Page 27 of The Starlet
Chapter 17
I walk away from him,trying to get my body under control. Everything throbs—and I mean everything.Is it hot in here?After he called me a ‘good girl’ in front of Matt, I squirmed in my seat the rest of the time, hoping I wasn’t too obvious. I look around and see Alex has a few chairs set up.
“Elena, can I please have you sit here?” He motions for the chair, and I sit, per his instructions. “I want you to get into character for me. Zach just took Sofia away from her brother, and she’s pissed. He’s trying to control her, but she’s not having that.” He turns to Bradley, who has walked into his line of sight. “Bradley, I want you trying to control her. Right now, it’s a battle of wits for you two. Who will come out on top?”
Bradley stands behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders as I cross my arms over my chest. He bends down and whispers, “I want to see you on top later.” I widen my eyes as my mouth pops open in surprise. Matt starts snapping away. The two of us change positions. We’re in a heated stare, and he keeps trying to make me laugh by sticking his tongue out or making silly faces. He did manage to get me to smirk, but that’s about it.
I know this is supposed to be a fun shoot, but my stomach is tied in knots.
“Hey, man, can you give us a second?” Bradley asks. Alex walks off and hangs out by Matt, who is watching the photoshoot and taking notes. He turns me so we’re facing away from them. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Honestly, I’m just horny, and then you calling me a good girl didn’t help. Now, I want you, and there’s nothing I can do about it because we’re working.” I want him to kiss me, to touch me, to take away this damn need. He kisses my forehead, and I hear the click of the camera shutter.Great. I didn’t want everyone who reads this magazine to see that.
“That’s great, guys. Let’s show this side, too—the romantic side. It’s a romance movie, after all,” Alex says.
He holds me close, and I sway in his arms as he hums something soothing. I lay my head on his chest and close my eyes. He smells so good—cinnamon and a hint of musk. I turn my head up to him, blinking my eyes.
He lowers his head and places his lips against mine. It’s slow and tender. I’m lost in the moment until I hear Matt clear his throat. We break apart from one another, and he drops his hands to his sides.
“I think we have everything we need. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. You two really have great chemistry. I know my wife will drag me to see this movie.” Matt shakes both our hands, and Alex busies himself with packing up the equipment.
“Thank you. I look forward to seeing the article. What issue is this going to be in?” Brad asks.
“Next month. We’re doing a feature on all the upcoming hit movies people don’t want to miss. Seems the public has a thing for mobsters right now. There are a few others coming out next year. If the movie is anything like these pictures though, I’m sure yours will be a sure winner with the ladies. They all seem to love the sexy, romantic ones.”
I’m sure this will be no exception.
* * *
Me:Hey! Can’t wait to see you. Let me know if you need a buffer with Caleb. His eyes lit up when I told him you were arriving today, and he’s been asking about you non-stop. It’s really annoying. Please, come put this man out of his misery.
Brad sneaks up behind me,places his hands on my shoulders, and plants a kiss on my neck. I tense and look around. Only, when I see we’re alone, I relax again and nuzzle into his embrace.
“Who are you texting?” he asks.
“Quinn. I told Caleb she’s coming in today, and he hasn’t stopped bothering me about it. He’s so whipped for this girl, but that means I’m off Caleb duty. Maybe the two of us can go out somewhere tonight?”
Jimmy walks up to us, and Brad straightens his stance but keeps his hands on my shoulders.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as I look at the hard lines on his face.
“Seems there was another delivery to your room—a note and a flash drive. There are no cameras on the floor, so we have no idea who could have left them.”
My stomach churns. “Wh—” I swallow and try again. “What’s on the drive, and what does the note say?”
Jimmy flushes red. “The note is very sexually explicit. It’s possible it’s from the book, but he goes on and makes it specific to you. He knows about you and Bradley, too, and mentions how he wants him out of the picture.” He turns his attention to Brad. “I think we need to get someone to watch you as well. So far, there aren’t any leads as to who this person is.”
“What’s on the flash drive?” he asks.
“We have someone looking into that now, hoping to get a trace as to where they came from, but from what I’ve been told, it’s pictures of the two of you in bed.”
I panic. My heart is beating a mile a minute and my palms are sweaty. “What do you mean?”
“I believe it’s pictures from set of one of your bedroom scenes. If that’s the case, that means it’s someone on the crew. I want to show the picture to the production assistant and see if she can tell us who was on set that day. We should be able to narrow it down from that.”
I’m shaking and try to contain it. I’m scared though. I’m not sure what to do. “Thanks, Jimmy.”
“Elena, Bradley, we’re keeping this between us for now. We don’t want to alarm the crew, and we don’t want the perp to know we’re on to him.”