Page 48 of Blood Stone

By the time he stopped the Maserati with its nose against the iron grille gate protecting the drive of her house, Kate had been drifting off to sleep. Adrian had been right to insist on driving her home. She was dead like last summer’s releases.

She gave him the code for the gate. “You may as well know it, too,” she told him. He’d pulled up in front of the house and retrieved two bags of food from the back seat, withSpano’swritten on them. He had bought dinner.

Kate opened the front door, and led him through to the kitchen, and was relieved to see the cleaning service had been around that day. Everything was spotless.

She perched on the barstool in front of the kitchen counter. “I’m suddenly ravenous,” she confessed as he pulled out boxes and bags.

He laughed. “You need a nanny, Kate. We should find you someone like that Annette assistant that Garrett tows around with him. Only, she can make sure you eat regularly, as well.”

Kate shuddered. “I don’t need a caretaker, thanks. This will be my twelfth movie. My routine is locked in now. Clearly, it’s not a fatal one.”

Adrian pushed the Cobb salad he had arranged on the plate toward her and handed her the fork he fished out of the drawer next to his hip. “With Garrett in the mix, it might be. Eat.”

She scooped up egg and bacon bits and studied him. “It’s that what you’re doing? Trying to compensate for Garrett?”

He considered the question, leaning on the counter with his forearms in a way that made the muscles in his arms and shoulders flex and bulge. He was wearing a sleeveless black tee-shirt and the effect would have been distracting if Kate had been any less hungry than she was right now. “I suppose I am, in a way,” he replied. His gaze met hers. “Do you mind?”

Kate ate her forkful and swallowed, shaking her head. “It’s probably a good thing,” she replied, loading her fork again. “I get tunnel visioned while on location. With him around it’s nice to know you’re watching my back.”

“Among other things,” Adrian growled.

But when she had finished eating, exhaustion had slammed her with a hammer-blow. She could barely stay on the stool.

Adrian circled the counter and picked her up. “Time for sleep,” he told her and carried her upstairs. He hesitated at the top of the stairs, and she knew he was guessing which way to go.

“First door on the right,” she murmured and yawned.

He carried her all the way into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. Then, with surprisingly gentle hands, he took off her clothes and tucked her under the covers.

“You’re not staying?” she asked, rousing herself from the sleep that was trying to take her away.

“Do you want me to?”

“I don’t want you to have to drive across the city this time of night.”

“I live ten minutes away, Kate.” She heard laughter in his tone.

“I don’t want to wake up to an empty bed,” she confessed.

“Ah.” He sat on the bed. “Yet another reason to drag men home every night, hmm?”

She grimaced. “It’s a weakness. So now you know.”

He had stayed, wrapped around her body as she drifted off to sleep. And the next morning she had woken to his mouth nibbling on her neck and his hand over her breast, his fingers stroking the nipple erect. His cock had been stiff against the back of her hip. Kate had transitioned from sleepy consciousness to arousal as his fingers played with her. When he pushed her knee forward and slid into her from behind, her vagina was slick and ready for him. He pushed his hand between her thighs and his fingers found her clit and began to tease and stroke as he thrust up into her.

She had climaxed as he did, clutching the pillow and squeezing it hard. It had been a great way to wake up.

All her mornings since then, she had been woken by Adrian’s hands and mouth on her, his hard big body waking and rousing her in a way that cold showers and even some of the best sex she’d had pre-Adrian had ever managed to do.

Adrian had not let her down all week. He had been there when she least expected it, with food, to drive her where she needed to go, with unexpectedly good suggestions about sets, props and more. She began to understand why he was doing so well in Hollywood when every man and his dog was trying to buy up props from famous movie sets and make a buck from them. Adrian’s attitude was different. He served a different customer base. He wasn’t selling celebrity knickknacks to fans. He was recycling sets, props, costumes and paraphernalia within the industry and he dealt almost exclusively with directors and production companies.

The best part about Adrian was one she found hard to admit enjoying, even to herself.

Garrett didn’t like him.

It had taken a day or two for Kate to realize Garrett resented Adrian’s presence whenever he tried to talk to her and miraculously, whenever hedidneed to speak to her, Adrian just happened to be there. Then she started watching Garrett’s reactions more closely and realized it wasn’t just that Adrian was a third wheel in their discussions. Garrett didn’t like Adrian personally.

It was subtle, almost hidden, but as a director, Kate had learned to spot emotions in expressions and gestures and enhance them as necessary. So Garrett’s distaste had been as clear as a text message for her, once she spotted the signs.