My emotions were all over the place. I was giddy, disorientated, my heart was pounding, my skin hot. It would have been so easy for me to take his hand, and lead him to my bedroom with no words spoken between us. We could have forgotten about everything and just enjoyed the comfort of each other’s body.
But I couldn’t let that happen. Not tonight. I couldn’t take advantage of his vulnerable state. Instead, I decided to give him one thing he’d requested earlier in the week.
“If you still want me to pretend to be your girlfriend, then I will,” I said.
A huge smile spread across his face.
“Thank you,” he whispered, before placing his head back against my shoulder.
“God knows, I think we may both regret it, because things will get so complicated,” I said, still not one-hundred percent convinced of the idea.
“They won’t, not if we don’t pretend.”
“What do you mean?” He’d been so full of it all week, winding Amy up and making her think there was something going on between us. And I’d been just as bad as him. Particularly when I’d threatened her and told her to back off because he was mine. I’d mislead her into thinking that we’d slept together. And then there was that damn kiss that Alex and I had shared.
“Well . . .” He lifted his head off my shoulder and ensured I was looking at him. “What if I asked you to not pretend? What if I told you that I like you . . . a lot, and I’d like to spend time with you.”
“With me?” Even though I’d had moments of thinking he liked me, to hear him say it was quite different.
He looked to my lips and then back to my eyes. “Why not? I think you like me. Or have I completely misread you?”
I shook my head, trying to calm my screaming body from jumping on him that very moment—vulnerable or not. “Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”
“I sure am, Ella.”
“You, Alex Denton, are asking me out? Seriously?” My stomach was doing somersaults, back-flips and cartwheels. The fangirl within was already laid out on the floor, hyperventilating.
“Why does this seem to surprise you so much?”
“Because, I’m nothing like the women you normally go out with. I’m just plain old Ella.”
“There is nothing plain about you. Believe me.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I think you’re incredibly attractive. You also have a kind heart, and I think you already understand me.”
“But I only met you what, five days ago?”
“Exactly. That shows how special you are. I don’t usually jump in to relationships with everyone I’ve just met. Now, do you agree?” His smile was becoming infectious.
“To what? I uttered, my brain scrambling to remember what he had originally asked me.
“To going out with me.”
I nodded, unable to response verbally.
“Good.”
Was he honestly expecting me to say no?
“Now I already asked you this at the beginning of the week, but I want no pretending this time.” He licked his lips, and I knew immediately what he was going to say.
“You want me to kiss you?” I questioned, sounding a lot calmer than I felt.
“No. I want you to let me kiss you. I want to know what it feels like when you want my lips on yours.”
I giggled, imagining something completely different to what he was suggesting.
He raised his brow. “So, you have a filthy mind as well as very brightly coloured underwear.” He moved his face nearer to mine. His breath was on my lips as he spoke. “You intrigue me, Ella, and I look forward to getting to know you properly.” As he spoke his last word, his lips rested on mine.
This was it. Alex Denton was about to kiss me.
No acting.
No pretending.
This was real.
I held in an excited scream as his hand shifted even further around my waist, and he lifted me so I was straddling his lap.
I wriggled to get comfortable, ignoring the placement of my thin summer dress, not caring that it had risen to the top of my thighs.
His lips moulded to mine, and he closed his eyes. I kept mine open, watching him as I returned the pressure of his lips with a force of my own, letting him know that I was more than willing for him to continue in any way he wanted. He groaned, snapping his eyes open as he grabbed my thighs, pulling me toward his body. I gasped as his warm hands touched my bare flesh.
“Ella,” he whispered before I swallowed my name with a further kiss.
I closed my eyes now, enjoying the moment, letting myself melt into his embrace. His hands tightened on my thighs, and swiftly pulled my lower body against his groin. I wriggled, feeling his hardness beneath me. I slipped my hands under his t-shirt, allowing myself the liberty of becoming more familiar with his body.
The kiss we were currently sharing had started gentle, but was quickly building. The softness of his lips and tongue, teasing and coercing me to reciprocate didn’t stay gentle when I pushed my own demands on him. My eager mouth wanted to be all over him, and as I pulled my lips away from his and started to kiss along his jaw, he moaned, flexing his hips beneath me.
“Ella . .?” My name flew from him again. “You do know where this is heading?”
I nodded, playfully sucking on his earlobe.
“Ella,” he practically growled my name, grabbed my arms and pushed my upper body back.
I frowned. Why had he stopped me? Did he not want this?
“Two things,” he breathed heavily, his eyes glinting wickedly in the candle light.
“What?” I asked, still astounded that he had stopped our making out session before it had really got started.
“Condoms? And, have you got any?” he said.
I widened my eyes. “You’re joking?”
“Nope. They’re not something I carry around with me.” A grin spread across his face. “Now, if you’d come back to mine, you would have had quite a selection to choose from. Mind you—we’d have needed to check their use by date.”
I shook my head slowly, grinning at his admittance.
“Why, Mr Denton, anyone would think you hadn’t had sex for quite a while.”
“That’s because I haven’t,” he admitted. “Like I said earlier, there’s not been anyone since Amy.”
“Fuck me!” I exclaimed, unintentionally mimicking the guttural language that I’d got used to hearing for the past five days.
“That’s exactly what I’d like to do, but it seems that the lack of condoms is hindering the idea.”
“Don’t move,” I said as I pushed myself off his knee. “Stay completely still.”
I picked one of the candles from the table before heading into the bathroom. He might not have any condoms on him, but I had an unopened box of three in my bathroom cabinet.
I placed the candle on the side of the basin and urgently pulled open the door on the cabinet above it. It was only after I’d moved a bottle of shampoo and a box of tampons that the dark blue sealed box of condoms was revealed. I held the box toward the flickering glow of the candle as I searched for the writing on the box to confirm the use by date.
“Shit!” I exclaimed. They had expired last month. I turned back to the cabinet, willing it to produce another box of condoms, even one solitary foil wrapped item would have done. I removed every remaining item from the shelves, but I didn’t find anything. I groaned in frustration. There’d be no spontaneous, wild, passionate sex between Alex and myself this evening. I threw the unopened box containing the offending items into the bin before replacing everything into the cabinet and shutting the doors.
I pushed my hair back behind my ears and decided to brush my teeth. Even if we couldn’t have sex tonight, there was no way I was missing out on getting a little bit more intimate with him. The removal of clothes was a certainty.
I frowned, remembering that I’d promised myself I wouldn’t do this tonight. He was too vulnerable and upset. Was I really prepared to take advantage of him that way? I nodded. It seemed that where Alex was concerned, my body didn’t want to listen to my mind.
Picking up the candle once more, I headed into the living room.
“No luck,” I said. “All past their use by date, just like yours.”
Alex didn’t respond, and I wondered if he was as disappointed as I was. It was only after I’d placed the candle back on the table that I realised he had his eyes closed. He’d fallen asleep.
“Great,” I whispered. “No more making out tonight.”
I squinted at the clock on the wall, and understood his tiredness—it was nearly midnight. The last five days had been long and tiring, and tomorrow, Sunday of all days, promised to be just as bad. There were no weekends in the film industry.
I yawned before heading to my bedroom to fetch a blanket and some pillows.
When I returned, I stood in front of his sleeping form. He looked too peaceful to risk disturbing, so I positioned the pillows at the empty end of the sofa and placed the fleece blanket over him.
“Night, Alex,” I whispered before lightly kissing his forehead. “Sleep well.”
Once in my bedroom, I couldn’t help but think about how different things could have been if I’d had condoms we could have used. I would have definitely woken him up. We’d have pulled at each other’s clothes, frantically undressing each other as we crashed against the walls heading to my bedroom. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be happening tonight.
As expected, sleep didn’t come easily. Even though I was exhausted, I was too wound up about what had happened with Alex.
The man I had dreamed about for the past four years was currently asleep on my sofa. If either of us had produced a condom tonight we would currently be making love.
Was there any wonder I couldn’t sleep?
* * *
The bed dipped seconds before soft lips kissed my cheek. My eyes shot open, and I was met by the stunning and unexpected sight of Alex.
“Morning, sleepy,” he said.
“Urgh . . .” I moaned, turning away from him and pulling a pillow over my head.
“Hey? Is that how you’re going to greet me every morning when we wake up together?”
I screwed my eyes shut even more before groaning out loud. “I’ve got a headache, it’s too bright.”
“I can’t hear you.” His sing song voice was far too cheerful this early in the morning. Where was his hangover?
The pillow was pulled from my head, but I kept my eyes closed, not prepared to blind myself with the sunlight pouring into my room.
“I brought you something,” he said.
A fizzing noise sounded out, and I presumed he’d found the miraculous effervescent tablets in my kitchen.
“I hope you don’t mind. I had a rummage through your drawers.”
I was unable to stop a small snort escaping me.
“What?” The pretend surprise in his voice was easy to hear. “You like the sound of me rummaging in your drawers?”
His hand moved my hair from the back of my neck seconds before his lips kissed the newly exposed skin.
“You need to wake up. Open your eyes, Ella. You’re giving me a wonderful peak of your gorgeous body. I never knew you slept in the nude.”
“What?” I shrieked, turning onto my back and grasping at the covers. I forced my eyes open to see exactly what parts of my body I had flashed. There were none on show.
I swallowed hard as I caught sight of Alex. Seeing his stubble covered jaw and his sparkling eyes first thing in the morning, was more than slightly alarming. He handed me the glass containing the fizzy water.
“Drink,” he demanded. “It’ll make you feel better. We need to be at the studio in two hours.”
“Two hours? Why did you wake me so early? I could have had another hour in bed if you’re driving us there.”
“I woke you up because I’m starving, and I presumed you would be as well. We didn’t eat last night, remember? I thought we could grab something to eat on the way to the studio.”
I nodded and then drank the fizzy liquid.
“I don’t know about you, but I can’t work on an empty stomach,” he admitted.
“Work?” I raised my brow. “I thought it was something else you couldn’t do on an empty stomach.”
“Well, we would have found out just how much truth was in that statement if either of us had produced a condom last night.”
“I doubt it. You turned into Mr. Sleepy. You have no idea what I found in the bathroom, hence you have no idea what you missed out on last night.”
He suddenly turned serious. “Tell me you’re joking. You didn’t find one, did you? Please, tell me you didn’t.”
“You’re so easy to wind up.” I couldn’t help but grin at the distraught look on his face.
“Fuck, Ella. That’s not funny. The things I was planning on doing to you last night are still at the forefront of my mind.”
“And may I ask what exactly you were planning on doing?” I moved across the bed toward him, carefully pulling the covers with me to keep my body covered.
He cocked his head before tapping the side of his nose. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
“Tell me,” I said as I shuffled even closer.
“Nope.”
“Please.” I lifted my hands to his face and let my fingers trail along the sides of his stubble-covered jaw. I knew the sheet would have fallen away. Alex’s eyes swept downwards, following the revelation of the sheet. He sucked in a long breath as he devoured my naked torso.
I smirked inwardly knowing I was having such an effect on him, but my satisfaction was quickly knocked from me as Alex shifted his gaze back to my face.
“Get dressed, Ella.” He lightly pecked my lips with his own. “Your womanly charms will not work on me this morning. Not until I’ve eaten. I’m hungry.”
* * *
Half an hour later we were sitting in Alex’s parked car outside a small café in a deserted street.
“This is your regular place to eat?” I asked, glancing out of the tinted windows at the tiny café.
“No-one bothers me in there. The owner, well, she looks after me. It’s sort of where I hide.” He reached into the back seat of the car and presented me with a baseball cap. “Here, put this on though, just in case.”
“In case of what?”
“Well, you never know who’s around. We need to be careful. I’ve already explained that I don’t want the paparazzi getting wind of you. The pressure would be unbelievable. Let’s try and avoid it for as long as possible.”
He placed the hat on my head and fanned my hair out at the sides.
“Beautiful,” he murmured before leaning in to kiss me. “Get used to it.” He kissed me again. “I’m very tactile, and I intend to kiss you at every available opportunity I get.”
“No worries.” Could he get any more adorable? Even though we’d not slept together last night, he was making me feel like the most special woman in the world. It was something I’d never had experience of.
He turned to open his door. “C'mon then. I’ve moaned enough about wanting to eat, so let’s go grab a greasy breakfast. It’ll do your hangover the world of good.”
I stepped out of my side of the car and waited for Alex. He strode confidently toward me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we walked into the café.
Alex guided me straight toward a table tucked away in the corner of the room. He shuffled into the booth, signalling for me to sit opposite him. I slid along the seat, amused at the secretive way he was acting. He’d not looked up since we’d entered the tiny café. The only other person eating anything was an elderly man, slurping loudly on a large bowl of soup. I couldn’t help but think that Alex was being just a little bit paranoid about everything. But I did appreciate that he was trying to protect me from the invasion of privacy that he had to deal with every day.
Service was quick, and the food we were served was exactly what I had needed. Alex had eaten twice the amount of food I had.
“So . . .” I said, scratching my head through the itchy material of the cap. “Now you have a full belly, what’s next on your agenda for the day?”
He drummed his fingers on the table, looking toward the door as a tall man entered the café and sat at a table at the opposite side of the room from us.
“Unfortunately, we both need to get to work.” He spoke so quietly I had to lean across the table to hear him. “Believe me though, when I say that I would much rather be making a visit to the pharmacy and then spending the rest of my day in bed with you.” His eyes kept drifting to the man who had just recently walked in.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, picking up on his unease.
He slowly shook his head. “We need to leave. I can spot them a mile off. You all done?”
I nodded, surprised at how paranoid he was behaving. Did he think that this man was a reporter, or a journalist who was about to invade our breakfast together? Alex stood up, pulling his wallet from his back pocket before placing a few notes on the table under his empty mug. As I slid out from my seat, he offered his hand to assist my departure. As soon as he touched me a flash lit up the café. Alex spun around to face the man who had put him on edge ever since his arrival.
“Put that down!” he demanded.
Another flash.
“Alex, leave him.” I reached for his arm, holding him in place.
Another flash.
“Who’s this then Alex? Don’t recognise this one?” The man had a thick London accent.
“Fuck off!” Alex snarled. “You know I won’t give you any information. Just go and make it up like you always fucking do.”
The man approached us, his camera gripped in his hand, ready to take more photos. “Now, now Alex. She must mean a lot to you, you don’t usually get wound up so easily.” The man focused on me.
“What’s your name, love? How long have you been sleeping with him? There’s a lot of money waiting for you if you can give me some details.”
My eyes widened at the questions he was asking me. Did he expect me to answer him?
“Don’t fucking dare talk to her,” Alex threatened as he took a step closer to him. More flashes lit the room.
“We were just leaving,” I said, pulling his arm.
More flashes as we headed for the door.
“Get in the car,” he said as we stepped outside.
I needed no further persuasion.
As soon as we were both in the car, Alex sped off at an alarming rate. His jaw remained clenched as we travelled in complete silence. The atmosphere surrounding us wasn’t particularly pleasant. I’d done nothing wrong, but something told me that Alex was far from pleased with what had happened.
I decided to not break the silence until we arrived at the studio. If nothing else, I hoped it would give him time to calm down.
As soon as he parked the car, and switched the engine off, I spoke.
“Are you okay?” I muttered quietly.
“Am I okay? Seriously? It should be me asking you that question.”
He sighed and rested his head on the steering wheel. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned to face me.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I think I’ve just ruined your life for you.”
“Ruined my life?” I refused to be as melodramatic as he was being.
“That man, that piece of shit, the one in the café, is the very same fucker that was responsible for every one of the libellous stories printed about me. That series of four stories that ran one week after the other, a different woman every time, all of them were written by him. All the shit printed about me when Amy and I officially split up—him again. Fuck knows what he’ll print about you. This is the first time he’s actually ever photographed me with someone I care about.” His hand reached for mine, and he held it tightly, concentrating on our intertwined fingers. “He’ll not stop until he’s got all your details. He’ll find out your name, where you live. He’ll harass you, your parents, ex boyfriends, anyone who'll give him a story about you. It doesn’t even have to be true.” He stared at the building in front of us. “And there’s not a fucking thing I can do about it now. He’ll not stop!”
“Alex, calm down.” I squeezed his hand drawing his attention back to me.
“But, Ella . . . you have no idea what madness he’ll create.”
“Shhh.” I leaned over the central console, lifting my spare hand to turn his face to me. Before he had chance to say anything else, I kissed him.
He eagerly responded, losing himself in the kiss as much as I did. It was a hard kiss, one that spoke of his frustration with the paparazzi situation, and one that dealt with his building frustration over our situation.
“Fuck, Ella,” he mumbled as I broke the kiss. He pulled both his hands through his already messed up hair. “You’ll be the death of me.”
“I hope not.” I moved in for another peck on his lips. “Well . . .” I said, placing one finger over his mouth as he moved forward to return my kiss. “Not until I’ve seriously checked you out, Mr Denton. You said this morning that you had plans for me. I just want you to know that I have plans for you as well.”
He kissed my finger. All signs of his anger and frustration momentarily vanished.
“You do know that you can’t go back to yours tonight?” he said.
“Of course I can.”
“No, you can’t. Not unless you’re prepared for all the photographers.”
“Well they’ll be at yours as well.” I reminded him.
“Yeah, but if you come back with me, we’ll be together.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted to avoid? Us being seen together.”
“It’s too late. Now that you’ve been spotted with me, it’ll be all over the gossip columns, and the damned twitter network.”
I held in a grin, realising that I had spent many an evening silently reading through sightings of him when he was out and about in the city. I chose not to share that information with him.
Alex frowned at my reaction, but I couldn’t take this seriously. It was all too surreal.
“I’d hate to leave you to deal with them all by yourself. But I seriously need to go home, have a shower, and change into some new clothes. You’ll have to stay with me tonight. I insist.”
I raised my brow. “You sure this isn’t just a plan to get me back to your lair, and do all those wicked things to me?”
“Please, I’m serious. Look, I tell you what. We’ll drive past yours tonight when we leave here. If there’s no-one there, fine. I’ll drop you off. But I very much doubt that will be the case.”
My heart sank at the thought of returning home and Alex leaving me.
“If you want, if no-one’s there, you can just grab a few things, necessities. I’ll wait for you in the car and then we can go back to mine. I think we need to finish what we started last night.”
“Okay. That sounds like a good plan.”
“Come on,” he said, twisting around to climb out of the car. He linked his fingers through mine as we walked to the studio buildings. “Let’s see what Rowan and Amy have to say about our late arrival. I have the same clothes on as last night, and look like I’ve not slept a wink.” He stroked the stubble on his face that had grown even more overnight.
“What about me?”
“Ravishing,” he confirmed, leaning in to kiss my cheek. “And your ass looks fucking fabulous in those tight jeans.”
As if to prove a point his hand slipped into my back pocket as he guided me through the building.
“Here we go,” he said as he pushed the doors open to the studio.