Star Struck (16 page)

“Not at all. It’s because you act like a princess that I think you need to be a little bit manhandled.”

“I think you’re right.” She pivoted her body and draped her legs across his lap. This was nice, they could face each other more easily now.

“So then, with me. I know it was only the one time, but was it missing anything?”

“It was. It was missing a proper ending. I shouldn’t have freaked.”

“We’re past that. No worries.” He rubbed his hand up and down her leg, delighting in the goose bumps that rose on her arms. “But before the ending…”

“It was good, Seth. Really good.”

“Fulfilling?”

“Yeah.” She lowered her eyes. “Though there could have been kissing.” Her eyes lifted again to meet his. “I like kissing.”

“I do too.” They held the gaze for several seconds. Then talking about it wasn’t enough. He had to kiss her. He leaned in toward her and she, understanding, brought her face in to meet his.

Just before their lips met, they heard a sound behind them suggested the security guard was returning for his next round. It broke the mood.

She shifted out of his arms and stood. “I need to be getting home,” she said. “I have lines to work on. And I should really get in a workout before bed.”

He stood too, stuffing his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t be tempted to reach out for her. He could give her a workout, and he almost said as much, suspecting she might even want an invitation to not complete her to-do list. But even though they’d been talking about sex, the current conversation seemed quite different from their usual naughty flirtation.

He had another idea now. Rocking back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heels, he wondered if he should just say goodnight or run with the wild hair he’d gotten up his ass.

The wild hair won. “Would you want to do this again sometime? The talking without belittling each other?”

Heather tilted her head. “Like a date?”

“Yeah. I suppose that’s what it’s called.”

Big brown chocolate eyes branded him. The way she stared at him—stared into him—it was like getting a tattoo with all the same burn but also a whole lot of euphoria. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had that effect on him. Was that why he was so crazy over her? Taking a job several steps below his skill level, lying and hiding the truth. Practically stalking. He didn’t deserve to have anything with her, let alone what they’d shared, but he couldn’t stop himself from wanting more.

Heather took a deep breath. “Can I think about it?”

Well, he shouldn’t have expected anything else. She needed time to deal with her conflicting emotions. It had taken her ten days to seek him out after they’d had sex in her trailer, after all. He could give her time. “I hate that you have to. But I suppose you can.”

His eyes didn’t leave her. He couldn’t stop staring—she grew more beautiful the longer he looked. He couldn’t have designed a more enchanting specimen if he spent his life trying.

She blushed under his gaze. “What?”

There was only one thing he wanted at that moment. “Can I kiss you?”

“That seems so weird for you to ask after…everything.”

“Well, it seems we’re on new ground. I’m not sure what the rules are here.” He felt like a teenager. Awkward and horny.

“Me neither.” She lifted her head up. “But yes, you can kiss me.”

He leaned in slowly, taking his time. When his lips met hers, they moved together without destination, without need to get off. It was like a first kiss. Tender. Deep. Sweet.

“Goodnight, princess.” He’d started her nickname as a way to mock her snootiness. This time when he said it, he meant it as a term of endearment.

He watched her as she walked off the set toward the parking lot, his chest aching with each step she took.

Chest aching? Term of endearment? Was he falling for Heather Wainwright?

Aw, shit.

He’d asked her on a date. Seriously? Heather didn’t date. Dates were too difficult—paparazzi and fans fawning over her. They wouldn’t have any privacy. All the media outlets would purport them as an item. Was she ready for that? To be paired with Seth in front of the whole world?

No, she wasn’t.

But she wanted to get to know Seth better. Wasn’t that what dating was supposed to be about? Figuring out if you wanted to be with someone. Getting to know them before you had to make those decisions. It wasn’t fair that her life didn’t allow her that simple cultural norm.

She chewed her bottom lip as she climbed into her trailer. After shooting a text to Lexie, telling her she was ready to be picked up, she curled up on her couch with her script to work on her lines.

But she couldn’t focus, her mind still on Seth. She could have stayed with him while she waited for Lexie. He might have even offered her a ride. More than one kind of ride. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. She was already so needy and turned on. Maybe she should have let him get her off after all.

Except she needed to take this slow. Well, slower.

As she’d told Lexie she would, she’d researched about sex and spanking, learning a lot of information that had opened her eyes. Wide. She wasn’t so ignorant to not know about the whole Dominant/submissive world and the punishments that went with it, but that had never interested her. Still didn’t. Beyond that, she’d thought spanking was abuse. That the men who spanked their women during sex were the same assholes who got 911’d for beating on their wives. She’d seen a lot of that in the trailers—poverty could turn people to their worst selves. Some it drove to drink like her mom. Some it drove to drugs like her dad. Some it drove to be just plain mean like half the people in her park.

But when she’d read the websites Lexie had given her, and then Googled sex and spanking and found hundreds of articles about regular, everyday couples having rough sex all the time, she had to swallow her pride and admit she was uniformed with a capital U. She’d always been into hair-pulling and nail-clawing, but she’d never dared to push that further. Apparently, the men she’d been with didn’t either. Seemed that her always being in control had some serious downfalls. Like never getting to learn new things. New things that could possibly be enjoyable.

So now she was intrigued. She wanted to explore this recent discovery. She wanted to explore it with Seth. But she was still timid about it, and that was why she’d let her evening with him end. Besides, she’d liked the note they’d ended on.

With him asking for a date.

She lay back with a sigh, her script open against her chest. A date wasn’t impossible. It would take careful planning to ensure they kept under-the-radar. They’d have to meet somewhere. Somewhere discreet. She wouldn’t want to don a disguise. Somehow disguises always seemed to attract more attention. If she put enough energy into it, she could think of a place that wouldn’t require that level of hiding. A simple excursion. Maybe a picnic at a park. Or hiking.

Or she could just let Seth handle the planning. That was how dates usually went, after all. The one who did the asking made the arrangements. Could she trust him to manage the details needed to maintain discretion?

If she couldn’t, then there was no point pursuing a relationship with him.

A relationship with Seth
.

My, but she liked the sound of that.

Chapter Eleven

The next day, Heather didn’t lose sight of Seth. Over the week and a half that she’d avoided him, he’d been everywhere, but she hadn’t given herself permission to notice. Now she did. Damn, was it an improvement.

Her acting also improved. She would have imagined that being focused on him would be a distraction, but it wasn’t in the least. Instead, she felt more relaxed—more comfortable with herself than she had in ages. Her lines flowed, her scenes were perfection. She was “on”.

And her mood was decidedly brighter. She didn’t dread off-camera time like she often had before, spending it bantering with the crew and her costars instead of hiding in her phone. Even Bobblehead—um, Natalia—seemed less annoying. Her excessive cheerfulness was somehow easier to stomach when Heather was happy herself. Knowing that Seth wasn’t into the younger actress might have helped a bit. Helped a lot.

She didn’t actually get to speak to Seth until lunch. She’d planned on seeking him out—strategically, of course, so as not to draw attention—to let him know she’d go out with him. But first, she stopped at the catering table knowing, the selection would be slim if she didn’t get in early. As she searched for a lunch that fit into her daily calorie limit, she felt his presence behind her. She knew it was him without turning around, her body tensing with pleasure, her arm hairs standing on end as if to announce his presence.

“Is there something I can help you with?” he asked as he reached over her, his voice making her thighs clench.

“What do you mean?” She selected a Chef Salad and pretended to decide between yogurt flavors. Normally, there was no deciding. Strawberry was her choice, hands-down. Right now she didn’t give a flying fig about yogurt. Unless she was licking it off Seth.

He moved beside her, grabbing two bottled waters. “I thought that maybe what you wanted to eat wasn’t on this table.” Damn, could he read her mind? “Since you’ve been staring at me hungrily all morning.”

Her cheeks heated. Hopefully he’d been the only one to notice. “You’re not cocky at all, are you? Wait, don’t answer that.” He’d have some sexy comment about his cock. And she really didn’t need to be thinking about his cock right then. They were alone at the table, but not so alone that she could jump him.

Alone enough to talk though. Or flirt. Whatever it was they did. “All right, I might have been staring. I was just thinking that I haven’t had the opportunity to see you with your shirt off.”
And that a date might be a way to fix that.

He grinned at her, his blue eyes gleaming. “Is that something you’d like to see?”

“Very much so.” Her inner voice screamed something about taking it slow, but Heather wasn’t listening. Once she’d made up her mind that Seth was who she wanted to be with, she wanted him as soon as possible. To hell with taking it slow.

“I can think of ways to remedy that.” He leaned in closer and quieted his voice to a raspy whisper. “For example, if we were the only ones here, I’d strip you down and have you grab onto that pipe right there.” He pointed to a lighting track that had been lowered to allow the crew to adjust the lights. “While I fucked you senseless.”

So much for not thinking about Seth’s cock.

“Sounds…awesome.” She was breathless just thinking about it. “But how does that remedy me seeing you without your shirt on?”

“I could agree to be naked too.” God, he was adorable. “I, uh, I talked to Natalia, by the way.”

His quick change of subject almost threw her for a loop. “To Bobblehead?” Since she’d been watching him all morning she already knew. She’d also seen how Nat’s energy had been a bit down in her scene after that. How much of a bitch was she that Nat’s broken heart made her happy?

“Yes, to Bobblehead. She didn’t seem much of a bobblehead after I talked to her though. Had to tell her that I was sorry if I’d given her the wrong impression, but that I sorta have a thing with someone else.”

Heather swallowed her glee. “Sort of have a thing?”

“It’s undefined.”

“Hmm. Interesting.” More than interesting. He’d followed through on what he’d said he’d do. He didn’t have to do that. It wasn’t like he’d promised. He really didn’t owe her anything. But he’d done it anyway, and wow, did it feel good.

“Thank you, Seth.” She met his eyes. “I’ll have to think of some way to repay you.”

Seth reached across her again, picking a box marked as a roast beef sandwich. “I have condoms.”

For half a second she got excited. Until she remembered. “I have tampons.” Her period had started that morning. What timing.

“I told you, blood doesn’t bother me.” Abso-fuckin-lutely adorable.

“You did say that.” She’d dated other guys who didn’t care. She was usually the one who called period time Off Limits. She could do the same now, make him wait. Renew her decision to take it slow.

She
could
do that.

Or she could bring up the date he’d asked her on.

Instead, she found herself saying, “My scene after lunch requires a total make-up and hair redo. I’ll need a shower first.” She paused only long enough to know for sure that she really wanted to say what she said next. “Join me?”

He gave her the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. “You know all you have to do is ask.”

“That’s right. How could I forget?” If she stayed this happy, she’d for sure have to get Botox to rid her of smile lines.

Out of the corner of her eye, Heather caught movement—someone walking near them. She turned back to the catering table, hoping it looked like her conversation with Seth had been casual. Yeah, she wanted to be with him, but privately. In her life, privacy was not something she took for granted.

The person walking by stopped. “Seth Rafferty?” Heather inconspicuously looked toward the man who owned the voice. “Wow, good to see you. It’s been ages.”

Seth seemed surprised, maybe even worried, to see the man who was a stranger to Heather. She gave the new guy a quick once over. He was dressed business casual, expensive watch and wedding ring. The sunglasses propped on his stiff head of hair were designer. Not part of the crew, but maybe someone on the producer level. She placed him in his late thirties, which could easily mean late forties with a good plastic surgeon.