Page 19 of The Starlet
“I didn’t see you, and I was immersed in the book.” I pick it up and shake the drops of water off it. “What’s going on?”
We spend the next thirty minutes talking about Quinn, how much he misses her, and how much he messed up. I really do feel bad for the guy. It’s clear by the way he’s talking to me that he misses her a lot. I remind him not to do anything stupid and stay away from the paparazzi. When he leaves, I pick up my phone to message Quinn.
Me:Caleb really has it bad. Try to not be too hard on him when you get here in a few weeks. How are you doing?
Quinn:I’m fine. I have a lot of work to keep me busy. Hopefully, Caleb will stay away from the paparazzi so I can salvage his career. How’s filming?
Me:Not bad. I’m nervous for the sex scenes with Bradley, but we get along well so it shouldn’t be too bad.
I haven’t known Quinn that long, but I really do miss her, too. She’s one of the few women I feel I can trust because she doesn’t seem to have a hidden agenda. She’s a firecracker, and from the small amount of time I’ve spent with her, she’s fun to be around. I understand what Caleb sees in her, and I just hope she comes around. She’s exactly who he needs to keep him from spiraling further into the abyss. We continue our conversation for a few more minutes, then I wrap it up, telling her I’m excited she’s going to be on set soon.
I pack my things up as the sun sets over the horizon and head back to my room for the night. When I push open my door, there is another envelope on the floor. Must be another change to the call schedule. I pick it up and drop my stuff off on my bed. It’s not sealed, so I pull back the lip of the envelope and see it’s a picture of me with Bradley at dinner. This was taken over a month ago. I narrow my eyes as I examine it and then flip it over, looking for any more clues. In bold, black Sharpie there is one word written in all caps.MINE.
I cover my mouth with my hand as tears sting my eyes. I think it’s finally time to let someone in on the fact that I have a stalker.
Chapter 12
I’mstartled awake by a loud knock on my door. Rolling to my side to see the clock, I groan. It’s still early in the morning. The incessant pounding continues until I finally get up to see who could possibly be here so early. She’s standing in front of me in short shorts and a tank top, her nipples pebbled under the thin fabric of the shirt. All the blood in my body rushes south, my erection growing hard in mere seconds.
I lick my dry lips and open my mouth to speak. She places her small fingers over my lips and shakes her head, stopping me. Then, she places her hand on my chest and pushes me into the room, closing the door behind us. My heart is hammering under her delicate fingertips. She guides me toward the bed, and when my knees hit the back of it, I sit and look into her deep hazel eyes.
“Sofia, what are you doing?” My voice is deep, husky with need and sleep.
“Taking what I want.” She straddles my lap and cradles my head in her hands, her lips grazing mine as she darts her tongue out, licking along the seam of my mouth. I moan and she presses her lips hard against mine, exploring my mouth with her tongue and my body with her fingertips.Please yell cut. Please yell cut!I’m hard as a rock under her weight, and I’m lined up perfectly with her folds. When she grinds her hips down into me and her small moan of pleasure escapes, I think I’m going to explode.
“Cut! Can I get a playback on this?” Joe asks.
She climbs off of my lap, and I take a few deep breaths to calm down. I pull the blanket across my lap and try to act nonchalant. She slips into a robe and ties the strap around her slim waist, then she stands behind Joe to watch. “You want to see, Brad?”
“Sure.” Cristina hands me a robe to throw on, which hides my now only semi-erect cock. We haven’t even gotten to any of the hot and heavy scenes, and already this is happening to me. That can’t be a good thing. I stand behind her, watching the screen, and can smell her hair product permeating the air. She smells like lemon and coconut, and I fight the urge to bury my face in her neck or run my fingers through the silky strands.
“Wow, that’s hot. Don’t we look great, Brad?” I nod and walk away, needing to distance myself. She frowns and follows behind. “Did I do something wrong? You’re acting weird today.”
I crack open a water bottle and reply as casually as I can, “No. I’m just a bit tired, that’s all.” I jerk my head in the direction of the large man standing off to the side. “What’s with the muscle? He’s been here since last week.”
She shuffles her feet and looks at the ground, playing with the hem of her shirt that sticks out from the front of her robe. “I don’t know. The studio wanted to send him over.” She shrugs and smiles brightly, but it’s forced. The warmth of her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “It’s no big deal.”
What aren’t you telling me?I know there’s more to it than that. When Elena gets nervous or scared, she averts her eyes to the ground and plays with either her hair or her clothes. I’ve seen her in a vulnerable state only a few times. Most of the time, she hides behind her big personality and humor. I stay silent, hoping she’ll give me more if I refuse to talk. She looks up at me, and when she sees I’m staring at her, her mouth opens a little. She takes in a deep breath and closes it again.Please, tell me what’s going on.
Elena composes herself and gets back into character as Joe approaches us. “I want to take it again from when you open the door. Bradley, when she starts kissing you, I want you to pull her toward you. You’ve been dying to kiss this girl—to take her. You’ve been fighting your feelings for too long, and her showing up is what’s going to push you over the edge into madness.”
Well, that’s not going to be hard to imagine. That’s my current life.“I figured we weren’t going past the kiss in this scene, so I held back,” I explain.
“That was my original thinking for the scene, too, but I want to try it like this. I want to really spice up the scene and see how that looks on camera. Take it as far as you need. She’s throwing herself at you. Act on impulse.”
We each get back into position and start again. She pushes me back onto the bed and straddles me, her lips as soft as silk against mine. I wrap one of my arms around her slim waist as the other hand grips the base of her neck, holding her to me. She continues to grind into my lap, and when a small moan of pleasure escapes, it takes everything in me not to rip her shorts from her body and sink deep within her heat.
I don’t give a damn who’s watching right now. I want this girl. No. Ineedthis girl. I nip her lower lip, and her quiet gasp of surprise is what I need to explore more of her. My hand slides down her backside to squeeze her right ass cheek, holding her down over me.
Everyone and everything around us dissipates. Everything I am in this moment is wrapped up in Elena Conners. The way her body feels against mine, the taste of her skin, the quiet moans of pleasure—all of it is driving me crazy. I roll my hips up into hers as she reaches her hand between our bodies. I don’t even care that this is unprofessional. I’m rocking a major hard-on for this girl, relishing how delicate her hands are on my skin.
I lie on my back, taking her with me. Fastening my fingers in her soft tendrils, I hold her face to mine as I grip her hips down over my length. Her erect nipples brush over my chest, and she rocks over me with gusto. Her breathing changes to small pants, and I know she’s close to coming. Even the best of actresses aren’tthisgood.
Joe cuts the scene, and we break the kiss abruptly, though her hips stop moving a little more slowly. The two of us stare at one another in surprise as the spell fusing us together fades and brings us back to reality. Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes hooded and dark. Her lips are red and swollen from being kissed so hard, and her chest is rising and falling rapidly under her thin tank top. My arms are like weights; I try to move them, but they won’t budge. I don’t want to let her go. I want everyone to leave instead. I need to know if that kiss was more than just acting, or if I’m reading too much into it.
“Brad, you can let me go,” she whispers, shifting her weight up off of me.
I fight my own body in an attempt to relax enough for her to slip off my lap. We both know I’m hard, and she discreetly slides the blanket over me. Swallowing hard, I watch her slip into her robe once again and walk away. If I have to do this scene again, I think I might combust. Joe finishes looking at the footage, his expression showing he’s pleased with it.