To Hell and Back (16 page)

When I enter the trailer, I look around at the space I’ve shared with Carson.  Evidence of the life we’ve started to build together is everywhere.  I make my way to our bed and climb in, snuggling his pillow close against my chest.  I will the tears that have started again to go away, and try to shut my mind off for a while as I fall asleep.

I have no idea how long it has been, but I wake with a start when the door to the trailer bursts open and Carson calls my name.  I sit up in bed, still clutching his pillow, unwilling to let go of the fabric that holds his scent in its fibers.  He comes in and sits next to me, reaching for my hand.

“I just heard from Kate that you have a migraine. Are you doing okay? Do you need anything?” The worry in his voice does a little to reassure me, but the tears begin again anyway. His face, his voice – it’s everything I’ve come to care about in this world. 

“Angel, what is going on?” he asks me, starting to sound panicked.

“It’s, it’s … there’s no migraine,” I sob. “Madeline. She, she…”

“That crazy bitch,” Carson swears. “What the hell is she up to this time?”

“You don’t know?” I ask him. I look up at him, knowing I must be a complete mess, but wanting to see the truth on his face. “She didn’t tell you she talked to me?”

“I haven’t seen her all afternoon, Brie. I ate lunch with some of the guys on the crew today. One of them mentioned seeing you go into a meeting with Tom, but they weren’t sure who else was there. I texted you to see if we could meet up after, but I never heard back. I had a call right after lunch, so I couldn’t call or text. We did about a million takes of the same shot all afternoon before we got it just right and that’s when I went looking for you. Kate told me what happened, and I headed here to find you. That’s my whole afternoon. No Madeline involved. I’m afraid to ask, but what the hell did she have to say?”

“She pretty much told me I was going to lose everything that matters to me.”

Carson’s face pales as he hears my words and he pulls me onto his lap.  “She said she was crazy for letting you go before, but she’s back now and you two are making another go of it. She said, um…” I start to choke up.  “She said I had to be out of the trailer by this evening because she would be staying with you.”

“
Goddammit!
” Carson yells as he sets me back down on the bed.  He stands up, running his hand through his hair and muttering about Madeline being a devious bitch.  I know he’s an actor, but if this is a performance, it’s Oscar-worthy.  My heart begins to heal itself as I realize she was lying through her teeth.

Carson pulls his phone from his pocket and stabs at the screen furiously before putting it to his ear.  “Dad,” he growls.  “I mean it.  You call me back or I am done with you when this movie wraps.  Do you hear me? 
Done.” 
He puts the phone back in his pocket and turns to me. “Angel, I’m so sorry. It’s my job to protect you and I didn’t do it very well today. Hell,” he swears again, “Fucking Madeline. My fucking father. I’ll be damned if I will let them ruin us, Brie.”

“How
do
you feel about her?” I hold my breath as I wait for his answer.

“You can’t even imagine, Brie.  The time and money it takes to keep her problems, not to mention her attitude, mostly under wraps would blow your mind.  It’s part of the reason my father wants us together.  I think he figures I can help control her.  I’ve told them both repeatedly that I have no interest in being her boyfriend or her chaperone.  Two years ago I was already tired of dealing with this, and now that I have you to think about, I refuse to deal with it at all.  She lies, she shows up late to everything, she makes crazy demands, and she drinks constantly.” 

I haven’t seen Carson this angry since he found me lying in a hospital bed. He’s so protective of me, so loving, and I feel like such an ass for believing her, even a little, in the first place.

His phone rings and he pulls it quickly from his pocket. Checking the screen, he presses it to answer the call. “Dad,” it sounds like a warning. “What the hell are you thinking?” I can’t hear anything from the other end but the muffled sound of a man’s voice. “I’m not kidding, Dad, I…”

He’s cut off by another stream of words from the voice.  “One chance, just one.  You talk to her, you tell her whatever you have to.  Just make sure she leaves Brielle alone.  You won’t win this one.  If you can’t get her either under control or out of here, your time as my manager is
over.
”   He presses the screen again and tosses his phone on the bed. 

I stand and he reaches for me, putting his arms around my waist and pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m so sorry she got to you, Angel,” he whispers to me. “Nothing she can say or do will ever make me choose her over you.”

I believe him, and in my relief I cover his lips with mine, pulling him down into our bed and showing my love for him over and over for the rest of the evening.

Chapter Sixteen

Carson

With three days left until Madeline leaves the set for good, she has been on her best behavior all week.  I’m pretty sure I’ve smelled alcohol on her breath a couple of times, but she has showed up almost on time every day and gotten most of her lines right.  While she has been a raging bitch to most everyone on set, Brie tells me Madeline hasn’t spoken directly to her since that first day.  I guess that’s all I can ask. I’m basically holding my breath until she leaves; I have no idea how long she can manage to stay out of trouble, and I don’t want to have to deal with the fallout.

I know Madeline’s little display wasn’t my fault, but I still feel the need to make it up to Brie. Daisy and Sara are going to take her for a girls’ night out tomorrow, but tonight is just for us.  I came back to the trailer during a break in shooting earlier and set up the trailer for a romantic night.  I’d take her somewhere else and pamper the hell out of her, but we both have to be back on set early tomorrow morning, so I’m making the most of the space we have here.  I’m having our dinner catered by an incredible Italian restaurant Tom told me about.  He says they serve traditional Italian food that’s absolutely divine.  I’ve ordered bruschetta, fresh pasta and sauce, and some cannoli for dessert.  I set up a playlist of beautiful piano music to play during dinner and rented Casablanca for us to watch – Brie has mentioned no fewer than three times how much she has always wanted to see it.

Two dozen roses are waiting for my angel on the dining room table.  I know it all feels very cliché, and I’m almost afraid she will think it’s uninspired, but I want to give her everything I can.  I want to give her all those things she’s only read about, all the traditional romantic gestures.  She’s everything to me and I need to make sure she knows that, make sure she really believes in me – in us.

When I headed back to the warehouse, I checked in with Kate to make sure she’d send Brie home on time.  My girl has become kind of a workaholic, always staying on until the last minute, making sure everything and everyone are taken care of before heading home for the night.  She even sets a pot of coffee in the crew lounge to brew at seven am, just as the first people are rolling in each morning.  Every single thing this girl does makes me love her even more.

I meet the delivery guy at the trailer just before six-thirty. I know Brie will be walking across the lot at any moment, so I hastily pay him, including a generous tip, and hurry inside to plate up our dinners. No way in hell is she going to think I managed to cook this whole thing, but it might as well look nice. I have just enough time to get things on the table before she comes through the door.

Her hair is in one long braid with little wisps that have escaped throughout the day framing her face. She’s in jeans and a simple t-shirt, barefoot after kicking her sneakers off just inside the door. She doesn’t need another thing; this simple, end-of-the-day, natural look makes her the sexiest woman I have ever seen. My heart skips a beat when she smiles at me; I am not sure I will ever stop having this reaction when she walks into the room. God, I hope I never do.

“What’s going on in here?” she asks me, making her way over for a hello kiss.

“It’s a date.” I beam at her. 

“Well, it smells
amazing
in here, which is perfect because I’m starving.”

“Nothing but the finest cuisine for
la bella donna
,” I tell her in my best Italian accent.

“Why, thank you, kind sir.” She curtsies and we both laugh. Since the bench seats at our dining table are stationary, there is no chair to pull out. I settle for taking her hand as she sits down, then opening her napkin and placing it on her lap.  Even with no wait-staff, I can try my best to make this a five-star experience.

We talk about everything imaginable over dinner, from world news to sitcoms to all the puns we can think of.  I come up with a few, but Brie is the winner with, “I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down.”  We both laugh harder than we should, and I just can’t top that one.

When dinner is over, we set our dishes in the sink and I shoo her away when she tries to wash them.  “No chores tonight,” I say, kissing her neck and ears as I pull her away from the kitchenette.  I tell her to get comfortable and she heads for the bathroom while I set up the movie on the TV in the small living area.  

When Brie comes back out of the bathroom, it takes all my willpower not to skip the movie completely.  She has brushed out her long, gorgeous hair and it falls in soft waves around her face and down her back.  Her lips are shiny with some kind of soft pink gloss, and she’s wearing a short white nightgown that leaves just enough to the imagination to give me all kinds of exciting and arousing thoughts.

I’ve already stripped down to my boxer shorts, so we snuggle up on the couch and I press “play”.  Brie lets out a little squeal of excitement when she sees the movie I’ve chosen, leaning up to kiss my cheek.  I wrap my arms around her, pull a blanket over us, and sit back to enjoy my time with her, if not the movie itself.

About an hour and a half later, Humphrey Bogart leaves us with the iconic, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” and I end up more impressed with the film than I’d anticipated. From the dreamy expression on Brie’s face, it seems to have been a hit with her as well.

“Thank you so much for this evening, Carson,” she murmurs against my lips.  I suck her bottom lip in, hanging onto the kiss for an extra second. 

“It’s not nearly over, Angel,” I rasp.  Standing up, I extend my girl a hand and pull her up next to me.  She shrieks as I lift her into my arms and carry her into the bedroom.  I cannot keep my hands off this woman for another second.  I love everything about her, but my naked body against hers gives me a thrill that is unmatched. 

I set her down at the foot of the bed just long enough to pull the nightgown over her head.  I pick her up again, setting her down in the center of the bed.  She is the incarnation of Aphrodite with her firm, full breasts looking up at me and her sweet sex barely hidden by the wisp of pink cloth stretched around her hips.  I pull the panties from her as well and slide up next to her.  She reaches for me, but I lift her hands above her head and whisper, “Don’t move, Angel. Let me take care of you.”

She grips the pillow above her tightly in her hands and gazes at me with an expression I can only describe as liquid desire in her eyes. Forget what I said before; Aphrodite herself has nothing on this angel of mine.

Slowly, gently, I kiss her thoroughly as she squirms against me, frustrated with her inability to touch me.  When I finally pull back, her lips are soft and swollen, their rosy color deepened.  I run my hands along her sides, moving downward.  She gasps as I brush my thumbs across her nipples, then her belly button before just skimming the insides of her hips and thighs on my way down her body.  My goal is her delicate feet, the ones she spent so many hours standing on today.  Being with her isn’t just about getting my pleasure from her.  It’s about taking care of her; mind, body and soul.  I rub the soles of her feet in circles with the pads of my thumbs, working the tired muscles there. Brie watches me with a smile on her face, saying nothing.

After her feet have had their attention, I work my massaging hands back up her legs and thighs, pulling her legs apart to access every part of her. My thumbs just skim the outer lips of the soft, bare skin, and she arches her hips to try to create more pressure against her favorite place to be touched. I move in and out, closer then farther away, eliciting a frustrated moan from my Angel that almost takes away my willpower. Almost. Teasing her, making her feel good everywhere… That wins every damn time. 

I roll her over on to her stomach so I can continue to massage her muscles.  I rub the tight globes of her ass, dipping deeper again between her legs to keep her aroused, then moving away again.  I move my hands in tight circles up her back and then cover her body with mine, my erection pressing firmly against the swell of her ass. I move her hair aside and kiss the back of her neck.  I can feel her hips gently rocking against me as she feels the pleasure I love to give. 

Rolling her over again, I take one of her taut pink nipples into my mouth and roll it against my tongue.  She finally loses control and pulls her hands from the pillow she’s patiently held onto all this time.  Her fingers tangle in my hair as she pulls my face more tightly against her.  I let it slide because it’s just so fucking hot to have the physical confirmation from her that she’s enjoying this as much as I am.  I move to the other breast and she presses her mound against me, trying to create some friction to relieve the ache I know she’s beginning to feel in her core. 

Lifting my head, she looks into my eyes and whispers, “Can we try something?”

If there were ever words that could make me come in my shorts, those are probably the ones. Up until this point, I’ve taken the lead in our lovemaking. She gives me plenty of physical cues when she wants something, but she’s never asked for anything directly.