Love in the Limelight Volume Two: Seduced on the Red CarpetLovers Premiere

by Ann Christopher

  The elevator bell dinged and Sofia hopped into the compartment and pushed the button for the twentieth floor several times. The couple was so into trying to swallow each other’s tongues that she breathed a sigh of relief when the doors started to close.

  “Wait! Hold the door!” someone shouted.

  The couple’s lips unsuctioned and the guy jammed a hand between the doors before they could close all the way.

  Damn.

  “Thanks,” Ramell said, appearing out of nowhere and springing into the elevator.

  “Not a problem, man.” Mr. Don Juan cheesed and then escorted his girl inside the compartment, as well.

  Ram’s eyes drifted over to Sofia. “Good. You’re actually on your way up to the room.”

  “Why you coming to check on me so soon?” Sofia asked as the elevator doors closed.

  “Now why would I do that?” He mustered a faux innocent look and blinked his eyes at her.

  Sofia didn’t have a chance to answer because Mr. Don Juan suddenly hiked up his lady’s leg with one hand and hit the floor panel with his other hand. Eight floors worth of lights lit up. “Oh, my God,” she moaned in sync with the woman that was busy getting felt up.

  Ram glanced over at the couple and chuckled.

  “It’s not funny,” Sofia hissed, annoyed.

  “Oooh.” The woman moaned as her lover now concentrated on grabbing her ass and unbuttoning her blouse with his mouth.

  “You’re right. It’s not funny,” Ramell whispered.

  “Thank you,” Sofia said, satisfied.

  “It’s actually kind of hot,” he said.

  “What?”

  Just then the woman’s bra spilled out of her top and the man’s mouth lowered so that he could run his tongue along the lacy edges.

  Sofia gasped while Ram cocked his head to try and get a better look. “Will you behave?” She shoved him by the shoulder.

  “What?” Ram laughed.

  The elevator doors opened on the third floor and Sofia ran out like the damn thing was on fire. “I can’t believe this!”

  Ram followed her. “What’s with you?”

  “Hey, you two don’t want to watch?” Mr. Don Juan asked as the doors started to close again.

  Ram looked at Sofia as if the answer depended on her.

  “No!”

  “Suit yourself,” the man said, and then returned to trying to peel his girl out of her clothes.

  After the doors closed, Ram turned and looked at her. “Well, that would have been interesting.”

  “You’re joking. Please say that you’re joking.” She hit the button for another elevator.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s Vegas,” he said. “People do things that they don’t normally do. You know that.”

  She shook her head. “Men!”

  “What? What did I do?” Ram couldn’t stop chuckling. “Those two could be married for all we know.”

  “No rings.”

  “You did a ring check?”

  “That’s better than what you were checking out. A couple of more seconds and you would’ve been nipple bobbing, too.”

  “Now I’m offended,” he said, placing a hand against his chest.

  “Sure you are.”

  “I am. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m more of a leg man.” He deliberately let his gaze drop to her long legs. “And if you ask me, you have the best pair I’ve ever seen.”

  Sofia blushed, but was spared from having to make a comment when another elevator arrived.

  Ram followed her. “So you’re really upset about that?”

  “It was…inappropriate.”

  “And I take it that you’ve never done anything inappropriate?”

  “Well…not like that.” She frowned, not even able to imagine herself ever losing so much control that she would behave like a twenty-dollar trick. “I have a little more self-respect than that.”

  “Then like what?” Ram asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Tell me about a time when you’ve done something inappropriate.”

  Sofia drew in a deep breath and did a quick search of her memory banks.

  “Nothing?”

  “Wait a minute. Let me think,” she said. They arrived on their floor and she waltzed out the elevator. She was still thinking when she slid her key into the door of their suite and hadn’t come up with anything.

  “How about something spontaneous?” Ram chuckled. When that only deepened her frown, he decided to let her off the hook. “Never mind. I don’t want your brain to start short-circuiting.”

  “So maybe I haven’t done anything that’s technically inappropriate or spontaneous. Big deal. It doesn’t mean that I’m a prude or anything.”

  “All right. If you say so.”

  “It doesn’t,” she insisted.

  He shrugged his shoulders and started to walk off.

  Suddenly hit with a burst of inspiration, Sofia grabbed Ram by his hand and pulled him back. When he turned laughing, she cupped both sides of his face and laid a kiss on him that was so powerful he couldn’t help but let out a grunt of pleasure. He raked one hand through her thick hair and settled the other against the small of her back. Ram couldn’t believe how sweet she tasted or how soft her small curves were. Was this a dream?

  Sofia pulled her lips back all too soon but he chased after them for another intoxicating dose. It only lasted for a few extra seconds before she pushed back.

  “There,” she whispered, while gulping in air. “Is that spontaneous enough for you?”

  Before he could answer, she stepped past him on wobbly knees and quickly rushed toward her room before she spontaneously ripped her clothes off.

  Behind her, Ram watched her go with a widening smile. Things were finally moving in the right direction.

  Chapter 7

  Sofia couldn’t sleep, not for a nap or even later on that night. All she could think about was that damn kiss. It had to have been some trick of her mind to make her think that the man tasted like chocolate and honey. And even while she lay tossing in her bed, she kept running her tongue across her mouth for any residue he might have left. That kiss disturbed her peace of mind and she wondered if she could ever view him the same way again.

  It also seemed like the more she told herself not to think about it, her brain just kept looping the memory of her cupping his face and then moving in on those incredible soft lips. Those few little stolen kisses they used to share under the big oak tree at her parents’ old estate was nothing to compare to what Ramell delivered in the living room of that suite. If she kept it up, she was going to drive herself crazy.

  She had kissed him to prove that she could be spontaneous and step out of her comfort zone. Now she feared that she’d just opened Pandora’s Box. Even knowing that, she wanted to kiss him again. There was a part of her that wanted to prove that what she felt was a fluke—a trick of the mind. Another part of her wanted to kiss him because she hoped like hell it hadn’t been a fluke but something greater, something more.

  The second the sun rose the next morning, Sofia showered, dressed and zoomed out of the suite so fast it was amazing she hadn’t left skid marks. All she knew was that she needed to get as far away from Ramell as she possibly could. Her first pit stop of the morning was to get breakfast inside the hotel’s restaurant, Verandah. The minute she entered the Mediterranean-style restaurant and the smiling hostess led her to an available table out on the terrace, her racing heartbeat settled a bit.

  “Sofia!”

  She glanced around and then spotted Charlene Quinn waving a few tables over. “Hey!” She popped out of her chair and went over to say hi to her newest client. When she reached her, Sofia leaned over and gave the glowing singer a hug. “How are you, sweetheart?”

  “Great. How are you? I tried to call you when we arrived but my calls kept going to voicemail.”

  Sofia lightly tapped her hand against her head. Ramell still had her cell phone. “I’m so sorry ab
out that. Did you need anything?”

  “Aww. Look who we have here,” Akil Hutton approached the table. “How you doing, baby girl?”

  Sofia laughed as she now exchanged hugs with the super producer. “You know me. I’m still out here swimming with the sharks.”

  “I hear that,” he said, taking his seat and then leaning over to plant a kiss on Charlene’s glossy lips.

  They look good together. “I know I said it before, but I want you two to know that I’m really happy for the both of you.”

  “Thanks,” Charlene cooed, her right hand entwined with Akil’s.

  They were so adorable together that Sofia couldn’t stop smiling at them. “So. Are you all set to perform this afternoon at our pre-awards gala?”

  Akil bobbed his head. “Yeah, we set everything up with your man, Ramell.”

  Sofia laughed, but it sounded a little off-key even to her ears. “Ramell Jordan is not my man.” She tried laughing again but it was still sounding like a misfired weapon.

  Akil frowned. “Nah, I meant it as a figure of speech. He’s your business partner, right?”

  “Oh, yeah. Right.” Open mouth, insert foot. “I knew that. My man.”

  Akil shared a look with Charlene and then smiled back up at Sofia. “Anyway, like I was saying, we set everything up with Ramell. We’re going to do a sound check around two and then we’ll be ready to go on at five.”

  “Sounds good.” Sofia gave them both a thumbs-up. “I guess I’ll just see you at the party.”

  They said their goodbyes and Sofia rushed back over to her table and ordered herself a stack of buttermilk pancakes. Given the fact that she generally burned the candle at both ends most days, her lifestyle afforded her the luxury of being able to eat whatever she liked. So she ordered a large stack of buttermilk pancakes and link sausages. She was practically salivating when they arrived at her table. After thanking the waitress, she figured she had about fifteen minutes before she needed to meet up with Stewart and get her day going.

  When the list of things that she needed to get done before the pre-awards gala started scrolling through her mind, Sofia crammed food into her mouth as fast as she possibly could.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  Sofia glanced up with a sausage poking out of her mouth.

  Ramell smiled. “You know, you could’ve woken me up. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

  Cheeks crammed with pancakes, Sofia gave him a half apology but then felt a wave of panic when he took a seat.

  “Now that’s an interesting look,” he chuckled. “The chipmunk cheeks look good on you.”

  The waitress returned and set his breakfast of French toast and scrambled eggs down in front of him.

  “So how did you sleep last night?”

  Sofia’s eyes narrowed. She had a sneaky suspicion that he knew damn well that she hadn’t slept a wink. When he continued to wait for an answer, she lied. “I slept like a log.” She smiled animatedly.

  His eyes twinkled. “Glad to hear it.”

  You’re playing with fire. Sofia tried to swallow her food but suddenly realized that she needed help.

  “Here. Have some of my orange juice.” He pushed his glass toward her.

  “Thanks,” she murmured around the breakfast that was clogging her throat. She quickly gulped down half the glass and then panted when she finally managed to clear her pipes.

  “Better?” His neatly groomed brow stretched over his forehead.

  She nodded and dabbed the corners of her mouth with her napkin.

  “Are you in some kind of hurry or do you usually eat like a starved animal?”

  “Ha. Ha. Very funny.”

  “Well, it was either those two options or…you’re trying to avoid me so that we don’t have to talk about that kiss we shared yesterday.”

  Sofia shoveled in another hearty helping of pancake into her mouth so that she wouldn’t have to respond.

  Ram laughed so hard his head nearly rocked off his shoulders. A few curious gazes drifted toward their table and Sofia suddenly wished that she could shrink down to about two inches.

  “Do I really make you that nervous?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she barked and then started to choke.

  Tears practically brimmed his eyes as he watched her weak performance.

  “Actually, I don’t have much time to eat. There’s a lot I have to do before the party and the award show.”

  He sobered up a bit. “Anything I can help you with?”

  “No. I have everything under control. Or maybe I should ask whether you need any help with the party. I know things can—”

  “Nope. Everything is fine and going according to schedule.”

  She frowned. “Nothing ever goes according to schedule.”

  “They do if I’m handling it,” he said confidently.

  “Right.” She tossed down the rest of his juice and then scrambled up from the table. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Looking forward to it.”

  *

  For the next few hours Sofia remained busy, with Stewart getting some of her clients to press junkets, and answering emails on her iPad. Most of her workload was difficult without her phone, but she lacked the courage to ask Ramell for it back. She didn’t have a stack of pancakes on hand to help her through another round of questions about that kiss.

  Of course that kiss never stopped looping in her mind, either. It happened so much, in fact, that people were constantly snapping their fingers in front of her face and asking if she was all right. A little after noon, Stewart reminded her that her hair and makeup artist was scheduled to meet with her in the suite so she rushed up to go get ready for the afternoon festivities. Everything was running smooth until the Armani representative, Robyn, showed up.

  “That’s not the dress I ordered,” Sofia said frowning. “I requested the white ball gown with the big butterfly bow in the back.”

  The petite rep blinked in surprise and then quickly scrambled for her paperwork. “I have here that you asked for the gold drape halter.”

  Sofia sucked in a breath. She could literally feel her blood pressure rising. “Where are my pills?” She rushed off toward the bathroom and downed one of the much-hated pills.

  “Are you all right?” Robyn asked nervously when Sofia returned to the room.

  “I will be,” she said, pulling in a few measured breaths.

  “I’m not sure what to tell you,” the rep said. “I spoke to Stewart myself and—”

  “Stewart? All he was supposed to do was arrange the delivery date—not select my dress. I had selected my dress.” Breathe. Breathe. “You know what? Never mind. What do we have to do to fix this? How fast can we get the other dress here?”

  Robyn blinked and then glanced at her watch. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that just can’t possibly happen. Your gala is in less than an hour.”

  Breathe. Breathe. That was hard since at that moment all she wanted to do was find Stewart, wrap her hands around his thick neck and squeeze.

  “Don’t you want to just try it on?” Robyn asked.

  “It doesn’t look like I have a choice now.” Stripping out of the hotel’s robe, she quickly stepped into the gold dress and glanced into the full-length mirror while Robyn zipped her up. Her anger immediately dissipated.

  “I think it looks beautiful on you,” Robyn complimented.

  Sofia turned and assessed herself from different angles. She actually liked it better than the dress that she had picked out originally. “Looks like Stewart actually got one right.” She shook her head. “Amazing.” The dress was short, hitting her around mid-thigh, and the shimmering gold color reflected beautifully off her mocha skin. And it felt fun and flirty when she did practice turns.

  After filling out the paperwork for the dress, Sofia rushed to put on her accessories while the woman took her leave. When Sofia exited from her bedroom, Ramell was in the living room sliding into his tuxedo jacket.
They stopped and stared at one another. At that moment, Sofia was convinced that Ramell Jordan looked good in everything.

  “Wow. Don’t you look amazing,” he said.

  She blushed—that was something she had been doing a lot of lately. “Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.” Approaching him with slow, measured steps, Sofia noticed that Ram’s tie was slightly off-center. “Here. Let me help you with that.”

  Ram smiled when her slim fingers quickly went to work with his tie. Being this close he was able to get a good whiff of her perfume. On her first go around, she actually made the tie worse off than it was before so she had to try again. While she concentrated on the tie, he kept drinking in her beautiful profile while fighting the urge not to kiss her again. The more he kept trying not to, the more he wanted to do it.

  After a minute, he started to give in to gravity and lean forward. She would probably stop him, slap him or give into the kinetic energy he knew that she had to feel flowing between them. When he was within an inch of her lips, her fingers stopped fiddling with his tie.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered.

  “Something spontaneous.” His lips gently landed against hers and stirred up old feelings deep within him. She moaned first and then he pulled her closer. Thrilled and surprised that she was allowing herself to go with the moment, Ram experienced a renewal of hope of what was possible between them.

  Their lips only pulled apart because of the necessity for oxygen. And even then he pressed his forehead against hers so that their breaths could commingle.

  “What are we doing?” she asked, panting.

  “Something that we should’ve done a long time ago.” He reached up and brushed the side of her face.

  “But I…I—”

  “Shh.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Don’t worry. I’m not trying to rush you or anything. Understand?”

  She slowly nodded.

  “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.” His hand moved subtly from her cheek down to beneath her chin where he tilted her face upward gently. “But know this, I do want you. I always have…and I always will.”

  He watched her large brown eyes widen and she pulled back just a bit, but didn’t run off screeching toward the bedroom. At least that was a good sign. He gave her a wink and then offered her his arm. “Shall we go?”