by Ally Decker
Contents
Sleeping With the Movie Star
About This Book
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
About The Author
Copyright
Queen of His Daydreams (CFF #23) Excerpt
SLEEPING WITH THE MOVIE STAR
Camp Firefly Falls #22
Ally Decker
Website | Newsletter
SLEEPING WITH THE MOVIE STAR
Tara hooked up with an international movie star at her friend's summer wedding last year and she spent the next twelve months in a weird, long-distance thing they never defined. Now, they are going for a week-long getaway to the summer camp and it's the perfect time to set things right.
Or is it?
Tara arrives at the camp convinced it's her last chance to spend some time with Jeremy before breaking things off for good and going back to the real life where women like her don't get to keep a movie star in their bed—or their life.
Jeremy thinks going back to the place they'd met is a perfect opportunity to finally talk about their relationship. He wants them to be together for real, he just hopes he can convince Tara it's worth the trouble.
But with Jeremy's fame and Tara's worries about the future, can they build something more than an exciting summer fling?
CHAPTER ONE
Question: Why don't we go away to Firefly Falls again this year? A few of my friends were thinking about renting the camp out for a week for some peace and quiet. I could get us in if you said yes.
Tara O'Connor stared at the text as she read it again and again. She couldn't believe it. She expected Jeremy to send her the usual morning hello, not… this.
Just when she thought she had him figured out...
She'd met Jeremy Nelson, one of Hollywood's biggest stars, last year at friends' wedding and they'd hit it off right away. She hadn't hoped for more than a short, wedding hook up that would become a great story one day, but somehow, it turned into something else. There came months of texts and phone calls, and a few weekends here and there whenever Jeremy happened to be in New York.
She'd promised herself she wouldn't get too attached, because whatever it was, it was doomed from the start. An affair with a big shot movie star couldn't end any other way, after all. Recently she'd even started thinking that maybe she should be the one to break it off and get it over with. She could slip into loving him so, so easily, and she didn't want that. She wanted to try something more…real, more attainable. Something that had real future.
And now Jeremy was suggesting they should go on vacation together? What was she supposed to do with that?
Tara got up and poured herself another cup of coffee. She'd had a late night last night, catching a post-show dinner and drinks with a few people from the cast and she got back home well after midnight, which was late enough to excuse her sleeping in this morning. Now, she could probably forego the coffee, if she wanted to, since Jeremy's text had left her wide awake. Her brain was already going at top speed, trying to figure it out.
Oh, who are you kidding, Tara thought, leaning against the counter as she drank. Of course she was going to agree. She wanted to see him.
After all, it wasn't as if she really liked the idea of ending things with him. It was just that she couldn't see the future in their…whatever it was. And while it had been fine in the past, exciting even, now that she started to look ahead and think more about her future, she realized she needed to know where she stood. And a romance with a movie star—even, or especially, a long-distance one—was a nice fantasy, but no way to live in the long run.
It could go on for another week at the summer camp, though, she told herself. That week could be one last hurrah for the romantic in her, for that little girl who believed in Romance with a big R, and for the grown woman who had flailed internally as her fling with a movie star blossomed last summer. They deserved to be jetted away by said movie star for a romantic getaway. And lots of great sex.
After that, her more realistic everyday self would get back behind the wheel and she would end things with Jeremy. She had known from the start that this thing had an expiration date and she'd accepted that fact because she preferred a fling than nothing at all once she'd looked into those damn blue eyes.
It had gone on for longer than she'd thought it would, and now it was ten months later and he was suggesting a getaway. Maybe it would be kind of poetic, ending on that note?
Poetic or not, right now she was setting that expiration date of theirs at the end of their vacation. End of the camp, end of their fling.
She wasn't as relieved as she would like to be after reaching that decision, but at least she settled on what to do about the invitation. She was going to worry about the rest some other time.
With that in mind, Tara picked up her phone and sent Jeremy a text accepting the offer before she could talk herself out of it.
One week, she repeated to herself. Seven days of fun and closure.
She bit down on her lower lip as she looked at her phone. Whatever happened afterwards, she was excited to spend that time with Jeremy. They'd never had a week for themselves before, and after the wedding party, they'd never even been out together among other people. And she wanted that. She'd said no to any outings in New York whenever he came to visit, but that was always more about self-preservation than lack of interest.
Her phone pinged with new text from Jeremy.
That's great! Now I have something to look forward to… :)
Me too, Tara thought, grinning at his message. She couldn't wait.
CHAPTER TWO
"Cut!"
Jeremy opened his eyes and turned his head towards Greg, his co-star.
"Nice job," he told him, watching as a PA handed Greg a water bottle. It was a very emotional scene, with Greg's character coming apart at Jeremy's character's bedside, and stuff like that was always hard.
"Thanks." Greg's voice was hoarse before he took a few sips. "I really hope that's it, though, because I don't think I have one more take in me."
Thankfully, a minute later, the director deemed them done. "We need a few shots from your coverage, Jeremy, and then we can break for lunch."
As they waited for the crew to move into positions, Greg drained the rest of the water and lowered himself into his chair. "So, I've heard from the grapevine you had a late night last night," he said, raising his eyebrows at Jeremy, who grimaced.
"Please, Chin isn't old enough to call eleven a late night." And it had to be Chin who spilled, since he'd been the only one there in the hotel bar with Jeremy. "He obviously should go out more."
"I'm sure Michiko would be thrilled to learn her husband is busy bar-hopping on location."
Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Hanging out with a colleague in a hotel bar isn't bar-hopping, grandpa. I know you tend to stick to your own room these days, but you must remember we don't throw wild parties on a school night."
"Usually," Greg told him with a smirk.
So yeah, maybe there had been a few parties in the past, but that was during the filming of the first three movies in the Collectibles franchise, back when most of them were unattached or partied with their current girlfriends or boyfriends. Now, as they were filming their sixth, most of the team were either married or in committed relationsh
ips, and a bunch of them had kids. After a long day of shooting, they preferred to hang out with their families, even if the that meant connecting through their phones, rather than spend more time with the colleagues they'd already hung around during the day. Jeremy didn't blame them at all. He just wished he didn't feel like the odd man out these days.
Before he could say anything, though, the crew were ready for his coverage. Joy, their make-up artist, came by to touch up his face, and then he just needed to close his eyes and play a coma patient for the next ten minutes.
Once they were done, they broke for lunch and that meant Jeremy could detach from all the tubes and fake IV lines and get up. Greg had the more difficult job in this scene, hands down, but lying still for hours wasn't something Jeremy could consider a good time, either. He hissed as the muscles in his left leg cramped out in protest as he stood up.
"You want to grab lunch?" Greg asked, matching his slow pace as Jeremy tried to walk off the pain.
"Sure."
The craft service tent was buzzing with people, but after piling their plates with food, they managed to find places to sit in the back, with Jo, the assistant director, and Theo, one of the producers, on the other side. Before long, Chin and Tamara joined them as well, having just finished their green screen scenes.
With a production this big, the schedule was always hectic, but the re-shoots were just bizarre. They were Jeremy's least favorite part of shooting movies, though he'd learned to deal with them. At least he got to see his friends again. If not for the re-shoots, the gang would not come together until November, when the press tour would kick off and they were scheduled to spend a few weeks in each other's pockets. While he kept in touch with a few of them outside of work, there was no way to gather them all in one place until they were contractually obligated to be there and it had been planned for months in advance.
It was a miracle six of them managed to commit to the week away at the summer camp.
Speaking of which…
"Tamara, are you sure you won't be able to come to Falls?" Greg asked in a low voice. They'd managed to keep it under wraps so far and they wanted it to stay that way, if possible. The producers were likely to try and make a marketing stunt out of their vacations, and so were their respective agents. Aside from the core group of actors, only Greg's team knew the details, and that was because they had been the ones organizing their getaway last year for Greg and Sylvia's wedding. Back then, even the cast didn't know where they were going, they were only given time and place for a private jet to pick them up.
"Sadly, I can't." Tamara grimaced. "My father-in-law's sixtieth birthday isn't something I can miss, even if I wish I could."
Chin nodded. "I hear you. My father-in-law's seventieth gave me nightmares."
"Who's going, in the end?" she asked before picking up a cherry tomato and tossing it into her mouth.
"The three of us," Greg said, waving a hand between himself, Chin, and Jeremy, "Alicia, Danny, and Jess. Six couples, adults only, since all the parents are either sending their kids to summer camps or leaving the kids with their grandparents."
"The in-laws come in handy sometimes, after all," Chin joked. "I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that week."
"I can imagine," Tamara told him. "I'm taking Aaron and kids to Maldives right after the party and turning off the phone for two weeks." She turned to Jeremy. "Wait, six couples? Who is the lucky lady and where the hell were you hiding her?"
He took his time to swallow his food before answering. "She lives in New York."
"In New York, huh?" Tamara grinned. "So that's why you never complain when they send you there for an interview or something."
Jeremy shrugged. She was right, of course, but he didn't want to admit it.
"They met at the wedding last year," Greg chimed in, like the gossip that he was.
"Oh, really?" Tamara practically came out of her seat as she leaned closer. "And now you're bringing her to the camp again? Aww, that's romantic!"
"Thanks a lot," Jeremy told Greg, who grinned and shrugged.
"Hey, if you two met at my wedding, I must be allowed to at least get some mileage out of it."
"Wait, I think I remember her." Tamara tilted her head. "A redhead, right?"
He nodded. "Tara."
"Tara, yes. Damn, she was beautiful."
Still is, Jeremy thought, picturing the photo Tara had sent him last week. She'd been adamant about not sending him nudes, but she definitely knew how to tease.
"Looks like Jeremy agrees," Chin said with a snicker.
"Looks like Jeremy needs new friends," he fired back, but the other three only laughed.
"Come on, we're just joking." Tamara reached out to pat him on the shoulder. "The last single man standing in our group no longer single? That's big news."
Was he no longer single? Jeremy went back and forth on that, and while he hadn't dated anyone else in the last year, he couldn't say in all certainty that Tara and he were together. He wanted them to be, hence the invitation. But he didn't know what she wanted, or how she felt about putting a label on things.
Only one way to find out, he thought, but pushed it away.
"There's no news, okay? Nothing to share." They were all in the industry, so they knew how to be careful about what they said, but he still wanted to make it clear that this topic was not up for discussion anywhere a camera or a microphone could be.
"Sure thing, man," Chin told him, bumping his shoulder with his. "We got you."
Greg and Tamara nodded, and Jeremy relaxed. Yeah, they did. Six movies in, they all knew each other very well. They saw each other through weddings, babies, bad break-ups, one secret stunt in rehab they didn't talk about. They weren't all close in the same way, but Jeremy knew he could count on them to have his back. That closeness was one of the reasons why he felt like the odd one out now that the rest of them were usually busy with their partners or kids.
Maybe not for long now, he thought. Maybe.
***
Jeremy had the driver drop him off at his hotel, and he went straight to his room. The heat was off the charts today, even for Atlanta, and he longed for a shower.
He sighed in relief under the cool spray and just stood there for a few minutes, soaking and trying to quiet his brain. It had been another busy day, since they were trying to cram a lot of shooting into a single week, and he'd gone from a coma patient in the morning to doing fight stunts in the afternoon. To make things worse, that particular fight took place on a rooftop in daylight, which meant spending way too much time on said rooftop in his black gear, trying not to let his prop knives slip from his sweaty hands. And then he stumbled in one take, and earned himself a nice shine on the back of his shoulder.
He hissed as he rubbed the place now. He was going to live, he just needed a good night sleep in the air-conditioned room. And maybe he should schedule a massage tomorrow, since he was supposed to be free after four, instead of after nine like today.
After the shower and his skin care routine, he went to the bedroom, put on shorts and a t-shirt, and lay on the bed with his phone and laptop. He was in the middle of the fourth season of Peaky Blinders, and he wanted to watch an episode tonight, but first, he checked his email, sorted through the messages and responded to one from his agent that needed a quick reply. He promised himself he would call his mother tomorrow, but responding to her long email was not happening tonight.
The new email alert pinged and he smiled when he saw Tara's address. Earlier in the day, when he'd been on his way to the set, he saw a poster of the Illuminations, the show Tara had been in a couple years back that now had its run in Atlanta, and he sent her a photo, adding Thinking of you.
Now he opened her message to find a photo from the Times Square with a billboard for Collectibles that had Greg and him at the front with the caption: I can see you watching me ;)
He grabbed his phone. I would gladly watch you any day, he wrote and sent it off before overthinking it.<
br />
It took a while for her to respond, but right when Jeremy was about to open Netflix, his phone pinged.
Flattery will get you everywhere.
He grinned. I can think of a few places I'd like to get into…
I bet you do, she wrote back.
Then, You might be missed in those places.
Jeremy pictured her on her bed, hair spread on her pillow, as she bit her lip looking at the phone. He imagined her in her cute, sexy pajamas, consisting of shorts and a low-cut top, and he could feel his cock getting interested in the proceedings.
Might? My places definitely miss your places.
He rubbed his hand over his cock.
Take care of those places for me, then. I'm doing the same with mine. I've taken matters into my own hand, so to speak. ;)
Fuck. Now he was imagining her with her hand down her shorts, pleasuring herself. He followed her lead and, soon enough, he was pushing his hips into his grip and coming all over his hand as the images of Tara teasing herself, rubbing her clit over and over, brought him over the edge.
I took your advice, he wrote her after cleaning himself up. Thinking of you, still.
Likewise, she sent him, followed by a smiley face. Good night.
Good night.
Less than two months, he told himself, putting the phone away. Less than two months and we'll have a week together.
For now, he could only wait.
CHAPTER THREE
Tara sat in the backseat of a car and watched the scenery as she tried to pretend she wasn't almost bouncing off the wall with excitement. The last week had been hectic with all the things she needed to do before the time off, but she'd caught herself over and over daydreaming about spending a week with Jeremy again.
And finally, today was the day. A driver was waiting for her at the airport to take her to camp, and now here she was, less than fifteen minutes away from it.
