Con Man

by Amy Brent

  I could’ve lost myself in her sounds and scents yet again, and something deep within the pit of my gut tugged. It tugged so hard it made me dizzy, and for a second, I had to sit down on the edge of my bed.

  What the hell had this woman done to me?

  Lacey slept for about an hour before I heard her calling out for me. I came out of my office and made my way to the couch. Before I could even sit down beside her, the question I feared was coming slipped from between her tired lips.

  “Can Bridget be my new mommy?”

  But the answer I gave her shocked me just as much as the question she had just asked.

  “We’ll see, sweetheart. I’d have to talk to Bridget about that first.”

  What? Talk to her about it? You don’t fucking talk to someone about that shit. What was I supposed to do? Just go up to her tomorrow morning and ask her over coffee if she wanted to be my daughter’s mother? What the fuck kind of hole was I digging for myself?

  Lacey jumped into my lap and wrapped her arms around me, and that was when I actually got to thinking about her question. What if Bridget became a mother figure to Lacey? What if things worked out, and she was around to be there for both myself and my daughter? I could see us going on weekend vacations to that same beach spot, reliving that day for the rest of our lives. I could see us getting ready together for date nights and protecting her whenever we went out from the bombardment of cameras. I could see us lying together at night after basking in one another’s bodies, panting and sweating while the two of us stared into each other’s eyes.

  I could see all of that with her, and I wasn’t cringing away from it.

  I actually found myself wanting it.

  “Promise you’ll talk to her, Daddy?” Lacey asked.

  And as she leaned up and looked me in my eyes, I smiled and planted a small kiss to the tip of her button nose.

  “Promise promise, kiddo.”

  Chapter 25

  Bridget

  I woke up feeling on top of the world. The sun was brighter, the air was sweeter, and all the colors of the world seemed to be that much richer. I’d dreamed of Thomas all night, of that smile that fluttered my stomach and his body that undulated my hips. He peppered my dreams with smiles and salacious thoughts, and I knew the moment I saw him I’d throw myself at him in utter happiness and pull him as close as I could get him.

  I was up early again that morning, smiling and greeting the day by throwing back my curtains. Thomas would be here any second, and I was ready to throw my arms around him. I’d missed him more than I figured I would, and the idea of him spending his days with me as my bodyguard now simply became more time I could spend with him in general.

  And I loved it.

  I heard the door open just as I set a pot of coffee on the table, and I took off down the hallway. I threw myself into Thomas’s arms and wrapped my legs around him, planting my lips upon his in a heated, lively kiss. Our tongues battled for dominance while he shut the front door with his foot, and when we both pulled back for air, a massive smile graced his lips.

  “Well, good morning to you, too,” he said.

  “I missed you last night.”

  “I missed you, too, actually.”

  “How’s Lacey?” I asked.

  “She’s good. Missing you, too.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep,” he said, grinning.

  I looked into his eyes and saw a kindness I’d come to know in the past few days. His stare sparkled with delight while his hands cupped my ass, and his feet began walking us toward the kitchen when the smell of coffee decided to finally make its way down.

  “I thought the coffee was my job,” he said.

  “I figured I’d surprise you this morning.”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I think I’m holding a pretty good surprise here.”

  His hands played with my ass cheeks, and I giggled into his shoulder, relishing in his touch before he set me down on the edge of the table. He smelled like fresh rain and dew drops, the calm after a raging storm, and his hands slid to my hips while I buried my nose into the crook of his neck.

  “What’s on the agenda for today?” he asked.

  “I have to stay later on the set tonight.”

  “I’ll give my mom a call in the car and let her know.”

  “God, I missed you,” I said breathlessly.

  He tilted my head back up to his gaze before capturing my lips in a soft, sweet kiss. I felt myself melt into him, his strength overtaking me while his arms slipped around my waist. It was easy to give into him, like my body had already been hardwired to know exactly what to do when I met this exact version of this exact man. I smiled against his lips, giggling at the touch of his scruff against my face, and he smiled before he turned his head and looked over at the clock.

  “Looks like we’ll have to take our coffee to-go,” he said.

  “I guess we shouldn’t be late. That would look bad, I guess.”

  “Maybe just a tad,” he said, grinning.

  When we got to set, everything seemed to go fine. There was a lot to do, including intricate makeup and costumes for the building scenes, but the director got a wild hair up his ass the last two hours we were there. He scrapped the ending scene we were supposed to be filming today and decided to take advantage of how innocent I looked without all my makeup on.

  So, he switched to us doing the one intimate scene I had with my co-star.

  Every single time we shot it, I just couldn’t get into it. Every time my co-star kissed me, all I could do was compare it to Thomas. Every single piece of skin I felt on his body didn’t feel like Thomas. His hips didn’t move like Thomas, and his eyes didn’t look like Thomas. At one point, I’m pretty sure I said Thomas’s name, trying to get into it, and I saw my co-star’s eyes bulge. The one thing you usually never had to do in Hollywood was envision another person having sex with, other than the mass of beauty that was with you in bed for a scene. That was the thing about Hollywood. You only did sex scenes if people wanted to actually envision you having sex on a screen.

  But when the director called cut for the ninth time, I could hear the agitation in his voice.

  “Meyers! Whatever’s going on in that head needs to turn around. We aren’t leaving for the night until you can get it together. Did you just fucking call him Thomas?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Just give me a few minutes.”

  My co-star was sitting on the bed while my eyes scanned the room. I looked for Thomas, begging him to come rescue me and tell me what to do, and the moment he burst from the shadows, he had the cheekiest grin on his face. I went over to him and sighed, sinking my body into his chest while he wrapped his arms around me, but I could tell he was proud of the gaff that just happened on set.

  “Talk to me,” he said.

  “He’s not you,” I said. “That’s about it.”

  “It’s not just that. What’s going on? This is your last scene, and you usually nail those so you can get home.”

  “It’s just…”

  I looked up into his eyes and suddenly realized how awkward this was. I’d just come from lying in bed, practically naked, with another man, and having to do a sex scene with a man I’d just spent the day with yesterday seemed weird.

  “I think you being here is making it weird,” I admitted.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. It just makes it feel wrong. Like, I’m doing this scene with someone who’s not you, and you’re watching and I just feel like—”

  “Like you’re cheating?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, it’s just acting. I know you don’t mean it, and I know you guys aren’t actually having sex. You’re pretending. That’s what you do, Bridget. And now, thanks to that last scene, I know who you’re actually thinking about.”

  “I’m not gonna live that down, am I?” I asked.

  “Nope,” he said, leaning down into my ear. “But I bet I could make y
ou say it louder.”

  He pressed small, light kisses to my ear as the hair on the back of my neck began to stand on end. My nipples puckered as his lips trailed down my neck, and the nip he left on my collarbone made me spill into the sheer panties that were separating myself from my co-star.

  “Just think of what I’m gonna do to you when I get you home,” he murmured. “Wrap this scene up, and let me take what’s mine.”

  I cleared my throat before I headed back to set, and the scene went perfectly. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Thomas’s face planted between my legs. Every time I kissed my co-star, I felt Thomas’s lips instead of his. Every time my hips undulated into my coworker’s, thoughts of Thomas’s promise sank deep into me instead, and once the director called cut on the tenth take, I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “Holy shit, finally, Bridget. Whatever the hell you just did, do it for every fucking scene, all right? We’re done, everyone! Go the hell home!”

  “Really?” I asked. “That was good?”

  “Honey, whatever the fuck your inspiration just was, bring it to set and use it every day. We’d be done weeks in advance if we could shoot every scene like that.”

  And in the corner of the room, I could see the smirk on Thomas’s face.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.

  I got out of the bed and went back into the dressing room to get changed. I emerged fifteen minutes later with anticipation coursing through my veins. Thomas’s promise hung heavily on my head, and I could feel my puckered nipples brushing against my bra. A hand came down onto my arm and pulled me against the wall. The moment I hit the solid mass in front of me, I knew exactly who it was. My lips crashed into his neck, biting and nipping at his warm skin while his hands ran up my shirt and along my bare back. His hands slid down the back of my pants to cup my ass while my teeth moved to nip at his earlobe, causing a groan to ricochet up his throat and peel from his mouth.

  “Let’s get you home,” he said.

  The entire ride home was spent making out in the back of the car. My neck was peppered in red marks from his teeth, and his hands were palming my tits through my bra. I shoved his coat off his shoulders and worked his tie from around his neck, wanting to get to that broad chest so I could plant my hands on his taut muscles. His heat radiated against me as I felt his cock bulging against my leg, and the only thing I could think was how I wanted to sink to my knees in this car, pull his dick out, and suck him dry until nothing but my name slipped from his lips.

  But we pulled up to the house before I could undo his belt buckle, so he simply pulled me from the car and urged me toward the house.

  “The things I’m gonna fucking do to your body are ridiculous, Thomas.”

  My eyes fell upon a note taped to my door, the same note Thomas’s eyes were fixated on. He ripped it down before I watched his eyes widen. Then I took it from between his fingers and read it myself.

  I know who you are and I’m going to tell the world.

  In that very instant, my entire life melted away. I lost the strength and security I had possessed mere seconds ago in the confines of my car. It unraveled and fluttered away in the wind, leaving my body cold and shaking on my porch. The sentence was scrawled in terrible handwriting, and the note wasn’t signed. My blood ran cold and chilled me to my bone as I read that sentence over and over and over again.

  “Oh, my god,” I said breathlessly.

  “Bridget. Let’s get you inside. It’s not safe.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Who the fuck did you tell?”

  “Bridget, what are you talking about?”

  “I asked you a question, Mr. Jeffries!”

  My vision was trembling, and my head was pounding. My world was spinning, and my legs were shaking. I grabbed the doorknob and threw my door open, stumbling into my home as Thomas reached out to grab me.

  But I shoved him away and backed straight into a wall.

  “Who. The fuck. Did you tell?”

  “Bridget, I didn’t tell anyone,” he said.

  “You’re the only person who knows, other than my agent! And she’s kept that fucking secret for years. Hell, she’s the reason I have the fucking secret in the first place!”

  “Bridget, I swear to you,” he said. “I told no one.”

  “You’re the only other option,” I said breathlessly. My heart was pounding, taking my breath away with every searing beat it pumped against my rib cage. I could feel it rattling my bones, threatening to burst forth from my chest and lay in a shriveling mess on the ground.

  “I trusted you,” I said.

  “Bridget, listen to what I’m telling you.”

  “I trusted you!” I roared. I lunged forward and pushed his chest, shoving him toward the door while he grabbed at my wrists.

  “Bridget, just listen.”

  “Get out,” I said.

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “I said get out!”

  I opened the front door and shoved him onto the porch before I slammed the door in his face. With one written sentence on a grimy piece of paper, my entire world had fallen apart. The man’s face that I’d used only an hour ago to nail an intimate sex scene between myself and my co-star, suddenly became the target of all the anger I’d held in my life toward this situation. I balled up the note and threw it into the corner.

  “What the fuck is happening?” I shrieked.

  I had to call my agent, and I had to do it now. We had to get out in front of this before someone really did go to the press and ruin my career.

  And I didn’t need my bullshit bodyguard to do any of it.

  Chapter 26

  Thomas

  I won’t need my backstabbing bodyguard today. Enjoy the day off, Mr. Jeffries.

  The text message I woke up to from Bridget cut me like a knife. I hadn’t gotten any sleep last night after I told my mother I would pick Lacey up and take her to school from her place. I needed the night to think through things and process what had just happened, and I didn’t want my daughter to see me like that.

  How the hell could she possibly think I would’ve told anyone? I brought her around my daughter, for fuck’s sake. That was a massive thing for me, especially with how Lacey took to her, and I would never do anything to jeopardize that. Lacey thought the world of Bridget, and it would be hard enough trying to explain to her why Bridget’s name wasn’t actually Bridget. Did she actually think I’d make things any more complicated for my daughter?

  Or her?

  I immediately called her phone after reading that message, and it sent me directly to her voicemail. I hung up and called again, only for it to ring once and shoot to the same voicemail I’d heard seconds ago. She wasn’t going to pick up the phone for me, and I couldn't approach her home without making her angrier. But at this point, she was leaving me no choice. If someone knew her secret and knew enough about her to know where she lived in order to leave that note, then she was in danger.

  And everything inside of me screamed to keep her out of harm’s way.

  I took a long shower and got dressed before I headed to get Lacey. She was tired from staying up late with Nannie and Papa last night, which meant I’d be in for an easy night with her. She probably wouldn’t get through dinner before she would be ready to crash, and with everything that was happening with Bridget and I right now, that was probably for the best.

  After all, Lacey was growing into a very perceptive individual, and I didn’t need her worrying about some woman that had come into our lives. Not after the perfect day she had with her only a few days earlier.

  “I love you, Daddy,” she said.

  “I love you, too, sweetheart. Have a wonderful day at school, okay?”

  “Okay. Tell Bridget I said ‘hi’!”

  “I will, sweetheart. I promise.”

  I gave her a huge hug before I sent her off to school, and the only thought running
through my head was how in the world I was going to fulfill this promise I’d just made my daughter. A part of me wanted to use that as an excuse to see if I could track down Bridget, but a part of me knew I already had an excuse.

  Someone out there was threatening her, and I was her bodyguard.

  When Lacey gave me one last wave, I decided to go against her wishes. I waved at my daughter before her teacher took her hand and led her around the corner. Then I hopped into my car and peeled out of the school parking lot. I needed to get to Bridget and explain to her the type of trouble she was in, whether or not she believed I didn’t tell anyone.

  Which I didn’t.

  I raced to her house, but when I got there, no one was home. Bernie’s car wasn’t there, and all the lights were off, but I ran up and banged on the door anyway before using my key to get in. I cleared every single room and every single corner before I raced to the movie set. I skidded around corners and ran through yellow lights, rehearsing exactly what I would tell her whenever I got there. I’d have to say what I wanted to say in a short time, because if she was this angry, she would surely shut down on me and not listen to a word I had to say.