Maybe it was a bit soon for a wedding, but I had developed real feelings for Lyssa. Once I let go of my annoyance about being “handled” I could see how amazing this woman was. We had a bond.
Plus, she was really hot.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall anything that happened after the kiss in the bar. I didn’t know if we had slept together, but I was determined to make it happen as soon as possible. I was positive it would be a game changer.
I could tell that Lyssa felt terrible, her hangover was rough on her. I sympathized. My stomach had gotten used to the effects of alcohol, but I could remember the long days of nausea well. Headaches still plagued me every time I drank heavily and I was sick of that.
She was quiet on the plane ride home, taking a seat in the back and curling up on her side. The flight was short, only about an hour and fifteen minutes, and we got back to Santa Barbara right around dinnertime.
I had spent the flight on my phone ordering an Uber to pick us up and a food delivery service to bring by some chicken noodle soup from a diner. It worked out perfectly, with the delivery boy dropping off dinner just as we were walking through the door.
“What’s this?” Lyssa asked as I paid the guy, writing in a generous tip on the receipt.
“I ordered dinner.”
“Oh, I don’t think I can,” she said, placing her hand on her lower stomach.
“Don’t worry. It’s soup. I took your hangover into account.” She still looked uncertain. “Come on, you’ve got to eat something.”
I gestured with my head that she should follow me into the living room. Setting up a couple of TV trays by the couch, I opened our food. Lyssa settled onto the couch and looked at me oddly.
“You got this for me?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Now eat. We’re going to watch the best action movie ever.”
“What’s that?”
“Die Hard, obviously,” I said, picking up the remote and cuing up the movie.
“Really? I would’ve thought that you’d pick one of your own movies.”
“Hey, I’m not that vain.”
“Sure.”
“I’m not,” I insisted, then grinned. “But did I ever tell you that People Magazine named me the Sexiest Man Alive?”
She burst out laughing. “Yeah, you might have mentioned it once, maybe twice…every chance you get.”
“At least I’m consistent.”
I started the movie and that was how we spent our evening, watching TV and eating dinner, just enjoying each other’s company in a way that I never had with anyone else. Lyssa was right, you didn’t always have to party to have fun.
I decided to be a good boy and follow the rules. Not doing so had led to another blackout and an accidental marriage. I thought it was best to avoid any more of that kind of thing.
So I had gone to bed early and showed up nice and sober this morning. Finally committing to this whole thing, to shedding this party boy image, I decided to do something that I never would’ve done before. I apologized to Bruce and Kevin.
It wasn’t my finest hour, but I admitted to going to Las Vegas to party and promised that it wouldn’t happen again. No more wild partying during filming. Bruce seemed doubtful, but Kevin was happy to see a change and complimented my work the last few days. Coming from the director, that meant a lot.
I spent the morning flirting with Lyssa every chance I got, until she was simultaneously trying to do her job and avoid me at the same time. It was funny to watch. She was hovering close enough to see to any need I might have, but far enough that I couldn’t comfortably talk to her one on one.
“Tell me,” I said when we took a break for lunch and the two of went to grab a bite to eat, “have you remembered anything from the other night?”
“No.”
“That’s a real shame. You know what might help? Re-enactment.”
“What?” She stopped walking and tilted her head as she looked at me.
“Well, it all started with a kiss, right? We can both remember that.”
“Yeah,” she said cautiously.
“Well, maybe we should do that again. Kiss, I mean. It might trigger something.”
“What is it you’re trying to remember so badly? We know about the wedding.” She lowered her voice to a whisper even though no one was around. In fact, we were in a small deserted area.
“Don’t you wonder what happened after?” I asked, my voice husky at the thought.
“Whether or not we had sex?”
“Of course. Don’t you want to remember?”
“Maybe.” She looked up at me through her eyelashes. “But if we did, the memory might make us want to do it again.”
“I’m not worried about that,” I said, and her face fell. I pulled her flush against me, not caring if someone came along and saw us. Our faces were an inch apart and the warmth of her body heated my blood. “I’m not worried about it because I already want to do it again. It’s all I can think about.”
I wasn’t sure which one of us moved first, but suddenly our lips connected and our tongues entangled. Her sweet taste heightened my senses, making every nerve ending in my body come to life. I wanted to be so much closer.
Far too soon, she pulled away. Putting space between us, she couldn’t seem to make eye contact. “I have a plan. I’m supposed to go to New York.”
She walked away and I considered her words. She didn’t say she wanted to go to New York, just that she was supposed to. I would just have to change her mind about that.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Lyssa acted like the kiss didn’t happen, but I wasn’t going to give up easily. She was like an addiction and, now that I’d had a taste, I couldn’t get enough.
When we got home from the studio, she went to her room. I knew she was trying to put some distance between us. Instead of letting that get to me, I decided to make dinner.
This was bold, because I was terrible at cooking. I didn’t think my standard scrambled eggs would impress her and everything else was beyond my capabilities. I remembered the first night she cooked dinner and said Mexican was one of her favorites.
How hard could that be?
Surely, I could make tacos. I hoped.
It all started off so well. I put on some music, my favorite rock band, to listen to while I cooked. I was in the zone. Spreading out all the ingredients, I got the pan preheating. I sang along to the music as I cut up some lettuce and tomatoes. Easy enough.
Things went south quickly after that. The smell of burning plastic had me whipping around to the stove. I had turned on the wrong burner and a plastic spatula that I had carelessly left lying on the stovetop had melted onto one of my smaller burners.
I grimaced as I tried to pull it off the burner and the gooey plastic stretched, making an even bigger mess. I turned the burner off and stared at it. Well, that burner was ruined. I guessed I would have to replace the stove tomorrow.
Cranking up the heat on the correct burner, I opened a package of ground beef and dumped it in the pan.
Rummaging in the refrigerator, I found shredded mozzarella and sliced American cheese. That wouldn’t work. Okay, no cheese.
I had never made tacos, so I pulled up a recipe on my phone and gathered the spices listed. I didn’t have everything, but surely it was close enough. I broke up the meat into small chunks and stirred it up as it began to sizzle, dumping the spices on top, increasing the ones that I had a bit to compensate for the missing ones.
“What are you doing?” Lyssa’s voice came from the doorway of the kitchen and I shot her my most dazzling smile.
“I’m making us dinner,” I said, gesturing to the food already in the counter. Okay, so a small pile of lettuce next to an even smaller pile of tomato didn’t look that impressive, but the meat filling was going to be great.
I found a box of crunchy shells in the pantry and opened it.
“I know you like Mexican, so it’s tacos,” I told her. There was a light i
n her eyes as she looked at me and that charming little half-smile appeared.
“That sounds great.”
I turned back to the meat and stirred it again. It wasn’t pink anymore, so I guessed it was done.
“Grab a plate,” I instructed. “It’s ready.”
We built our tacos side by side and settled onto bar stools at the island. This scene was so domestic and homey that my heart fluttered in my chest. I had never felt a sensation like that before, but there was something about being here with her that made me content.
I took a huge bite of taco. My eyes watered, and I coughed but chewed quickly and swallowed it down. Grabbing my glass of water, I took two huge gulps.
“Wow,” Lyssa said, choking down her own bite. “That’s, uh, some strong seasoning you have on there.”
“I don’t know why it’s so salty. I followed a recipe. I mean, I increased it all a little because I didn’t have cumin or chili powder, but I don’t know what happened.”
“Okay, let me see the recipe,” she said.
I handed over my phone.
“So you had salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.”
“Yep.”
“It calls for one teaspoon salt. How much did you put in?”
“Oh. A teaspoon? I thought it said a tablespoon.”
“So you added a tablespoon of salt?”
“Well…I added two.”
“Two tablespoons of salt in that little pan of meat?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Is that bad?”
“It was a great effort,” she said, her smile soft.
“So it sucks, huh?”
She bit her lip and looked uncertain.
“How about I make us a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?” she asked.
“And I’ll throw this away,” I replied, dumping our uneaten tacos in the trash.
So much for impressing her.
As Lyssa whipped up two sandwiches, I was struck with an idea.
“Tell you what, let’s go for a walk along the beach, we can bring the sandwiches with us.”
I held my hand out to Lyssa and she took it, interlacing our fingers. I led her out the back door and across the deck.
Then, we were walking along the beach, our hands still connected as we ate our sandwiches. It was quiet aside from the sound of the waves rolling in and out. But even that was gentle. The sun was beginning to set and gave the water a shimmering, ethereal glow.
“I’ll miss the ocean,” Lyssa said, breaking the silence.
“You don’t have to go to New York, you know.”
“That’s the plan, though. A new beginning, away from the drama of Santa Barbara.”
“Your job is what brings drama into your life. Why do you do it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that it brought us together, but why not find something that makes you happy?”
“It’s not that easy. I know that money is hardly even a consideration to you at this point, but for most of us, we need to work any job that pays well to have a decent quality of life.” She sounded almost sad.
“I haven’t always been rich, you know. I grew up in the same neighborhood as you, after all. I just got lucky.”
We looped around and started walking back toward the house. I didn’t want to stray too far from home.
“Do you like acting?”
“Honestly? Yes. At first, it was all about how popular I was and making my mom happy. Then I went through a darker time where I felt like I was missing out on my childhood. A sixteen-year-old boy doesn’t always love spending twelve hours a day on set. As I grew up, though, I started to really enjoy the art of it. Shedding my own skin to walk around in someone else’s can be challenging, but it’s fun.”
“Then you’re lucky it pays well.”
“You know, you’re married to a rich actor now. You don’t have to do a job you don’t love anymore.”
Lyssa stopped walking and looked at me. The way her face glowed in the moonlight made her look like an angel, her beauty flawless and pure.
“But the marriage isn’t real.”
I stared at her for a moment. “Do you want to know what happened that night?” I asked softly.
“Yes,” she answered in a breathy sigh.
“Then let’s re-enact it. We danced. I remember that much.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and brought our bodies together, our hips lined up. Lyssa instinctively brought her arms up and put them around my neck. I touched my forehead to hers, and we swayed side to side. I couldn’t seem to look away from her face.
“Is this how we danced?” she asked, a knowing smile playing at her lips.
“Well, maybe not, but it’s what the situation calls for.”
“You know, you’re not what I expected when I took this job.”
“Yeah?”
“I thought you’d be some entitled douchebag that didn’t give a damn about anything and relied on his gorgeous face to get him through life.”
“Wow. You paint a colorful picture.”
“But I was wrong. You a good man that just tends to overindulge.”
“Are you saying you’re my new biggest fan?” I asked.
“I’m saying that I like you, a lot.”
Not needing to hear another word, I pressed my lips to hers once more, groaning at the sensations that swept through my body. We were near the house now, so I broke away just long enough to scoop her up into my arms and carry her bridal style to the deck. Fitting, considering that she was my new wife.
I peppered kisses all over her face as I walked, while she kept us close by wrapping an arm around my neck, playfully tugging the back of my hair to bring my lips back to hers.
I was too keyed up to take her far. We went tumbling onto the couch that was a part of my patio furniture set. There was no more talking as we let our bodies connect, exploring each other, removing our clothes. It was unhurried, sensual. She touched my chest. I caressed by face. I wanted to memorize everything, from her breathy moans when I kissed her neck to the sight of her naked before me.
Her skin was soft and I loved the feeling of our bare chests pressed together. Her hands groped and her kisses seared. She was so hot, so ready for me.
Pulling a condom out of my wallet, I kissed her lips once more as I reached between our bodies. She moaned as I completed our joining. Then I made love to her the way a husband should, right there under the stars.
Fifteen
Lyssa
I woke up with a smile already on my face. Callen snored softly beside me, both us naked as the day we were born.
Adorable.
Last night had been amazing. After we had made love on the deck, we had showered together. It was the height of any pleasure I’d ever known and my heart raced at the images running through my mind.
Callen was as caring a lover as I would have expected, telling me how he felt with his gentle touches. He looked at me like I was precious.
I didn’t know what effect this was going to have on our marriage situation, but it definitely complicated things.
Callen moaned in his sleep before turning over to face me. From under mussed hair, he gazed at me with hooded eyes and a sleepy smile stretched across his face. My hear felt too big for my chest.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Morning, sweetheart,” he said, his voice husky from sleep.
“You ready to get going to work?” I asked, not wanting to leave the bed myself. Predictably, he groaned and scowled.
“Do we have to go? I want to stay here all day,” he said, wrapping his arms around my waist tightly. “Don’t make me go.”
I chuckled at the whiny tone of his voice. I was seriously tempted, but now was not the time to play hooky.
“We just earned back the trust of the producers. We really need to go,” I said regretfully.
“I know,” he said and sighed.
Fifteen minutes later, we were in the kitchen eating bagels spread with cream cheese and
drinking coffee. I was starting to think of this place as home already.
Callen drove us to the studio today and heads turned as we got out of the expensive car. Even here, where movie stars abounded, this car was hot.
I felt like I was walking around in a bubble as we entered the studio. The excitement of a new romance made me giddy. Everything seemed brighter somehow.
Here though, some distance was necessary. The relationship was too new to become the stuff of workplace gossip. We hadn’t even talked about what kind of relationship it was, yet.
Unfortunately, this little distance between us presented a problem immediately. Isabella, who I hadn’t seen since our disastrous double date, came strolling up to Callen as we walked to his trailer. She blocked his path, forcing him to come to a stop to avoid a collision.
I saw red as she ran a perfectly manicured nail down his bare arm. “Callen, where have you been?” she asked with a pout.
His whole body stiffened. Shifting his weight away from her, Callen shrugged. “I’m here every day,” he responded noncommittally.
“Well, where are you going to be tonight? My place?”
Her boldness shocked me. I supposed she was the type to know exactly how sexy she was and be completely self-assured, but I didn’t like it at all. A possessiveness overcame me, and my fingernails dug into my fists.
“I don’t think so. Sorry,” Callen said.
Confusion marred her features, as if she’d never heard those words before and didn’t know what they meant.
“Your place then?”
“It’s not going to happen. But I’ll see you around.”
She opened her mouth to speak again and Callen brushed past her before she could. I followed along in his wake and glanced back once we reached the trailer. She stood in place, seemingly frozen in shock.
I shut the door to the trailer behind me and grabbed Callen by the shirt collar and pulled him toward me, planting a kiss on his lips. I wanted to brand him as mine, and he didn’t seem to mind a bit.
When we broke away, the smile on his face was all smug satisfaction. His brown eyes were amused as he looked at me.
Careless: A Movie Star Accidental Marriage Romance (Santa Barbara Secrets Book 2) Page 9
