Not Looking for Love: A Cowboy Romance (7 page)

Richie sighed. “Why’d you get so quiet, Simone?”

She turned her head from watching the subtle changes of colors going on in the pool. “I don’t know. Tired, I guess.”

He watched her take a sip of wine. Then he reached over and grabbed her hand in his. “Did I hurt you before?”

Boy, his hand felt good in hers. His thumb was caressing the back of it, so softly, so caringly. She almost felt as if he liked her for something more than just a plaything. “A little.”

He removed his hand. “Damn it, Simone. Why didn’t you tell me?” He swung himself around and planted his feet on the ground and hunched as he rested his forearms on his thighs.

Inwardly Simone sighed when he abruptly removed his hand. “I’m all right, Richie. It was the first thrust, it was a bit hard, and the marble table was a little hard on my knees.”

“Aw, geez. I’m really sorry. I can get real rough, you know. I’ll tone it down going forward. Don’t let me hurt you again.”

She smiled and shook her head. “If you’re not going to give it to me rough, I don’t think I can have sex with you anymore.” She brought her knees up and hugged them as she offered a brilliant smile.

He studied her. She looked so young, her skin so clear, and he already knew it was soft, a contrast from his rough hands. Her eyes, sharp and sparkling. “Hah. Okay.” He shook his head. “I don’t think I can give you up. Truth be told, on that first thrust, I think I sprang my dick.” He chuckled. “I must have come in on the wrong angle.”

She grinned. “Is there a right?”

He laughed, shrugging.

“You all right?”

“Yeah.” He winked. “Ready for bed?”

“Yeah.”

“Mmmm.” Simone stretched. “The coffee smells great.” She felt a weight hit the bed and turned, holding the sheet in front of her naked body and opened her eyes to see Richie sitting there, a tray with two cups of steaming coffee on it, in his hands.

She knew he had gotten up earlier, but she didn’t want to move, his bed was so very comfortable. After taking a shower last night, she crawled in, naked because he wouldn’t have it any other way, and he engulfed her with his arms and they fell asleep.

“Morning,” he said as she sat up, and he handed her a cup.

“Good morning. Thank you.” She took the cup from him and sighed with a smile on her face. He was bare chested and she mentally traced her hand over it, all the way down to the bulge in his black designer boxer briefs. She bit her lip and looked up to his face, loving the messy hair on his head shooting in all different directions.
Sexy!

He took the other cup off of the tray and placed the tray on the rug and slid it out of the way.

After taking a sip, Simone put the cup down on her side’s night table and rose to go to the bathroom. She knew Richie watched every move she made, and she smiled to herself. When she came back, she got right back into bed, under the sheet, and picked up her coffee. The two of them had a relaxed, comfortable conversation.

Simone was on a natural high when she got home. After she shared coffee with the most stimulating guy she had ever met, he removed the cup from her hand, placed it down, then slowly yanked the sheet off of her and proceeded to go down on her. She tried to pull him into a sixty-nine, but he just said, ‘No, baby. This is for you’. So she gave in and lay back and enjoyed every glorious feeling that ran through her. His tongue was so much more talented than any male or female she’d been with in her industry. She was getting hooked.

When he had dropped her off at her car over by the studio, they sat a while and made plans to get together in a few weeks. He wouldn’t be back in L.A. for another three weeks instead of two. Said he had an obligation. Then he had kissed her sweet and hard and he watched her run to her old, beat-up, black convertible 325CI BMW, and start it up, allowing her to head out first with him right behind her. They tooted each other when she made the left and he continued straight.

Driving home, Simone tried to understand why he would want to be with her. She knew that people in the adult industry usually tended to date others in the industry, or rock-stars and bad-boy actors. Affluent, respected millionaires and billionaires loved watching, and fucking to porn movies, but to be with one and risk disease was another thing, well at least prominent, well known men would only risk so much. He did ask her if she wouldn’t mind showing him her bi-monthly medical exam results, and she agreed.

For the next two weeks, Simone had distanced herself from the studio. Poppy had to call her and remind her she needed to shoot three more movies before her contract was up. He never pushed her and she was grateful. He knew she wasn’t cut out to be a porn actress, but had realized she had a keen business sense so he used her in that capacity more. He liked what she suggested, gave him a financial spread sheet to track his expenses, and deflected calls when asked. His bottom line grew and his ex-girlfriends didn’t bother calling anymore, so he cut her some slack on making films. He mostly kept her away from the shoots, but there were times she was needed, and to make his temperamental director, Lou Grossman, happy, she had to comply.

She spoke with Richie every other day, even if it was just a brief hello. She didn’t know what was going on between them, but she liked what they had and even though she tried not to read too much into it, she would get excited when they talked.

That second Saturday Simone had nowhere to be so she stayed home, thankful that Lolita would be out all night, and caught up on some work she did on the side, creating book covers for writers. The girl had an eye for design and her little business kept growing. Satisfied with her creations, she emailed her customers the mockup designs and went to bed.

The next morning she woke up, brewed a pot of coffee, and grabbed the newspaper by her front door. The morning was lovely and peaceful so she took her coffee and paper to the back patio and sat at the table under the umbrella. It wasn’t much of a yard and there wasn’t much privacy, but it was quiet at that moment.

Sipping the coffee as she turned to the sixth page, she spit it out and it splashed across the page covering the picture of Richie dancing with a pretty statuesque woman who looked like the woman who interrupted them at Bella Donna’s. The caption read:

Hotel heir celebrates his twenty-seventh birthday in style.

Under the picture in tiny print it read: Aria’s Lounge.

Well, just like that her two week high vanished. She never felt so terrible. Her insides knotted. Aria’s was one of the newest, swankiest clubs around. Anyone who was anyone hung out there, and it was a local club.

She tried to reason with herself. He didn’t know her long, why would he invite her to his birthday party that must have been planned months before or even a year before? She sighed, yeah right, that’s it. It’s not that he is embarrassed she is a porn star. Porn star? Not really, she wasn’t well known. She’d only done two movies.

There was no reason for him to lie and say he wouldn’t be in town for the next two weeks. That’s it, she was done with him. She rose, taking her coffee cup and paper and went inside. Chiding herself for believing in him, she tossed the rest of her coffee down the sink and the newspaper in the trash. After taking a shower, she called Poppy to set up a shoot for Monday.

Poppy couldn’t arrange a scene for her until that Wednesday, so she stayed busy with her book cover work and shopping.

Richie had called her a couple of times on Sunday, but she didn’t pick up the phone. He left a message the first time saying he just called to say hi. On Monday, while she was in a shoe store trying on boots, her cell phone rang. She fished it out of her bag and saw Richie’s name on the screen. She stared at it a moment then swiped the screen.

“Hello?”

“Hey, baby. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Is this a bad time?”

“No.”

“Are you home?”

“No.”

“Where are you, work?”

“No, shopping.”

“I tried calling you yesterday. Did you get my message?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you call me back?”

“I guess I was too busy.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Look I gotta go.”

“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

She paused. “Bye, Richie.” She hit the end key, sighed, and stared at her phone a moment before tossing it in her bag. She wound up buying nothing that day, instead she went straight home to sulk.

It was driving her crazy. Why should he matter at all to her? She knew what they had was just a little fun, nothing more. On Tuesday, he did call, but she didn’t pick up. She noticed he didn’t leave a message.

When she strode into work on Wednesday and saw the scene she was supposed to do she stormed into Poppy’s office. “You know I don’t want to work with that animal, Poppy. Why’d you schedule it?”

Poppy was on the phone and picked his head up. “I’ll call you back,” he said into the phone. He tapped the end key and set it down. Don’t you knock before you enter an office?” He leaned his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands.

“Why?” she asked, ignoring his question.

He blew out a breath then removed his signature rimless eye glasses and tossed them on the desk. “I didn’t schedule it. Ray did, and he is one of my finest directors. He only came on board after I gave him free rein. He’s gonna put Velocity on the map, baby.”

“Oh, come on, Poppy, don’t—”

“Both Ray and I spoke with Danny. He is to be on his best behavior. He’s on warning.”

She tilted her head and twisted her mouth. Shaking her head, she turned and walked out and headed straight for the locker-room. Simone knew it was no use arguing. Everyone in the organization knew Lou was one thing but Ray Brodsky was his boy, and if Ray wanted something he got it.

In the dressing room while she was prepping, she listened to a couple of other women talking about ‘the big break’. She laughed to herself when it was revealed that the big break wasn’t main stream movies, no, these women were talking about signing with the biggest agent in the industry. Mentally shaking her head, she chuckled to herself.
They’re looking to become big porn stars and I’m looking to get the hell out of this business.

Simone kept them waiting on set, but eventually she couldn’t think of anything else to do to stall, so she walked out. She caught Danny’s smirk and wanted to smack it right off his face.

“Alright, let’s get this rolling,” Ray said to no one in particular.

Simone was not enjoying the pounding Danny was giving her. She knew he was taking it to the limit with her and was smiling the whole time. As for her, she’d wait until Ray would tell her to act like she was enjoying it before she would even utter a moan.

By the time she walked out of the building, when it was over, she was fit to be tied. While showering, she just couldn’t get Danny’s essence off of her and scrubbed herself raw. Only towel drying her hair and throwing on a pair of ripped-at-the-knees faded jeans and a small white T-shirt, sans bra, she walked toward Poppy’s door, ready to complain again.

“He’s gone for the day,” Diamond D, a long time aging star in the business, said from the doorway of the office next to his.

“Thanks,” Simone replied and without another word, and with her large Chanel hobo bag on her shoulder she walked toward the back door to her car.

Simone kept her head down, as she walked through the parking lot, in deep thought about not wanting to end up like Diamond D. She had seen early movies of the woman and she was gorgeous. Now, though, she looked used and abused. She had taken to wearing wigs for the past few years. No one has seen her real hair in a long time. Her fake boobs sagged and Simone saw the wrinkly indents around them that Richie had pointed out to her a while back. Diamond D used to have the cleanest, clearest complexion, minimal make-up was used, but now it always looked caked on. She overheard Poppy talking about how used up Diamond was and only used her occasionally. There was a small market for aging fans who wanted to see their, once, fantasy girls still in action, yet, Simone always heard her arguing with Poppy to use her more. Something about needing the money to pay someone. She wasn’t sure who that someone was, but she got the feeling it was a drug supplier.

Only when she got closer to her car did she pick her head up and spot him leaning against the driver’s side door with his feet crossed at the ankle, his powerful defined arms folded in front of his chest, and a Dallas Cowboy cap on his head. Her breath caught at the handsome yet formidable sight he made. He didn’t look like the millionaire that he was. She noted he wasn’t smiling. That’s okay, she wasn’t smiling either, yet they held each other’s gaze.

“You wanna tell me why you’re avoiding me?” Richie asked.

“I’m not avoid—”

“Don’t…” He cut her off. “Don’t insult my intelligence, Simone.”

She bit her lip as her shoulder bag slid down her arm. Looking around, not wanting to meet his eyes, she subconsciously brought her bag up on to her shoulder.

“Well?”

Hoping she’d be able to hold back the tears that had threatened to fall, she looked him in the eyes. “Look, Richie, I don’t think this is going to work out. We’re at two different places, here. And, I’m not even sure what this is anyway. My profession is not something a man of your stature warrants, you know?”

“No, I don’t know.”

She blew out a breath and turned her head to the side to wipe the tear that fell, hoping he didn’t catch it.

“So, let’s define what we have here,” he said.

She shook her head. “No…” With her head down, she said. “Please move, I’m late for an appointment.

Richie’s eyes flickered in anger. He blew out a breath at the same time Danny walked by.

“Great shoot today, Simone,” he said. “Your pussy tasted so damned good, girl. I asked Ray to schedule another—”

“Fuck you, Danny.” Simone turned, cutting him off.

“Yeah, Ray’s gonna schedule it.” He wryly smiled.

Her embarrassment quickly turned to rage. She flew into him and started punching him in the chest. How dare he talk to her like that in front of Richie?

It was when Danny struck her in the mouth that Richie pulled her back and punched the guy in the face. “You raise your hands to a woman, asshole?”

Danny swung but didn’t connect with Richie and Richie came back with another couple of punches. One landed on Danny’s face again and the other in the gut. Danny doubled over holding his middle, his legs wobbly. Richie landed one more blow to the face and Danny went down. Richie squatted down and pried opened an eyelid. He swung his head to Simone, his eyes wild, his face tight. “Who is this?”

“He’s one of the biggest stars with Velocity Studios. He’s Poppy’s most sought after stud.

Richie rose, grabbed Simone, and dragged her toward his car.

“Stop it, Richie.” She tried to pry herself loose.

“Get in,” he said as he opened the passenger side door of the red Ferrari Simone had seen at his house the first time she was there.

“What are you doing?”

He loosened his hold. “Simone, just get in the car, while I go tell Poppy his—”

“Poppy’s not here, he left early.”

He nodded. “Okay, just sit in the car and lock the door while I go alert someone that their ‘stud’ is passed out on the ground.”

She nodded and got in and watched him walk into the building. A few moments later he walked back to her as Ray, a cameraman, and Diamond D, came out and ran over to Danny who was slowly coming around.

When Richie got in the car he started it up as he looked at her, but she just looked forward, staring at the glove box, then she opened the door and said, “Happy Birthday, Richie,” without looking at him, and started to get out of the car. That was when he put a hand on her arm to stop her.

“Simone…” He blew out a breath. “Come on. Let’s talk.”

She finally looked at him. Oh, why was it every time she looked at him she felt flutters deep inside her. She studied his perfectly trimmed beard and mustache and was reminded of when he went down on her. There was just enough friction to drive her wild. She looked into his eyes, so bright, so mesmerizing.

The corners of his mouth lifted. “Come on… Please?” Inside, anger festered as he stared at her swollen lip.

She nodded and closed the door, and he let go of her arm.

“I didn’t know how to tell you. I felt stupid saying, yeah, I’ll be here but I can’t see you I’m having a birthday party.”

They both kept glancing toward where he decked Danny. Ray was helping him up.

“Let’s get out of here. We’ll come back for your car,” he said as he put his hand on the shift knob with the Ferrari logo on it. “You hungry? You want to go somewhere to eat?”

“No.”

“Okay. We can’t go to my house. My parents are there.”

“We can go to mine.”

“Oaky. Which way?”

“Make a left at the light. So how long have you been here?” she asked softly as she tilted her head, watching him.

Richie looked from the road to her. “I went back to Texas on Sunday morning. I had a business meeting first thing Monday morning and wanted to prepare for it.” He looked back to the road. “I just got back here a couple of hours ago,” he continued, then looked back to her while waiting for the light to change. “It upset me that you wouldn’t take my calls.”

She was looking at him, but then she shifted her eyes to the light that had just turned green and he looked to the light also and took off.

Her cell phone rang and she dug it out of her bag. “Poppy,” she said more to herself.