The Stars Trilogy (13 page)

“You seem to know every single noble deed he has done,” Ben said teasingly.

She pouted. “He is still an asshole.”

“Ah well, that’s just too bad. Mr. Dreamboat is not a dream after all, just a sinking boat.”

“You think he will change, Ben?”

“Ah my dear, only you will be able to say that much later, when you’re done with him.”

“I can’t bring a jerk back home to introduce to my parents. My brother will kill him!”

Ben chuckled again. “Well, kid, you have two options. Take him or leave him.”

She bit her lower lip. “He’s a hard case.”

“Didn’t you already know that before you even came here? You’re not that naive, are you?”

She shrugged. “I had high hopes...”

“Then reform him.”

“How?”

“First, be my Personal Assistant.”

She scrunched her face. “I am an heiress. Why would I be your lowly PA? I have my own PA back home.”

“But you’ve been a lowly costume cleaner,” he pointed out. “And yeah, I remember, you just got fired.”

She rolled her eyes. “How would being your PA help me, pray tell?”

“Dare commissioned me to write a movie script for his directorial debut.”

That perked her up. “Wow, really?! He’s directing?”

“Attempting to. His acting career is going south. He wants to try directing.”

“All his movies are box-office hits. He’s still the hottest actor in Hollywood.”

“Honey, after a decade in the biz, an actor wonders why he hasn’t won scores of acting awards.”

“But he has won a lot!”

“My dear, in Hollywood, only one award truly matters. You know what that is.”

“But he’s been nominated several times at the AA.”

“Who wants to be nominated four times and not win? Dare’s one and only Oscar was six years ago, when we worked together on a story.”

“I know! Velvet! You wrote the script, David Lynch directed it and Dare won best actor!”

Ben grinned. “I’m impressed. You are a true Daredevil.”

Oh, I am more than all the Daredevils combined. I have his Phoenix.

“Dare told me that he feels washed out and he’s tired of doing commercial movies. He wants to be respected by his peers. His words, not mine,” Ben continued.

“I can understand that. I miss his old movies. He was so good then.”

“Ah well, there is God, after all. You can’t win respectability by good looks and mass appeal alone.”

“Your script, what’s it about?”

“Confidential. I hardly know you.”

“You’re right. I’m your lowly gofer.”

“Desperate neighbors can’t be choosers.”

She grimaced. Then she smiled. And giggled. And laughed. Her dream of a dashing, honorable knight went kaput last night but she hadn’t waited almost two decades just to give up at the first nasty skirmish with Dare the Devil. Hah! He’d better get ready for second round!

She stood up and hugged the old man. “Oh Ben! You are the coolest! Can I call you my fairy godfather?”

He looked at her in horror. “Yeezuz, please, don’t!”

“I will be the best PA you’ve ever had, promise!”

“This is a serious job. I don’t like screw ups, you understand?”

She nodded repeatedly. “Perfectly.”

“The pay is not so high but way better than your last job.”

“I’ll do it for free!”

“My God, kid, you are obsessed.”

“No, just in love!”

Dare didn’t know why he was calling Ben’s hospital room today. Kelsey was right, of course. He shouldn’t be hounding the old man for his damn script for now. Ben needed to rest and recuperate. But he’d decided no other writer would do for his debut movie but Speedy. He would wait for the old man to get his mojo back, no matter how long it took. He would do some stuff later to push the old man back into his creative zone.

A woman’s voice answered the phone. “Hello?”

He closed his eyes.

He shivered and his pores rose up again. He was even more appalled at his body’s involuntary, lightning swift reaction to her mere voice. Dammit, he was too old for fucking goose bumps!

“Hello?” she repeated.

He cleared his throat. “Celine...”

She fell silent.

“This is Dare.”

“What do you want?” came her very formal voice after a few beats.

“Uhh...” Shit, why would a mere young woman get him tongue-tied? He wasn’t nervous, was he? But seconds passed and he couldn’t form the right words to say, a first in his mega-celebrity existence. He’d learned the art of charming women with just a few cleverly-put lines and a certain look. Hell, he could just sit there and do nothing and they’d come running. His record of conquests all over America and Europe was testament to that. He could get her to his damn bed within five minutes if he turned on the classic Speed Seduction trick. He could—

The line went dead.

Fuck, did she just hang up on him?!

Angry now, he called the hospital again. He was transferred by the operator to Ben’s suite once more.

She answered the phone again. “Hello?”

“Why’d you hang up?”

“Because I don’t have all day to listen to your breathing?” she said with fake cheerfulness.

Wow. This little plaything was talking to him like she was the Queen of Sheba and he was an annoying pest. Who did she think she was? Did she suddenly develop amnesia or what? He was Dare Montgomery, the biggest name in Hollyfuckingwood!

Well, she was screaming at your ass last night like the wrath of the three furies. She owned you last night!

“I’d like to talk to Ben. Is he awake?”

“No, sleeping like a newborn.”

“I hope you’re not lying.”

“Why don’t you come over and see for yourself?”

“Why are you still there?”

“Why do you ask? Are you Ben’s relative?”

“No.”

“Are you his employer?”

Well, Ben had not said yes to his script yet. “No.” Damn, a major bitch.

“Then what business is it of yours if I’m still here?”

He gritted his teeth. “I’m his friend.”

“Well, I’m his friend, too and guess what, he is my employer. I think I have more right to be here than you do. Now, if you have nothing more to say, I’d hate to waste any more of my time-”

“When’s Ben leaving the hospital?”

“The day after tomorrow, not that it’s any of your business. But anyway, do you have a message for Ben?” Her sarcastic, saccharine-sweet tone was riling him big time.

“Tell him I want my script ASAP. I mean, the moment he is feeling better, of course.”

“Oh, THAT script. He is writing it. “

“He is? How do you know that?”

“Why, I’m his Peeee A.”

He could almost see her gloating face.

“My ass.”

“Yes, you are.”

The line went dead again.

Swearing colorfully, he slammed the phone on the table. Nobody had brought his temper to boiling point with just a few exchange of words. The girl had a huge talent in that department.

He looked down his fly. Nothing could beat her talent there. Just her voice and his cock resumed its electrocuted state.

Fuck!

“So, what does a PA do?” Celine asked Ben while she was sponging his back with a warm cloth. She left the hospital this morning to shower in her flat and came back shortly after.

“Eager to start working now, aren’t we?”

“Dare called earlier, while you were sleeping. He said he wants his script ASAP.”

Ben grunted. “He’s driving me crazy.”

“Do tell.”

Ben sighed as she helped him settle back on the bed. She arranged the blanket over him and sponged his face and neck.

“He wants an extraordinary story, something that Hollywood hasn’t seen yet. Or at least hasn’t seen in a long time. A story that can become a classic.”

“Wow, wishing for a genius! But I googled about you for a bit already and you are a genius!”

“You googled me?”

She grinned. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. Of course I know your works! I just didn’t know your face. Benjamin “Speedy” Speedman, three-time Academy Award winner for Best Screenplay. I saw all those movies you wrote for Dare. No wonder he wants you badly. You are the only one who gave him an Oscar.”

“That was a long time ago. I have lost my touch over the years,” he said modestly.

“Nah, you just needed to recharge. Have you thought of a concept already?”

“Not yet.”

“You need help?”

His brows arched.

“I have a degree in Mass Communication, major in journalism, minor in film,” she reminded him. “Magna cum laude,” she added proudly.

His eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“I’ll show you my transcript next time.”

Ben gave her a speculative look, a smile hovering on his lips. “You are something, Celine. Really something.”

“I have a good friend also who’s in LA right now. He’s an acclaimed short-film director in our country. He’s doing further studies at UCLA. He might be able to help you. If you need help, that is. I have clips of his works in my laptop. Wanna see?”

Ben didn’t reply. He was just looking at her, tapping his fingers idly on his chest.

“Sorry. I don’t mean to be pushy. Just a suggestion.”

“No, no, sweetheart. In fact, you’re sparking some inspiration in me now. I’d like to see your friend’s works.”

“Okay, let’s get you changed first.”

She sponged Ben’s chest and arms with a warm, wet towel then helped him into a fresh hospital gown. She combed his hair gently.

He was smiling.

“What are you smiling at?”

“I’m thinking what a lucky man Dare would be in the near future. I feel like a king.”

She rolled her eyes. “As if I exist in his orbit.”

“You do now, sweety. And let’s make sure you stay there.”

She grinned. “Yes, fairy godfather.”

“Hah. Now, let’s see those videos of your friend’s. What’s his name?”

“Rocky Artadi.”

She went to collect her Macbook from the sofa and sat beside Ben at the edge of the bed.

Dare was debating between barging into the suite again and storming out of the damn hospital.

He’d quietly opened the hospital door a few minutes ago and got an eyeful.

Ben was naked and Celine was touching him. Her hands were on Ben’s chest, rubbing.

He’d closed the door as quietly as he’d opened it, holding the knob with a death grip, nearly ripping it from the panel.

He was standing there in the hallway, his heart about to burst with the violence roiling like a hurricane inside of him.

What the fuck is this?! Why do I feel like this?! I should not care! I don’t care if she’s already riding Ben just days after his heart attack!

Well, it might kill Ben and he wouldn’t like that.

He pulled several deep breaths to calm himself.

He turned around and walked back to Ben’s suite.

He quietly opened the door again.

They didn’t even notice him, so engrossed they were at what they were watching. Celine was sitting at the edge of Ben’s hospital bed, craning her neck close to the old man as they shared the laptop’s screen. Whatever it was they were watching sure got their undivided attention.

He was relieved their little morning action was finished. They didn’t even bother to close the fucking door! But he was grateful he saw that for it surely deflated his hard-on like a popped balloon. He should etch the image in his mind.

He can look at her without getting physically affected now.

She was a delicious little confection in her pink little jacket and low-cut jeans that molded her curvy hips and legs like a sculptor’s hands. Her long locks of slightly wavy, dark brown hair cascaded over her shoulders like waves of silk. She really had this gorgeous complexion, her skin not overly white but blushed with a light tan....and so smooth.

Ben, you lucky bastard.

He couldn’t help it. It was one of those very rare stimuli that suddenly ripped through his normally impenetrable system. His self-control honed through years of emotional disconnect from people vanished in a flash.

He wanted her.

REALLY wanted her.

He was envious of another man’s woman.

He clenched his jaw to quell the traitorous resentment that sprung like a vicious virus, ravaging his rationality.

No. He won’t be angry over this. He won’t feel anything at all.

But the feeling remained. Growing stronger by the second.

He cleared his throat.

Their heads immediately lifted from the screen.

“Dare! What are you doing here?” Ben exclaimed with a wide smile.

He stepped into the room and closed the door. Celine stood up from the bed. She took the laptop from Ben and carefully put it on the bedside table.

She met his eyes and inclined her head a little in greeting. “Mr. Montgomery.”

“Hello, Celine.”

“Come here. Sit down, boy,” Ben said. The old man looked happy as a well-fed bear today. He can only imagine what Ben had eaten that put such cheerful smile on his weathered face.

He went to the sofa and sat down.

“Go sit beside him, doll, so I can see you both,” Ben said.

Celine slowly walked toward the sofa and sat a few feet beside him. He caught a whiff of her feminine, fresh scent. He was used to sniffing expensive perfumes on women but this one smelled like baby powder and freshly picked lemons. He wanted to dip his nose on her skin and inhale more of her. He was resenting Ben more and more. How can she prefer an old man over...HIM?

He slightly shook his head from his ridiculous thoughts. He just met her and she and Ben were probably carrying on for some time now. The thought of such youth in the company of rusty ole Ben didn’t sit well with him no matter how much he wanted the old man to be happy. Ben should find someone closer to his age, for pete’s sake!

“Celine told me that you called earlier about the script.”

Not really. He called with the hope of hearing her voice again. “Ah, yes. But I’m not in a hurry. Really, man, you need to get well first. Are you going to get a bypass?”

“No. Fortunately for me, I will be fine with just some prescription. I will work on your script soon.”

That lifted his mood. “Really? Great. Have you thought of something?”