Get a Grip (Hollywood Nights) (2 page)

             
“It gets me from point A to B.” He opened the door for her and then put her bag in the trunk. By the time he got into his car she had made a few mental observations. Bo Bliss was a gentleman on and off set, so far. He drove a luxury vehicle with the top of the line package. The car had every bell and whistle on it.

             
“You probably want to go by your house to pick some things up, huh?” she asked cautiously. More stops meant more time to think. More time to think meant him coming to his senses and running like hell.

             
“It’s one night. I’ll pick something up there. It is Vegas after all, they have everything.” He started up the car and then drove the twenty minutes it took to get to the airport at this time of day and that close a distance in virtual silence.

             
They lucked out with tickets and timing. It took longer to clear security than to fly from LA to Vegas. He was helpful, but not chatty. She wondered if he was having second thoughts about it all. As they walked down the boarding ramp she said, “I bet you didn’t think this was how you would spend your weekend.”

             
“It beats making a salad and watching re-runs,” he said with a smile. That simple gesture sent a flock of butterflies to her stomach.

             
“You don’t go out much?” she asked as they took their seats.

             
“At my age, what is there to do? I’m too old for dance clubs, too young to hang around bars, and you can only go so many times to the museums before you start correcting docents when they make a mistake.” He settled in. He looked at her and said, “What?”

             
She was stunned. “Exactly how old are you?”

             
“Thirty-nine.”

             
“Have you…ever been married before?” She had to ask.

             
“Nope. I was engaged once. She decided what I did for a living wasn’t impressive and married someone else.”

             
It was the way he said it that made her ask, “Who?”

             
“My brother. He’s a lawyer.” He laughed. Ivy didn’t laugh. “It was years ago. It’s all good now. I mean, I think I got the better end of the deal.”

             
“How’s that?” she asked with a frown. He had to be hurt by it. Who wouldn’t be?

             
“Well.” He leaned back and turned his head to look at her. His deep whiskey colored eyes were soft, sensuous, and seductive. “I’m here with you.”

             
Heat flushed through her in ways she hadn’t really experienced before. Sure, she had been turned on before. She spent months making out with one of the hottest guys in Hollywood. Jonas had taught her a lot of things, but they didn’t have sex. They pretended to have sex on screen, and she was pretty sure if that production had to go on for another month she would have given in to temptation. By the end of it, he wasn’t interested anymore. Not like she wanted him to be. Of course, that was the playboy Jonas, until he met his wife, Frankie.

             
Shifting her thoughts from Jonas to Bo, she recalled that Bo was on those sets when she was practically naked and making out with Jonas. A new heat bloomed and she added, “You know I’m not like my characters.”

             
“I know.” He winked. Her pulse raced.

             
“They don’t offer anything on this flight?” Her throat was suddenly dry.

             
“I think you can ask, but it isn’t even an hour. By the time they got half way through they would be landing. Do you want something other than the water?” he asked sincerely.

             
She had forgotten about the little bottle of water they gave them when they first boarded and took their seats in first class. She gulped and admitted, “I drank all of mine.”

             
“Here,” he handed her his. “Are you okay? You look a bit pale.”

             
“I’m fine. I’m just…I don’t fly well.” She lied. She was getting anxious. She didn’t know anything about this man other than the fact that he had worked as a grip on several of her movies, he had a really nice car, her agent seemed to recognize his name, his ex-fiancé had married his brother, they liked the same music, and his age.

             
“Relax,” he said. “Sit back, close your eyes, think positive thoughts, and breathe.”

             
“Are you into all that yoga and meditation crap?” She regretted the last reference immediately as he shrugged in acknowledgement that he was in fact into all that crap as she had called it. Instead of saying anything else to ruin her chances of marrying this guy, she did what he suggested. She sat back, closed her eyes, and breathed. She tried to think positive thoughts but only thoughts about him getting to the altar and then walking out on her during the vows came to mind.

Chapter 2

Bo was still processing the kiss, the vows,
and the fact that they were heading towards a hotel room. She was happy. She was happier than he had ever seen her. He was getting cold feet when they ran into Jed and Shay. If Jed Gunner could elope, Bo decided instantly, so could he. What did he have to lose? If this didn’t work out it wasn’t like she needed anything from him. Not to mention she didn’t really know who he was. He was going to keep it that way since there wasn’t a pre-nuptial agreement in this bargain.

             
He opened the hotel door and she started to walk in. On impulse he quickly scooped her up off of her feet and carried her. “It is a threshold after all.”

             
She smiled again. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to do all sorts of things to her, but he wasn’t sure what she had or had not done before. “It’s a little late to ask about this, but are you on birth control?”

             
“No.” She blushed. “Should I be?”

             
Well that threw him for a loop. No answer would be the right answer. Since he was also trying to consummate this marriage he decided, “I can use a condom…if you want me to…”

             
He let her feet hit the floor. The bag had already been sent up. She looked like a deer trapped by headlights with her big brown eyes unsure, nervous.

             
Bo was equally unsure about this. He debated it in his mind until reasoning that she was his wife, so having unprotected sex with her wasn’t unusual. He told himself that a lot of luck and timing was necessary for pregnancy to occur. Unfortunately, he was known for both luck and timing. Case in point, he was married to a woman he had been half in love with for the last three years.

             
“I’m just going to go freshen up,” he said and headed for the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and took stock of what he saw. He was almost forty. Ivy was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he had seen his share of women in this industry. She wasn’t always as crazy as she was right now. He reasoned if he had been waiting his whole life to have sex, and he was her age, he would be just as desperate.

             
A new sense of purpose, of responsibility, struck him at the thought. It was the confirmation he got from her expression moments ago that she was a virgin. He took several deep breaths and headed back out to face his wife.

             
“Whoa,” he stopped. She had changed clothes.

             
“You like it?” she asked and fidgeted with the hemline of the light blue, silky fabric trimmed in black lace and draping her modest curves, accentuating what she had, especially her long, tan legs.

             
He took a breath, and then let it out, “I do.”

             
“Good,” she relaxed a little. She stepped forward. He stepped forward. They moved in sync until they were standing there in the hotel room the way they had stood at the altar. He leaned down to kiss her. His hands moved to her back and he pulled her closer. He was so anxious to kiss her again. To feel the soft texture of her lips, the smooth feel of her tongue along his. His entire body tensed and his cock hardened as her mouth opened to him.

***

             
Ivy had made quick work of changing into the nighty she had brought just for this occasion. She had tossed her clothes on a nearby chair, straightened her hair and make-up, and ate a handful of nuts to curb one hunger so she could finally indulge in the other. She was lost in his strong arms, his gentle lips, the feel of his chest against her palm, and the rapid beat of his heart. The moment their tongues touched, something happened. Bo stepped away from her as though she had bit him. She took a step forward and he took a step back. “What?”

             
She saw fear and panic in the man’s eyes.

             
“What?”

             
“Did you eat something?” he asked.

             
“I had a few peanut and chocolate candies, why?” She stepped forward. He stepped two steps back.

             
“Call an ambulance. I don’t have…”

             
He turned to go back into the bathroom. She heard the water running. She picked up the phone and called for an ambulance. She called the front desk and told them she needed medical help though she wasn’t sure what for.

             
She ran to the bathroom to find him spitting water and rinsing his mouth. “Bo, what’s happening?”

             
“You’re trying to kill me,” he said it without humor. He meant it. She felt it like a slap. “I’m allergic to peanuts.”

             
Realization dawned on her and three years’ worth of knowing Bo Bliss at a distance flashed quickly before her eyes. Bo only ate with everyone else when they had the “nothing fun food” as she had referred to it then. No peanuts, no gluten, no added sugars, it was whole, clean foods. Bo had asked as they checked in for the flight if they served peanuts. She thought he may have wanted some. He was just making sure he didn’t have to worry about it.

             
“What can I do?”

             
“Stay away from me. You’ll make it worse.” He was already starting to get hives. His lips had swollen a little.

             
“Oh my God, oh my God, Oh. My. God!” She yelled as the hotel staff came into the room. “He’s allergic…peanuts…”

             
She watched as Bo obviously started to have trouble and his face continued to swell.

             
“Hey, call Tasha, she has that allergy. She has that thing with her,” One guy said.

             
“Sir, help is on the way, just hang in there.” Another one shouted.

             
Ivy took several steps back as a young woman ran into the room and from Ivy’s point of view, stabbed him with something. Then she did it again.

             
Some conversation Ivy could not hear above her own sobs of helplessness and shock took place. A young man approached and said, “Miss, if you had the peanuts you need to wash your hands. If you have any left, I’ll take them with me. You can follow me across the hall. I got this robe for you. I’ll let you in the room so you can clean up. It’s the only way they will let you go with him.”

             
Ivy put the robe on as the ambulance team moved in. She walked over to her purse, an item that cost more than she cared to admit, and pulled out her wallet taking special care to grab it with the cloth of the robe and not her hand. It was the only thing she needed. It was the only thing in a separate compartment from everything else. She handed the guy her purse and said, “Get rid of all of it.”

             
She followed him in bare feet down the hall. Once inside she removed everything and sat it in the farthest corner of the large, luxurious bathroom and scrubbed her hands until they were red and aching. She used the hotel dental pack and brushed until her tongue hurt from trying to remove any trace of peanut. She looked at herself in the mirror and sobbed again.

             
Ivy slipped on a different robe and walked out of the bathroom. She immediately dropped to her knees and began praying. She promised if Bo lived, she would not take him for granted. She would give their marriage an honest try. She promised not to try to take shortcuts in life again. She knew this had happened for a reason.

***

              “Miss.” The words were in a woman’s voice and followed by a knock on the door.  It opened and another girl, a young one, said, “They are ready to take him to the hospital. I brought you some clothes.”

             
“Thank you,” Ivy accepted the clothes. “I’m so sorry about all of this.”

             
The girl assured her, “Our manager is trying his best to keep people from talking about it. We have a strict policy at this hotel. We follow the motto of Vegas, but it gets tough when it comes to celebrities. We’ll move your things to another room to avoid any further issues.”