I SHAKE MY HEAD and walk over to the coffee area. Giovanna joins me, and I know I have to tell her the truth.
“You were good,” she says.
“Thank you. Something’s up with Yasmin.”
“I noticed. Everyone did.”
“Can I be honest with you?”
“I hope you will.”
“Last night, after the party, she came to my hotel room. She was drunk.”
I watch Giovanna’s body tense up as she hears my words. “Okay.”
“She pushed her way in and…” I lower my head.
“Did you have sex with her?”
“God, no! Giovanna, no. I would never.”
“Okay, so what happened?”
“It was bad,” I say, running my fingers through my hair. “She was wearing a coat and nothing under it. She tried to kiss me and begged me to take her to bed.” I shake my head. “I had to get brutal to get her to leave. I told her she never had a chance with me, and I threatened to take it public if she didn’t leave me alone.”
Giovanna crosses her arms, nodding. “I see.”
“She is so jealous of you. She knows I’m attracted to you. I know if she gets an opportunity, she’ll try and twist it to make you suspect me. I just wanted you to hear it from me.”
She offers a slight smile. “I appreciate that.”
“You believe me, right? I would never lie to you.”
She nods. “I believe you, Antonio.”
“Your trust means everything to me.”
“I know.” Her smile fades as she looks back at the set. “I couldn’t help applying that scene to our life. Someday, we have to part. Someday soon.”
“We don’t have to. We can do anything we want, Giovanna. It’s our choice.”
“I wish that were true.” She starts to walk away, but I grab her arm and pull her back, not giving a shit if anyone is watching.
“It is true. You just have to believe it. You have to let go of your resolve that there is no happy ending here.”
“This!” Dan says, approaching us. “Exactly this.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “This, what?”
“This scene. This is how it should look. Come here.” He grabs a surprised Giovanna and leads her behind the cashier stand.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“Just stand here. Antonio, take your place.”
“Uh…” I mutter.
“Do it!”
I take my position, not sure what is happening. Giovanna’s not an actress, and she definitely doesn’t want to be one. Melissa and Sammy stand nearby, mouths hanging open.
“Someone hand Giovanna a script,” Dan yells. A crew member rushes over and hands her one. She takes it, completely shell-shocked. “Just read Susie’s part. React off of Antonio. Action.”
Dazed, I quickly snap into character and begin my lines.
“Susie,” I say, to give her somewhere to start.
She looks briefly at the paper. “This isn’t going to work, Michael,” Giovanna says slowly. “We’ve tried everything possible. We’re just not meant to be.”
“We are, Susie. We can overcome this. We can overcome anything together.”
“I can’t be a part of your life.” Giovanna’s eyes well with tears. “I’m a small town girl. Hollywood would eat me up.”
“Listen to me.” I pull her close and stare into her beautiful eyes. “I’ll do anything to be with you. I’ll give it all up tomorrow.”
“I can’t let you to do that,” she whispers. “This is your dream.”
Breaking from script, I kiss her deeply, twisting my fingers in her hair and holding her close. When I release her, I look deep into her eyes. “You’re my dream.”
We stand holding each other like this, unaware of the thousand eyes watching us. I think I meant every word.
“What the fuck is this?” Yasmin’s angry voice rattles the store.
Shit.
“Cut!” Dan says. Everyone in the store turns to face Yasmin.
“What’s going on?” she yells. “I’m gone for ten minutes and you replace me? With her?!” She points at Giovanna. “Seriously, Dan?”
“Calm down. I was making an example. Watch the playback.”
Dan hits the play button, and we all stand around watching the scene I just went through with Giovanna. She’s a natural on screen. She’s stunning and the emotion was real. I realize the words were true for her, too. This isn’t acting.
“That’s what I’m looking for, “Dan continues, unconcerned about the damage he’s causing. “Look at her eyes, teary and full of pain. Her lips tremble with each word. She’s hurting. She’s sacrificing her happiness for his. That’s what this scene needs. That’s what you need to bring, Yasmin.”
I watch, fascinated as Yasmin’s face transforms into an angry mask.
“How dare you! How, fucking dare you try to upstage me with this, this, girl. She’s not an actress. She can’t tell me how to play my part.”
“Hey,” Giovanna says. “I didn’t even want to be part of this. Leave me out of it.”
“Leave you out!” Yasmin shrieks. “You think I don’t know what’s going on? You think we’re all blind?! I know you want him. I know you’ll do anything to be with him. Just so you know, he’ll fuck you and leave you, just like everyone else. He’ll break your simple little heart.”
“Shut the fuck up, Yasmin,” I yell.
“You’ll do anything to get to him. Even steal my movie!”
“That’s ridiculous!” Giovanna retorts. “I don’t want anything to do with your role. I’m not trying to take your place. If you would just get your head in the game, instead of thinking about how you’re going to seduce Antonio, this wouldn’t even be happening.”
“What? You bitch!”
“Takes one to know one.”
Unbelievably, Yasmin lunges at Giovanna, who calmly takes a step back and then nails my costar with a right hook to the eye. Yasmin falls back on her ass, stunned.
Dan and I immediately step between the two women. Yasmin, completely humiliated, says nothing as she picks herself up and storms out the door. Giovanna turns and rushes to the back. Cameras flash all over the place just outside the door. Fucking great.
“Holy shit,” Dan mutters. “That escalated quickly.”
“What did you expect to happen, man? You know how Yasmin is.”
“She’s not doing a good job. I thought if I pushed her, her ambition would kick in. I knew she’d be pissed, but I didn’t expect the meltdown.”
I run my fingers through my hair. “I’m gonna try to calm Giovanna before she kicks us all out.”
“Good call. Watch out for that punch. She’s a tough one.”
“Right?”
Dan calls for a break and clears the store. I lock the front door to give us some privacy. I don’t know what state I’ll find her in, and I’m definitely worried.
I knock softly on the office door. “It’s me, babe. Can I come in?”
“Yes.”
I open the door to see her sitting in her office chair, a towel with ice on her bruised knuckles.
“Are you okay?”
To my surprise, Giovanna laughs. “That stupid bitch. I haven’t punched anyone since high school.”
“You were pretty fierce out there. She never saw it coming.”
“I’m not a small town girl. I’ve been through shit. I can handle a spoiled diva.”
“I see that. Just another tool in your sexy toolbox.”
She smiles. “What was Dan thinking putting us in that position?”
“He saw our chemistry. It’s magnetic. He wanted it.”
“We’re not doing a very good job being discreet with our attraction.”
“I don’t think we can avoid it. At least I can’t.”
“I don’t want to be in your movie or be an example anymore. I need to stay out of the way. You understand, right?”
“Of course. I’m sorry that happened that way.” I grin. “It was perfect though.”
“It was true.”
“Yeah.” I pause, not wanting to admit the thoughts running through my mind.
“Antonio?” She stands and walks toward me, setting the ice pack on her desk. “I know you’re going to break my heart. I accept it. But…”
“What?”
“I want you to make love to me.”
“Now?”
“Yes. I want everything I went through and everything that’s going to happen after to be worth it. They’re going to write stories about us. They’re going to say we’re fucking and we’re breaking up you and Yasmin. They’re going to make it sound dirty. They’re going to speculate and lie.”
I look into her eyes, wondering how she knows all of this.
“If they’re gonna do it anyway, well, let’s give them something to fucking talk about.”
I grin. “I like the way you think.” She leans against me and brushes her sweet lips against mine. “I don’t want to break your heart, babe.”
“I know,” she whispers against my mouth.
I kiss my way down her neck and over her collarbone as she throws her head back. I bury my fingers in her hair, as I always do, and kiss her mouth. Everything about her is so sensual, so soft, so fucking sexy.
I push her skirt up and yank her panties down. “I don’t have a lot of time before they will come looking for me.”
“I know.” She smiles, running her fingers in my hair. “I know.”
I push the papers and books out of the way and lay her down on the desk. I unzip my slacks, so happy for a moment to be inside of her again, but then I freeze.
“What?” she asks, breathlessly.
“Protection. I don’t have anything here.”
She looks around for a moment, then grins. “One sec.” She twists around, opening a drawer, and produces a condom. I tilt my head. “A gift from Melissa. Just in case I ever needed it.”
I laugh. “How thoughtful.”
“Now,” she says, tearing open the package. “Get to it, Movie Star.”
I plunge inside of her, encouraged by her need for me. I hold her tightly as she grips my neck. She feels so good, so perfect. I never want this to end.
There’s a knock at the door that threatens the moment. “I locked the door,” I whisper.
“Don’t stop,” she whispers. I smile and keep pounding into her. “Just a minute,” she calls out.
“It’s me, Gio,” Melissa calls back.
“One sec.”
I go at her with all my might, grinning the whole time. She’s more adventurous than she lets on. I feel myself on edge, but damn I want her to finish first. She needs a lot more time than this.
“Come for me,” she whispers.
Jesus Christ! I have no fucking choice after that. My entire body tenses against her as I bury my face in her neck. She strokes my hair whispering my name. Fuck, she’s hot.
She grabs tissues on her desk and hands them to me as I pull myself away from her. We clean up quietly, but fast and she pulls herself back together. Smoothing down her hair, she smiles.
“That was awesome,” she says.
“You’re awesome. Have dinner with me?”
“You bet.”