Nate yawned. “You’ll tell me when
you’re ready. You always do.” He turned onto his side, facing away from
Garrett. “You don’t mind if I catch a few winks, do you?”

Garrett didn’t bother to point out that the big bed in
Nate’s bedroom would be much more comfortable. His brother owned a house not
far from his own. Both places were empty more often than not because they
traveled so much. The difference was, if given the chance, Garrett gladly
closed off the world for days at a time. He liked his solitude. Nate needed
people. He hated an empty room. He always slept better when he knew someone was
near. Preferably, someone he loved and trusted. For all his man-whore ways,
Nate wanted to settle down. He wanted what their parents had. However, until he
found the perfect woman for him, he was happy to play the field. The more, the
merrier.

When the intercom on Garrett’s desk buzzed, he answered
quickly. Nate had the amazing ability to regulate his level of sleep. When he
needed it, he was a light sleeper. The slightest noise would wake him
instantly. Other times, like now, a brass band wouldn’t disturb him. Still,
Garrett kept his voice low.

“Problem?”

“Is that the only reason I contact you?” Wyatt
asked.

“Let’s call it 70-30.” Garrett glanced at Nate.
Nope, not even a twitch.

“Then I’m upping the odds for a non-business call.
You’ve been blowing me off lately. How about lunch? We can catch up.”

Wyatt was right. Between work and Jade, he wasn’t spending
much time with his brother. Any of them.

“Nate is here. Dead to the world on my couch.”

“Take out?” Wyatt understood that Garrett wasn’t
leaving Nate alone. “Chinese or Mexican?”

“He’s bound to wake up when he smells food,”
Garrett said. “Make it both.”

While he waited, Garrett rocked back and forth in his chair,
staring at nothing in particular. Jade aside, he, and his brothers, led
fast-paced, hectic, busy lives. They wouldn’t have it any other way. Making
time for each other was important. He had friends. Nate, Wyatt, and Colt were
his
best
friends. Making time, even if it was lunch in his office, was
important.

Without another thought, Garrett grabbed his phone, did a
quick scroll through the names, and dialed. He grinned with satisfaction when
Colt picked up.

“Hey, Garrett. What do you need?”

That was the difference. His brothers, every one of them,
had his back. No questions asked.

“Are you free for lunch?”

“I could probably get away for an hour or two. They
don’t need me until this afternoon. Where and when?”

“My office. Now.”

“Wyatt?”

“And Nate.”

“Well, hot damn,” Colt whooped. “I’ll be
there in ten.”

“Hey. Make it twenty,” Garrett cautioned. Once a
big brother, always a big brother. “We aren’t going anywhere.”

“I’M READY, GARRETT.”

There was a touch of desperation in Jade’s voice. Good. But
he wanted more than a touch. He wanted her tearing at his clothes. He wanted
her to bed. It seemed only fair. He was a hair’s breath away from dropping to
his knees. He would promise her anything for one taste of heaven on Earth. One
sip of Jade.

“We still have our clothes on, honey. Naked is an
important step.”

“We can do it this way.”

The desperation was still there. So was something else.
Fear.

They were in the hotel room, on the old bed, lying face to
face. As always, darkness surrounded them. Kissing, caressing. They were
getting good at both. Jade liked when he touched her breasts. As long as it was
over her shirt and bra. She moaned. Garrett loved the sound. She grew bolder
every time. Tonight, she bent her leg, lifting it until it curled around his
hip. Garrett shifted his knee, sliding it up until he felt the heat of her very
core. Not a moan this time. A gasp.

“Move, Jade. Ride my leg.”

Garrett’s hand gripped her waist, encouraging her to slide
up and down.

“Mmm.” The sound came out of Jade in a husky sigh.

“Does that feel good?” He knew the answer but
wanted the words from her lips.

“Yes. Please, Garrett. I need… I need…”

“I know what you need.”

Garrett knew he could give her an orgasm like this. But he
didn’t want her to get used to always keeping a barrier between them. He tried
several times to touch her. Every time his hand began to slide under the
material, she froze. Solid. All progress wiped away.

“One day I will back you up against a wall and take
you,” Garrett promised. He lowered his voice. “Hard. Fast. No
preliminaries. You will get to the point where all I have to do is look at you
a certain way and you will be so wet, so ready, you’ll come with my first
thrust. That won’t stop me. I’ll make you ride it out, never ending. Up, up, up
again.” With each word, Garrett rubbed against her a little harder.
“You won’t come again until I let you. Not until I’m ready.”