“Well, she can’t guarantee it, of course,” Naomi admitted. “And I wouldn’t have believed her if she’d tried. But I never saw a problem with our studio in Royal.”
“Seems to work fine,” he agreed.
“And the crew are very professional. Even the interns from the college know what they’re doing.” She’d already made these arguments to Tamara. Gone over them time and time again by herself after the meeting, too. But it didn’t change anything.
“They do.”
“She said,” Naomi added after a long minute, “that at first, they’d want to do the taping here. In Hollywood.”
He went still. “So you’d have to live here.”
“That was part of it, yes.” She looked at him again and tried to read what he was thinking. But except for the flash in his eyes, his features were cool, blank. “They would, in theory, tape a short season all at once, so I’d have to be here in California for at least a few weeks.”
“Weeks.” He nodded thoughtfully but didn’t say anything else.
Seconds ticked past into minutes, and still the quiet between them grew. Naomi’s own mind was racing, going over the meeting again, what living in California for weeks at a time might mean to her. To Toby. The baby. There were too many questions and too few answers.
“This is Hollywood, Toby,” she said a little wistfully. “They’re the experts. And this chance, it’s what I’ve been aiming for.”
“Sounds like you got it.” No inflection to his voice, giving no clue to what he was thinking.
“I don’t know,” she said softly. What was more, she didn’t know if she wanted it anymore.
Yes, LA was exciting. Hollywood had such cachet, deserved or not. Even their hotel, the Chateau Marmont, was a legend in a town filled with them. Movie stars as far back as the ’20s had stayed in this hotel, and it was as if their spirits remained, because the hotel felt...out of time somehow. The stars still flocked here—movie stars, TV actors, singers all flocked to this place, this city.
Dreams were born, lived...or died, all in this one city.
And Naomi didn’t know anymore if she wanted what was offered here. “This all comes back to Maverick’s video,” she mused, shaking her head at the irony of having something she hated be at the base of what could be the realization of her dreams.
“Well,” she amended, “I guess it was more about how we handled the video than the video itself. That’s what caught her attention, really. Tamara said she liked how we turned it around, used that video to spark more changes on the show...”
“Not we, Naomi,” Toby said softly. “You. You did it. You faced Maverick down, took that ugly video of his and made it work for you.”
She smiled to herself and pulled a lock of windblown hair from across her eyes. “You know, I really did. But, Toby, without you I don’t think I could have. You’re the one who helped me see that hiding wasn’t the answer. You were right there. Standing with me. Helping me. You gave my baby a father.”
His eyes darkened, swirled with emotions that flashed past too quickly for her to read. And suddenly, she didn’t care what he was thinking, feeling. Right now all she knew was what she felt.
“Ever since we kissed,” she said softly, sliding her hand along the railing until she found his and covered it with her own. “I’ve been thinking about more.”
“Me too.” He looked down at their joined hands, then into her eyes.
“That no-sex line you talked about?” she said, despite the tightness in her throat, the galloping of her heart. “The one you said we shouldn’t cross?”
“Yeah?” His eyes darkened again. A muscle in his jaw twitched.
“I want to cross it.”
“Me too.” Toby reached for her, and she went to him eagerly. He pulled her in close, locked his arms around her and kissed her with a raging hunger that shattered every last thread of control she might have clung to.
Naomi lifted her arms to hook around his neck and held him to her as his mouth took hers. Their tongues tangled together in a silent dance of passion that sent tingles of expectation skittering through her veins. Better even than the kiss that had filled her dreams for days, this one promised more than just a few minutes of heat. This kiss promised an inferno to come, and Naomi readily jumped into the flames.
She lost herself in the wonder of the moment, of having him touch her, hold her, kiss her. For days she’d been hoping to feel this again. For days she’d watched him try to keep a safe distance between them. And now at last, the wall separating them was coming down in a rush.
His hands swept up and down her back, and Naomi wanted to peel out of her sleeveless sunshine-yellow dress. She wanted his hands on her skin—those strong, rough hands that showed such gentleness. She wanted all of him against her, inside her.
He tore his mouth from hers, and for one horrible second, Naomi thought he was going to pull away from her again. To back off from what was happening. Breath catching in her lungs, heart pounding in her chest, she looked up at him and knew she needn’t have worried.
“That’s it,” he muttered thickly and bent to scoop her up into his arms.
“Toby!”
“Quiet,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “We’re too far gone to stop now, Naomi. I swear I will stop, though, if you say no,” he added. “So don’t say no.”
She shook her head, cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand. “I’m not. I’m saying hurry up.”
“That’s my girl.”
Eight
He marched through the living area and straight into the big bedroom. There were two in the penthouse suite, and last night they’d been in those separate rooms. Not tonight, though, Naomi thought. Tonight, things would change. He walked to the wide bed, reached down and tugged the silky gray duvet off and let it slide to the floor. Then he set Naomi on her feet but kept a firm grip on her as if half-afraid she’d disappear if he stopped touching her. But she wasn’t going anywhere.
Naomi turned in his grasp, pulled her hair to one side and said softly, “Help me with the zipper?”
He did, his fingertips trailing along her spine as the material fell open. She shivered when he bent to kiss the base of her neck, and an instant later, her dress was sliding off her body to lie on the floor like a puddle of sunlight. Wearing just her cream-colored bra and panties and a pair of three-inch taupe heels, she stood in front of him, letting him look his fill.
She was a little nervous, because her body was so different now. Naomi had been so careful for so long, counting every calorie, watching every bite, but since Toby’s proposal, he’d been coaxing her to eat more. Now Naomi was rounder, fuller, and the mound of the baby was distinct enough that she actually thought to cover it with her hands.
He stopped her, though, holding her hands in his and tugging them aside. “No, don’t hide from me.” Shaking his head, he let his gaze sweep over her, top to toe and back again. A slow smile curved his mouth. “You make a hell of a picture, Naomi.”
What she saw in his eyes made her feel beautiful. Desirable. She released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding and reached for the buttons of his shirt. Then she pulled the tie from around his neck and tossed it onto a nearby chair. “You’re wearing too many clothes,” she whispered.
“Yeah, we can take care of that.” He did. In what felt like a blink, he was undressed, laying her back on the bed and covering her with his body.
She sighed at the first contact of skin to skin. God, it felt good. Right. The cool sheets at her back, Toby’s hot skin against the front of her. Sensations swarmed inside her, and she fought to breathe past the rush of them.
She smoothed her palms across the broad expanse of his chest, and he hissed in a breath in reaction. Naomi smiled, loving how much he was affected by her. Knowing that he was as swept away as sh
e was. She rubbed her thumbs across his flat nipples until he groaned deeply, then dipped his head to take one of her hard nipples into his mouth.
Her smile slipped away, lost in the rising tide of heat enveloping her. His tongue swirled across her sensitive skin, and he ran the edge of his teeth across her nipple as well. Naomi moaned softly and arched her back, moving into him. When he suckled at her, she whispered his name, threaded her fingers through his hair and held him to her.
She didn’t ever want him to stop. Naomi’s eyes closed on a wave of heat swamping her senses. She’d never known anything like this before. The feel of his mouth on her was incredible, and when he ran one hand down the length of her body, she shivered. His hands, so scarred and callused from years of hard work, touched her skin with a rough tenderness that left her breathless.
He lifted his head, and she nearly whimpered at the loss of his mouth against her breast. But she stared up into his eyes and felt herself falling into that churning aqua sea of sensations. How had she gone so long, never knowing what they could create together? Never knowing what it felt like to have his hands on her skin?
“I’ve wanted this for a while now, Naomi,” he whispered, stroking one hand across her breasts, down her rib cage. “But you’ve gotta be sure.”
She actually laughed a little, to think that he was giving her a way out this time. But no, they were through turning from each other. For tonight, for now, all that was important was the two of them. She didn’t even want to think about tomorrow, but there was one thing she had to reassure herself on.
“I’m absolutely sure. But, Toby—” She paused and took his face between her palms. “Remember what we promised each other. No matter what else happens, we stay friends.”
“Honey, right now I’m feeling real friendly.” He grinned, took her mouth in a long kiss that had her insides melting into a puddle, then said, “Yeah. Friends. Always.”
She nodded, because she was too full of emotions to speak. Naomi couldn’t even identify everything she was feeling. All she knew was that in this moment in time, she was right where she wanted to be. But neither of them needed words right now. All they needed was to feel. To explore. Experience.
As if he heard her thoughts, he slid one hand down her body to stop over the curve of the baby she carried. Naomi went perfectly still, wondering what he would do, what he was thinking. Pregnant women couldn’t be very alluring, right?
“Stop thinking,” he ordered in a hush.
“What?”
“You’re worrying. About how you look, of all things.” Toby shook his head as his gaze met hers. “Can’t you tell that I think you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen?”
“Toby—”
He smoothed his hand across her baby bump, then bent to kiss both her and the child within. There was so much tenderness in the action, in his eyes, that in that instant, Naomi was lost. Her heart filled to bursting, she felt the sting of tears in her eyes and impatiently brushed them away. She wanted nothing to blur this image of him. Instead, she etched it into her heart and mind so she’d never forget.
He looked up at her, his eyes shining, and all she could think was that she loved him. Beyond friendship, beyond sense, beyond anything. Naomi was in love with Toby. With her best friend.
When had it happened? Had it always been inside her, just waiting to be recognized? And what was she supposed to do about this realization now? If Toby knew what she was feeling, he’d pull away again, and Naomi knew she wouldn’t be able to stand that. So she’d hide what she felt. Keep it locked up inside her so she wouldn’t have the pain of seeing him turn from her.
Reaching for him, she stroked her fingers over Toby’s cheek, then across his lips, defining them with the lightest of touches. There was so much she wanted to say to him and couldn’t.
Finally, though, when she was sure her voice wouldn’t break, she said only, “You’re going to make me cry.”
“Oh, no,” he assured her, giving her a slow smile and a wicked wink. “I’m going to make you scream.”
“Promises, promises,” she said, keeping it light, not wanting him to guess at what she’d just discovered.
“I always keep my word,” he reminded her, then shifted his hand down to cup her center.
Naomi gasped and instinctively lifted her hips, rocking into his touch, wanting more, needing more. And he gave it to her. His thumb caressed that one sensitive spot while he speared two fingers into her heat. Within and without, Naomi felt on fire. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see actual flames licking at the mattress beneath her.
She grabbed at his shoulders, her fingers flexing to hold on as gentle exploration gave way to desperation.
He kissed her, touched her, lavished attention on Naomi’s breasts, her neck, her inner thighs, driving her wild with a kind of need she’d never known before. She’d never thought of herself as particularly sexual, but right now her body was pleading for release and the only man who could give it to her was bent on drawing out the torture of expectation.
“You smell so damn good,” Toby whispered against her throat. “Your scent stays with me everywhere I go.” He kissed her neck, licking, tasting. “You’re there in my sleep, Naomi. I can’t shake you.”
“Then stop trying to,” she told him, and he lifted his head to look at her.
“Yeah,” he said, “I’m done with that. You’re here to stay.”
One breathless second passed, then two before he kissed her, taking her mouth in a celebration of need and passion. God, she wanted to drink him in, drown in him and what he was making her feel. She couldn’t touch him enough. Hair, face, shoulders, back. She loved the feel of his muscles shifting beneath her palms.
Then he moved to kneel in front of her, and Naomi held her breath as he entered her. One long, slow thrust and he claimed everything she was, and she sighed as a shiver slid through her body. Lifting her legs, she wrapped them around him and pulled him deeper, higher.
His body moved in hers, in a rhythm that moved faster and faster. She groaned, sighed, at the luscious feel of his hard length taking her so completely. Silently, he offered her more, demanded the same. He looked down into her eyes, and she couldn’t have looked away from that heated stare if it meant her life.
Anticipation coiled in the pit of her stomach as tension settled even deeper within. Naomi moved with him, racing to match his rhythm, rushing toward whatever was waiting for her. Always before, sex had been a quick bout of stress release. A subtle pop of pleasure that had left her mildly satisfied and silently wondering what all the big fuss was about.
Then she found out. His fingertips stroked her core while his body moved in hers, and she shattered, clawing at his back, whimpering his name through a throat so tight air could barely pass. Mind spinning, she held on to him and rode the pulsing flashes of brightness that seemed to blind her.
“Toby!” Her hips were still rocking with the force of that climax, and before she had time to adjust, to understand, he was pushing her past that pleasure to a place she’d never been before.
Her body felt raw, too sensitive, too everything, but Toby was relentless. “I can’t,” she whispered, shaking her head, looking up at him. “I mean, I already—”
“Again,” he said tightly and drove himself deep inside her. He lifted her hips, tossed her legs over his shoulder and went even deeper than he had been.
Naomi wouldn’t have thought it possible, but while her body was still quivering from the most amazing climax she’d ever experienced, she felt it preparing for another. She could barely breathe and didn’t care. Her head tipped back into the mattress as her hands reached for his thighs. She was lifted so high she had no way to match his movements. She was at his mercy, and he was showing none.
Naomi had never been so at the mercy of her own body. She’d never known the kind of ove
rwhelming sensations that were taking her over. Had never been so out of control with a man. Never let any man take her over as Toby was doing. And she hadn’t even guessed that her body could feel so much.
He was unstoppable. Indefatigable. His hips were like pistons, pumping into her, pushing her past all boundaries, all restrictions. Naomi stared up at him, licked her lips and knew that nothing would ever be the same again. Not after this. Not after Toby.
“Come on, Naomi,” he whispered, voice low. “Let me watch you fly. Let go, Naomi. Just let go.”
“I am, Toby,” she said breathlessly, as her heels dug into his back. He was battering away the last of her defenses. Tension clawed at her. That first orgasm was as good as forgotten in her body’s rush to claim another.
“Now, Naomi,” he whispered, his big hands holding her bottom, squeezing soft flesh, giving her one more sensation to add to the mix. “Come now.”
She laughed a little, but the sound came out as a sob for air. Her hands slapped at the sheets, clutching the fabric as if looking for a way to hold herself in place. “You’re not giving me a choice. I feel—”
“Look at me,” he said, and she heard the fight for control in his voice.
She opened her eyes, met his, and while their gazes were locked, he pushed her over the edge of desire into a completion that was so foreign to her that she was lost in the sweeping tide of it. Naomi stared into those aqua eyes as her world rocked and her body splintered. She screamed, unable to stop the wild rush of release as it grabbed her and shook her down to the bone.
Naomi watched him, lost in those eyes, as her body, still trembling, held on to his and cradled him as he let himself go.
When he collapsed on top of her, Naomi held him tightly. Their hearts raced in tandem, their bodies quaking as if they were shipwrecked survivors clinging to each other for safety. But it was so much more than that.
He rolled to one side, taking her with him, and Naomi laid her head on his chest, listening to the steadying beat of his heart. Loving him was going to be hard, she knew, but there was nothing she could do about it. He was in her heart forever. And she would never, for as long as she lived, forget what they’d shared here tonight. On the night she knew she loved him.
A Texas-Sized Secret Page 11
