Heather had to work to keep her jaw from dropping. She’d expected Lexie to be shocked at the spanking bit, not clinging on to every word with excited eyes. “Um, well, after that we had sex.” She pulled the T-shirt over her head. “And then I kind of got bitchy and told him to leave.”
“Hmm.” Lexie tapped her chin with her finger, staring at Heather with that expression that said she knew there was more to the story.
Heather hated that expression. She also hated what Lexie was going to say next without even knowing what it was. It would probably be something wise. Or analytical.
Sure enough, after a few seconds Lexie asked, “Why do you think you did that?”
Heather groaned. This was the other reason she hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Because there would be all this emotional dissection, digging-to-the-heart-of-the-matter crap. She spent enough time trying to understand the characters she played. Did she really have to figure herself out too?
She stepped past Lexie again and threw herself on the bed.
Lexie followed, stretching out beside her. “Talk to me. You’ll feel better.”
Twisting so she was facing Lexie, Heather propped her head up on her hand. “It was just weird. I don’t know. The spanking and he was kind of bossy and stuff.”
“So he’s dominant. Did you not like it?”
“Actually, I really did.” She stifled a giggle, her cheeks flushing with the admission.
“Heather!” Lexie’s eyes widened with surprise. “Have you never gotten kinky before?”
The answer to that question was a definite no. The kinkiest she’d ever gotten was using a vibrator—with and without a boyfriend. Other than that, she was vanilla all the way. But it wasn’t because Heather had necessarily been opposed to kink. She’d just never had the opportunity. Despite the way she’d been with Seth, she made most men work to get with her. And even after they worked, they usually didn’t get the reward.
And the men that she did finally invite into her bed didn’t handle her as Seth had. “Most guys I’m with treat me like I’m…” She searched for the word, cringing when she realized what it was. “Like I’m a princess. Delicately. Like I’m precious or whatever.”
“You’ve never played it rough?” When Heather shook her head, Lexie sat up and slammed her hand down on the bed. “Heather! You’re thirty-three years old!”
“Twenty-nine.”
“I know your real age, you bitch. Don’t forget I fill out all your medical forms. I can’t believe you’re thirty-three years old and you’ve never had rough sex!”
“I haven’t. Well, I hadn’t.” Was that really unusual? She thought back over her exploits, searching for a clue that any of them had wanted to go into the kink territory. The truth was that even if they had, she would never have known. She was always the one calling the shots. “I guess I’ve always been particular. And kind of bossy. And maybe not very experimental.”
“Then honey, you’ve been missing out.” Almost a full ten years younger than Heather, Lexie seemed to know what she was talking about. “Or maybe you haven’t, if it wasn’t your thing.”
“That’s just it.” Heather sat up and wrapped her knees to her chest. “I think it was my thing. I think it is my thing. But I don’t want it to be my thing. And I don’t want Seth to be my guy.” Damn, she sounded whiney. But she’d always thought that she’d end up with a rich businessman or producer type. A guy like Patrick at MountFilms.
But maybe that wasn’t really who she wanted to be with, since Patrick, handsome as he was, didn’t turn her on in the least. Still, she wasn’t ready to say that Seth was the guy for her.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It reminds you too much of where you came from.” Lexie sat back on her knees. “But why? Did you know a trailer park carpenter that rubbed you the wrong way? Did you walk in on your parents spanking each other and now you’re forever traumatized?”
“God, no! I never saw my parents do…anything.” She shivered with the grossness of the idea. “And spanking…it just seems so…trashy.”
“What did you say?”
“Spanking seems trashy.”
“Are you kidding me?” Lexie fixed her with a pissed-off glare. “Heather, I try to put up with your ridiculousness, not just because you’re my employer, but because you’re my friend. But this…” She pointed abstractly to the air, as if the words Heather had said still hung there waiting to be exemplified. “This blatant show of ignorance on your part? That’s what I call white-trash. Spanking, playing rough, kinky sex—none of it is bad. Or wrong. Or trashy. It’s fun and sexy, even natural, if the participants are consensual. You’d be surprised the people who partake in it. People from all walks of life. Not just sweaty carpenters and people on a fixed-income. Believe me when I say this association you have with it is one hundred percent wrong.”
Heather leaned back, startled by Lexie’s outburst. “Whoa. I had no idea you’d take it so personally.”
“I’m sorry if it hurts your feelers,” Lexie said, not sounding the least bit sorry. “But I can’t sit by and listen to you bullshit about something you seem to have very little insight on.”
“Okay, okay.” Heather put her hands up as if to surrender. “I don’t know what I’m talking about. Obviously.”
“Thank you for admitting it.” Lexie’s shoulders relaxed. “I can point you to some good websites if you’re willing to educate yourself.”
“Fine.” Who knew Lexie was an expert in kink? It sort of made Heather uncomfortable, so she changed the subject. “And I don’t have anything against carpenters. I just always planned on being with a guy who was…better than that. A guy who could take care of me. That I’d be proud to be seen with.” Did she really just say that? She really did. She braced herself for another admonishment from Lexie.
But Lexie’s expression held more bewilderment than irritation. As if she’d just grasped something she’d never thought could possibly be true. “For someone from the wrong side of the tracks,” she said, “you’re a real snob.”
“I am. I hate that about myself.”
Lexie sat forward so her head was leaning on Heather’s knees. “Well, I love you no matter what. You know that, right?” Heather nodded. “But it sounds like you might be happier if you try to put the whole status thing behind you and enjoy being with a guy who gives you what you like.”
“I hear what you’re saying, and I want to. I do.” She choked back a fresh sob. “But I’ve already fucked it up with Seth. Big time.” The stupid tear slipped down her cheek anyway.
Lexie wiped at Heather’s tear. “Really? You can’t know that.”
That was certainly true. Seth hadn’t given her any indication that he was easy to scare off. In fact, she’d been nothing but a bitch to him since she met him and he kept on returning, time after time.
But there was still the issue of how he made her feel—all good and fucked up at the same time. “Even if he did give me another shot, I don’t know if I’d handle it any differently.”
“But you could try.” Lexie and her unswerving faith. How come Heather couldn’t believe in herself the way her friend did? She wasn’t naïve enough to not realize it might have something to do with her being Lexie’s employer. Still, Heather bet that even if she stopped paying her assistant, Lexie would continue to be on her side.
And friendship or not, paid assistant or not, maybe Lexie’s words could still be true. Heather thought about not seeing Seth again, thought about leaving things as they were. She’d be fine, like she always had been.
But then she thought about not keeping the status quo, thought about dumping her preconceived notions and her silly plan—a plan that really only involved her being as far from where she grew up as possible. A plan she’d already more than achieved.
And did having Seth in her life change that fact? No, it did not. The only thing Seth threatened to do to her life was make it more exciting. More fulfilling. Both of which would be welcome.
She bit her bottom lip and nodded.
“Yes. I could try,” she said. She would try to work things out with Seth. He might be more forgiving than she realized.
But it was a good thing the shoot had just begun. Because apologizing to Seth? She might need a few days to get up her courage.
Nine
Seth read the text message one more time before putting his phone back in his pocket. “Come to my trailer. H.” Well, at least she’d finally used his number. But after avoiding him for nearly ten days now, it seemed a like a whole lot of too little too late.
Of course, he wasn’t exactly innocent himself. He hadn’t been honest with her about who he was. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t feel just a little bit guilty. He had planned on telling her—almost did when he walked into her trailer. But then she’d been so worked up accusing him of stalking her and thinking she was pregnant and then they’d…well, he just didn’t get the chance.
“Something important?” Natalia asked, her silky smooth voice drawing him from his thoughts.
“Nah. It can wait.” For a minute he’d forgotten what he’d been doing before he received Heather’s text—namely, flirting with Natalia. He wasn’t into her, but she seemed to be into him. And it occupied his time on set, kept him from thinking about the actress he really wanted to be flirting with. So what was the harm?
“Then they’ll just put the fake glass in here?”
“What? Yeah.” But now his head was wrapped three ways around Heather and her message and he was stuck in the middle of showing Nat how he planned to attach the trick window that the stunt double would crash through the next day. As if Nat cared about the process. She simply wanted to be near him—he wasn’t a dummy. He just wasn’t interested in sweet and nice, and dyed-blond hair and fake, though attractive, breasts. He wanted the sassy authenticity that was all Heather.
Dammit.
Not that he was going to run off to Heather’s trailer just because she commanded him to. In fact, it was probably a good thing that Nat was there at the moment, because otherwise he might very well be tempted to do just that. And he was too pissed about his last interaction with Heather and the empty days that had followed to go running to her so quickly.
Except it sure did pique his curiosity—what was Heather up to? Whatever it was that she wanted, thoughts of his last visit to her trailer had him stiff in the pants . She’d been so wet for him, giving over to his commands with little hesitation, giving in to her own desires. She was so incredibly beautiful when she let herself go.
But he was beginning to doubt he’d ever see that again. That one time had proven too much for her. Good thing he still enjoyed building sets. He’d taken the job to be close to her, but except for that first day, the plan had backfired. It was a small cast and crew, but that woman knew how to stay out of sight when she wanted to. When she wasn’t filming, she made herself scarce, and he hadn’t ventured to the actors’ trailers. He wasn’t going out of his way to find her again. Yeah, he could play stubborn, too.
Seth lifted his drill—the same drill he’d lent to Heather for the plays—and screwed the last section of the false window frame into its place on the back of the set, angling himself so that Nat wouldn’t notice his semi. Wouldn’t that just bite if she assumed it was for her?
“How do they put a new piece of glass in? If the first take doesn’t work, I mean.” She had moved closer behind him, pressing up against him in a way that would drive him mad if it were another woman. The day’s shoot was over—didn’t Nat have something else she could be doing?
“It just slides into the grooves. Like the glass on a picture frame.”
“Oh, wow. That’s handy.” Nat giggled.
A giggling girl. How did he get himself into this situation?
A throat cleared behind them and Nat jumped away. Seth took his time putting his drill into his tool belt, examining the secureness of his work. He needed those extra few seconds to wipe the gratitude for his reclaimed personal space off his face before he could look to see the source of the interruption.
But by then, Nat had already announced who it was. “Heather.”
At the mention of her name, Seth turned toward the actress he’d been longing to see. He drank her in like a tall whisky—her eyes blazing with fury, arms crossed over her chest causing her boobs to perk nicely over the edge of her blue tank top. Her legs—it seemed almost unnatural for anyone to rock white skinny jeans like she did. Almost.
God, she was adorable like that—like a feisty little kitten. No wonder Nat’s usually sweet tone had noted a hint of female rivalry.
“You usually dart out of here after shoot,” Nat said next, twirling her hair around a finger, a habit that Seth guessed was subconscious. “Pretty much everyone else is gone. Whatcha doin’ around so late?”
The set was pretty deserted. He’d sent his own crew home twenty minutes ago, and the tech crew and other actors were long gone. Seth had stayed behind to make sure the set was ready for the next day. Nat, he assumed, had stayed to flirt with him. And Heather…had she also stayed for him?
His dick twitched at the idea.
Ignoring Nat, Heather kept her eyes fixed on Seth. “You were supposed to meet me.”
Seth let out a laugh. “I wasn’t supposed to do anything.” It was hilarious and infuriating the way she thought he’d jump at the snap of her fingers. But the jealousy he thought he saw behind her fury—that was hot. Definitely hot.
“My text said—”
He mirrored her stance. “I know what your text said. That didn’t mean I’d come running.”
Several long seconds passed as they tried to stare each other down. Or communicate silently. Or undress each other with their eyes. He wasn’t quite sure what the stand-off was supposed to accomplish, just that it felt good to finally be gazing at Heather again.
It would be better if they were alone.
Nat shuffled awkwardly next to him. There wasn’t any doubt that she was the third wheel in the scenario. “I, uh, guess that’s all to the windows, isn’t it, Seth?” Her eyes lifted as if she were waiting for an invitation to stay.
But Seth wanted her gone. Did that make him a major asshole? He didn’t care if it did. All he cared about was the vixen in front of him.
“Maybe you can show me more later?” Another man would have thought it endearing that Nat kept trying. He wasn’t that man.
“Yeah. Maybe later.” His eyes never left his target. Did Heather’s lip curl at his dismissal of her costar? Perhaps he should have made her sweat it a little, flirt more in front of her. Though he probably would have failed miserably at that. Heather was too much of a blissful distraction.
“See ya tomorrow,” Nat said on her way out.
“Uh huh.” That was the only acknowledgment Heather gave Nat. Except she did wait until Nat’s footsteps had faded into the distance before she went off on Seth. “You could have at least texted back that you were busy instead of leaving me waiting.”
He turned back to his work, pretending to do more on his already completed project. “I don’t respond to being summoned, princess.”
“I didn’t summon you.”
He raised a brow and glanced back at her. “Come to my trailer. That doesn’t sound like a summons to you?”
Heather’s bravado faltered only slightly. “Texting is about abbreviated conversation. That was the shortest I could manage. And the shoot was over for the day, I figured you’d be free. What else did you have to do?”
“Now you’re assuming you know my schedule.” He gathered up remnants of his project and tossed it into the scrap bucket at his side, not able to look at her any longer without wanting to jump her. Maybe he was playing hard to get.
“Well, I certainly didn’t figure you’d be seducing the next available blonde.”
“Jealous much?”
“No. Just…”
That vulnerability she hid so well peeked through. He couldn’t help himself; he took a step toward her. “Just what?”
Insecurity bubbled up
in the corners of her brown eyes. “How quickly you move on to another woman has an effect on my slut status.”
Was that what her hesitations were? Was she worried about being too promiscuous? “Heather, you are not a slut. Not in the least.”
“I don’t know how you can say that when we end up in a sexual position every time we’re together. Well, not now…”
“Not yet.”
“What?” The blush on her face said she heard him.
He took another step toward her, cocking his head. “Why did you summon me?”
“Not for what you’re thinking.”
She didn’t move away when he moved closer. “You sure about that?”
“Yes.”
Seth leaned an arm on the back of the set wall next to him, close enough now to touch her. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because you’re presumptuous.”
“I’m presumptuous?”
Her hands fell to her sides as she let out a huff of air. “You’re so damn infuriating. All you do is repeat what I say with a question at the end of it. I asked you to come to my trailer to apologize, you asshole.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” Wasn’t expecting that at all. It was an interesting development.
Her bottom lip caught between her teeth, drawing his focus to her mouth. What he wouldn’t give to have her lip between his teeth—or his lip between hers. He wasn’t particular.
Apologies led to lip biting, right? “What exactly were you going to apologize about? There are so many things that come to mind that you might be sorry for.”
“Touché.” A small smile settled on her lips. “For my behavior after…you know.” She lowered her eyes and took a deep breath. When she raised her eyes again, her expression was soft. “I had a really nice time, but I didn’t act like it. I’m sorry.”
He nodded, watching as she wrung her hands together in front of her. She was nervous. Damn if that didn’t turn him on even more. It almost made him not want to let her off the hook. But, today anyway, he’d be the nice guy. “Thank you. Your apology is appreciated.”
Star Struck (Hollywood Heat) Page 10
