Starburst (33 page)

“So
am I, we’re going to have to get a cab.”

“Are
you not hooking up with your friend tonight?” Peyton wanted to know.

“No,
I already told him that you were staying.”

“Kay,
you don’t have to deprive yourself on my account.”

“It’s
not only on your account Peyton. There is something that you don’t know about
Ken that would make me look…” Kay stopped, trying to think of the right word.

“Like
the other woman?” Peyton asked.

“Yeah
exactly like that,” she admitted.

“Oh
the webs we weave for ourselves,” Peyton told her and put an arm around her as
they walked out.

“Look
around this room Peyton,” Kay said as they walked. “Everyone in here is
drinking screaming orgasms, that’s freaking hilarious.”

“And
I bet you a hundred bucks one of these people will spill, and we will be
reading about it in the next day or two. Damn, why did you have to have a good
looking friend?” she asked, changing the subject and looking at Kevin as he
looked at her.

They
both had fresh drinks at the table when they returned, and they told the guys
that was their last one.

“We’re
calling a cab after this one,” Kay explained.

“I
can drive you home, I haven’t touched the famous Peyton Paxton, screaming
orgasm,” Kevin told them.

Ken
pulled Kay back to the dance floor, mostly to try and talk her into spending
the night with him, but she held her own and told him no, she was going home
with Peyton, and hoped that Peyton did indeed come home with her.

Kevin
stood and took Peyton’s hand, pulling her to the dance floor as well. He smiled
down at her, and spun her around to face him, and she shook her head almost in
disbelief at him.

He
placed his hand on the small of her back and held her hand on his chest as they
slow danced. Peyton couldn’t believe the static that seemed to be sizzling
between them. She closed her eyes and breathed a deep breath, trying to remain
in control. She was so tempted to run her hand through the top of his
unbuttoned shirt just to feel the patch of hair on his chest, and it was all
she could do not to look up, willing him to kiss her. Peyton too, held her own
and, refrained from doing what her body wanted her to do, and they did indeed
go home alone.

Kevin
drove them, and Kay got a dirty look from Peyton after saying goodbye to Ken
when she jumped into the backseat, forcing Peyton to ride up front with Kevin.

I
am going to kill her,
Peyton thought when they pulled into her drive and
Kay got out, leaving her alone with Kevin.

“I
guess I will see you Saturday” Kevin told her, and she remembered the poker
game.

“Okay,”
she answered, putting her hand on the door handle, willing herself to open it
and get out.

“Peyton,”
Kevin whispered, and she knew what was coming.

She
turned to him without speaking, and he touched her face with the back of his
hand. She reached up and took it with her own and pulled it down but held onto
it.

“Please
don’t kiss me Kevin,” she whispered, and he smiled. He knew he was getting to
her, as much as she was getting to him but did respect her wishes.

“Okay,”
he quietly said, and let go of her hand, letting her escape.

Trevas
and Alley had just gotten back to her house when she remembered that her phone
was dead and plugged it in and went upstairs to take a long needed bath. When
she returned Trevas told her that her friend Alfie and Frankie were blowing up
her phone.

“Hmm,
I wonder what they want. I hope they didn’t give anything away,” she added and
dialed Alfie.

“I
have been trying to call you since last night,” he answered.

“We
were traveling and my phone was dead, what’s up?”

“Well
first I want to thank you for all of the business that we have been getting.
Ever since, you were on Mickey Blue and they showed the picture of the shop, we
have been swamped.”

“You’re
welcome, and?” she asked, knowing that he wasn’t blowing up her phone to thank
her.

“This
reporter was in here yesterday and left his number for you to call him.”

“I’m
not calling a reporter Alfie; you should know that by now.”

“I
think you need to call this guy Alley. He said he has some photos of you that
are going to be released tomorrow.”

“Photos
of what?”

“I
have no idea but he said he wanted to warn you before you saw them yourself.”

Alley
looked at Trevas with a worried look. “What’s the number?”

Alfie
gave her the number and then she explained to Trevas what he said.

“Should
I call him?” she asked Trevas.

Trevas
shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think I would worry too much about it Alley.
What could he possibly have pictures of?”

“I
don’t know, but I would kind of like to find out before they are published.”

“Call
him,” he told her, “block your number first,” he added, and she did.

“Chris
Sterns,” the guy answered.

“Hi,
this is Alley Fletcher, and I was told you had some personal photos of me that
you were going to release.”

“Oh
hi, I didn’t think you were going to call. I really don’t know why I wanted to
warn you, but I did. I just wanted to give you a heads up that these are going
to be published, and probably in several magazines and internet sites, everyone
wants them.”

“Is
it too late to buy them?”

“Oh
yes, they will hit the internet at seven p.m. tomorrow night.”

“What
are they?”

“You
and your bodyguard do you have an email, I can send you the folder.”

Alley
gave him her email address and knew exactly what it was. It was the only time
that she could think of that they would have been intimate. Trevas had stayed
in LA to drive his grandpa for a hospital procedure, and Alley had to fly to
New Orleans. She had been there without him for three days, and when he got
there in the evening the cast were in the pool, sitting around drinking beer
and wine on the patio of the resort that they were staying in.

He
walked up to the pool area and saw her in an all-black bikini with a button up white
shirt overtop that was opened with no sleeves. As soon as they saw each other
they smiled conspicuously and she wanted to run to him.

He
text her and told her that she looked amazingly hot and she text him back and
ask him if he saw that tool shed behind him and to follow her.

He
was very careful and looked around and saw no one. The back of the building
faced the woods with not a soul in site.

Alley
waited for what seemed like hours before the email came. She opened the folder,
and it was exactly what she thought it was, he was practically making love to
her right there.

The
first picture she was leaned up against the building with one leg up with her
foot flat against the wall of the building. Trevas was walking toward her. You
could tell that he was looking around to see if anyone was around. The next one
he had his hand high on the leg that was propped up, kissing her. Alley kept
clicking as they got worse and worse.

“This
is bad Trevas,” she said looking over her shoulder at him.

The
pictures kept getting worse as she went. He was kissing her between her breasts
and had her shirt pulled down revealing the secret tattoo. His hand covered it,
but you could still see that she did indeed have a tattoo, although you
couldn’t make out what it was. There was one where he had her hands pinned over
her head, and her head was back as he kissed her neck and the rapture that was
on her face told the whole story.

“My
dad is going to freak?” she said.

“Fucking
paparazzi, this is such bullshit,” Trevas blew up. “I can’t wait for this all
to be over so we can get back to normal.”

“I’m
calling my mom,” she grabbed her phone, and forwarded the email to her mother
as she called.

Payton
and Kay were sitting at the table drinking coffee and nursing their hangovers
when Peyton answered her call.

“Good
morning, are you guys home?” she asked.

“Mom,
go check your email. I just sent you something that is really, really bad.”

“What
happened, Allie?” she asked, alarmed.

“Fucking
paparazzi, that’s what happened.”

“Oh
no, is it bad?”

“Yes
it’s real bad,” she explained as Peyton waited forever for the laptop to come
on.

Peyton
opened the email, and Kay stood over her, waiting too. “Oh, God Alley, your dad
is going to freak. Where did you get these?”

“This
nice fucking reporter sent them to me because he wanted to warn me before they were
plastered all over the fucking world,” she told her angrily.

“What
a noble bastard,” Peyton replied, looking at the almost R rated photos of her
and Trevas. “Alley what the hell were you guys thinking? You’re outside in
broad daylight.”

“Yeah
in the middle of nowhere, we shouldn’t have to worry about what is lurking in
the bushes.”

“You
know you have to worry about what is lurking in the bushes. That is why you
don’t do stupid stuff like this unless you have four walls protecting you.”

“I
should have never done this stupid movie.”

“It’s
a little late for that. Call your dad Alley.”

Alley
groaned. “I love you, bye.”

Peyton
and Kay continued to look through the photos, and they were both mad at their
public affection, although Alley and Trevas didn’t think they were in public.

Alley
called her dad next. “Dad you’re going to be pretty pissed off at me,” she
started.

“No,
Alley, don’t say that. We have less than two months before the premier.”

“I’m
sorry.”

“What
did you do?” he asked, really not wanting to know.

“There
are going to be some pretty explicit photos of Trevas and I released tomorrow
evening.”

“What
do you mean? Where? How?”

“New
Orleans and we were behind a shed.”

“How
explicit are they?”

“They
are bad dad,” she told him honestly, knowing that he would see them anyway.

“Jesus
Christ Alley, you couldn’t wait two more months for this shit?”

“It’s
not like we did it on purpose.”

“You
know better, that is the part that pisses me off.”

“I
know. I’m sorry.”

“You
have the Vivian Walsh show tomorrow. She is brutal, she will ask about them.”

“That
is being taped at ten in the morning. The pictures are not supposed to release
until seven tomorrow night. It’s going to come out eventually anyway dad. I
don’t see what the big deal is other than I would rather not display it for
everyone to see.”

“You’re
taking the focus off of the movie and putting it on your personal life. That is
what the big deal is.”

“I am
not promoting my personal life. I’m promoting this stupid fucking movie that I
should have never agreed to in the first place.”

“You
promote your personal life when you promote a movie. This other movie ‘Bitten’
is coming out the same week. You know as well as I do that if it does better
than ours the producers are going to blame you. And I guarantee that you
haven’t seen Hailey Arlington in any scandalous photos.”

“I
don’t even know who that is, so what does she have to do with anything?”

“She
is your rival coming out with a movie the same week as you. Alley, just try to
stay focused. Don’t answer any questions about Trevas, but do it with some
dignity, and without being offensive, and you can tell him I am going to cut
his nuts off.”

“Whatever
dad, I will see you later.”

Kay
had to go back into work after a phone call from Kevin about some defected
parts and Peyton of course went along. Peyton sat with her in her office while
she and Kevin dealt with the dilemma over the phone.

“We
are not paying for this Carl, and I now have seven skids of metal that is too
soft to machine, and an order of fifty four hundred parts that are not going to
get shipped on time, which is going to cost me more when they penalize me for
not meeting our deadline.”

“Send
the parts back Kay. I will have them shipped to you by Monday,” the voice over
the intercom told her.

“I’m
not paying to ship them back. I need them by Friday, plus I’m going to have to
go out on the floor and tell about twenty people, they are working Saturday to
finish the order. I’m not paying the overtime either Carl. You make this right
or your services will no longer be needed.”

“I’ll
make it right Kay, calm down. It was an honest mistake.”

“I
can’t afford mistakes like this Carl. How do you let seven defected skids leave
your plant without catching them?”

“Let
me get with my product manager. I will call you back.”

“I
need to know what is going on ASAP.”

“Okay,
give me an hour.”

Kay
pushed the button to end the call, ran her fingers thorough her hair and groaned
in frustration. “You need to go let the B line know that they are working all
three shifts Saturday Kevin,” Kay told him.

“Oh
hell no, you call the supervisors in here to do that.”

“I’ll
do it myself,” she stood and told him. “Peyton you are welcome to come if you
want.”

“I
don’t think I want to witness that, but good luck Kay.”

There
was an awkward silence between Peyton and Kevin after she slammed the door
lividly. She was supposed to be on vacation, not dealing with any of this.

“Do
you want something to drink?” Kevin asked, breaking the stillness.

“No,
I’m good thanks,” she replied.

“Go
out with me tonight,” he said, sitting in Kay’s chair, and she laughed.

“Go
out with you where?”

“Come
to my house, I will cook for you.”

“I
am not coming to your house Kevin,” she protested, and knew it would be a bad
idea to be alone with him where there was a bed within two hundred feet.

“Fine,
I will take you to Emmanuel’s Steak House.”

“What
about Kay?”

“Kay’s
not invited.”

Peyton
laughed.

“She
won’t mind,” he pleaded.

“Why
do you want to go out with me? I am leaving in a few days, and you will
probably never see me again.”

“I
want to go out with you because I think you are the most beautiful thing on two
legs, and so what if you are leaving. I didn’t ask you to marry me. I just want
to buy you dinner. You do eat, don’t you?”

“Yes
I eat,” she told him, trying not to blush.  “Give me your phone number. I will
see what Kay has planned for us, but don’t hold your breath.”

“I
hold my breath every time you come within fifty feet of me,” he said with some
sort of sexy grin that made her want to run for the hills, and she blushed
again.

*****

“Kevin
asked me to go out to eat with him tonight.” Peyton told Kay as she pulled out
of the parking lot.

“Are
you going?”

“I
don’t know if I should. He said you’re not invited.”

Kay
laughed. “Bastard,” she said. “You can go if you want Peyton, I don’t mind a
bit.”

“I
guess a restaurant would be okay,” she said, trying to talk herself into it.

“Where
are you going?”

“Some
place called Emmanuel’s Steak House.”

“That’s
a nice dark, candlelit, romantic place to go.”

“Oh,
great,” she replied, now trying to talk herself out of it.

Peyton
wore the only dress that she had brought with her. It was short with a long V
neck that showed just enough cleavage and was sleeveless. It fit her snug, and
she wore black pantyhose and black stilettos. She wore her hair down and parted
it on the side with soft curls. She did her makeup and spritzed just a touch of
Ralph Laurens, Notorious perfume.

“You’re
going dressed like that, and you are trying to stay out of bed with him?” Kay
teased.

“Kay,
this is a bad idea,” she decided.

“It’s
too late now, he’s here,” she told her looking out the window. “Should I wait
up?”

“Yes,
you should wait up. I will be home by nine.”

“Yeah
okay,” Kay said in a mockery tone.

Kevin
met her at the door wearing black dress slacks with a crisp white shirt and a
fancy blue satin tie. He wore his hair with a messy sexy look, unlike how it
was combed over neatly in place when he was at the office.

“You
look beautiful,” he told her as Kay helped her with her jacket.

“Close
your mouth,” Kay told him, placing her hand under his chin, and he told her to
shut the hell up.

The
restaurant was very dark with black and red table clothes with silver
candelabras on each one. Kevin had gotten them a corner table in the back and
let her sit facing away from the other diners and so far no one had recognized
her. He helped her with her jacket and let her sit first.

“This
is a pretty fancy place,” she commented.