Kade
We didn’t go out again that day. She stayed holed up in what was her office, which I thought was a strange room to have given her profession. But she assured me that an office was important because there was a lot of paperwork involved, if only for contracts and negotiations. I was surprised that she was handling so much of that herself, though she explained that after she went over everything, her agent did most of the negotiating and she had a lawyer on retainer to look over her contracts before she signed, just to make sure she wasn’t shooting herself in the foot.
“Learned that one the hard way,” she assured me, and I didn’t doubt it.
As for me, I spent my time as far from her as I could get. I made use of her personal gym, which was better than the gym in the apartment complex where I lived and the one that I went to regularly with the guys combined. It said a lot about how much money she had on hand.
When I’d pushed myself until I was sweaty and finally tired, I took a shower. A long shower. A cold shower. Because it was hard not to think of Abby and the way she seemed to give me those fuck me eyes all the time. It was hard to not notice her tempting dresses and her plunging cleavage and the way her silky blonde hair liked to curl a little bit at the ends all on its own, trying to wrap around her pale flesh.
I was frustrated to the point where it was starting to hurt a little bit and jerking myself to orgasm only helped so much, though I’d done plenty of that in my scant time alone.
When I was dressed again—Brody had been kind enough to drop off some of my own things—I went back downstairs to see if Abby was around. I heard her voice coming in through the office and knew that she was still doing whatever work it was that young starlets did. Which I’d been pretty sure until this moment was not a whole hell of a lot.
I went to the kitchen and made myself food. I asked if Abby wanted anything, but she said she’d grabbed a quick lunch while I’d been in the shower. I didn’t know if that was true or if she was just trying to avoid me.
After our near kiss in the middle of the living room after Brody left, she’d seemed…off. Disappointed or hurt even. I didn’t quite know what to do with that, so I decided to leave it alone. Better to stay out of the whole thing in the long run. It wasn’t like I could have anything permanent with her anyway. So I just let her work through whatever she was feeling on her own and tried to push away the lingering memories I had of the way she felt.
In my arms, pressed to my chest, crawling into my lap to straddle me and seal her lips to mine. The way her hips felt beneath my hands and her thighs lingered on either side of me, her core poised just perfectly over my rising cock.
It wasn’t going so well, but I worked at it anyway.
By the time dinner rolled around, Abby proclaimed that she wasn’t hungry and that she was going to bed. I was welcome to whatever I could find and if I decided to order in, there was a list of numbers for takeout places in the top drawer by the fridge, please remember to buzz them in.
All of this she said briskly, as though I was a business partner or coworker, not as though we’d been encountering heated passion springing up without warning between us.
What did you expect? I thought to myself. You just turned her down—a bunch of different times!
And while I didn’t want to think of it like that exactly, I knew it was true. I had turned her down. Every time she stretched her body toward mine, every time she slid her hand along my thigh, every time she looked at me with those hooded eyes that begged me to tear off her clothes and do ungodly things to her. Each and every one of those had been a rejection, even if I hadn’t meant them to be.
I just couldn’t accept her offers—no matter how much I wanted to.
I stayed up for a long time after she went to bed. Part of that was so that I could stroke myself as I thought of the curve of her breasts and the flare of her hips, the way her waist looked so tiny that I could fit both my hands around it. I slid my hand up and down my shaft as I imagined what she would look like on top of me, naked and unbridled, words of need spilling from her full lips. I pictured the way sweat might slide between her breasts, her skin shiny with it, her hair damp as she bounced on top of me, driving herself to her own climax.
I pumped until I found my release, but it did little to sate my lust for her. I still wanted Abby and it was killing me to know that she was just across the hall behind that closed door, tucked into bed.
Them’s the breaks, I thought to myself, my release at the very least pushing forth exhaustion. Maybe I’d sleep at least tonight.
***
The next day was an actual work day. I had been hoping that maybe Abby would be okay with just staying in, but she wasn’t.
“I have an audition,” she told me over my cup of coffee. She was sipping at tea, despite my offer of fresh coffee. “It’s been on the schedule for months and it’s a very big deal. Not going could seriously hurt my career.”
I wanted to yell at her that this was her life and she was busy worrying about her career, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. In the end, I kind of admired her bravery. Despite all that had been happening to her, she was still ready to go and face the rest of the world.
It made me like her more.
“Fine. Where is this audition?” I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest. She was standing on the opposite side of the kitchen, leaning casually against the counter. It was the first time she’d been the one to try and put some distance between us, and I was both relieved and disappointed by that fact.
“It’s at the Rudyard Center at two this afternoon. I can’t afford to be late.”
I knew the Rudyard Center. It was part business center and part art center. On the lower floors, all kinds of classes were held from painting to dance to acting. I’d only ever been there once when I was dating a young woman who was sure she would one day be a world class dancer. I didn’t think she’d ever reached that goal as I’d seen her waiting tables nearly a year after we broke up, but she’d been excellent in bed when we’d been together. I didn’t know how talented she was as a dancer, but she was flexible enough that I had definitely enjoyed bending her in some rather unusual positions as I’d fucked her senseless. She’d never complained either.
“Yeah, I know where it is.” I frowned. I also knew that it was a logistical nightmare as far as protecting someone. The lower levels were really open, wide rooms where anyone was allowed. As far as I knew, the upper levels—where I thought maybe she’d have the actual audition—were set up like business cubicles and rooms. There would probably be more security there at least, so I wouldn’t have to worry about as much. But then I also didn’t really know who I was looking for, so it meant I did have to keep an eye on the security guards, too.
At least it’s in the middle of the day, I thought grimly. It was about my only advantage at this point.
“Good. Do you want me to hire a driver this time?” she asked pointedly, though I sensed the anger and coolness of her tone had as much to do with her memories of that night at the club as it did with annoyance toward me.
I considered it, then said, “Yes, I do. That way I can stick closer to you. If the driver’s a problem, I can handle him, but you’re not going to that building without me, so a driver would probably be more convenient.”
I thought I saw something flicker in her eyes, but she shoved it aside quickly and said, “Fine. I’ll make the call.” A second later, she turned back to me and said, “Speaking of calls, when exactly am I getting my cell phone back?”
Shrugging, I folded my arms across my chest and leaned back a little, fixing her with a stony stare. “Whenever they’re done with it. Probably would have been sooner if you’d been upfront with this when it first started.”
Her cheeks burned red and I was pretty sure it was from anger this time, but I couldn’t quite make myself care. I was still a little angry myself after learning that she’d been receiving phone calls in addition to the threatening letters. How far was she going to let this go before she asked someone for help?
I didn’t know. I was just glad she had finally told someone. Caleb. Me.
“I need a phone,” she told me through gritted teeth.
I smiled at her, then tossed something at her. She nearly didn’t catch it, but managed by pressing it to her belly. Frowning, she turned it over in her hand. “What the hell is this?”
“A burner phone,” I informed her. It was a flip phone, old and cheap, and it didn’t have GPS or anything fancy. No one would be following her with that stupid thing. “Temporary until you can get yours back. Keep it on you at all times.”
She didn’t look pleased by this, but shoved it into her pocket just the same and promptly headed out of the room.
Later that afternoon, we left for the audition, leaving early enough to account for traffic and still arrive there several minutes early. I was impressed with how seriously she took her job, even if I still felt that it was kind of a cushy job.
As we pulled into the underground parking of the Rudyard Center, Abby said her first words to me since my giving her the phone—it must have pissed her off more than I thought. “Have you heard anything about my phone?”
I hesitated. Honestly, yes, I had heard something. In fact, I’d heard they came up with several different leads and all of them had been dead ends. Either they led to pay phones or to burner phones like the ones that I gave to Abby. None of them had provided anything solid. No name, no address. I was hoping they would have more luck with the stationary I’d found at that apartment, but I hadn’t gotten anything back on that yet.
“No, not yet. Things take time, you know.” And they did, but I just didn’t think it was wise to tell her we’d been having such dismal luck right before she went for her audition.
She frowned, but nodded once, then got out of the car as we came to a stop. I did the same, moving quickly so that she wouldn’t get too far ahead of me with her quick pace.
“You didn’t want to be dropped off at the front?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “No. I want to know where the car is.”
Smart, I thought, but I didn’t say anything.
We made it to the seventh floor of the building and I was surprised to see that the waiting area was huge and full of pretty young blondes who were likely all vying for the same part as Abby. Except none of them stand a chance against her, I thought. Many of them were attractive, of course, and I suspected some of them had talent, but I was starting to think that there was no woman more beautiful than Abby Woodard.
I just couldn’t ever tell her that.
“Wait here,” she commanded me as she took off her jacket and placed it along with several items on one of the empty chairs. As soon as it slid from her shoulders, I let my eyes rake over her perfectly formed body. Her breasts were only sort of on display in a v-neck t-shirt that was a soft heather gray color and clung to her body in just the right way. It was pretty thin and if I stared closely enough, I could see the faint outline of her bra beneath it. It looked like it had lacey designs over the cups, and I found myself wanting to lift up her shirt to see if I was right. My cock grew hard as I stared at her, noting the way her tight jeans clung to that perky round ass of hers and down her long, shapely legs. “They’ll see me alone.”
Ignoring my sudden, raging desire, I raised a single eyebrow at her skeptically, not liking the idea of being shoved outside to wait patiently until she returned. And most of it was actually because I wasn’t sure I could move fast enough to protect her if something happened while she was in that room alone.
She won’t be alone, I reminded myself. There will be people in there she’s auditioning for. Except that I didn’t know any of those people. I didn’t trust any of those people.
“I’m not sure that’s—” I began, but she waved me off before I’d even finished.
“Look, this is how it’s done. Stay out here. I’ll be fine. No one in there wants to hurt me; they want me to make them lots of money.” And with that, she marched away to the room, pausing to tell a young woman with a clipboard her name. Then she disappeared into that room and I was left waiting anxiously for her to get back.
I fidgeted as she did her audition. The women in the room were mostly going over lines, but a few had glanced up to peer curiously at me. It had to be pretty obvious that I was not here to audition for the same part that they were.
Adjusting the button-down shirt Abby had talked me into wearing, I tried to make myself seem comfortable, though I really wasn’t. She’d insisted on the shirt, saying that it was just good business to look the part, and since I would be seen with her, it was important to keep up appearances. I might have fought her on it, but it didn’t seem worth the effort. After all, it was only a shirt. She couldn’t get me to wear the tie and blazer she’d encouraged to go with it though.
“I’m not a butler,” I’d told her in irritation. She’d let it go, but I still wore the shirt, so I supposed we both won little battles.
The audition took forever in my mind, but in reality it was maybe only thirty minutes. Probably not even that long. I was surprised, actually, at how long it took in the end. I had figured there would be all kinds of negotiations and haggling and arguing involved, but as Abby exited the room—her body drawing my eye instantly so that I was staring at those perfect curves, drinking them in, wishing I could smooth my hands along them—she was laughing with one of the people who had just seen her. Like they were best friends. It wasn’t really the reaction I’d been expecting in all honesty.
“How’d it go?” I asked when Abby came to me.
Her eyes sparkled and she looked excited, wild, like she’d just gotten a serious buzz or stepped off the dance floor after an amazing performance. Maybe that was just what it was like for her. Then she seemed to remember that we were having…issues, because her look softened, became muted. “Fine.” She gathered up her things and we began to head toward the car.
There was a stretch of silence that I didn’t appreciate, so I tried again. “Do you think you got the part?”
She lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug that lifted her breasts up in a deliciously perfect way. “We’ll be in negotiations for a while still. They have a lot of people to audition still, but they’ll want me first just because of my name even if they didn’t like the audition.”
“I’m sure they did,” I put in.
She continued on as though she hadn’t heard me, but I could tell by the slight tint of her cheeks that she had heard me and was probably pleased about it. “But they’ll have to offer me what I want and that’ll cost them. If they don’t have the budget, they’ll try to get me to go down, but I’ll probably hold firm on most of it. After all, budgets are made for big names and they’re mostly trying to be skimpy anyway. It’s important to be firm about this or you’ll get run over in a place like Hollywood.”
I didn’t understand any of this. It all seemed foreign, but I knew a little something about holding your ground and could relate to that at least. I appreciated that she was a strong person, regardless of what field she was working in and that was all that mattered to me.
The elevator stopped at the ground floor before it headed to the garage to pick up another passenger. I didn’t like the idea of going down with a man with a build close to what I remembered from the night Abby first got attacked. Meaning he could be her stalker. Maybe I was only being paranoid, but it was hard not to be given the circumstances, so I decided to err on the side of caution.
Taking Abby by the arm, I smiled politely at the man and said, “Excuse us.” Abby glanced up at me only once in confusion, but waved politely at the man as we exited. The man’s gaze lingered on Abby, which I didn’t appreciate, but he didn’t try to get out as the elevator doors closed again.
“What was that all about?” Abby asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
She looked unconvinced—because she wasn’t stupid—but didn’t push it. “Okay, well, since we’re here, I’m going to use the ladies’ room.” She pointed to the door just down the hall on our left.
I frowned. I really wanted to get back to the car and get the hell out of here. It was a lot easier to protect her in her own home rather than out and about in the city. There were too many variables out here. I couldn’t go in with her to the bathroom, obviously, but would he feel the same about it? Probably not. He could duck into the rest room and attack her and by the time I figured it out…
Abby was already walking toward the restroom and I wanted to call out for her to stop, but it was a long drive, mostly in stopped traffic, before we got home, so I held my tongue and let her. I’d just have to keep a close eye on the door.
I was doing just that when one of the blondes from the audition upstairs spotted me and sent me a flirtatious smile. I ignored it mostly, just nodding in acknowledgement, keeping my focus on the door to the restroom. But the woman seemed oblivious and walked over to me.
“Hey there,” she said in a high-pitched voice that instantly grated on my nerves. “I saw you at the audition. Looking to pick up girls?” She giggled.
“No,” I told her curtly.
“You sure? Because a guy like you…” She trailed her finger down the line of my shirt, letting her nail catch on the buttons as she went. “Well, I’m sure you’d have a lot of luck.”
Feeling frustrated, I grabbed her hand and looked away from the door for one second to make my intentions perfectly clear. “I’m not interested.” And before I could stop myself, before this dumb blonde could say anything more, I added, “I’m waiting for my girl, so why don’t you get the hell—”
But before I could finish telling her off, I heard a scream. I released the woman’s hand, jerking my gaze up in time to see that it was Abby who had screamed. She was struggling with a man in a navy jacket and dark slacks.
Shoving the woman aside, I raced to Abby as quickly as I could, though I felt as though I was moving through molasses. When I reached her, she was shaking and crying, leaning against the wall. The man was running down the hall and disappeared around the corner before I could even think to go after him.
“Are you alright?” I demanded, holding tightly to her shoulders.
She gave a single shake of her head, then showed me what she had fisted in her hands. An Angels baseball cap.