The heat from her mouth sent warmth trickling into my cold body, and she suddenly moaned into my mouth and roughly shoved me off her.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked. Her eyes looked like they were starting to water.
“Are you crying?”
“No! It’s just my contacts. The pool water is irritating them. I have to go,” she mumbled, paddling over to the edge before climbing out and storming away. She didn’t even stop to grab her towel and dry herself off.
“I’m sorry!” I called out after her.
Shit, what had I been thinking? I hadn’t meant to do it. She’d just been so close…her luscious lips had been right there, and everything had disappeared from my brain all of a sudden. All I’d been able to think of was touching her, kissing her, pulling her closer and closer.
I was lucky it was so late and everyone else was asleep. If her father had come out and seen me accosting his daughter like that, I very much doubted he’d have been as forgiving of my behavior as he always had been in the past. I guess it was even luckier that he had no idea about what had happened between me and Lucy before he married my Mom. If he’d known I’d taken his only daughter’s virginity and then ditched her, he’d probably have killed me the second he found out.
The kiss just then had been a mistake.
It wasn’t going to happen again.
CHAPTER SIX
LUCY
Please, please…go away.
No matter how much I willed myself to stop thinking about the kiss, I couldn’t. I’d been trying to convince myself that it was some sort of hallucination, and if I kept my eyes closed long enough, it would all vanish right back into oblivion as soon as sleep came. Instead, I’d barely slept a wink all night, and the images had replayed in my mind, over and over.
Patrick’s strong arms around me. Pool water dripping down our hair and faces as our lips met. A fire igniting deep inside me despite the goose bumps on my cold skin.
Each second of that moment was burned into my mind, and I groaned as I remembered how I hadn’t fought him at first. As much as I hated him, my mind seemed to have dropped into insanity as soon as his lips pressed down on mine. I hadn’t felt like that in what seemed like forever, and it had taken me almost a full thirty seconds to realize what was happening and push him away.
Make it disappear.
Stupid brain. I couldn’t be thinking about this. I had a boyfriend, and the guilt would eat me alive. Patrick had kissed me, not the other way around, but I hadn’t exactly stopped it as soon as I could have.
Maybe I had some sort of complex. Maybe I was so mentally messed up that only bad, wrong things could turn me on and make me feel alive. Why else would my body have responded so quickly to Patrick’s touch?
It didn’t matter how much I tried to deny it. I’d liked it. I’d melted at the taste of his sweet mouth and the way his tongue explored me, declaring his lust for me. The thought of his hard chest pressing against mine made shivers run through my body despite the warmth of my bed, and I sat up and rubbed my eyes before padding into the bathroom to take a shower. I had a lot of work to do today, and dwelling on last night’s forbidden kiss wasn’t going to help matters at all.
The worst part was that I had to see Patrick and be with him most of the day, and then for the rest of it I had to plan out things to help fix his media image, so he’d constantly be on my mind whether I liked it or not.
Changing Patrick’s image from bad boy to good guy wasn’t going to be an overnight process. It had to be seen as a slowly-evolving, organic kind of process, otherwise it would seem like we were faking it all for the media (which we kind of were, but that was beside the point). People weren’t that stupid. They could sniff out a fake celebrity personality change a mile away. The trick was to start out with a few little things – a couple of charity events here and there, some happy snaps with kids, less partying…that kind of stuff. Then we’d build it up even further until everyone had all but forgotten his past image and come to view him as a decent guy who’d matured past his earlier stages and grown into an upstanding citizen - as upstanding a citizen as a Hollywood celebrity could be, anyway.
I anticipated that it would help his acting career progress in the long haul, if that was what he wanted. People went crazy over the whole bad boy thing for a while, but it never lasted. If an actor wanted a long-term career, then he needed to be able to take on serious roles, and those sorts of roles very rarely went to tattooed douchebags with a seedy reputation.
Today I was going to be watching him on the Six Angels set while he shot some scenes, and after that I was taking him to a blood donation center. I’d arranged for some photographers to be there to take some candid shots while he donated blood, and the rest of the afternoon I’d be brainstorming with him to come up with more ideas to help his image. He still didn’t seem too happy about any of it, but I was hoping our chat in the pool last night had gotten through to him a bit.
The pool. Dammit. I was thinking about it again.
As I dried myself off and got dressed for the day, I gave Claire a call. I figured if I spoke to her about what had happened, I’d be able to stop myself from thinking about it and driving myself crazy.
Her reaction was about what I expected.
“Patrick did what? You’re going to have to repeat that, because it sounded like you just said he kissed you last night.”
I looked in the bathroom mirror and swiped on some mascara as I replied. “You heard me right. He kissed me.”
“What the effing hell? That slimy prick. What is his problem? He’s done nothing but treat you like shit, and then he just randomly kisses you out of nowhere?” she said.
Wow. She sounded even angrier and more confused than I felt. I guess I wasn’t overreacting.
“I know. It was so weird. I don’t even know what to think.”
“He knows he’s technically your family, right? And he knows you’re seeing Jimmy?” she asked.
“Yes. But honestly, I think it might kinda be my fault. He asked me about Jimmy when we were swimming, and I sort of gave him a negative vibe about the whole thing.”
“That isn’t your fault. Jimmy is a bit of a douche - no offence - but just because you might’ve mentioned that to Patrick, it doesn’t mean he gets a free pass to launch himself on you like that.”
“I guess. Speaking of Jimmy, I haven’t even heard from him in like…almost a week now. Isn’t that weird?” I said. “I mean, maybe he’s sick or something. I don’t know. He could at least text me back.”
Claire was silent for a moment, and I pressed her. “Claire? Do you know something?”
I heard her sigh on the other end of the line. “Oh, Lucy, I didn’t want to bring this up because it could have been perfectly innocent. I figured I was probably just reading too much into things.”
“What is it?” I asked, my breath hitching in my throat.
“I saw Jimmy two days ago. He was having dinner with someone. It was probably just a friend. That’s why I didn’t mention it to you, because I didn’t want to upset you if it was nothing. But…I don’t know. Maybe it was something.”
“A friend? What sort of friend?”
She sighed again. “A friend of the female variety.”
“Jimmy doesn’t have any female friends,” I replied. “None that he’s ever mentioned to me, anyway.”
“Well, maybe it was a cousin or something.”
“Do you take your cousins out to dinner?” I asked, wrinkling my nose in the mirror.
“Um. No. But some people might.”
She sounded about as convinced as I was.
“Well, I guess I’ll be having a chat with him soon,” I said, gritting my teeth.
I didn’t know why I was even annoyed at Jimmy for possibly seeing another girl behind my back. I’d let Patrick kiss me for a few seconds last night before pushing him away, and then I’d spent almost the whole night thinking about him. Then again, I hadn’t planned for it to
happen. I hadn’t wanted it to happen. If Jimmy was seeing someone behind my back, then that was a bit of a different story. It meant he’d actually wanted it, planned it and gone out of his way to do it.
I still felt guilty as hell, though.
“I’m so sorry, Lucy. I should’ve told you sooner,” Claire said.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. I get why you didn’t tell me.”
As I brushed my hair, I remembered something. “Oh, by the way, speaking of weird things happening last night, something else happened too.”
“What?”
“When Patrick went back into the house, I swear I heard someone else skulking around the yard. It was really creepy. It was probably just an animal, but I couldn’t shake this feeling that someone was right there outside, creeping around.”
Goose bumps populated my arms as I filled her in. I’d completely forgotten about it till now in all my angst about Patrick, but when it had happened last night, it had really creeped me out.
“Oh, god…that would’ve been freaky. Did you call the cops?” she asked, her voice tinged with concern.
“No. Like I said, it was probably just an animal of some sort. Plus I don’t see how someone would get in. Hardly anyone has the security codes to get past the gate without being buzzed in. There’s us, our housekeeper, and a few maintenance guys. I think that’s pretty much it.”
“Hm. It was probably just a cat, but be careful. You never know. If it happens again, call the cops.”
“I will. Gotta go. Talk to you soon.”
I headed out of the guesthouse to find Patrick lounging against his car, and my heart skipped a beat as I looked at him.
“Finally ready to go, huh? I’ve only been waiting for about ten years,” he said, barely looking at me.
“Not all of us wake up looking like a perfect ten,” I replied, opening the passenger door and climbing in. He snickered but didn’t respond.
I’d thought it would be really awkward being around him after what had occurred last night, but he was back to being a dick, and somehow that comforted me and made it a lot easier to cope with. It made me feel like things were back to normal. Perhaps we could both pretend nothing had happened at all, and everything would be okay.
“Um, what time does filming start?” I asked, trying to make conversation. Of course I sounded awkward as hell.
“In two hours,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the road. “But we’ve all gotta get dressed and get makeup done. I really should’ve been there earlier.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I hardly got any sleep, so it took me ages to get ready. I feel like a sloth.”
“It’s okay. Same with me,” he replied. He didn’t elaborate as to why he hadn’t slept much, and I didn’t press him.
We arrived at the set forty-five minutes later, and I yawned as I followed Patrick into a large building. Lighting and camera staff, makeup artists, and all other kinds of studio workers were milling around, and a harried looking red-haired woman rushed over to us.
“There you are! We need to get you into wardrobe right now!”
Patrick gave her a lazy smile and held his hands up. “Calm down, Pam, it’ll be all right. Nice dress, by the way. Makes your eyes pop.”
She rolled her eyes and gave me a half-hearted smile. “You’re the sister, right? Is he always so charming?”
“He wishes,” I said.
She laughed and then scurried off with Patrick, and I wandered over to the craft service table to grab a coffee. I sat down and watched the general goings-on for a while, and Patrick returned twenty minutes later, looking even hotter than usual in a pair of black designer jeans and a plain white T-shirt which accentuated his rippling muscles. Damn, even in such a boring, average outfit, he still managed to look like a supermodel. His hair had been artfully ruffled to look like he’d just rolled out of bed, although to be fair, he looked like that most of the time anyway.
“Hey Lucy, do you wanna meet my costars before we start shooting?” he asked, nodding towards a couple of actresses who were standing to the side, snacking on muffins.
One was petite with brown hair which had been scraped into a tight bun, and the other was tall and slim with a long, flowing black mane. I mentally nicknamed the taller one ‘Femme Fatale’. She looked like she’d be more at home on a James Bond movie set, not the set of Six Angels.
“Sure.”
He called them over to me, and the shorter girl smiled. “What’s up?”
“I wanted you to meet my stepsister,” Patrick said, motioning towards me. I noticed he put a lot of emphasis on the ‘sister’ part of the word ‘stepsister’, as if he were trying to convince himself and everyone around him that we were family and nothing more.
“Lucy, this is Ana Fontenot. She plays Dana Greer in the show,” he continued, pointing to the shorter girl before looking at the taller one. “And this is Lexie Greyson. She plays Dana’s sister, Lucy Greer.”
“Nice to meet you guys. Lexie, I can give you tips on playing a Lucy, if you want,” I joked.
Both actresses grinned at me, but only Ana’s smile seemed genuine.
“So how come you’re here?” Ana asked. “Come to watch your brother in action?”
“Something like that,” I said.
“She’s here to keep an eye on me and make sure I don’t do anything too wild,” Patrick said.
“Oh, so you’re kinda like…his assistant?” Lexie said, her emerald green eyes trained on me as she looked me up and down. “Would you mind, like, picking up my dry-cleaning? My assistant called in sick.”
I didn’t miss the bitchiness in her tone, but I chose to ignore it. This was L.A. There were divas on every corner, and after being subjected to bitches all throughout high school, I’d become accustomed to it.
“No, I’m not an assistant. Sorry,” I said, keeping my voice cool. I was barely standing up for myself, but it still felt good to shut her down in somewhat of a manner, however small it may have been. Back in high school, I wouldn’t have been able to manage that at all.
“Even if she was my assistant, it wouldn’t be her job to do your dirty work,” Patrick said with a grin. He was speaking in a lighthearted way, but Lexie rolled her eyes and walked away.
Ana gave us a rueful smile. “She hasn’t had any coffee yet,” she said. “Don’t mind her. Anyway, we better get over there.”
She nodded towards a large stage which had been decorated to look like the interior of a house, and Patrick looked at me.
“I’ll try not to shoot up any heroin or stab anyone while we’re shooting,” he said.
“Funny,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “Off you go.”
I yawned and sat down again as the director called out cues.
“Okay, guys, you know the script. Patrick, you’re standing there with Ana…no, to the left a bit. Yep, that’s good. You’ve just come home from your first secret date, and you go in for a brief kiss while you think everyone else is out. Then Lexie, you enter from the right and catch them in the act. Got it?”
The cameras began rolling, and I watched with fascination as Patrick got into character. It was strange to watch him playing a nervous, innocent high school kid. It wasn’t like he had any experience in that department. He’d been an alpha dog from day one.
“Chris…I had a really good time at the lake today,” Ana said, widening her eyes and looking up at Patrick.
“Me too,” he replied. “Dana…I…I just…”
He leaned in and pecked her on the lips, and Lexie came out of a fake door and walked onto the stage to ‘catch’ them.
She gasped. “Dana! Oh my…”
And then Patrick went off script.
He pulled away from Ana, walked right over to Lexie and grabbed both sides of her head with his hands before tilting her face upwards for a passionate kiss. She murmured softly in surprise and let it happen, and I could see their tongues entwining all the way over from my seat.
“Cut!” the direct
or yelled as they finally broke away from each other. “Patrick, what the heck do you think you’re doing? Chris was only meant to kiss Dana, not Lucy!”
Patrick smirked and looked right over at me as he answered the director.
“Sorry, Merv,” he said. “I just really felt like kissing Lucy…”
CHAPTER SEVEN
LUCY
I felt my face turn bright red. No one else in the studio seemed to have noticed, but the way Patrick had just emphasized the word ‘Lucy’ made it very obvious to me what he was up to. He hadn’t forgotten about our little interlude last night. He’d just been biding his time to play more stupid games with me.
I turned away from the stage and focused very intensely on a blueberry Danish while the filming continued. I didn’t want to look at Patrick. I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I knew that all the strange, confused feelings from last night would come rushing back in a torrent of craziness.
I’d been exhausted earlier over lack of sleep, but now I was heady with energy. I felt like running, kicking, punching…but that wasn’t my job. My job was to sit here and wait for Patrick to finish his scenes.
When it was finally over, we barely spoke. I had no idea what to say to him, and for once in his life, he didn’t seem to have anything to say either. We hopped in his car, and I directed him to the nearest Red Cross blood donation center.
“So we’ll just go in, donate blood, and act all casual,” I said. “Make it seem like you’re a little shocked when the photographers see you. That way it isn’t obvious that we set this up.”
He rolled his eyes and delicately pressed his foot down on the gas pedal. “You know, I have donated blood of my own accord before.”
“You have?”
“Yeah. If you don’t believe me, I have a card in my wallet to prove it. AB-negative, sweetheart.”
He glanced over at me for a second before continuing. “I’m not as shitty as you make me out to be. I do help people sometimes. I’ve just kept it quiet before now.”
Trick - A Stepbrother Romance Page 6
