Player in Paradise

by Lewis, Rebecca

  “I’m scared to love you,” he whispers. “I’m scared to get too close.”

  “Don’t be. I’m not going anywhere.” I squeeze his knee and kiss his cheek.

  “No one’s ever said that to me and meant it,” he responds.

  “Well, I mean it.” I stare into his hazy blue eyes. “I care about you a lot, Austin.”

  He blinks a few times and I know it’s hard for him to sit here and talk to me like this. “I care about you too, more than you know.”

  My eyes sting as his lips urgently crash into mine. His fingers dig into my waist as he pulls me closer to his chest.

  I press myself against him so hard that I’m sure our bodies will meld into one and pray that he remembers all of this in the morning.

  Chapter Thirty

  The phone rings for our wake up call. Another early morning, but at least I get to wake up with a sexy tattooed guy in my bed.

  “Oh God, my head hurts,” Austin mumbles, rolling his body closer to mine and snuggling his head on my chest.

  “We have to get up,” I say, scratching my fingers in his messy hair. It’s soft and tangled and I twist my index finger through his waves.

  “My arm is killing me,” he states.

  “Please tell me you remember why,” I say with a lump in my throat.

  He scrunches his nose and closes his eyes. “Shit. I got a tattoo, didn’t I?” He rises from the mattress and runs over to the mirror, peeling down the bandage. “Damn, it looks sick.”

  “Yeah, real sick.”

  “What? You don’t like it?” he asks, strolling back toward the bed wearing only his boxer briefs.

  “No, I love it. It’s just a little surprising…that’s all.” Of course the one time I don’t escort him to dinner is when he goes off and acts irresponsibly.

  He stands in front of me with his arms crossed and stares down at the tattoo. “I wanted to fuck you so bad in that waterfall.”

  I shake my head and laugh.

  “Almost as bad I want you right now,” he continues, inching back toward the mattress.

  “No, there’s no time, we have to start getting ready,” I say, tossing my sheets off.

  “There’s always time for this.” He smirks and playfully pushes me back down.

  I fall onto the pillow and let him kiss my neck. “Just wondering…do you remember anything else about last night besides your tat?” I ask as he’s nearing my collarbone.

  He nods and moves his lips closer to my ear. “Yes, thank you for listening.”

  I take his face in my hands and kiss him hard. “Of course; and I meant what I said.”

  “Me too.” He nudges his pelvis into mine and raises an eyebrow. “Let’s make love.”

  “Well, when you say it like that…” I reply, cherishing the words, make love. I can’t resist his smile; and his bronzed, ripped abs call out for me to touch. I kiss him again and grind back into his hips. His mouth turns up as we kiss and I fall under his spell.

  Skin to skin, heartbeat to heartbeat, breath to breath – we match our movements perfectly as if we’re connected on another level. Our eye contact only breaks when the feeling is too good to keep them open.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  We arrive at a cozy restaurant in SoHo and are taken to a reserved table in a private room in the back. Austin’s wearing snug grey denim pants, a form-fitting white t-shirt and white Converse sneakers. His hair is swept under a black beanie, but a few strands fall loose around his forehead. Cassidy looks glamorous in dark skinny jeans, a red and white striped tank, and bright red lipstick. Her black Chanel sunglasses sit on top of her perfectly coiffed mane of long, blonde curls.

  “Austin, Cassidy, this is Karen White with Celebrity Culture Weekly,” I say, introducing them to the third journalist of the day. They stick out their hands to shake and I take food and drink orders for the table.

  Of course the journalist wants to hear more about their engagement details than Cassidy’s new movie or Austin’s upcoming roles. But I’m not worried – Cassidy takes the lead in the conversation, gushing to the reporter on just how romantic and spectacular that special evening was to the both of them. Austin smiles and nods while holding her hand on top of the table between their coffee cups.

  I should be listening to their conversation to make sure the right things are said, but after Cassidy mentions three kids and a dog, I can’t help but want to tune out. I’m sure at this point Austin probably wishes he had ordered straight whiskey instead of a beer.

  Karen is enthralled with every word they say and maintains a permanent smile on her face throughout the entire interview. I wonder if she’s acting too. I don’t think I could deal with Cassidy’s chatter about the cut, color and clarity of her diamond for more than five seconds.

  Celebrity Culture promised us the cover story for next week’s issue, and they’ve planned a photo shoot for the happy couple at a studio in Midtown Manhattan following the interview. We hop in our chauffeured SUV and head over to the shoot. Austin slides into the backseat with me while Cassidy sits with the reporter in front of us. He slips on his shades and lays his head back on the leather headrest. I poke his side. “Tired?”

  He half-smiles and places his hand on my thigh. “I guess you wore me out,” he whispers.

  “Shhh!” I hiss. Hello, there’s a member of the press sitting within ear shot!

  He smiles wider this time before placing his lips next to my ear. “I like making you squirm.”

  I lift his sunglasses and peer directly into his blazing blue irises. “I’m sitting next to the driver on the way back, asshole.”

  Tilting his lenses back down, he squeezes my thigh and chuckles.

  “What’s so funny back there?” Cassidy asks.

  “Nothing, nothing,” Austin responds.

  She turns back around and continues her conversation with Karen until we reach our destination. We enter the building and are led up to a giant room filled with a flurry of people. I’ve never been to a photo shoot, and it’s different than what I had imagined it would be like. Photographers, makeup artists, stylists, assistants, and other miscellaneous crew are bouncing around, setting up lights, backdrops, props, clothing choices and the like. There’s a large craft services table in the back with a spread of food and some couches and chairs.

  Cassidy heads straight to the table of jewelry and shoes, and one of the assistants turns on a stereo booming out Jay-Z music. Austin bobs his head up and down to the beat as he sticks his hands in his pockets. The editor for the photo shoot goes over the styles and set designs he has in mind. Cassidy wants to showcase her ring as much as possible and the photographer promises to make sure it’s highlighted.

  After the plans have been settled, I hang back and observe. As I load up a plate of strawberries, cheese and grapes, I’m shocked to see a certain someone walk through the doors. Tyler breezes through without bringing any attention to himself, and Cassidy does a perfect job of ignoring his presence even though I’m sure she was the one who invited him to come along.

  This could be my opportunity to snap a picture of them together, but I have a feeling they wouldn’t be dumb enough to do anything too risky in public. As soon as there’s a break in the shoot, I wave Austin over.

  “What’s up?” he asks, standing in front of me in an amazingly sexy fitted black tux. Excuse me while I wipe the drool from my mouth.

  I glance to the side and tilt my head back to the right. “That’s Tyler.”

  “Tyler, as in, Cassidy’s Tyler?”

  I shake my head up and down to confirm.

  “Holy shit.”

  “I know.”

  He traces his finger along his jaw line and looks up to the ceiling.

  I interrupt his thought process with a suggestion. “Should I try to follow them around and see if I can catch them doing anything?”

  “I think you should just confront him,” he states. “Just tell him you already have photos and information that you will leak to
the press unless he convinces Cassidy to break off the engagement and break up with me for good.”

  “Isn’t that blackmail?”

  “Maybe? Sort of? But, isn’t that what she’s doing too?”

  “Kinda…I guess.”

  I don’t feel comfortable about this at all, but what else can we do? At least we’re in a semi-public place so he won’t be able to freak out on me too much… “Ok, I guess it’s game time then.”

  “Good luck,” Austin says, squeezing my hand quickly. “I’ll try to keep Cassidy’s eyes away from wherever you guys are standing.”

  “Thanks.”

  Fuck…What did I just agree to?

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  I slowly walk toward the back corner of the room where Tyler is popping cheese and crackers into his mouth. What am I going to say? I’ve never bribed or blackmailed anyone in my life. Do I want to be the person who stoops to that level? What Cassidy did to me wasn’t fair, but does it justify getting her back?

  I run my fingers through my hair and take a deep breath. I’ve tried talking Cassidy out of this, and she’s hell bent on milking the engagement and wedding as long as possible with the press. If I don’t stop it now, it will be harder to make it end later on. And Austin’s right, there’s no way to get out of this without doing something drastic.

  I step closer to Tyler and he looks straight at me.

  “You look familiar…” he says.

  I smile. “Yeah, I think I saw you at the hotel earlier.”

  “Right, that was it. Do you work for the magazine?”

  “What I do isn’t important.” I try to make my voice as calm and clear as possible even though I’m shaking inside.

  “Ok…” he looks at me with an arched eyebrow now.

  “I know who you are and I need you to do something for me.”

  “Whoa, whoa, what do you mean you know who I am? Who the hell are you?”

  His voice raises and I motion for him to stay quiet. “You’re with Cassidy. Don’t try to deny it, I have photographic evidence and I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

  His face fades from tan and peachy to ghost-white. He places his food plate down on the table and steps closer to whisper. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I need you to convince Cassidy to break up with Austin. Or let him break up with her, it doesn’t matter who does it, as long as they aren’t together anymore.”

  “How am I supposed to do that? And why should I help you?”

  “You need to help me because I can ruin both of your lives in a matter of minutes. I have a multitude of media contacts who would love to get their hands on a story about Cassidy cheating on Austin. Her clean, wholesome image would go down the toilet in no time. I can see her losing fans and contracts as soon as the news hits the blogs.”

  “But why would you want to do that? What’s in it for you?” he asks, twisting his hands together anxiously. I’m doing it; I’m actually making him sweat.

  “It doesn’t matter what’s in it for me. Just do it.”

  I turn and walk away quickly to find the nearest bathroom. I’m about to have a panic attack -- I can feel my windpipe closing and my vision blur. I run in and turn on the sink, slapping my cheeks with the cold water. Rising, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I look the same, but I feel…different. My mother told me before I got on the plane to California that I can’t let Hollywood get a hold of me. I brushed it off; I never let anything or anyone get in my head before, but now…now I feel like I’m turning into one of them. The liars and the backstabbers who run around L.A. doing whatever they can to get ahead, no matter the consequences or who gets hurt in the end.

  I want to bolt out the door and run away from here, but I know I can’t. I’m working, and Austin needs me, and this is supposed to be fun. I exit the restroom and keep my distance from Tyler for the rest of the shoot. There’s enough commotion going on around us that I know he won’t make a scene.

  The photographer changes the tone of the shoot from high-fashion to laid-back, with Austin out of his tuxedo and into a pair of dark denim, a plain white tee and a black leather jacket. He lays on the ground with Cassidy snuggled in the crook of his shoulder, looking rocker-chic in a tight black dress, silver belt and an arm full of studded bracelets. The photographer directs him to place his hand in her mane of tousled blonde hair and she lays her arm across his chest. The scene makes my stomach churn, but if everything goes to plan, this could be Austin and Cassidy’s last ever photo shoot together.

  The shoot wraps and I wave Austin over as soon as he’s done changing. “We need to get out of here before Tyler talks to Cassidy, come on.”

  We rush outside and jump in the car to get back to the hotel. This was our last stop for the day, so Cassidy made her own plans back to wherever she’s headed.

  “How did it go?” Austin asks.

  “Well, I did it…I asked him to make sure Cassidy breaks up with you or else I’d share the photo of them together with the press.”

  “Thanks,” he says, turning his face to mine. “And I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “I wish I could have been the one to talk to him. I hate making you do something dirty like that. I wish you didn’t need to be brought into this mess.”

  I grab his hand and give his fingers a quick squeeze. “It’s fine. I had to do what I had to do.”

  He squeezes my hand back, tighter. “Thanks, and hopefully it will all be worth it.”

  “Yeah…hopefully.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  We order room service for dinner and relax in Austin’s expansive suite. “Come on, we’re getting out of here,” he says, grabbing my hand to pull me off the bed.

  “And where are we going?” I ask.

  “You need to experience New York City nightlife. It’s the best there is, even better than LA.”

  “But we can’t go out…together.”

  “Sure, we can. You’ll see.”

  “Alright, but let me get into something a little nicer.” I rush to my room and throw on a tight strapless black dress and studded peep-toe pumps that I packed just in case we were invited out somewhere fancy. I freshen up my makeup with another swipe of eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss, and knock on his door.

  Austin’s standing in the doorway, staring me up and down. “Wow,” he says under his breath.

  He looks impossibly sexy in his fitted jeans and black button-down shirt.

  “Come in for a sec,” he says.

  I step through the doorway and he pulls out a bottle of tequila and two shot glasses.

  “Oh no, no, no. We’re not getting out of control tonight, not in public.”

  “Just one shot,” he says, untwisting the cap.

  He fills up the glasses and hands me one. I begrudgingly accept and clink my glass to his. “To New York City,” he shouts before tossing his head back and swallowing it down.

  I follow his actions and wince as the liquid burns through my chest. He reaches for my hand as soon as my glass hits the table and pulls me in for a quick, yet intimate kiss. “I’m going to show you the best night of your life.”

  Red flashing lights go off in my head telling me to turn back around, but I follow him out the door and into a yellow cab.

  “Can you take us to Electricity?” Austin asks the driver.

  Electricity? One of the most exclusive clubs in NYC? Even though I’ve lived in L.A. for several months, I’ve never ventured into an established night club. Mandy and I tend to hang out in smaller bars and lounges…mostly because the cover charges at the clubs are outrageous and the lines to get in are even more insane.

  We exit the cab and Austin strolls right up to the bouncer at the front of the line who lets both of us in right away. So this it what feels like to have access to anything you want, anytime, anywhere…

  Austin grabs my hand as soon as we get inside the dimly-lit club. The décor and ambience is like something out of a rock music video – plush le
ather couches, gorgeous female fashion models milling around, and people ordering bottles of champagne like they’re bottles of water. The music is so loud that it’s vibrating through my body and Austin’s lips graze my ear when he speaks. It’s hard to hear a word he says, but before I know it, he’s handing me another drink and guzzling down one of his own.

  He moves his hips to the rhythm and wraps his arm around my waist. It’s so dark and crowded in here that I’m sure no one is watching us together. I let myself dance along to the music’s erratic beat. Austin leans down to touch his forehead to mine as we move together.

  “You’re my angel,” he says into my ear. “My sexy little angel.”

  I know I’m blushing, but thankfully he won’t be able to see it. I smile up at him and meet his lips with a forceful kiss. His tongue invades my mouth as my eyes close, and my stomach churns with excitement. Is it possible to fall in love this fast? Is it possible to feel like you’ve known someone for years even though you’ve only known them a few weeks?

  His large hands grab my ass, pushing me even closer to his body. I boldly slide my hand toward the front of his jeans and feel his arousal. We only just arrived at the club, but I already want to take him back to the hotel and get him into bed.

  He grabs my hand away and places it on his hard chest instead. “Uh, uh, uh.” He shakes his head. “You’ll get it later, don’t you worry.”

  As we head to the bar for another round of drinks, a few models try to stop him. Thankfully, his hand doesn’t drop from mine and he quickly nods them off as we walk by. He’s rejecting six-foot tall, exotic, hot as hell fashion models for me. For me! I still don’t understand why, but at this point I’ve stopped trying to figure it out. All that matters is that he wants me, and no one else.

  We continue toward the back of the room and Austin leads me down a staircase to an unmarked door with a burly security guard outside. The guard nods at Austin without saying a word and opens the door to let us in. It’s even darker in here, but just as loud, although the music is a little slower-paced than upstairs.