CHAPTER EIGHT
Walker
The longer I stared at Ayla, the more I wanted to press my lips to hers.
So I did.
I knew it wasn’t part of the script, but since our last make-out scene and everything that happened at Sensation, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I didn’t care that she had turned me down after she found out it was me that was between her legs.
I still wanted her.
And I wanted to prove to her that I wasn’t one to fuck up her career.
After my impromptu kiss during the holiday party scene, we did another take—minus the kiss—and then went to lunch.
A knock sounded on my trailer door as I came out of my private bathroom. I opened it to see my assistant, Travis, holding up a brown paper bag. “I have your lunch.”
I blinked. “My lunch?”
He frowned. “I was told you ordered this.”
Normally, I would have my lunch brought in and I’d eat alone in my trailer because I was usually talking with my agent about upcoming roles and auditions, but I hadn’t ordered anything today. I wanted to go have lunch with Ayla and show her that I wasn’t the person she thought I was.
I took the bag from him. “What is it?”
“Your lunch,” he said again.
I rolled my hazel eyes. “I know that, but what is it?”
“I don’t know,” he stuttered as though he were scared of me.
Was I the person Ayla thought I was? Did I scare people so much that they thought they’d get fired at the slightest mistake? I’d never had someone fired before, and I had no clue why someone would think that if they did.
“Thanks.” I closed the door and set the bag on the small glass coffee table. I pulled out a black plastic takeout box that was on top. When I opened the lid, I furrowed my brows. Inside were dark chocolate covered strawberries. The next box had a fig and asparagus salad, and the final box had fish tacos. However, the more I looked at the meat inside the tortilla, I realized they were salmon tacos.
Ayla.
I chuckled when I realized who had sent me lunch. It was almost the exact same meal I’d had at Sensation. But why salmon tacos? I took the bag and went to try to find my leading lady. I thought she would still be upset with me about tricking her, but was this her way of telling me that she had come around? A peace offering?
When I got to the tent that was set up for our meals, I spotted Ayla sitting with a few of the other cast members. There wasn’t a place for me to sit, but as I got closer, her dad, who was sitting next to her, stood.
“Walker,” he said. “You can have my seat. I need to go have a smoke and call my wife before we’re due back.”
“Thank you,” I replied, and my gaze met Ayla’s. “Everyone having a good lunch?”
They all nodded around their sandwiches.
“What do you have that smells so good?” Ayla’s mom asked.
I looked at Ayla and smirked. “Salad, tacos, and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.”
“Yum,” her mom replied.
“Yes,” I agreed, “but they aren’t the kind of tacos I really want to eat for lunch.”
Ayla took that moment to take a sip of her water, which apparently went down the wrong pipe as she choked.
“You okay?” I asked, patting her back.
“Yes,” she replied hoarsely and took another sip of her water.
The other actors—I didn’t know their names—asked me about my other movies coming out. I asked them questions too, and when I was done with my salad and tacos, I slid a strawberry onto Ayla’s plate and winked.
Tiffany reaches for my pants as soon as I close my bedroom door.
“See, this isn’t weird.”
“Shh,” she says. “We need to hurry before my parents come looking for me.”
I silence her with my mouth, parting her lips with my tongue as I back her up against my bed.
She breaks the kiss. “Do you have a condom?”
“Of course.” I reach into the nightstand.
She lays back and lifts her red dress, ready to take off her panties just as my bedroom door opens. I look over my shoulder and see her dad walk in.
“Sorry,” he stammers. “I was looking for the bathroom. You kids having fun?”
Before I can respond, Tiffany stands and moves to block my undone slacks. “Yes. Just catching up.”
“You two go to the same college, you know?” He points at us. “Well, for a few more months.”
“Thanks, Mr. Thompson,” I reply, needing him out of the room. “Bathroom is the door across the hall.”
He closes the door and Tiffany groans. “See, I told you this was a mistake.”
“I’ll lock the door.”
She holds up her hands. “Just—don’t.”
She doesn’t give me a chance to say anything else before she closes the door behind her as she walks out of my room.
“Cut!” Mike said. “A few more takes, and then that will be all for you two for a while.”
This was our last scene together for a few weeks. We were both still due on set, but our characters weren’t doing any scenes together. The next time I would see Ayla would be at Sensation. That seemed too long to wait when I was trying to show her that I wanted more.
“Hey.” I jogged to catch up to her as she walked toward her trailer.
She stopped. “Hey.”
“Thanks for lunch.” I beamed.
She snorted. “You’re welcome.”
“Were you trying to get me aroused?” I grinned.
She rolled her dark brown eyes and laughed. “I know what you were doing with the peach, and so I wanted to one-up you.”
“So, it was a peace offering?”
“Sure.” She shrugged.
I rubbed the back of my neck nervously as we started walking again. “Do you want to go get a drink?”
“A drink?”
“You know, an adult beverage.”
“I know what a drink means, but why?”
“Why not?” I questioned. “We’ve called truce.”
Ayla stopped right before her door of the trailer and crossed her arms over her chest. “Walker, you wanted nothing to do with me before you saw me at the club. Why do you want to hang out now?”
“That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No,” I argued and matched her stance.
“So, why do you want to hang out now?” Ayla repeats.
I smiled. “I want to get to know you.”
She rolled her eyes. “You just want to finish what we started.”
“No.” Yes, but that wasn’t the only reason. “I really just want to get to know you. I like you.”
She balked slightly. “You’re just saying that.”
God, I wanted to kiss her and shut her up. Prove to her that I was being truthful. “I’m not. I promise. Come have a drink with me and let’s get to know each other.”
She took a deep breath and stared off to the side for a few moments. “Fine. One drink, but I’m not sleeping with you.”
I chuckled. “Okay. One drink and I’ll drive.”
I pulled my Tesla Roadster up to the valet in front of the restaurant. “This is a bar?” Ayla asked.
The attendants opened our doors, and we slid out. When I rounded the back, I replied, “And restaurant.”
“It looks like a house.”
It did look like the front of a house because The Ivy was a two-story building with flowers outside and a white picket fence. Inside had an upscale country cottage vibe with a busy dining room filled with rustic antiques, lots of flowers, and folksy decor. It reminded me of what a grandma’s house would look like, except The Ivy was a well-known hot spot for celebrities.
“You’ll love it,” I assured her and motioned for her to walk up the small set of stairs before me.
The hostess sat us on the patio along the street, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw paparazzi standing across the str
eet snapping pictures. It wasn’t unheard of, and I was used to being photographed almost every second of every day.
“Do you come here often?” Ayla asked after we’d ordered our drinks.
I shrugged slightly. “A few times with my parents.”
Her gaze moved to the paps across the street. “Do they just follow you around?”
I chuckled. “No. This bar is known to have celebs at it, so usually, they’re standing across the street waiting.”
“I’ve never been photographed by paparazzi before.”
“Get used to it.”
She snorted as the waitress set our gimlets down. “Why do you say that? I’m no Walker Payne.”
I grinned. “No, but you’re an amazing actress.”
“Oh, stop.” She waved me off and laughed. “You’re just saying that.”
“I’m not,” I stated sincerely.
“Really?”
“Do I seem like the type that would bullshit you?”
“Well, no.” Ayla took a sip of her drink.
“Exactly.”
We were silent for a minute or so as I sipped my drink and Ayla looked at everything around us, including the paps. “Can I ask you something?”
I arched a brow. “Of course.”
“The other night …” I nodded my understanding of which night she meant, and she continued, “Were you just trying to get me to—you know—because we were both there?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I mean, yes, but that wasn’t the only reason.”
“What was the other reason?” She took another sip of her vodka drink.
I leaned forward slightly and lowered my voice. “I honestly couldn’t get our bathroom scene out of my head.”
Her beautiful dark brown eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really.”
“I couldn’t either,” she admitted.
“Really?” I smiled wider, loving her confession.
“Really, but”—Ayla leaned forward and lowered her own voice—“I don’t want to be just another one of your girls on rotation. That’s not me.”
“I was trying to tell you that wasn’t the situation at all.”
“But why else do you come to the club?”
I looked around slightly, trying to see if anyone was listening to us. Luckily, the place was busy, and it appeared no one was paying attention to our private conversation. “That’s a topic we need to discuss when we’re alone.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “Sorry.”
“We can go somewhere more private if you want to really talk about it,” I suggested.
She took a deep breath and spoke quietly again, “I only want to go talk about it if you’re looking for more than sex. I don’t need sex.”
I didn’t need sex either. I could have sex whenever I wanted. What I couldn’t have was a woman who wanted me for me and not money or fame. Ayla struck me as that person, and that was why I wanted to see where this would go.
“Let me pay the bill, and we can go somewhere else.”
“I can buy my own drink,” she protested.
I grinned. “That may be true, but I invited you, so I should pay.”
She snorted. “Okay. I won’t argue with that.”
Finally.
I paid the bill, and as we waited for the valet to get my car, the paparazzi swarmed us.
“Walker! Walker!” they shouted as the cameras clicked. “Who’s your date tonight?”
I beamed proudly and wrapped my arm around Ayla’s shoulder, bringing her against my side. “This lovely lady is Ayla Bowen, my co-star in an upcoming romantic holiday movie called “An Unexpected Christmas.” Keep an eye out for her. She’s going places.”
CHAPTER NINE
Ayla
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“My house.”
My mouth dropped opened. “Your house?”
Walker smirked. “Don’t worry, we can just walk on the beach.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Of course, you live on the beach.”
“That, right there, isn’t cool. You think you know me, but you don’t. Yes, I have a house on the beach in Malibu, but did you forget that I’ve been working my entire life? You say shit as though my parents hand me crap on a silver platter.”
I sucked in a breath as he scolded me. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Can you just give me a chance?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “I’m so sorry.”
“Good.” He blew out a breath. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Okay.”
“Ask away.”
“Now?”
“We have about thirty more minutes until we get to my house. I want you to ask all the questions.”
“Okay.” I beamed. “Let’s start with the question I asked earlier. If you’re looking for a girlfriend, why are you a member of a sex club?”
“I wasn’t looking for a girlfriend.”
I furrowed my brows. “But I said I don’t want to be just another girl in your bed and—”
“I’m not saying I specifically want you to be my girlfriend. I’m saying that I want to see where this can go. I really like you, Ayla. I think you’re amazing and gorgeous, and I want to get to know you.”
I didn’t know what to say to Walker as I let his words sink in. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I had a chance to be in some sort of relationship with Walker Payne. “Are you still going to go to Sensation?”
“Are you?”
“I have to. It’s my job.”
“I’m not trying to control your life, but do you need to still work there?”
“You mean because I have the movie?”
“Yes.”
“I have rent and food and bills. I do need it. At least until I save some money.” The weekly paycheck was great, but I wouldn’t get royalty payments until the movie was released in several months. I wasn’t making enough to not live paycheck to paycheck. Not in LA in an apartment that I rented on my own.
“I have to admit that the thought of you sleeping with someone else angers me,” Walker stated.
“It’s playing a role. You can understand that, and honestly, Walker, I’ve never been in this situation before. I told you that it’s been a while since I’ve dated someone, and that’s the truth.”
“Well, we have a few weeks to figure it out before the next party.”
“True, but we aren’t filming together.”
“Doesn’t mean I won’t be able to see you.”
“Okay.” I grinned. Everything Walker was telling me was what I wanted to hear. I didn’t think he was only telling me lies because I didn’t think any man would take such effort to put me at ease—especially one who could call a list of models to be with. More and more I realized I had pegged Walker Payne wrongly. The media had painted him one way, but what I had learned was the media only showed what they wanted to show. They controlled the narrative.
“What next?” he questioned.
I thought for a moment. “Well, I guess I want to know why me. I’ve only ever seen you date supermodels.”
He shrugged. “Like Tim, I like having fun, and all of them were—”
“To warm your bed,” I finished for him.
Walker took a deep breath. “Again, like Tim, I was having fun.”
“And you don’t want to have fun now?”
“We can have fun.” He pulled his car into a two-car garage and cut the engine. “But let’s just see what happens, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I smiled, and we opened the doors to get out.
“Are you hungry?”
“Do you cook?” I chuckled.
“I can make spaghetti.” He opened the door that led into the house.
I snickered. “I think everyone can do that.”
“But do you know the secret?”
“The secret?” I questioned as I stopped and turned around.
Walker closed the garage door. “You add suga
r to the sauce.”
“Really?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” I admitted because I did. Getting to spend time with Walker was enlightening, and I was enjoying myself.
Before any more words were spoken, he stepped forward and backed me up against the wall. His lips came crashing down, and as his mouth parted mine, and our tongues moved against each other. I realized that this was our first real kiss. Even though we had kissed multiple times on set, and while I felt as though some of them were real, this kiss was 100% Ayla and Walker.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he admitted as he rested his forehead against mine.
My arms wrapped around his neck, and I brought my lips to his, wanting to taste him again. He deepened the kiss and pressed his front against mine, pinning me against the hard wall.
“If you keep kissing me like this, we’re never going to eat dinner.”
“You started it,” I teased.
He pressed his lips to mine one more time. “Are you going to let me taste your pussy again?”
I shook my head.
“No?”
I wanted him to. I wanted to suck him, ride him, fuck him, but I also wanted to make sure that what he told me earlier was true. We both wanted more than sex, so sex shouldn’t be on the table for the first night we were together.
“Not tonight.”
“Okay. Then, let me make you my signature dish.”
Walker’s house was amazing. It sat right on the beach, and we watched the sun go down behind the Pacific Ocean as he boiled noodles and simmered marinara sauce from a jar. He browned ground beef and added a packet of Stevia to the sauce, and I was intrigued to taste the right way to make spaghetti that wasn’t homemade.
“Who taught you how to make this?” I asked as I leaned a hip against his light granite counter top while he stirred the sauce.
“If I said my mother, I’d be lying.”
“Oh?”
He beamed. “My parents have a chef, and she wanted to make sure that I could cook at least one meal before I moved out. She was worried I’d starve or get fat from all the takeout.”
Walker Payne wasn’t fat at all. He had six-pack abs, a hard chest, and strong arms. He definitely worked out. Plus, he did action movies, so I was certain he had professional training.
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