Chapter Three
Craig pulled off his glasses, rubbing his tired eyes and sighing as he leaned back in his chair. He wondered how much longer he could handle this job. As much as he loved it, his current project was on track to give him a heart attack. First the casting drama, and now this.
With a resigned sigh, Craig picked up the phone and called Josie. He wanted to have this conversation about as much as he wanted to shove prickly pears in his ass. It only took a couple of rings before she answered. With a deep breath, he recounted his earlier conversation. By the time it was over, he wanted a stiff drink.
“Son of a bitch,” Josie muttered, ending her call with Craig as she paced the length of the room.
“What happened?” Madison asked, reflexively shrinking away from Josie’s angry glare.
“I’m going to kill him.”
“Who?”
“Anders.” The venom in Josie’s voice was deadly.
“What did he do?”
Josie leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. She wrapped her fingers in her hair and pulled until her eyes stung. Anders Ellis was driving her insane. Since their confrontation in his trailer, he seemed to be everywhere. Like the time she was in the middle of a meeting and he’d waltzed into the room like he owned the place, his face blank and impassive as he crossed the room. It was only when his back faced the others that his expression changed. A devious smile curled his lips as he reached out and shook her hand.
“Josie Bane? I’m Anders Ellis. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” He swept his thumb over the back of her hand, chuckling when her mouth fell open. Unable to form a coherent sentence, Josie settled for a scathing glare and jerked her hand away.
Offering a wink to accompany his gloating expression, he cleared his throat and wiped his face clean of emotion. He walked to the conference table and lowered himself into a vacant seat. The condescending superiority of his next words made Josie’s blood boil. “Since you failed to show up for our meeting, I thought I would have better luck catching you on your own schedule. I’m nothing if not accommodating.”
Mindful of the other people in the room, Josie offered him a polite smile. When she spoke, her voice was soft and non-confrontational. “Of course.” Fighting arrogance with animosity wouldn’t get her anywhere.
As soon as she called the meeting to a close, Josie wasted no time excusing herself under the pretense of another appointment. She knew Anders had tried to discreetly follow her, but luckily several interns accosted him for autographs before he could escape.
It was the first of many times Josie managed to give him the slip, creating a frustrating game of cat and mouse for Anders. Every time he cornered her, she outmaneuvered him. His latest stunt, though, turned the tables. He’d captured the queen.
“You know how he’s been complaining about his wardrobe? Always finding something wrong with every little thing?”
Madison nodded.
“Well this time he’s taken it a step further. He called one of the executives and requested I be the one to fit his clothes to make sure everything is in order.” Josie pushed off the floor and resumed pacing, her mounting frustration clear. “And the kicker is, I don’t have a choice. Craig agreed.”
“Is this because you didn’t fall all over yourself to sleep with him again?” Anders was a conceited jerk, but this seemed a little over the top, even for him.
“Honestly? Yeah.”
Madison stared at Josie. She had noticed small changes in her friend over the last several weeks ever since Anders had made it his mission to bed her for a second time. Josie needed to do something, for both of their sanities.
“Then fuck him.”
“What?”
“Fuck him. Get it over with.” Madison crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her brow.
“I’m not going to fuck him so he’ll leave me alone! Are you crazy?” Josie’s eyes widened and her voice teetered on the edge of hysteria.
“It’s not like you haven’t already slept with the guy. From the way you talked, it was pretty damn great, so why not? Although, I might recommend gagging him first so you don’t have to listen to him speak.”
“You’ve lost your mind. Yes, it was great, but there’s no way I’d give him the satisfaction of winning.” The very idea of his smug face made Josie’s fists clench. She refused to let her mind wander to the other details of that scenario. It was a distraction she didn’t need.
Madison lifted her hands and nodded in acquiescence. “Okay, okay, it was just an idea.”
Josie huffed and opened her purse with a little more force than necessary. She pulled out a compact and tube of lipstick, studiously ignoring Madison’s knowing expression. She knew Madison thought she was primping to look good for Anders, and while she was right, it wasn’t for the reasons she thought. Just like wearing power panties, feeling pretty gave Josie a boost of confidence. She needed all the backup she could get when it came to dealing with assholes like Anders Ellis.
“Well, I better get to his trailer before Mr. High Maintenance has an aneurysm.”
“We certainly wouldn’t want that.” Madison stuck her bottom lip out in a ridiculous pout. The sarcasm coating her words was thick as tar.
Josie shook her head, laughing as she opened the door and exited the design room. As she wove through the crowds of people heading to the set, she wondered exactly how long Anders would continue this game before giving up and moving on. An involuntary smile curled her lips as she thought of how much fun it would be to watch him fail. Their new arrangement might not be so bad after all.
Anders checked the time and scowled when he realized more than an hour had passed since calling the executives. Josie should already be there, yet there he sat, annoyed and brooding. He considered that she might not show but dismissed the idea immediately. As much as she studiously avoided him, she wouldn’t jeopardize her job.
Not that it would make a bit of difference in the long run. He’d made up his mind. No matter what, he’d win in the end. He reached for his phone, ready to call her boss, when there was a knock at the door. He leaned against the vanity and yelled, “Come in!” His arrogant tone matched his expression.
Josie opened the door, fighting an eye roll when she saw Anders’ smug face. She wasn’t letting him see how annoyed she was.
“You’re late.”
She wanted to hit him. “I wasn’t told a time to be here, so how can I be late, Mr. Ellis?”
Anders didn’t miss the bite in her voice when she emphasized his name, nor did he bother to pretend to care. “Well, I assumed you were aware of the filming schedule. Therefore, you should know I’m due on set in ten minutes.” Anders’ face twisted with annoyance when he realized they were wasting time arguing. He didn’t want to argue. What he wanted involved very little talking.
Josie moved to the clothes rack and grabbed the outfit for today’s scene. Like every other piece of clothing, it was pressed, tailored, and ready to go. She turned to face him, carefully removing the tag pinned to the front.
“You know what they say about assuming, right? It only makes you look like an ass.” Her tone shifted from sweet to deadpan and her face became a blank mask.
“Actually,” he corrected, his voice condescending, “the saying is, ‘When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me.’”
“Actually,” she mocked, “the only ass in this room is you.” She pulled the shirt from the hanger and tossed it to him, keeping her distance. “If you were able to dress yourself like a big boy, you wouldn’t have to worry about being late.”
Josie was angry, that much was obvious. As much as Anders enjoyed getting under her skin, having her pissed wasn’t conducive to his plan. Yet he couldn’t stop the words that tumbled from his mouth next.
“Well, if you did your job, I wouldn’t need you here to fix your mistakes, would I?”
Josie ground her teeth together and marched across the room, yanking the shirt from his hand. “Take off your shirt.”
“What?” Anders stared, dumbfounded.
“Take off your shirt now.”
He reached for the hem, taking his time sliding the material over his torso, a smirk firmly in place. He tightened his muscles, flexing his abs as he crossed his arms over his body and peeled off the shirt.
Josie averted her eyes, her annoyance with the situation stronger than the impulse to ogle his body. The situation needed to be nipped in the bud, and it needed to be done now.
“Here.” Her voice was emotionless, the angry bite gone.
“Fuck,” Anders swore under his breath. He’d pushed too hard. “Listen―”
“What do you want from me?” Josie asked, draping a pair of pants over his arm. “Because this” ―she motioned between them― “isn’t happening.”
Anders chuckled and dropped his pants. This time Josie didn’t look away fast enough to miss the sight of him in boxers and an open dress shirt.
“I wanted to apologize.”
Josie’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “Most people apologize with flowers or a card. They don’t call someone’s boss and say their employee is doing a shitty job and demand they be available at all times.”
“Do you want flowers, Ivy? A pretty arrangement of your namesake?” His voice lowered in tandem with his gaze as he focused on where her tattoo lay hidden.
Josie’s eyes dropped as well, her skin heating with aggravation and something else. She waved her hands in his direction, her face tucked to the side. “Will you put on your pants? And no, I don’t want flowers or anything else for that matter.”
“Well, if you hadn’t avoided me, I wouldn’t have had to take such drastic measures.” He stepped into his pants, a small chuckle escaping when he caught her staring.
“For someone known as the king of fuck and ducks, you seem to be confused about the mechanics of how a one-night stand works.” Josie crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
Anders fastened his pants and stepped closer, his eyes soft yet playful. It was game time. “Maybe that’s not what I want.”
As soon as she processed his words, a laugh burst from her chest. “Of course that’s what you want! Are you kidding me?” Of all the things she’d expected him to say, that wasn’t one of them.
Anders’ lips twitched. He wanted to be pissed that she was laughing at him, but it was better than yelling or throwing clothes. Well, unless they were her clothes.
“I’m serious. Let’s have coffee. We can even talk a little.” Anders wrapped his hand around her bicep and squeezed gently before loosening his grip to trail a path to her hand where he linked their fingers.
The goose bumps that broke over her skin were involuntary, the spike in her heart rate was unavoidable, and the anger she felt at her body’s reaction was unsurprising.
“Wow,” she gasped in mock surprise. “Coffee and a little conversation before you expect me to fuck you again? How gracious.” As angry as Josie was that Anders was trying to run a game on her, and as angry as Anders was that Josie wasn’t falling for it, neither could deny their physical attraction.
“Isn’t it?” Anders winked playfully.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I know.” Anders’ chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh at the look of disbelief etched in her features.
“Okay, stop. I don’t want to be present when that inflated ego of yours causes your head to explode. It’s going to be messy.”
“Come on, Ivy. It’ll be fun.” His heart beat a little faster when his eyes drifted to her lips. The air surrounding them changed. Postures tensed and breaths quickened. Anders’ single-minded need to have her again, to see her pretty lips wrapped around his cock, made his stomach tighten. When he spoke again, his voice was rough and thick. “You know it will.”
Josie leaned in closer, the movement bringing their chests together. Anders smirked. He knew she’d break. He was happy she wasn’t going to drag things out. The idea of chasing her was not appealing. He wanted to fuck that stubborn will right out of her and then walk away.
So focused on the idea, Anders failed to notice the dark glint in Josie’s eyes. “Know what else will be fun?” Her voice dropped, the words rolling off her tongue with promise and deception.
“What?”
Josie smiled and pulled her hand free. Rolling onto the balls of her feet, she brought her mouth to his ear and whispered, “When I see the realization cross your face that I’m never going to fuck you again.”
She stepped back and dragged her eyes over the length of his body. She avoided his eyes as she grabbed the waistband of his pants and tugged. With a sharp nod she released her hold and clasped her hands.
“Everything seems to be in order, Mr. Ellis. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Anders blinked as Josie turned to leave. With his mind reeling, he hadn’t even reacted to her hand slipping into the top of his pants. He grabbed her wrist just as someone rapped twice on the door.
“Two minutes, Mr. Ellis.”
“Got it!” Anders yelled, his eyes boring into Josie. Her gaze drifted from where he held her wrist to his face.
“Was there something else?”
Anders’ jaw ticked at her dismissive tone and impassive expression. “You can fight it all you want, but you’re not as unaffected as you’re pretending.” He pulled her arm until she stood in front of him. “You forget. I know what you look like when you’re turned on.” He trailed his finger down the side of her face to her neck, pausing at the hollow of her collarbone before sliding down to her blouse. “And this”―he chuckled, looking pointedly at the flushed skin disappearing beneath her shirt―“doesn’t stop here.”
“But this”―Josie retorted, pulling his hand away―“does.” Her heart thundered as she spun toward the door. Her only thought was getting away from him and whatever voodoo he was working.
Anders buttoned his shirt, his stance relaxed and self-assured as Josie darted out of the trailer. “We’ll see.”