Tethered (37 page)

“You may as well be. You guys are living in a hotel.”

“I was thinking about getting an apartment.”

“I have a better idea,” he said. He sat up straight and looked at me conspiringly. “Why not move into the apartment that’s attached to the penthouse? You will have full access to the penthouse of course, but the apartment will give you the privacy you need when you want it. This will take some of the stress off while dealing with your mom, too.”

“So…” I looked at him with my head tilted slightly. “You want me to move in with you?”

Felix chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “I didn’t quite put it like that, but yeah, I guess. When I’m in New York, we’ll be roommates, more or less.”

I thought about the apartment sitting empty adjoined to Felix’s penthouse. I had been in it once before when he took me on a tour of the penthouse. It had three bedrooms, two and a half full bathrooms, and an open floor plan with an eat-in kitchen, a small dining area, and a large living room area. One whole wall in the living room was all glass, with an awesome view of Times Square. The apartment had its own entrance so that I wouldn’t have to walk through Felix’s penthouse to get to it.

It would be great to have an actual home to go to at the end of a long work day or after returning from a trip. No matter how cozy the hotel suites I had stayed in were, they never quite felt like a home, but I imagined that I could make Felix’s place feel like home. Emmy could visit and have her own space. Most importantly, it would be good for my mom to have a more permanent residence while we were in the city. I had been seriously considering getting an apartment anyway, though I knew I’d never be able to afford the location and size of the apartment Felix was offering.

“How much would my rent be?” I asked.

Felix bristled as he gave me a look of disdain. “I don’t want your money, sweetcakes.”

“In the real world, I’d have to pay rent, Felix,” I said with disapproval in my tone.

“Donya, I understand that, but I’m not charging you rent. You’ll still be on your own for everything else, but I’m not going to make you pay to stay in the apartment.”

“You can’t just give it to me for nothing,” I objected.

“I can do whatever the hell I want,” Felix snapped. “Look, I own real-estate all over the place. I have the house in Malibu and another house in Napa Valley, a flat in London and a penthouse in Paris. I’m about to buy a villa in Italy. Not only do I not want or need your rent money, but as your career carries you around the world, mi casa es tu casa. You can stay in any of the places that I own,
rent free
. It’s not open for negotiation.”

I looked at Felix for a long moment. My heart swelled for him and his generosity.

“Why are you being so generous to me?”

He looked me directly in the eyes as his expression sobered. When he spoke, his voice was low and soft.

“Because you are a humble, honest, hard-working woman that doesn’t like to take advantage of anyone, not even those of us who willingly put ourselves out there for you to do just that.” His eyes drifted away from mine before he continued. “And because I’m pretty sure I love you.”

Suddenly, he was on his feet and stretching his limbs as he did a great job at avoiding eye contact with me after his confession that left me feeling surprised, flattered, sad, and definitely unworthy.

“I will have someone go in and clean up the apartment for you,” Felix said. “Now all you have to do is tell your boyfriend that you’re moving in with a real man.”

He looked at me with his acting skills up to par. All signs of his confession were gone.

“That’s exactly the kind of thing to say if you want to make my life more difficult,” I said, getting to my feet. I started towards the door, but I turned around and looked at him again. “Thank you, Felix.”

“You’re welcome, gorgeous,” he said sincerely. “Now I’m going to bed, and you should, too,” he said around another yawn. “We have to be up early.” A mischievous smile appeared on his handsome face. “You can sleep in my bed if you don’t think you’ll make it across the hall.”

I rolled my eyes at him, grabbed my water and headed to the door.

“See you in the morning, Casanova,” I said and went back to my own suite.

*~*~*

My big scene with Felix was up, but the only way Emmet would allow me to go through with it was if he got to be there to watch it happen. I wasn’t too keen on the idea. I didn’t want to have to worry about the things that would be going through his head while I was working. I was nervous enough about all of the crew that would be watching.

“Are you nervous?” Trip asked me as Felix and I stood by the ominous looking bed.

I had a robe on until it was time to film the scene, but Felix was just as happy to walk around in his boxer briefs, showing off to the ladies on set and flirting.

“I’m nervous about doing this in front of a whole bunch of people,” I answered honestly.

“Sweetheart, I’ll make you forget about anyone else within miles of us,” Felix purred at my side.

I slapped his arm as I threw a quick glance at Emmet who was staying out of the way but was still within hearing range. His arms were crossed across his chest and he was glaring at us. Glaring and scowling.

“I’ve kept only the essential people for this scene. Okay?” Trip tried to reassure me.

I nodded.

“Okay, I want to see passion here,” Trip said, back to business. “I know you’re nervous, but pretend you’re not. You’re an actress now.”

He gave us more directions as someone messed with my hair and another person arranged the bed sheets to look slept in. Before I knew it, it was time for me to slip off the robe and get into the bed. As I climbed into the bed, I looked at Emmet’s hard face. I offered him a small smile and he forced one back.

Felix got into the bed beside me, looking more than a little giddy. We had several lines before the hot scene began. Trip wanted us to try hard to get it all in one take. Felix and I got into position, with me lying on my back and him lying on his side beside me. I knew I couldn’t just lay there like a lump, so I put my arms above my head, forcing my camisole to slide up my stomach. Felix put his hand on the exposed flesh. I tried to turn off the burning sensation I felt under his touch.

“Good, good,” Trip said.

I threw Emmet one last glance. It was hard to see his face with all of the lighting, but we were connected. I could feel his seething jealousy in my gut. I was forced to look away and concentrate on the task at hand.

Trip called out Action. Felix became Drew and I became Nina. We had a serious conversation as Felix’s hand roamed over my belly. There was a tightness there that nearly left me breathless. It was amazing how I managed to say my lines and move and behave appropriately. My nerves were balled tightly.

As Felix leaned down to kiss me, he whispered one word to me in a barely audible tone: “Relax.”

I had not kissed Felix since that first night in his limo, but my lips remembered his and burned with yearning as he kissed me slowly. I cupped his face in my hand as I pressed my lips to his. He groaned softly and slipped his tongue past my lips. His hand slid under my camisole and smoothed across my skin just under my breasts. I moaned softly and moved my hand from his face to his hair. Felix carefully moved until his body covered mine without breaking our kiss. There was no ignoring the erection that was pressed firmly against my thigh. Though I pretty much expected it, I was still surprised to feel it.

Felix’s hand moved over my hip and down my thigh. When he reached my knee, he gently lifted it. I took his hint and hooked my ankle over the back of his leg. His hand moved back up my leg and then to my ass. Our kiss was losing its sweetness and becoming more wild and aggressive. I had both hands in his hair as I arched my whole body up towards his. He groaned and pushed against me. I moaned into his mouth and ran one hand down his strong back. We kissed and grinded gently for a long time while our hands explored one another’s bodies. The volume of our moaning, grunting, and groaning had been increasing, but when Felix peeled away from my lips to kiss my neck, my moan was as loud as thunder in my ears. Before I could feel embarrassed about it, Felix’s teeth were nipping at my shoulder where he had pushed the strap of the camisole down. My fingers dug into his shoulders as he kissed across my cleavage.

Suddenly, we were rolling over in the bed. I didn’t hear cut, so I kept going, allowing Felix to roll me on top of him. We both gasped loudly. I stared down at him with my lips slightly parted and my hair hanging down one side of my face. He stared back with his mouth slightly open and his eyes hooded. He had rolled me directly onto his erection. We were both shocked, but the film was still rolling. Felix gripped my hips and moved me slowly. Shamefully, I bit back a shocked yet salacious cry, but the sound that escaped me was still carnal, and though the only sound Felix made was another gasp, his head had tilted back and his eyes had closed.

When he opened his eyes again and looked up at me, we stared at each other for a moment before I leaned down to kiss him.

“Cut!” Trip yelled.

Felix, surprisingly, looked just as thrown by the whole experience as I felt. With his guidance, I carefully and quickly moved off of him. He hastily covered himself in the bedding and I looked away with my face burning.

“That was fucking perfect!” Trip exclaimed.

“Good, because I’m not doing it again,” Felix growled. “I have to piss and damn it, can someone get me a sandwich? A guy’s gotta eat!”

I was relieved that he didn’t openly make a big deal about the uncomfortable situation. As I climbed out of the other side of the bed, a hand held out my robe. I looked up the hand and arm and met Emmet’s eyes.

“Thank you,” I said, as he helped me put it on.

When I turned back around, I looked up at him again, searching his face for his thoughts and feelings. With adrenaline rushing through my veins and all of the activity around us, I couldn’t get a good read on him. He put his hand gently on my face and I closed my eyes with relief as I pressed my cheek into his palm. Emmet put his other hand on my hip and leaned over and put his lips close to my ear.

“As soon as it is possible I am going to erase all of his kissing and touching,” he whispered as his thumb stroked over my hip. The stroking sent heated waves of pleasure right to my core.

His lips softly touched my neck and then he pulled away. He looked down at me with a loving smile that made me fall in love with him a little more.

I didn’t care that I had just been in bed with Felix, that we were surrounded by people, that Trip was trying to talk to me or Felix was in the background being loud and boisterous. I linked my fingers behind Emmet’s head, pressed my body into his, stood on my toes and pulled him down for a kiss.

When we pulled apart a moment later, I said “Sorry. I just thought we should get a head start.”

Emmet chuckled and kissed my nose before releasing me so I could get back to work.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Though my last day of filming had been the same day I had my big scene with Felix, we had hung around L.A. for a few extra days. Emmet and I spent a lot of time at the beach, kissing and touching in the water, and holding hands as we walked the shoreline. The chances of some Pappo taking candid shots of us didn’t elude me, but I assumed since we were in L.A. there were many more important folks to harass, and that one spot in the tabloid the week before had been a fluke.

The day before our departure, Emmet and I went for an evening walk along the beach. I walked along in the surf, enjoying the spray on my ankles and calves while Emmet walked a few feet away in dryer sand. Every now and then I’d stoop to pick up a colorful or unusual looking stone or pebble and drop it in a small bag I had slung over my shoulder. I was going to give them to Emmy to go along with the shells that we had collected over the years as kids. Though I knew I should really get back to New York, we were going to fly to Philly and go back to New Jersey for a little bit. My mom had doctor’s appointments and personal business to attend to. Emmet wanted to spend a little time at home before he got wrapped up in the rest of his semester, and I wanted to spend some time with Fred and Emmy. I even missed Sam and her cuckoo ways.

“So, I have something to tell you,” I said carefully to Emmet as I brushed sand off of a pink, smooth stone.

“Sounds like the beginning of an interesting conversation,” Emmet said warily.

I glanced over at him and put the stone in my bag. I didn’t see any point in beating around the bush. I had withheld the information from him long enough.

“Felix offered me his New York apartment. It’s attached to the penthouse, and I can live there rent free.”

Emmet didn’t say anything for a while, but his brow was creased with concentration as he was no doubt in deep thought. We walked along quietly for a few minutes. The beach had been crowded with sunbathers, frolicking children and swimmers, but now the crowds had thinned. There were still many people on the beach but they were disappearing little by little. Several surfers were out in the waves, though. I imagined they’d be there even after nightfall.

“When Felix finishes filming, he’ll be back in New York full time,” Emmet said, seeking confirmation.

“I suppose so,” I said.

“So, you will be, in essence, living with Felix.”

I felt him looking at me as I picked up a purple stone and rolled it around in my hand.

“Yes,” I said and finally looked at him. “But I will have my own space. I even have my own private entrance in addition to the entrance through the penthouse.”

“I don’t think I like the idea of you living with him,” Emmet said, frowning.

“Don’t think of it as me living with him. We’ll be more like neighbors than roommates, and mom will be there with me, too.”

He pushed a hand through his hair as he looked at a group of surfers ahead of us.

“Why is he going out of his way to help you so extensively?” he asked after a moment. “He gave you the dress; he paid for your flight and accommodations out here. He got you into the movie and now he wants to give you an apartment. What does he want out of it?”