Chapter 10

Riley

Sleeping in Ethan's bed the night before was bliss. I hadn't slept that hard since I was young. I knew without a doubt the next morning when we got up that things were headed in a different direction for us. Whatever strife and mystery we kept cycling around individually and collectively was over.

I was going to make sure of it.

"Again. Let's go." Frank clapped his hands together and made a nasty sound. "There needs to be some heavy emotion here. I know we're all finding resolution and real life is great, but you two are in the fight of your life on screen. Try it again. Slap him, Riley. Hard!"

"Yeah. Real hard, baby." Ethan wagged his eyebrows and moved back into place, his dark eyes dragging me in deep. Maybe us working together was a bad idea.

"And action!" Frank yelled.

"I can't believe you." I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes at him, playing the part written for me.

"What did you expect?" He growled low in his chest, and fuck if my hormones didn't do a happy dance of sorts. "You leave without a word and don't show up for a month and what? I welcome you back? Who have you been with? What were you doing?" He narrowed his eyes. "Who were you doing?"

"Fuck you." I reached out and slapped him in the face just before he grabbed me roughly and pinned me against the wall in the bedroom, his thick body pressed against mine.

"Not happen, sweetheart. I don't share, and obviously, that's a rule you missed when we decided to be together." He leaned in, pressing his nose to mine. "Don't think that you-"

I lifted my knee, and he cried out, dropping to his hands and knees on the ground below and rolling on his side as his face turned red. He groaned loudly.

"Cut! That was great." Frank walked up and touched my arm. He looked down at Ethan rolling around on the ground, tears in his eyes. "Hey. Enough, man. You're good."

"She really kneed me," he whispered and gave me a look.

"What? I got into character. I'm sorry." I knelt beside him and brushed his hair back. "Want me to rub it for you?"

"Oh Lord." Frank threw his hands in the air and walked off as the rest of the crew laughed.

"Did we get him?" Ethan rolled over and stood up, surprising me with his award-winning acting.

"How do you force your face to turn red like that?" I reached up and brushed his hair off his forehead as he captured my wrist and trapped me against him.

"You hold your breath and push out like you're trying to exhale. The more you do it; the quicker blood will run to your face." He leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose. "Stick with me, sweetheart. You'll learn all sorts of tricks."

Deza's voice rose in the background, the pain in it stealing my attention from Ethan. "Look, I don't care what you think. We're done. Over. Stop calling me and don't pull any more tricks with me. I can't keep doing this, and you shouldn't either."

She glanced over at us before turning and walking out of the room with the phone pressed to her ear.

"Darren?" I asked and glanced back toward Ethan.

"I'm sure." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Let's go play put-put for the afternoon."

"Are we done filming?" I glanced around to see the rest of the crew packing up.

"Yep. Frank will let us know when to get back to it." Seth walked by. "Just keep your phone on you, but knowing the big guy, we're done for the day."

"Awesome." I turned to find Ethan standing closer. I slid my hands up his chest and leaned in closer. "Go get Liam and bring him with us. I hate that he came with you and he's sitting in his room all day."

"Sitting?" He snorted. "You're kidding, right?"

"What else would he be doing?" I slid my hands around his waist and wrapped him in a hug. Everyone knew we were together at that point. How could they not?

"Because my brother is a slut. He's definitely not sitting. If he were, he would be over there, chugging down a case of beer or a bottle of wine all by himself. The only thing he's better at doing besides whoring is drinking." He ran his hands down the side of my face. "Besides, I'm not sharing you with anyone."

I gave him a funny look. "He's not that bad."

"Oh, yeah. He is completely, totally and undeniably that bad. The worst actually."

Rolling my eyes, I moved back and reached for Ethan's hand. "Let's go play golf then."

"Put-put." He walked toward the open bedroom door, moving back to let me go through first.

"Same thing."

"Not even close, beautiful." He slid his arm around the back of my waist, and I tucked myself against his side. "Put-put is insanely harder."

"Are you pulling my leg?"

"No, but I'd love to be massaging your ass." He wagged his eyebrows, looking far too cute for his own good. "How about we skip the golf and just go back to the room? I feel like we've got some ground to make up from not being together for the last two weeks."

I laughed and stopped in the lobby as Deza caught my attention. She was hunched over in a chair in the lobby, once again wiping tears from her face angrily.

"We have to help them."

"What?" Ethan moved in front of me and took me by the shoulders. "No. You don't get involved in other people's shit."

"She and Frank got involved in ours."

"They're old and nosy." He crinkled his nose up.

I laughed. "They are not. They love you and care about me. You have to help her if you can."

"Oh, now we moved from us working as a dynamic duo to just me rolling solo? Great." He turned his back to me and crossed his arms over his chest, playing the part of a spoiled brat perfectly.

"Ethan." Frank walked toward us, a big smile on his face as he stopped in front of Ethan. "Where is your phone."

I moved around my guy to see what the fuss was about. The conversation on helping Deza would have to come later, though I wasn't giving up on the thought. If she wanted things to work out with Darren, then Ethan and I could help make that happen. Hope was a contagious thing.

Ethan patted his pants and ran his hands up his chest. "No clue. Why? I'm spending the afternoon with Riley, and she's responsible." He glanced down at me. "Right baby?"

I pulled out my phone and smiled. "I'll keep him in line."

Frank rolled his eyes. "I know you will, but this isn't about me trying to get a hold of you later. Jeffery Patterson called with good news."

"Who's that?" I glanced up at him.

"My attorney." He extended his hand toward Frank. "Let me have your phone, and I'll give him a buzz."

"He was getting on a plane, but he said to let you know that the rape from the club is being dropped."

"That's great news." I smiled as a sense of relief raced through me. One thing down and a million to go, but this was a big one.

"Yeah. Did he mention anything about the pregnancy? The girl claiming she has my kid?" He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

I pressed my head against the side of his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was strong. Steady. Just like he would become over the years.

"No, but this first one is out of the way. We're going to push for the girl to come out and make a statement about lying and drugging you." Frank reached out and patted Ethan on the chest.

"Right. Good luck with that shit." He snorted.

"We have our ways. You kids did good today. Have a good time taking off for the afternoon."

"We're done for today?" I asked and pulled out of Ethan's hold.

"Yep. We'll put in some long hours tomorrow, but you should have the evening off, and we should be able to pack up Sunday and get back to Los Angeles." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "Where's Deza?"

"Outside." Ethan nodded toward the front door. "Yelling at Darren."

"Not him again," Frank growled and walked around us, headed toward her.

"That's great news, right?" I turned to face Ethan and slid my hands up his chest. I couldn't keep my hands to myself. It was like he was right... I was trying to make up for lost time.

"Absolutely. Come on. Let's go have some fun for the afternoon. I'll feel you up while I pretend to teach you how to hold a putter." He wagged his eyebrows, gave me a quick kiss and moved back.

"How did I know that was coming?"

"First that, and then you." He took my hand, and we walked out the side door, down a long path toward the country club attached to the hotel. "You look beautiful today. Did I tell you that already?"

I beamed, unable to help myself. "Yeah. Like ten times, but please... flattery gets you into places you could only dream of."

He moved up behind me as we got in line for the club rentals and ran his hands up the back of my thighs, squeezing my ass. The soft brush of his lips caused me to shiver.

"And what if I want in here?"

I stifled a moan and nodded to an elderly gentleman who glanced back and smiled at us.

"Absolutely," I said with certainty. He could have any part of me he wanted.

"Don't make promises you don't intend to keep." He squeezed once more before moving around me and talking to the guy at the front desk.

It took everything inside of me not to move up and wrap my arms around him, but I didn't want to be that couple, not to mention that it felt like everywhere we went someone was clicking a picture of us. Where I didn't mind if the world knew that we were together, I knew all too well that someone would use the pictures in a nefarious way. People were shitty like that. Some were at least.

"Let's go, baby." He took my hand, and we walked out to the putting green. He dropped both balls at the tee box and smiled up at me. "Now tell me, how exactly do you plan on helping Deza and Darren? They've been at each other's throats for the better of ten years."

"I don't know. Maybe we can stage something? Like a romantic date for them?" I reached out and took my club as I watched him with interest.

"Alright. I'm in if you are. Let's just look for the right time to get them together." He swung and hit the ball perfectly, knocking it down the little green and under the three hoops the damn thing had to go through.

"Ugh. I suck at this."

"It's not the only thing you suck at." He wagged his eyebrows and moved out of my way as I swatted at him.

"Maybe it's a good thing you didn't bring Liam."

"My brother is balls deep in two women right now, Ri. And catch this shit," he paused to laugh, "one of them is named Charlotte. How ironic is that?"

I felt the blood rush from my face. "Wait. It's not my best friend, right?"

"No." He gave me a 'get real' look. "It's just crazy that he's up there moaning her name. Don't you know that she would love that shit."

I laughed. "She would. I have to tell her."

"Do it. He deserves anything that comes out of it."

My swing was a little off, and my ball bounced over our green and landed in a puddle of water on hole ten below. "Shit!"

"Shhhh..." He smiled, and the world grew brighter. "I'll go get it, but only if you let me show you how to swing."

"Alright, but use your wood." I laughed as he gave me a funny grin and walked down to grab my ball for me.

He wasn't the only one who could act immature. It actually felt a little good letting myself go. Hopefully, he wouldn't mind.

"Alright bend over, wench. Time to learn how to respect the balls." He dropped mine and moved behind me, wrapping his arms around me and cupping his hands over mine on the putter.

Nope. He didn't mind. Not one single bit.