by Suzanne Rock
Cole, for one, was grateful for Ethan’s quirky bent towards projects. He’d been… not dissatisfied, not exactly, with his career as of late… but he wanted to do something different. So when Ethan had approached him about doing an unorthodox and steamy romantic comedy in web serial format, he’d promptly turned down one of the lead roles in the newest superhero franchise that was launching. He felt great about his decision… and he’d feel even better about it if he got his way with casting for the leading lady, which was what his meeting this morning was about.
“Anderson. My office. Now.” Ethan stormed down the glass-walled hallway before Cole could say anything else to the receptionist. His expression was decidedly stormy, and Cole felt his hackles rising when faced with the obvious aggression of the other man.
“Is there a problem?” He slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels, but he wasn’t feeling casual. He didn’t like being challenged, didn’t like the lack of control he felt when he lost. Probably because of how often he’d actually been out of control in his wilder days.
Back when he’d been with Georgia.
“There’s something.” Ethan gestured to his office with one arm. “Let’s go have a chat.”
Cole eyed the other man narrowly, but nodded and followed Ethan away from the front desk.
"So what’s with the theatrics?” Cole noted that Kevin Hawke, the hot new director who was supposed to be in on this meeting as well, wasn’t in Ethan’s office. His spidey senses were tingling—something was off.
"You haven't heard?" Ethan arched an eyebrow, then grinned, but the expression was sinister and Cole didn’t care for it.
“Spit it out, Black.” His voice was flat. The only big event in his life recently was the breakup with Regina, and Cole highly doubted that Ethan gave a shit about that.
Ethan rubbed his hand over his face and pulled out his phone. "So how's that girlfriend of yours?"
“I don’t know.” Cole glanced at Ethan from the corner of his eye. It was a weird question—usually the producer was all business. “We broke up.”
"I'm not surprised." Ethan swiped his screen and smirked. He held up his phone, the screen facing Cole, and turned up the volume.
A chorus of moans and the wet sound of flesh slapping against flesh emanated from the small device. Cole would have rolled his eyes at Ethan—why was the producer showing him porn, anyway?—except something about the scene caught and held his attention.
A leanly muscled young man mounted a slender woman from behind. His hands fisted in her chestnut waves as he slowly fucked in and out of her, the curves of her ass jiggling every time he bottomed out inside of her.
Cole didn’t have much need for porn—he had women clamoring for his attention day and night. Still, he felt his cock start to thicken as he watched the scene playing out.
Christ, he was acting like a fucking teenager. Shifting uncomfortably, he redirected his focus to the hotel room surrounding the couple. Opulent, cream-colored satin sheets on a massive bed, a chandelier overhead, a panoramic sheet of glass in place of a wall…
"I know that hotel.” The Rue Luxe in Paris had once been one of his favorite places to party and then crash. He hadn’t been there in years.
“Gee, you think?” Ethan cackled as he tilted the phone to watch with Cole, who frowned as the couple on the bed shifted position. Ringing started to reverberate loudly in his ears as the man onscreen pulled out of the woman’s heat, turning her over so that she lay on her back, her inner thighs braced on his shoulders as he thrust himself back inside of her.
“Look at the camera, baby. Show everyone how pretty you are.” The woman did as she was told, moaning as she let her head hang off the side of the bed. Delicate, china-doll features, long waves of minky hair, miles of creamy skin that he’d know anywhere.
And that voice. The voice encouraging her to show off.
It was his own fucking voice.
“What the ever-loving fuck, Ethan?” This was what the reporters outside had mentioned. He just hadn’t known what they were talking about. “Where the hell did you get your hands on this?”
“Watch your tone, kid. The link landed on my Facebook wall. Same as it showed up for millions of other people.” Ethan snorted. “I should be asking you how the fuck this got released, right as we’re casting the leading lady role, but I guess I know. Smart of you, you asshole. Now I have no choice.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Cole still couldn’t tear his eyes away from the screen. He didn’t remember the exact occasion, but now that he knew it was him and Georgia, he wondered how he ever could have doubted it. They’d filmed themselves fucking more than once, had even had someone else do the filming a couple of times.
They’d done a lot of crazy things. He’d never imagined they’d come back to bite him in the ass now.
Ethan eyed Cole shrewdly. “You know, I thought were crazy, expecting me to cast some has-been druggie in this show. But now I get it. She does have a certain… something… doesn’t she?”
“You shut your fucking mouth.” Before he could think it through, Cole shoved at Ethan, his hands connecting with the other man’s chest. He stopped immediately, knowing he’d crossed the line in a big way, but…
He didn’t like Ethan’s greedy little eyes watching Georgia’s face as she approached climax. As she gave her pleasure to him.
Instead of firing back, though, Ethan just smirked at him again. “Still carrying a torch for the little lady, are we? I don’t mind that. In fact, that’ll help publicity. And make your sex scenes hotter.”
“I'm going to kill her. Sue her for distributing child pornography. Something.” Cole fisted his hands at his sides. “Georgia wasn’t even eighteen in this video.”
“I’m confused.” Ethan plucked his phone back from Cole’s fingers then strolled around his desk, seating himself in the large leather chair. Leaning back, he crossed his arms behind his head. “Your reaction tells me you didn’t release this. Didn’t want anyone else to see your precious Georgia in such a compromising position. So did she release it? If she wants the part so bad, why hasn’t she returned any of the studio’s calls?”
“Not Georgia.” Cole wanted to punch something. Ethan was handy, but that wouldn’t be very good publicity, so instead he clenched his jaw and counted backward from ten as he looked around, a red haze tinting his vision.
The glass walls of the studio allowed him to see into everyone else’s office, and back to the waiting room, as well. A good number of the other studio executives were watching their computer screens with raised eyebrows, and the handful of people in the front room—even the damn receptionist? They all had their phones in hand, and were alternating looking at the screen with staring at him, hands over their mouths, giggling.
The damn thing had gone viral. Cole didn’t much care for his own sake. Many a celebrity has survived a sex tape scandal, and he knew damn well that his publicist could spin this to make him look like a stud.
But he hated, hated the idea of strangers watching Georgia, lust on their minds. Hated the fantasies about her that this would spawn.
“Aah. The jilted lover?” Ethan grinned at him; Cole barely resisted the urge to snarl back. “Regina’s got a mean streak, does she? I like that in a woman. You just send her my way.”
“Glad you find this so fucking funny.” Cole’s voice dripped with sarcasm. Yeah, he was certain that Regina was behind this. No one else would have had access to the video… no one else would have had any reason to release it into the wild.
If he’d had any soft feelings left for her at all, this move on her part had just ground them into dust.
“So give it to me straight.” Ethan propped his booted feet up onto desk. “You’ve been so gung-ho about Georgia Evans playing the lead in Love Me Harder. Is this why? You want to fuck her again? Because she has a nice, tight little ass and all, but I need talent and a cute tushie.”
No, getting Georgia into bed wasn’
t it at all, but Cole didn’t bother explaining it. Ethan Black might have been a creative genius, but he had the sensitivity of a toad. Trying to explain that he needed some closer with the girl who had been the love of his life would go right over the other man’s head.
"I'm going to have to postpone our meeting." Brusquely, Cole turned away from the producer, his temper about to boil out of control. He needed to get the hell out of here before his anger at Regina and at the whole damn situation made him lash out.
“Stay.” Ethan gestured toward the chair on the other side of his desk. “I’ll call publicity in; we can talk about how to turn this sex tape into the biggest thing that ever happened to Love Me Harder.”
Right. And that sounded about as much fun as a bullet in the brain. “You brainstorm without me. I have to go take care of some shit.”
"But—"
"I said not now!" His temper had thickened the tension in the room to a soupy mess, so Cole forced his shoulders to relax and pushed his spiky, sandy hair from his face. Just seeing Georgia again, even if it was only on video, was making him lose his shit. He had to get a grip. "Look, I just… I need to go take care of some personal stuff that this video has brought up. Okay? I can’t do this right now.”
Like, he needed to go have it out with Regina before she did something even worse.
“I don't know what the fuck has gotten into you, but you better work through it.” Ethan straightened in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Look, I’m sorry one of your exes is a bitch and the other is now a porn star. But I have a production schedule to keep, and you've signed a contract.”
Referring to Georgia as a porn star made Cole’s fists clench again, but he sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to chill out. Ethan was right—he had signed the contract. He could get another job if he walked, but this project had the potential to bring him into Georgia’s world again… and also, he didn’t back out on his word. Ever.
“Give me a day.” Cole stared at the other man impassively. He knew Ethan would agree to it—knew that Ethan wanted him on this project as much as Cole wanted to be on it. “Just twenty-four hours. Then you can haul me into all of the meetings you want.”
“I hope she's worth it, Anderson. I sincerely hope she’s fucking worth it.” Ethan shook his head, huffing out a breath in disgust.
Cole ignored him, instead pushing out of the producer’s office. The curiosity in the waiting room was a dense cloud, but he ignored it, shoving his way out of Sunrise Productions.
Owen was waiting outside the door, as Cole had assumed. The security guard stuck closely to his side as Cole stormed out of the building and back to his waiting car. The life-sucking paparazzi were still there, shouting questions around him, but they were all speaking on top of each other and they were difficult to make out. Still, a few of them reached his ears, and they only fueled his fury.
“When did you make the tape? Is it recent? Does Regina know?”
“Is Georgia pregnant with your baby?”
“Are you getting back together?”
He knew he’d never gotten over Georgia, but this… these fucking vultures pecking away for a story? He felt like he was spiraling out of control, and somehow taking her with him.
Slamming the car door behind him, he slid his sunglasses back onto his eyes. He leaned back in the leather seat as Fred aggressively worked the car through the throngs of people/
He wouldn’t let himself lose control. Not now, not ever again.
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