Love in the Dark

by 12 Book Boxed Set (epub)

  “Well, one, you obviously know who I am because I never told you I was in the Babymaker movies, and two, I wasn’t asking if you knew who I was because I’m a huge movie star, huge in more ways than one, by the way, but because we’ve met before.”

  “We’ve never met before.” She scoffed. “Trust me, I’d remember someone with as big a head as yours.”

  “I didn’t say we’d met in the bedroom, but I’m glad you think my head is big. You know what they say, big head, big cock.” She gasped and I saw her eyes darting to the front of my pants. “Want a peek to see if it’s the head you remember?”

  “Oh, my God, you’re a pig.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m joking.” I put my hands up in surrender as she just shook her head at me. “I’m not sure what it is about you that brings out the little boy in me.”

  “Maybe because you are a little boy.”

  “I can prove to you I’m not.” I winked, but then hurriedly continued as she groaned. “But to be fair, you’re the one that’s making the false claims. I’m not saying you should know me from my films, I’m saying you should know me from earlier today.” I changed the timbre in my voice and spoke in a low drawl. “Why, ma'am, you don’t remember me, Jethro Clamplett?”

  “You mean Jimbo Jethro?” Her jaw dropped. “What? There’s no way. How are you Jimbo?”

  “It’s called being an actor, ma’am.”

  “You do know that people from North Dakota don’t sound like they come from Alabama right?” She started laughing. “I was wondering what was up with the accent and the weird look.”

  “Weird look? Are you saying that I look weird?”

  She considered my face for a moment, and a warm feeling spread through me that I hadn’t felt for a while. She seemed to be looking at the real me, and that unnerved me. I hadn’t been this unnerved since my first audition, and that had been years ago.

  “No, you don’t look weird.” She shook her head. “So why the disguise, Jimbo Jethro? And why the horrible mustache? I wasn’t sure if you were a pedophile or a hillbilly.”

  “Well, hopefully, you went with hillbilly.”

  “Yeah.” She nodded. “I quite like hillbillies.”

  “Oh?”

  “My grandad grew up in Montana, and he always talked about working on a ranch and riding, and, well …” She paused for a few seconds. “It always seemed really cool to me. Far away from my life, you know.”

  “You grew up in California?”

  “Yeah, Alexa and I have been friends since elementary school. We grew up in the suburbs of Oakland, near San Francisco. So it was all pretty urban, even though we have the woods nearby.”

  “Oakland, huh? Isn’t that pretty rough?”

  “Depends on what part of Oakland you’re from, but no, not really. It gets a bad rap in the press, and lately, with gentrification and stuff, there are a lot of homeless people, but there are a lot of social issues that surround that, you know.” Her voice trailed off. “Sorry, I can get a bit intense at times.”

  “Hey, no worries, I can see that.” She looked embarrassed and I wondered what was on her mind. What was she thinking? She was deeper than the women I normally talked to, and I wasn’t quite sure what to say next. Which pissed me off. Had I really forgotten how to talk to an intelligent woman? “So the reason I had a disguise on was because I didn’t want to be recognized in the store.” I shrugged. “I love being an actor and it has afforded me a lifestyle that I never thought I would ever have, but there are costs that come with being famous, you know.”

  “Trust me, I can imagine. I think I’d hate to be famous.”

  “Oh?” I looked at her to see if she was lying. Once again, she had surprised me. Who didn’t want to be famous?

  “Oh, tell me, Mr. Jimbo Jethro Clampett Oracle Lion, what would you like on your pizza? I’m starving.” She bit down on her lower lip and I could see her eyes sparkling. Somehow we’d gotten through the earlier awkwardness of the night.

  “I want you.”

  I was serious, but I could tell from the expression on her face that she was taken aback. It was too much, too soon.

  I wasn’t lying at all, though. To hell with pizza, I’d like her flat on her back, legs spread, crying for me to enter her. I didn’t care if she wanted my tongue or my cock. I just wanted to taste her and be inside of her. I wanted her to scream my name as if she never wanted to forget it.

  “What did you say?” she said, and I could tell that she was getting ready to tell me off.

  “I said I want you, but I was joking.” I forced a laugh. “You’re so easy to wind up, Piper.”

  “I’m not,” she said, and I could see her thinking for a moment. Most probably wondering if she should still tell me off or not. “I think you just like playing games with me, Oracle Lion. I think that you’re just mad that I didn’t know who you were.”

  “But we already figured out that you did know who I was.” I pointed my finger at her, and then I said something that shocked me more than it should have. “Also, you can call me Zach.”

  “Zach?” She looked surprised. “Why Zach?”

  “Because that’s my name, isn’t that obvious?”

  “But your name is Oracle …”

  “Do you really think my parents called me Oracle? How many Oracles did you know in school?”

  “None,” she admitted with a small smile. “So your real name is Zach?”

  “Yup.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Why would you?” I laughed as I realized that once again, unknowingly, she’d revealed that she had actually known who I was all along.

  “So you want me to call you Zach instead of Oracle.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded and then grabbed her phone. “And I’m going to choose this pizza now because you’re taking forever.”

  I looked at the screen and the pizza toppings and tried to ignore the voice inside of me that was asking why I’d told her my real name. No one knew my real name. It was the private part of my persona that I saved for those I knew before fame. Not for those I met after. My life pre-Oracle was very different from my life post-Oracle, and it was better that the two didn’t meet. The only person I had in both worlds was Jackson. Jackson was my man. My best friend. The closest thing I had to a brother. I was lucky that I had him. He knew what it was like to straddle both worlds. He knew what it was like to not be able to trust anyone. Jackson knew me as Zach and Oracle, everyone else in my life knew me as one or the other. Everyone else … except now for Piper.

  “Do not pick any anchovies,” she growled into my ear and made me jump slightly this time. I wasn’t expected to feel her warm breath in my ear. “You hear me, Zach? No anchovies.”

  “Okay,” I grinned at her. “What about jalapeños?”

  “Oh, no.”

  “Pineapple.”

  “Gag me with a knife.”

  “What do you want then, fair Piper? I don’t think they have a red velvet pizza.”

  “That doesn’t sound half bad, to be honest.” She grinned. “But seriously, what about pepperoni with onions and some chicken wings?”

  “That sounds good to me. Do you have any beer?”

  “No.”

  “Vodka?”

  “No.”

  “Whiskey?”

  “No.”

  “Gin?”

  “Are you serious?” She laughed. “Do I look like the sort of woman who drinks gin?”

  “I’ve heard that plenty of women love a stiff gin and tonic.”

  “Plenty of women that aren’t me.” She made a face. “I like sweet cocktails and red wine.”

  “Fine, I’ll have some red wine.” I sighed. “Better than nothing, I suppose.”

  “Oh, I don’t have any red wine.” She laughed. “I was just saying I like it.”

  “What alcohol do you have Piper … what’s your last name?” I grabbed my phone and brought up my alcohol delivery app. “I’m going to order some cola, ciders, wi
ne and vodka and we can decide what we want to drink later, play?” She nodded her assent and I smiled. “Good, now tell me your last name.”

  “What do you care?”

  “You know mine.”

  “Well, not really.” She looked thoughtful. “I know your stage name is Oracle Lion and I know your real first name is Zach, but I have a feeling your real last name isn’t Lion, is it?”

  “I’m a lion, hear me roar.” I faked a roar and laughed as she rolled her eyes. “It’s Houston.”

  “Zach Houston?” She smiled then. “I like that. It’s smooth.”

  “So who are you, Piper?”

  “I am Piper Pig and I go oink, oink, oink.” She giggled and my stomach flipped a little bit at the sound. “No, but seriously, my last name is Meadows. I’m Piper Meadows.”

  “Phew, for a second I thought you were going to say your last name was Fox.”

  “Why did you think that?”

  “I thought you were going to ask me, what does the fox say?”

  “Oh, Zach,” she groaned. “I can’t believe you’re an A-list star?”

  “Why?” I pumped my bicep. “Do I look more like an X-list star?”

  “X-list star?”

  “XXX, baby.” I felt giddy as I joked around with Piper. It had been a long time since I’d felt this comfortable being myself and I liked it. I missed being carefree and not having to watch every little thing that I said. “Though wasn’t there that Fast and Furious movie that was called XXX? I always thought that was a stupid name.”

  “I haven’t watched any Fast and Furious movies in ages.” She shook her head. “I have no idea. I don’t watch that many movies, to be honest, at least not at the movie theater. They’re so expensive.”

  “Yet you still watched the Babymaker movies?” I did a little dance. “I’m honored.”

  “You should be.” She laughed and shook her hair around. I watched the curls bounce across her shoulder and wondered what her strands would feel like moving across my face and chest as she rode me. I kept that thought to myself, though. I didn’t want to give her a reason to start becoming bitchy again. Also, I knew I wanted her badly, and I was pretty confident she wanted me as well. I just had to play it slowly. I had a feeling that by the end of the night, all of our dreams would come true.

  6

  Piper

  * * *

  I’d never spent too much time wondering what it would feel like to hang out with someone famous, but if I had, I never would have thought that it would have felt so normal. Zach, as I’d already come to think of him, was much more normal and down to earth than I would have ever thought. It helped that he had turned out to be the weird-but-funny guy I’d met in the cupcake store earlier. In a matter of a few hours, I’d gone from wanting to slap Oracle Lion’s face to wanting to kiss Zach Houston’s. It certainly didn’t hurt that he was sitting so close to me that I could feel the heat emanating from his body on my skin. My arm hairs were on high alert and every part of my body loved it when he accidentally touched me or got too close.

  “These are some darn good wings,” Zach said as he reached for another wing eagerly. “The pizza isn't so great, but the wings!”

  “Don’t you be dissing on my pizza,” I growled at him as I took another slice. I had to admit to myself it wasn’t the best pizza I’d ever had in my life, but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. “But I do agree the wings are good.”

  “You have a little sauce on your face.” His eyes twinkled as he stared at me. I swallowed hard.

  “Oh? Where?” I reached up to wipe my face, but he just shook his head.

  “Wrong spot.”

  “Where is it?” I asked as I reached my hand to the other side of my face.

  “Nope.”

  “Then where?”

  “Higher, to the right, wait …

  He leaned forward, and before I knew what was happening, he was right next to me and his tongue was licking sauce from the side of my mouth firmly and sensually. His tongue then licked my bottom lip for a second and I froze. Was he going to kiss me as well? But he just moved back and grinned.

  “I figured I’d help you out. Turns out the sauce tastes even better when it’s coming off of your lips.” He licked his lips slowly, and my whole body shuddered as it imagined feeling his tongue all over me, in places that hadn’t felt the touch of a tongue or anything else in what felt like forever.

  “Oh.” I sounded like an idiot, but I didn’t know what else to say. Part of me wanted to tell him off, but another part wanted to tell him not to stop. I felt so comfortable with him, which was surprising considering how I’d run away from him in the club. “So are we going to watch something or whatever …”

  My voice trailed off. It was past midnight now. Maybe he wanted to head home or something.

  “What does ‘or whatever’ consist of? There are many things that I’d love to be doing.”

  “You wish.” I giggled and jumped up off of the couch to carry my plate to the kitchen and to cool myself down. I need a couple of moments to myself to level my breathing and figure out where I wanted the night to go.

  It was quite obvious to me that if I wanted to have sex with Zach, then I could, but then it also hit me that this would definitely be a one-night stand and I just wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted. And wasn’t he dating some model or something? I could have sworn I’d read something about him and some model recently. I wanted to bring it up, but then I wasn’t sure if that would be overstepping the mark? Did I have any reason to ask him? I mean, it wasn’t like this was going to be anything. He was a movie star, and he seemed to date a new girl every week. Maybe I should just go with the flow? What harm could one night of fun do? I wondered if I would regret saying no.

  “So, you and Alexa are just in town for the weekend?” Zach spoke behind me, and I turned around in surprise to see that he had followed me to the kitchen. “And then back to North Cal?”

  “Yup.” I nodded as I took his plate and put it into the sink and ran hot water over it for two seconds. “We just came to have a fun weekend.”

  “And she left you …”

  “Well, I’m sure she’s having fun.” I shrugged and looked up into his eyes. He looked mischievous and larger than life standing there in the doorway. I swallowed hard as he took a step toward me.

  “So, was that the plan?”

  “Was what the plan?” I took a step back into the cupboards behind me as he took another step toward me.

  “Did you guys want to snag two stars to hook up with for the weekend before you went back to your boring housewife lives?”

  “Um, we’re not married, so neither one of us are housewives. We’re don’t have boring lives, either.” The last part was a bit of a lie. My life was fairly boring. “And no, we didn’t come to LA to hook up with two stars. We didn’t come to LA to hook up at all.”

  “So, your wildest dreams came true, then?”

  “What wildest dreams?” I made a face at him and I could feel my breathing increasing as he took a closer step to me.

  “Of me.”

  “I’ve never had dreams of you.”

  “You’ve never had dreams of me being your baby daddy?” he said in a husky voice. The same voice he used in the Babymaker movies.

  He gave me his signature smile, and it took everything in me to not drop to my knees, unzip his pants and take his manhood out. I had a strong urge to bring him to his knees figuratively. I wanted to see his eyes rolling back in his head as he begged me not to stop. I could feel my face growing warm. It wasn’t every day that I wanted to give a blow job to a man I barely knew, but Zach was so hot and I was so attracted to him. I was pretty sure I could feel the sweat dripping down my body.

  “Not really. How many kids do you have in those movies now? Twenty?” I joked around about his popular franchise, but I didn’t want to think about what we’d have to do for him to become my baby daddy. Not that he was offering to have a baby with me. I knew he wasn
’t trying to commit to any sort of future with me.

  “Five,” he said taking another step toward me. “The movies are the gift that keeps on giving. Each new movie has to include a new baby.”

  “And more drama in the house.” I laughed.

  The Babymaker movies were about a rigid army ranger who never wanted to get married and then he meets a nurse and has a fling and she becomes pregnant. He tries to deny that the kid is his, but then, because this was Hollywood, he realizes how much he loves the nurse and the baby and proposes to her. They end up getting married, and basically, each movie was about them having one more kid and more drama in their lives. The movies were cheesy and over-the-top, but they made millions at the box office. In fact, they had turned Oracle Lion into a household name and the subject of many women’s dreams. It didn’t hurt that he had his shirt off in most of each movie, and let’s just say that I could picture him with his shirt off right now as he stood in front of me. I was curious to see if the abs he had in the movie were the abs he had in real life.

  “Do you really have a six-pack?” I said out loud, completely mortifying myself. Why had I said that? Oh, right, I’d had too much alcohol.

  “Sorry, what did you say?” He looked surprised, but there was a light in his eye that I hadn’t seen before.

  “I said, every new baby you have results in more drama in your house in the Babymaker movies and that you need a six-pack to um …” The words stumbled out of my mouth. “You need a six-pack to cope.”

  “A six-pack to cope?” He chuckled, his head tilted back, but his eyes were still on mine. “Hmmm.”

  “Hmmm, what?” I asked, wondering if he’d bought my dreadful coverup.

  “Does this answer your question?” Slowly, he lifted up his shirt and showed me his toned and muscular abs, and let me just say I think he had an eight-pack. My mouth went dry and I couldn’t even formulate a sentence as I stared at his tan, perfectly smooth chest. I wondered if he shaved or waxed. Not that I cared. My fingers itched to creep forward and trace the lines in his stomach. Never had I seen a more perfect male specimen than I was looking at now, and I hadn’t even seen him naked.