James Black

by Skye Turner

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you for listening about Mathais tonight. Thanks for not judging.”

  She’s thanking me for not judging her. She has no idea. I can’t judge anyone… for anything…

  Searching her face in the darkness of the night, I sigh. “You’re welcome. Though, it’s not my place to judge anyone.” Reaching up, I trace the curve of her back. “I still can’t believe you were married to that guy. He doesn’t seem like your type.”

  She laughs. “How do you know what my type is?”

  I chuckle. “I guess I don’t. But, it was very obvious, even to me, that you were too good for him.”

  She sighs. “Yeah, well, we all make stupid choices, right? He was mine. And it just happened to be colossal.”

  Leaning up, I flip on the bedside lamp. She blinks and shields her eyes from the light. She’s all rumpled and sexy. She looks delicious. “You’re right. Everyone fucks up. Some things are out of our control and some things aren’t. But everything we do and every choice we make, makes us who we are.”

  “Yeah.”

  She laughs and it sounds unsure. “So, you know my secret now… want to tell me yours? I don’t know a lot about you. Hell, no one seems to know all that much about you. You’re kind of a mystery.”

  My secrets? No, I don’t want to talk about my secrets. My secrets are my own… and HERS. I’ll never expose her and open her up to the shit storm that could come from people finding out about me… about us. There are too many people that need protection for the world to know about my secrets. I promised…

  No, AJ doesn’t need to know my secrets. I only trust two people that much and one is Hugo. My secrets are staying that way. It’s better for everyone.

  Leaning up, I kiss her softly again. The distraction works and she sighs as we get lost in another round of lovemaking.

  *

  Avangeline

  I don’t want to open my eyes. If I open my eyes, I’m going to see James and if I see James, I’ll have to face the fact that we fucked all night long…

  I bumped uglies with him all night long.

  I’m just going to keep my eyes closed and pretend that it’s not daylight and I am not naked, looking like who-knows-what in James Black’s bed.

  Jesus, I’m certain I look like the crypt keeper with all the shit that occurred last night and the fact that I slept with my makeup on…

  Hello, raccoon eyes and rat’s nest.

  Shit… not the least bit sexy. Maybe I can get up and clean up before he wakes…

  The voice right next to my ear kills that theory. “Good morning.”

  SHIT! It’s totally ok, Avangeline. Just work that shit like you meant to look like a fucking hot ass mess!

  “I can see your eyelids twitching, AJ. I know you’re awake.” He chuckles. “Do you want me to leave the room so you can try to sneak out?”

  Peeping at him through my lids, I see he’s propped up on the pillow, staring at me. His eyes are full of humor and his face is covered with stubble.

  Groaning, I open my eyes. “Morning. How’d you know I wanted to sneak out?”

  He chuckles and taps the tip of my nose. “Because I’ve been watching you think for about fifteen minutes. Your face was like a projection screen.”

  “Ugh. Well, can you just like roll the other way or something so I can get up?”

  He laughs again, but does as I ask. Once he’s facing the wall, I slip out of the bed, grab a shirt from a couch, and slip it over my head. It smells like him.

  Taking stock of the room, I spot the bathroom. Yeah, James is looking right at it.

  Well shit! Smart move, Avangeline. The room you need to get to without him seeing you is right where you just told him to fucking look.

  Son of a bitch.

  His voice breaks into my internal freak out. “So, do I have to stare at the bathroom door all day or can I look at you now? Besides, I know what you look like naked, so what’s the big deal anyway?”

  I gasp out, “It’s daytime!”

  He turns and stares at me. He’s looking at me as if I need a strait jacket. “Yeah, it generally is daytime after nighttime. So what?”

  His gaze rakes my body and I feel a blush start at my hairline and work its way down. “Stop. Don’t look at me!”

  His brow crinkles with his confusion. “Don’t look at you?!”

  Throwing my hands up in exasperation, I race into the bathroom and slam the door. Looking into the mirror, I screech. My hair is sticking up everywhere, my makeup is smeared, and my chin and chest are scratched from his scruff.

  Oh. My. God!

  A knock at the door causes me to look away from the horrific sight in the mirror. “AJ, are you ok in there?”

  I press my hands to my hot cheeks and call out, “Yeah, I’m good. Um, I’m going to need to call a cab to get home. I have… I have some stuff to do today. Wait, do you need me today?”

  The knob turns and it opens before I can lock it. He’s standing there in unbuttoned jeans with a concerned look on his face. I’m mortified he’s seeing me looking like this.

  He steps in the bathroom and it feels like the walls are closing in. He puts his hands up in exasperation. “What is happening right now?”

  I shake my head furiously and gnaw on my lower lip as I peel the hem out of his shirt. “Um, nothing. I just need to get going.”

  Crossing his arms over his chest, he leans against the door-jamb and looks at me. “You’re destroying my shirt.”

  Dropping the hem, I glare at him. “I’ll fucking buy you a new one.”

  He chuckles. “There she is. Ok, now that you’re done with whatever mental breakdown you were having… You are done, right?” I glare some more and pout. Yes, I fucking pout! He smiles. “Anyway, now that you’re done, can we get something to eat?” He waggles his brows at me. “Someone used up my reserves of energy last night and I’m not a youngin’.”

  I can’t help it. I laugh. “Are you serious?” I point at myself and circle my face. “Do you see this hot ass mess?”

  He nods. “Yup. I do. And yes, you are a mess, but it’s ok. It’s a sexy hot mess.”

  Opening my eyes wide, I shake my head. I quit. He’s impossible. “You’re insane.”

  He laughs again. “I know. An insane asshole. We’ve established this.” Walking up to me, he backs me against the sink. “Now… how about a shower so we can get some food?”

  “Are you saying I stink?” I growl at him.

  He nuzzles my neck. “Yeah.” I gasp and he looks at me and grins. “You smell like me… and sex.”

  I feel the wetness on my thighs at his proximity. Why fight it?

  * * *

  James called me a cab after another bout of hot sex in the bathroom. I need a break from him to get my thoughts in order and Hugo called while I was re-dressing. His plane was landing in two hours and he wanted to go over some things with James, so I was able to get out of lunch with him.

  After showering and putting on fresh clothes, including panties, since mine are somewhere at James’s place, I settle onto the couch with my Kindle and a glass of wine. I get lost in my book and only come out of it as my cell buzzes on the coffee table.

  It’s Charles.

  Reaching out, I swipe it off the table to answer. “Hello.”

  “Hey, AJ. How are things with James Black?”

  How are things? What does he mean? Does he know I fucked him? Shit. No, he can’t possibly know. Right?

  “Things are ok. No problems. Why do you ask?”

  He chuckles. “I knew they would be. I just wanted to check in since you’ve been so busy with him the past few days. I know you’ve been chauffeuring him around the state. Just making sure no problems had come up and that you were tolerating him ok.”

  Oh, I’m more than tolerating him. Charles would flip his lid if he knew just how well I’m tolerating him.

  “No, it’s been good. He’s actually not bad. He’s really smart and funny. He’s pret
ty easy to be around once you get used to him.”

  He hesitates for a minute. “I see. Ok, well you know I trust you.” He pauses again. “I just want you to be careful, AJ. I won’t see you hurt again, Cher’. Seeing you go through hell once was enough.”

  “I’m always careful, Charles. But I will be cool, ok? I promise. I have no intention of going through that kind of pain more than once in a lifetime. But, thank you. I love you.”

  “I know you do. You might not be my blood, but you’re my little girl. No matter how old you are. I love you, AJ, and I know you’re always careful.”

  He’s right. He does love me like a daughter. He’s the only father I remember. I just don’t want to have him disappointed in me. I can’t let him down.

  “I know.”

  He chuckles. “Night, AJ. See you tomorrow. Your beauty is missing you and I think it should be ok for you to switch back to her.”

  Yay, I get my baby back.

  “Night, Boss Man.”

  After we hang up, I can’t get back into my book. The male lead is a blond haired, blue eyed demon and all I can picture is the blue eyes I got lost in last night and this morning.

  Shit… this is not good.

  Chapter Fifteen

  James

  We’ve been back filming for four weeks now and it’s gone smoothly. It’s been late nights and early mornings, but we’ve just about caught up. If we hit this pace tomorrow and no snags happen, we’ll be back on schedule. It’s Thursday and we were promised the weekend off if we caught up.

  My new co-star is a professional and not a new face on the block. We’ve crossed paths many times over the years, but this is our first time working together. She’s a few years younger than me, but we get along great and have chemistry that translates well on screen. She’s married with a young son and both accompanied her to town, so no rumors about the two of us and any off-screen romance should pop up.

  It’s hilarious that, according to the tabloids, I’ve had relationships with practically every co-star I’ve ever had. Young, old, married, single, even the lesbians. Apparently, I’m just that good. Or bad. Whichever they need to spin the story into a headline.

  In reality, I’ve never been romantically involved with any of them. I might have welcomed one or two into my bed, but they were all single and it was never a thing. It was just sex.

  I’m sitting in my trailer for a required twenty minute break and I just want to clear my head and refresh my lines for the next scene.

  As I’m reading through the script, my cell buzzes with a new text.

  “AJ

  Any idea what time you need a pick up today? I’m shooting at the park. Marie is having a field day and I don’t want to lose track of time.”

  I smile as I picture it. Marie is getting big and a few days a week, she rides to the studio to drop me off with AJ. Then, AJ keeps her for the day as I shoot and they explore. Marie loves AJ and AJ enjoys her. It works out since the days are so long and this way, she’s not cooped up in my apartment alone too much.

  AJ and I are still sleeping together. It’s nice and that’s pretty much the extent of it, other than being friends. I’m so busy with filming and she’s taking a lot of photos. We have dinner together some nights and she stays over. Other than that, we both do our own thing. I have no idea what she does on the nights we aren’t together.

  As I think about that, I realize I want to ask her.

  She doesn’t seem like the type to be sleeping with anyone else, but we haven’t discussed it and our “relationship” has no real outline.

  I’m not even sure we have a relationship other than the sex and companionship.

  Hugo opens the trailer door to tell me it’s time to head back to the set and I realize I haven’t texted her back yet.

  Typing out a quick reply, I tell her to be here around nine and leaving my cell on the table, head back out.

  * * *

  At 8:45PM, I head back to the trailer to wait for AJ. I’m exhausted, but we got some great work done today. The Director was impressed and said this weekend we will have some “free time” as we’ll be caught up. I’m kind of looking forward to a bit of time to see some more of Louisiana.

  And spend some time with AJ…

  Hugo is walking beside me, chattering on about my schedule for the next three weeks. Other than filming, I’m going to be doing some local promotion for a couple of pet organizations. They heard about me adopting a shelter puppy and asked if I would consider some public service announcements about the importance of adopting from shelters over breeders.

  I also agreed to shoot a campaign for the importance of being a responsible pet owner and only taking on the responsibility if you are 100% committed to the lifetime care of the animal.

  I willingly agreed and am donating my time as well as making a large contribution to the organizations. Marie has quickly become my baby so I want to share my experience. We have some photo shoots, an interview, and the PSA’s to film in the following weeks.

  As we open the trailer door, my phone is buzzing on the table top. I walk over and pick it up. It shows I have fifteen missed calls and about as many texts. I never have that many. Looking at Hugo in concern, I open the phone to see what could be important enough to warrant my phone blowing up. Hugo also checks his phone, which he’d left charging in the trailer.

  I see all of the calls and texts are from AJ. Hugo looks up from his own phone and says, “Shit, I have ten missed messages from AJ.”

  What could be so bad that she’s calling both of us?!

  My blood runs cold.

  I listen to the first message. AJ’s voice is quivering and she sounds like she’s trying to hide the fact that she’s crying. “James. It’s AJ. Marie fell into a hole at the park. There’s a lot of blood. I think her leg is broken. I’m trying to get her out to take her to the vet.”

  Shit. Marie Leveau.

  I’m gripping the phone and my heart is pounding.

  The next message is a few minutes later. “A jogger was able to help me get her out of the hole. We put her in the car and he’s riding with me. He’s putting pressure on her leg and we’re en route to the vet now.”

  I listen to her last message as I grab my keys and jacket.

  “James. At the emergency vet. Her leg is definitely broken and they are assessing the damage now. I’ll text you as soon as I get more info. I’ve also called Hugo in case he gets the messages before you do.”

  Hugo is listening to his messages, too. He looks at me with concern. “We need to get to the vet.”

  I nod as I try to figure out what to do. AJ is my ride and she’s at the vet with Marie. Checking the call time, I see that the call was from six hours ago. I wonder if she’s still there?!

  I flip through my texts, trying to see if she responded to my text from earlier about picking me up at nine.

  No. The last text was an hour ago and it said that Marie was in surgery. Her leg is broken in three spots and they are trying to realign it by using pins. If it’s unsuccessful, they may have to amputate her leg.

  My poor baby. I have to get to the vet.

  Looking up, I see Hugo on the phone. He holds his finger out to me, telling me to hold on. “Yes. Thank you, Charles. We’ll be waiting. I appreciate it.”

  He hangs up. “Charles is personally coming to get us. He said AJ called him and told him what was going on. She’s still there, but he’ll be here to take us to the vet in about fifteen minutes.”

  I nod as I worry.

  *

  Avangeline

  Marie has been in the operating room for a couple of hours. One of the veterinary techs came out to give me an update a few minutes ago. Her break was bad. Really bad.

  I feel horrible. She was with me. She was my responsibility. She’s only a puppy. If they can’t fix the break, she’s going to lose her leg.

  James is going to lose his shit.

  The doors open and as I look up, I see James. He heads straight f
or me, followed by Hugo and Charles.

  “What happened? How is she? What’s going on?”

  I’ve chewed all the skin off of my lower lip and my nails are a wreck. I’m not a patient person and all I’ve been doing is sitting as I wait for news. I chew on a nail that’s already gnawed down to nothing as I look at him to try to gauge his mood. “We were at the park. We were playing with her Frisbee and she heard something and ran into a wooded area. I called her back, but she was gone. I went in after her and heard her crying and whimpering.”

  I look at him and my eyes fill with tears. “She was only a minute in front of me. I swear. By the time I got there, she had fallen into the hole. It was a big drop, about six feet. I couldn’t reach her. I tried. I was screaming for someone to help me. Finally…” I point to a chair across the way. “Clive heard me and came running. He was able to go into the hole and hand her to me and then he climbed out.”

  I look at Clive. He smiles at me. He was so kind at the park. I was panicked I couldn’t reach Marie, but I didn’t want to leave her there. He even rode up here with me and insisted on staying with me until James got here. I don’t know what I would have done without his help.

  Clive gets up and walks over to us. His clothes are covered in blood from applying pressure on her wounded leg.

  He holds his hand out to James. “Hi, Mr. Black. I’m Clive Tucker.”

  James looks at him in surprise. Clive answers, “I recognized you when you walked in.”

  James nods at him and says, “Thank you, Clive. I appreciate you helping and getting Marie out of the hole.”

  I say quietly, “Clive is about to enter the School of Veterinary Medicine at LSU. He knew exactly what to do.”

  James looks at him again. “Is that true?”

  Clive nods. “Yes, Sir. I’m in my fourth year. I’m glad I picked this afternoon to go jogging in the park.”

  James shakes his hand. “Me, too. Thank you.”

  He nods. “It’s no problem.”

  James looks back at me. I’m biting my lip so hard, I can taste blood. How mad is he at me?

  He leans over and tucks my hair behind my ear. Leaning down, he says softly, “I’m sorry you were here all alone. We were trying to catch up at the studio. Are you ok, AJ?”