It's Only Acting_A Secret Billionaire Romance

by Jackson Kane

  Tonight was a first for me in so many ways. It was my first party, the first time I'd ever snuck out of my house, and my first beer! I took a sip and nearly gagged, it was horrible. I'd always heard it was an acquired taste, something you'd grow into. I couldn't fathom growing into ever liking that.

  While scanning for a spot to discreetly dump the beer out I spotted Bastien, he was lounging on a couch by the in-ground pool. No one was swimming of course, it was too cold for that, but it was the perfect place for them to smoke.

  I slid the patio doors open, subdued my beaming smile and went over to him. He was surrounded by people as usual, but for the first time ever, I didn't care.

  “Hey, Bastien.” I said, trying not to cough as I entered the smoke cloud that surrounded them.

  “Olivia, fuck, you made it!” Bastien handed the joint he was smoking to someone else and wobbled to his feet. He looked ten times more messed up when he stood up. He went to give me a hug and half fell into me. “So glad you got over yourself and just fucking showed up. This is great, right?”

  “Yeah...” My confidence was beginning to falter at seeing him so wasted. I immediately had second thoughts about being here. He was the only reason I came to this stupid thing and I didn't know how much longer I could be around him in this condition.

  “You know, we've never fucked. We should really fuck.” Bastien laughed.

  I didn't know if he was joking, serious or just high, either way I didn't like this side of him. I tried to laugh it off, like everyone else. They were all too stoned or drunk to care how much of an asshole he was being.

  I wanted to be in his world, I reminded myself. This was part of that world, I guess.

  “Right here, right now, let's do it.” Bastien squeezed my ass.

  I shoved him off. Bastien crashed back into the couch and everyone laughed even harder.

  I didn't know what I expected, but it wasn't this. It really broke my heart.

  I'd hoped he'd ask me out or something eventually. I saw how stupid that hope was. This was such a mistake. Bastien was moving away soon, I should’ve realized that he was only out for a good time.

  He was just like the rest if his group, he didn't really give a shit about me.

  I turned and left, never wanting to see Bastien Kontos again.

  Present.

  “So, this is where you escaped to...” I found Bastien on the Jeter's balcony. His short, cropped hair waved slightly in the wind. He was watching the tide crash against the rocky Cape Cod shores. “Bash.”

  Bastien cocked his head and pulled the corner of his lip up like something smelled bad. “I guess I didn't escape far enough.”

  “Why didn't you tell me?” Why did it always feel like he was hiding something from me?

  “Tell you what, exactly?” He turned to me. “Hey, Olivia, remember when I disappeared? I spent my nights trying to beat other man half to death for money. How are you doing these days?” Then he looked away. “None of that shit matters anymore. Why should you care what I used to do?”

  He was right. Why should I care?

  Several long silent minutes slipped by. I had so many other questions. Where did you go? Why did you come back? But above all, only one has been burning in my mind every day like clockwork.

  Why did you leave me, Bastien?

  “I tried to hate you, you know. At first, right after you left. Then as the years passed, I just tried to forget you.”

  “How'd you do?”

  I chuckled defeated, then shrugged. The alcohol made all of this a little easier. “You're a hard man to forget.”

  Bastien paused for a moment, then looked hard into my eyes. “I knew,” he cleared his throat and continued. “I knew your dad was going to propose to Trish.”

  “What?” How could he have known? Trish and my father were on the school board and I knew they talked, but the engagement took me totally off guard.

  “Prom night after I dropped you off. Your father showed up at my house and told me.”

  “How...” I grabbed the railing for support, my head spun with so many questions.

  “That doesn't matter anymore,” Bastien evaded the coming question. “Listen, Olivia, I'm sorry for everything I put you through. I know it's a little late for bullshit apologies, but I've needed to tell you that for years.”

  I felt my heart swell, like a water balloon. My eyes opened as wide as possible to help fight back the tears. I never thought I'd hear those words, the acknowledgment of our wasted time apart. I hated that I still cared about an apology. I hated that he still had this crazy hold over me. I hated that I wanted to bury myself in him and forgive him.

  The old Olivia would've fallen into his big arms. I sniffed down the emotion and swallowed my tears. I wasn't that girl anymore. The wound he'd left me with had gone untreated for too many years and now it festered.

  I didn't know if I'd ever be able to forgive him.

  I stayed quiet, not knowing how to handle all of this. So much was different now.

  “This party sucks, Olivia. Let's get out of here.”

  “You're joking, right?” I laughed.

  “I can tell you don't enjoy this shit. I can see it in your eyes. I've watched you perform enough to know that you're just acting in there.” Bastien cocked his head inside.

  “Of course, I am. Everyone is.” I still couldn't look him in the eyes. “That's the game. Showbiz is all just a popularity contest. This is THE party to be at right now, everyone who's anyone is here. We're not leaving.”

  “Do you even like the films you do?”

  “What?” I was struck by the honesty in the question. The truth was that I didn’t, but I hoped to get better scripts soon. I didn’t feel the compulsion to explain myself and my motives to Bastien. “Do you have any idea how much my contracted rate is? I'm the highest paid actor in the young adult genre right now.”

  “And you don’t have access to any of that money. Besides, the Olivia I remember wouldn't have given one single fuck about your bank account. She wanted to act on a stage, doing important roles.” He stopped and fully articulated the next question. “Do you like what you do?”

  “Who the hell do you think you are?” I snapped. The words dripped with defensive venom. A righteous anger washed over me.

  “You want to know what happened to that Olivia?” I said. “The person she cared most for abandoned her. That stupid, naïve girl died of a broken heart. You don't like this version of me? Well, that's too damn bad, because you only have yourself to blame, asshole.”

  He eyed me with a measure of surprise, then simply said, “No.”

  Bastien pulled away from the railing and looked me over. I felt my angry resolve start to crack under his scrutinizing gaze.

  “I've made my mistakes and I have to live with those, but don't blame me for your life. I hurt you, but this...” He waved a hand at me, then snorted with disgust. “You could've been anything, and this is what you chose.”

  The venom dried up in my mouth, taking all my saliva with it. I know I had changed, but I didn't think I was all that different. I always wanted to be an actor, maybe not in the films I'd been getting lately, but those were stepping stones. The good roles were on the horizon.

  That's how you get the real dramatic roles!

  I watched as Bastien turned his back on me and walked back out to the parking lot, shoving aside anyone foolish enough to get in his way.

  Why was I so angry at him for apologizing to me? If I was in the right then why did I feel so awful?

  Did I really hate him now?

  No, I didn't hate Bastien, but I feared that I might have outgrown him.

  I sighed, finished my drink and set the empty glass down. I watched waves crash in the distance and remembered where he'd taken me on prom night. That was still, even after all these years, the best night of my whole life.

  We were such different people then.

  Chapter 8

  Bastien

  Past

&nbs
p; “Olive, wait up!” I ran across the snowy street to catch up with Olivia. It was the first time I'd been able to catch her since the party last weekend. She didn't even look over when I finally reached her; she was definitely still pissed at me.

  “What do you want, Bastien?” Olivia's tone was colder than the early winter air.

  “Listen, that party. I didn't think you'd show, so I said the hell with it and got all fucked up. And I—” Shit, why was this so hard? I never felt the need to apologize to anyone before, but knowing Olivia was mad at me had been eating me alive. It was all I thought about.

  “Ah, hell.” I grabbed her hand, stopping and turning her to face me. I took a short breath and just said it. “I'm sorry, Olivia. I was a real dick to you.”

  Her frozen frown melted a bit at the apology, but she wasn't as over it as I'd hoped. I'd really hurt her. She hadn't worn anything bold and attention grabbing since that party; I’d really fucked up her confidence.

  I was surprised at how shitty that made me feel.

  “I got you something,” I said, watching her blue eyes fill with cautious curiosity. I shrugged my bag off my shoulder and opened it.

  “Did you seriously steal me those gross beers from the party?”

  “Yeah, but that's for both of us—” I shot her a sly look. “After you forgive me.” She forced down a smile, but her softening eyes gave her away. “This is what I got you.”

  Behind the beer was a mismatched bouquet of obviously plucked—and slightly smushed—flowers. They were wrapped together in a few paper towels. I handed it to her and watched the last stubborn bit of anger fade from her face.

  “Where—How did you find fresh flowers in November?” Olivia was awestruck. I wished I could steal that look from her and keep it with me.

  “Blow off school with me today.” I held up my Dad's truck keys.

  “What? I can't do that!”

  “Why not? It's not like you're gonna miss anything. It's the day before Thanksgiving break, half the kids at school have already started vacation. Lenny has an in-ground Jacuzzi behind his guest house.”

  “Yeah, and?” Olivia was too innocent to make the connection. It was adorable.

  “He gave me the code to get in last night, riiiiiiiiight before he left for California with his family.” The corner of my mouth pitched into a mischievous smile.

  “You're crazy!” Olivia's eyes flashed, she laughed nervously.

  “I owe you a good first party experience, just you and me. No one will fuck with us, trust me.”

  “No way! I can't! I don't even have my swim suit.” Olivia resisted, but I could see that it sounded interesting to her. She just wanted to be convinced.

  “It's cool,” I gave her a look that promised her it was a good idea. I couldn't wait to see her soaking wet. “I made sure not to bring mine either.”

  Present.

  It was hours later when Olivia finally arrived at my car.

  My Rolls-Royce Ghost idled nearly silently next to all the other flashy sports cars and gaudy SUVs in the large mansion parking lot. With its smooth lines and diamond dust infused paintjob, it was by far the classiest ride at the party.

  She wanted me to play in her world?

  Fine by me.

  I had money to burn.

  Olivia eyed me skeptically when I originally picked her up in it. She recognized that the car was way out of the price range of a simple security guard. And at nearly half a million dollars she was right.

  I lied and told her it was a loan out from my employer, the owner of my security firm.

  Warily she let the issue drop, but I knew it was only a matter of time until she’d start prying again.

  Olivia looked exhausted from all the surface level conversation and social niceties. She opened the rear passenger door and slipped and fell into the back seat, like a fish that flopped out of its tank. “This car is ridiculous. It screams overcompensation-machine.”

  “You got it all backwards, Movie Star.” I squeezed the steering wheel tight enough for the leather to creak. White-hot power radiated from the engine, alluding to its pure, controlled performance when it was allowed to get going. “My massive cock is overcompensating for my car.”

  “Prove it,” Olivia muttered beneath her breath.

  She was bold when she was drunk.

  I was still mad at her, but that didn't make me want to tear that pussy up any less.

  “Say that again,” I dared her, meeting her gaze in the rear-view mirror. My eyes deepened. She bit her lip at the corner, and her chest spiked from holding her breath.

  Finally, she let it out, looked away and asked to be taken home. My balls ached at the denial of what I knew we both wanted. I would let it slide this time, but I couldn't restrain myself forever. Olivia walked a dangerous line with me.

  If she wasn't careful, I'd have her panties in my teeth.

  The leather-lined rear seats were designed to deliver a hot stone massage experience. When Olivia found those controls, she’d passed out before we left the neighborhood.

  The two-hour drive home left me a lot of time to cool off and think. Whatever the fuck this was, it wasn't healthy for either of us. Neither of us knew what we meant to each other anymore.

  Everything was so complicated now.

  Was all this just a dream? Did I really lose her for good all those years ago?

  It was time to try something a little crazy. I needed to see if the old Olivia, the one I thought about every day, was still in there somewhere.

  I took an old, familiar detour and found a number I hadn’t called since high school.

  A little over two and a half hours later, Olivia woke up when I threw the car into park and killed the engine.

  “This isn't my condo.” Olivia's voice was still groggy from the short nap and the alcohol. “Where are we?”

  I opened her door and held a hand for her to get out of the car. “Memory Lane.”

  She blinked as she tried to remember why this place looked so familiar to her. When it finally dawned on her that we were parked behind Lenny' guest house, her voice became a scolding whisper.

  “Are you crazy?” Olivia protested.

  Getting a hold of Lenny was admittedly tough; we hadn't kept in touch since I left school. Fortunately I had a small team of assistants on call twenty-four seven who made short work of finding his number. When they finally tracked him down he was working for his mother’s company in Japan. Lenny was a little reluctant at my request, but eventually agreed when I offered him enough money. I had my team transfer the funds and he texted me the password number.

  “We can't be here!” Olivia nervously glanced around.

  I ignored her and punched in the code. The display turned green and the gazebo door unlocked. A wave of warm, humid air cascaded over me as I walked in. The glass-walled gazebo had been painted since the last time we were here, but everything else was just as I remembered it.

  I left the main lights off and turned the Jacuzzi on.

  “Relax, there's no one here. You going to join me or you just wanna watch?” I peeled my tuxedo shirt off and tossed it in a heap, then unclasped the top hook of my pants, all the while never taking my eyes off her.

  “If I get caught—” Olivia started.

  “Did we get caught last time?” I asked, kicking off my shoes. For what I just I paid Lenny, I could’ve bought the house from him twice over, but there wasn’t any reason to let her know any of that.

  Olivia was too wound up, she needed a little thrill and adventure that didn’t come with a script.

  “We're adults now. Do you know how insane this is?” There should've been more hostility in her words, but I could see that she was remembering the last time we were here. The memory of the fun we had when we were kids sabotaged her current outrage.

  “Jesus, Olivia, when did you become such a prude?” Fully unzipped, my pants fell to the ground. Wearing just my boxers, I walked out of them and into the Jacuzzi. The water wasn't scorching ye
t, but it was definitely heating up fast. “Pull the stick out of your tight, little ass and get in the damn hot tub.”

  She glowered at my demands. “Just my feet,” she said eventually, closing the glass door behind her. There was a hesitant smirk on her lips. “And only for a few minutes then we’re leaving!”

  She put a towel on the cement edge, sat down and tested the hot water with a foot. I drank in her coo of pleasure from the bubbling water, and watched as she engulfed both of her legs to the knees. The minimal ambiance lighting played off her shimmering dress, making her almost look like a mermaid.

  “Not bad, right?” I sunk to my chest, letting the water soak and relax my muscles.

  Fuck I needed this.

  “It’s been a long time.” She dipped a few fingers in the water and brushing her fly-away hairs out of her eyes. “Earlier, on the balcony, I might have...” Her voice drifted off. “I was harsher than I wanted to be. It's just... It hurt a whole lot when you left and I've had a hard time dealing with you being gone.”

  “Your father made it very clear that I had to go.” I stood back up and walked toward her. “I ran as far as I could. I thought that I could outrun the memory of you.”

  Olivia looked up with eyes as big as saucers “Did you?”

  “The world wasn't big enough for that.”

  “It took you six years to figure that out?” Olivia blew out her air and dipped her head to gaze at my reflection in the pool of water.

  “You're oxygen to me, Olivia. Just because I can hold my breath a long time doesn't mean I don't eventually need to breathe.” I slid my hand through her hair and lifted her head with my thumb.

  Admitting all this was a terrible idea, but I couldn't help it. I was so strong in many ways, but Olivia always found a chink in that armor. Looking at her now, and seeing all the things I'd missed over the years, made my whole body ache like it had the end of prom night.

  “Six years, Bastien? I was seventeen. You should’ve come back so much sooner.” Olivia pulled her face away. “I don’t know what you expect out of all this, but you're too late. I'm a different person now.”