by Morgan
“Really?”
Shaunna could hear the surprise and disbelief in David’s voice. It was clear to her that he wasn’t yet aware how that one photograph had made the entire entertainment world take notice of him. He was completely ignorant of how close to worldwide fame he really was. Shaunna made a mental note to contact Nathan the next morning about finding David some representation from the studio.
“It’s the truth. I’ve been working on this all day, and I’m afraid it will be late tonight before I’m finally done. Michelle’s had to work such long and difficult hours this week that we haven’t had a chance to get together and discuss our strategy. Just so you know, I’m being as vague and discreet as possible about the whole thing. We’ve found that denying things like this, even if it’s the truth, just sprinkles more blood in the water. It’s a fine line to walk, but my intentions are to protect you both.”
“Do you think I need protection?”
Shaunna smirked. “You should always use protection, David.”
“I’ll try to remember that.” David’s chuckling was low and sexy. “So, you haven’t talked to Michelle at all today?”
“Not really. Why?”
David didn’t know what to say. Hell, he didn’t even know what to think. Michelle had inferred to a room full of their peers (and Kyle) that they were an item. Now Shaunna was mounting a public campaign to address the rumor that amounted to a “no comment.” Essentially, anyone could take that to mean whatever they wanted it to. He could see things were going to get worse before they got better, but with Shaunna recovering from her arrest and her banishment from the set, David decided to let it go for the time being. Rather than launching into all the ugly details of the day, he opted to simply summarize.
“I wanted to see how she was doing. Kyle was a dick.”
“What else is new? He didn’t make her cry, did he?”
“No,” David said firmly, then gently added, “I wouldn’t let him.”
“You protected her,” Shaunna said simply. “You see, we all need someone to watch out for us, and you, my friend, are being watched by a lot of people right now.”
“In that case, I’d better get back to the gym to work on my lats and my glutes.”
“What are lats anyway?”
He didn’t hesitate to answer. “I don’t know.”
He was so fun and so willing to be himself around her. It made her trust him. Just talking with him made her feel better.
“I have an idea. Why don’t you come join me here, and we’ll order room service?”
“Really? That would be great. What time?”
“Whenever. Now’s fine if you’re ready.”
“Sure. I’ll need to call Alix and let her off the hook.”
“Okay, break it gently. See you in a few minutes.”
After their meal, a decent tri-tip with garlic mashed potatoes and white chocolate cheesecake, neither David nor Shaunna felt in a hurry to leave one another’s company. Shaunna returned her attention to her laptop while David stretched himself across the sofa to watch television.
The programming was lacking, and he finally settled for a marathon of Pawn Stars. But the usually entertaining Chumlee was no distraction from the beautiful woman who sat a few feet away. As the minutes ticked by, David found himself watching Shaunna much more than the History Channel.
He was fascinated by the curve of her shoulder as it rose up to her bare neck. Shaunna’s hair was wrapped up in a loose knot, and a few strands of her dark brown tresses had escaped to rest lightly against her skin. She mostly sat still while she worked, but would move her head slightly whenever she paused to think.
To his immense enjoyment, Shaunna twice stretched by raising her arms into the air before placing her hands on the back of her neck. She then slowly slid her delicate fingers upward to massage the muscles until she reached her hairline.
David silently cursed that he could only see her from behind, knowing full well that the side view would provide him the glory of watching her back arch…and her chest expand outward.
He wasn’t sure how long he had been watching her. It could have been mere minutes, but it felt like a blissful eternity. He was completely drawn to her, and without thinking, he rose silently from the sofa and approached her chair. When he was close enough to touch her, David extended just one finger to slide ever so gently down the back of her neck.
Shaunna paused her typing upon feeling David’s touch, but did not tense. He took it as encouragement to continue. His finger trailed a path carefully down to the neckline of her T-shirt and then reversed course, slowly but surely upward. When his finger found a lock of her hair and began drifting through it, Shaunna sighed and broke the silence.
“That feels nice.” She closed her eyes as she spoke.
“Yes? I’m glad.” Without warning, David lowered his head. When he spoke again, this time in a whisper, Shaunna realized his lips were barely hovering above her skin. “May I?”
Shaunna merely nodded her acquiescence, too dazed to speak.
David brushed his lips across the skin of her neck, but didn’t linger.
Shaunna breathed her contentment, and David happily returned his mouth to her skin. This time, his kisses were more solid and aggressive. He was thoroughly enjoying his exploration of this alluring part of her body. When he unpredictably moaned his pleasure, Shaunna felt a jolt of desire ripple through her.
She was awed by his intense devotion, but she also felt guilty that he was standing so awkwardly, bending forward to reach her.
“You can’t be very comfortable,” Shauna suggested with a throaty giggle. She felt his smile against her neck.
“You’d be surprised.”
As David continued to dapple her with sensual kisses, she turned her head minutely. Her brow arched flirtatiously.
“We can move this elsewhere.”
This time, it was David who paused. “Is that what you want, Shaunna?”
She nodded and rose up from her chair as he took a step backward. He wasn’t entirely sure what he had started with her, but he was more than willing to allow her to set the pace for the evening. He was grateful when she reached out to take his hand and led him toward her king-sized bed. When they reached it, she sat down on the edge and pulled David’s hand so that he sat down next to her. Their fingers were entwined, and both of them fell quiet as they settled in with a nervous anticipation.
“Should I go back to my room for a condom?” David whispered, as though he was sitting next to her in a library.
“You don’t need to. I’ve been on the pill since I was eighteen.” After a moment, she added, “Even though I haven’t had a boyfriend since I was twenty-five.”
David allowed only a few seconds to drift silently by before he leaned toward her and touched his mouth to Shaunna’s. One brief kiss swiftly led to another longer one. On their third kiss, Shaunna fully opened herself to David, welcoming his tongue to connect with hers. As she allowed her body to recline fully into the mattress, she pulled him down on top of her.
Shaunna hadn’t been kissed in a while, but there was no denying what an exceptional kisser David was. His mouth melded perfectly to hers, exerting just enough pressure against her lips to indicate his true desire, and he moved his tongue gently, yet insistently around hers.
She never wanted the kiss to end, and David seemed to read her thoughts perfectly.
In a sign of encouragement, Shaunna slid her fingers just underneath the waistline of David’s jeans and boxer briefs, resting them on the bare skin of his hips. She delighted in the feel of him under her touch and was intensely aware of his every muscle as David’s body began to rock gently against hers in response. Through their clothes, she could feel David’s arousal.
She hated to break their kiss, but there was something she wanted so much in that moment. Shaunna couldn’t stop herself from requesting it.
“Take your shirt off, David.”
He complied quickly and efficiently,
doing so with just one hand before they began kissing again. Shaunna’s fingers glided deliciously over his back, and she recalled the image of him from the first night they swam together. At the time, Shaunna thought things were never going to get any better than that with the handsome, yet humble actor.
Being wrong had never felt so good.
Shaunna was distracted from her inner reflections when she felt David’s hand drift along the side of her left breast. His fingers were initially timid as he began to touch her, waiting for any hint of discouragement. When he received none, David began lightly caressing her, coaxing Shaunna’s body to respond to him. When it became clear that she had no objection to his touch, David slid his hand down and then up inside her shirt. Shaunna was not wearing a bra, something David had noticed over dinner. He groaned his admiration, and she broke their kiss again to make a second request.
“Take my shirt off, David.”
He immediately obeyed her, pulling them both up from the bed and swiftly freeing the material from her slender body. He took in the glorious sight of Shaunna’s naked breasts for the first time. Shaunna watched David’s face carefully and realized that no man had ever taken the time to gaze at her in such a way. She blushed as nervousness and desire flooded through her.
“They’re not much, I’m afraid.”
He blinked and focused his blazing eyes on hers. “You’re breathtaking.”
She swallowed reflexively and bashfully whispered her thanks.
David reached out for Shaunna and pulled her hair tie free. As her hair flowed over her shoulders, he swept his fingers through it with care and consideration. She felt herself relax under his loving touch, his efforts inspiring a pleasurable tingling throughout her core.
David waited until Shaunna pulled his head closer to hers and the two resumed their kissing, taking the time to bask in one another’s touch. When their bare chests came into contact for the first time, they stared deeply into each other’s eyes as they relished the feeling of their bodies pressed together.
Their bliss was suddenly interrupted by the ringtone of Shaunna’s iPhone. She recognized it immediately: “More Human Than Human.” It was the ringtone she had assigned to Nathan. She grimaced.
“I’m so sorry, David. I have to answer that.”
He nodded and reluctantly released her from his embrace.
Shaunna crawled off the bed. Although she didn’t cover herself back up, she turned her back to David as she picked up the phone and answered Nathan’s call.
“Hello.” She fought to keep her greeting as neutral-sounding as possible.
“Shaunna. We need to talk.”
Although she was eager to get off the phone and return to David, there was no denying the tension in Nathan’s tone. “Sure. What’s the matter?”
“We need to set up a meeting first thing in the morning. I need to know how you’re going to handle the whole David/Michelle thing with the media. The last thing I need is a constant swarm of paps trying to get the money shot of those two.”
Shaunna felt relief that the bulk of their conversation could be delayed until the following day, so she didn’t bother to point out there really was nothing to the whole David/Michelle thing. “I’ve been working on it all day, but I agree that we should meet. Do you want Michelle present?”
“I’ll leave that up to you. But after the way they were acting this morning, I don’t want to leave anything up to chance. It’s difficult enough to manage Kyle without him being focused on Michelle doing David in her off time.”
Shaunna felt confused by Nathan’s severe reaction to the photograph and presumptive story. They’d all been in the business long enough to know that tabloids made false assumptions all the time when it came to celebrities.
“It was just one picture, Nathan. This will all go away soon.”
“Shaunna. I know you’re not on-set anymore, and so maybe you’re not completely in the loop yet, but after what I saw and heard this morning, there’s no doubt in my mind that Michelle and David have something going on.”
Shaunna felt her stomach lurch and she instinctively covered up her breasts without being aware of it.
David sensed her sudden apprehension. He held his breath as he wondered what had gone so wrong so quickly.
“Perhaps you’re mistaken, Nathan.” Shaunna’s voice was low and serious, almost as though she were in shock.
“I’m sorry Shaunna, but I don’t think so, and it’s going to make things that much more difficult.”
Shaunna bit her lip and took a deep breath, feeling foolish and lightheaded. She informed Nathan she would have to call him back and hung up before he could answer her.
After she set her phone down, Shaunna pulled a shaking hand up to her forehead and issued her third request of the evening. “David,” she said calmly. “You need to go now.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
SHAUNNA’S WORDS PIERCED DAVID’S HEART like a harpoon. He wanted to protest. He wanted to clear the air immediately, but he could see that she was closing down. Her command was an indication that she was fighting for control of the situation. So he stood up from the bed as soon as she asked him to leave and wordlessly put his shirt back on.
Shaunna’s stomach twisted into a conflicted knot as she reached for own shirt and pulled it back over her head. It wasn’t that she automatically believed Nathan’s words over David’s actions. Bad timing aside, the shockwave produced by the phone call had simply turned out to be the last straw on her heavily burdened spirit.
She had every intention of letting David explain the situation. As a publicist, she knew that there were always two sides to any story, sometimes more. She had pretty much pieced it together anyway, but this meant that everything was about to change.
He began walking toward the door, but her words halted him. “You follow direction well. I’ll give you that much.”
David spun on his heel. He knew she was bluffing. “I can explain everything.”
“I know,” Shaunna replied casually. “He saw the picture on a web site, and then Michelle said something to piss off Kyle, and then you protected her so sweetly on-set. How could they think anything else?”
David watched Shaunna carefully. He wanted to feel relief at her comprehension, but the impassive expression on her face kept him on his guard. “So, you’re not mad at me?”
Shaunna’s frustration creased her forehead. “A little, but you hardly know any better. You’re like a puppy that knocks plants over and piddles on the kitchen floor.”
After a few moments of silence, her features softened and she sighed. She didn’t want to be cruel to him, and seeing his hurt expression made her feel guilty for ordering him away.
Observing her decreasing anger, he opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to the punch.
“I’ve got a busy night ahead of me. This is something that will require a hell of a lot more than ‘no comment.’ If your director thinks you’re sleeping with Michelle, then everyone on-set thinks you are too, and half of them have already told somebody else. I have to clear some things up with Michelle. Right now.”
“I could stay,” David volunteered eagerly, seizing the opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings. “You know…we could conference call.”
“Are you on-set tomorrow?” Shaunna asked, evading his suggestion.
“Only in the morning,” he answered quickly.
“Good. We’ll have lunch.” Her answer was curt, and David felt desperate enough to grasp at straws.
“Like…room service lunch?” His voice was hopeful, his wide eyes longing for her to smile once again.
“We’ll go out to lunch,” Shaunna clarified. This new development meant that their future was going to require sacrifices, and nothing about that fact made her happy. All she wanted now was to be alone with her thoughts, to figure out exactly how to manage their upcoming roadblocks.
“I’ll call you, then,” David told her. He couldn’t escape the feeling that he’d dodge
d one bullet, only to jump in front of a bus. “Could I have the number for your iPhone? I don’t want to have to keep calling your room.”
Shaunna nodded and wrote it down quickly for him on a scrap of paper. As she handed it to him, she did so with a polite dismissal. “I wish things could have turned out differently tonight.”
“Me too,” he answered. Not knowing what else he could say or do, David opened the door and walked back to his room, his shoulders slumped in disappointment at the shift in their evening.
Shaunna carefully closed the door and walked back to the bed. She knew that if she fell backward onto the blankets, she would cry. She almost did it too, mostly because she’d been so sure that her decision to take David to bed was the right one.
Now she had been robbed of the pleasure by an unforeseen and colossal complication. The promotion and premiere of the film moving along in tandem with Kyle and Michelle’s impending divorce would begin to dominate the headlines in the next few months. Michelle’s every move would be closely scrutinized, and now David’s newly established connection to the star only exacerbated matters.
She was feeling guilty, believing she’d failed Michelle and that she’d done so more than once. Kyle had been the more famous actor when he’d met and married Michelle, and as a result, she’d often been labeled as the less talented performer. Some had even suggested that her career remained viable only because of who she’d married.
To Michelle’s credit, she never let the criticism affect her and she rarely worried about the public relations game. She’d always been content to let Kyle dominate the celebrity headlines, and Shaunna had allowed that to happen.
Building up Kyle Petersen’s public persona had been her crowning achievement. And now, with his decision to divorce Michelle, she suddenly found herself standing apart from her creation and wondering how best to fight back against her own accomplishments.
