Acting Lessons (Off Guard)

by Katie Allen

  Whipping her head around, Topher met Julia’s equally panicked gaze. She hadn’t thought about the sleeping arrangements, but her current room—the blue one Barb was expecting—was right next to Danny’s.

  Julia recovered first. “Go ahead and put Barb’s luggage in the blue room,” she told Charlie as she rushed out of the kitchen with Topher on her heels. “We’ll clear it out right now.”

  “Is there a back way?” Topher whispered, hurrying to keep up with Julia. She was impressed by how quickly the other woman could move in heels.

  “No. Just follow my lead.”

  Although Topher was imagining them tiptoeing past the other guests, trying to stay unnoticed, everyone looked at them as they entered the dining room.

  “Excuse us for a minute,” Julia said smoothly, not even slowing as she crossed the room. “Topher burned her hand.”

  The second the words registered, Topher cradled her left hand, tucking it against her middle. She put on her best pathetic look. “I didn’t think the pan would be so hot.”

  As James got to his feet, Julia waved him off. “It’s minor. I’m just going to put some ointment on it. Sorry to interrupt your meal. Dan, I think Leigh has the soup ready to serve. Could you bring it in?”

  From Danny’s confused and slightly frantic look, he knew they were covering for something, although he wasn’t sure exactly what. Topher held her breath, expecting him to ask something that would make everything so much harder, but he silently headed for the kitchen. James, on the other hand, wasn’t so obedient.

  Circling the table, he demanded, “Let me see.”

  Although she really, really wanted to give him a don’t-wreck-this glare, there would’ve been no way to hide her expression from the watching Golfinis. Instead, she let her bottom lip quiver and hurled herself against his chest when he got close, keeping her hand tucked between them.

  “Poor baby.” He circled her with one arm while pretending to inspect her “burned” palm. “Does it hurt?”

  “Yes.” She was rather proud of the quaver in her voice, despite the distraction of being held against him. It felt alluringly nice, almost enough to make her wish that she were Tophie and that they were actually dating so that he’d cuddle her for real. The instant the thought crossed her mind, she slapped it down. Everyone was acting. James wasn’t really hers. She had to remember that.

  “We’d better put something on it,” Julia said, widening her eyes at both of them, since James formed a physical barrier between Julia and the table, preventing the Golfinis from seeing her urgent look. Keeping Topher tucked against him, James followed Julia out of the room.

  Once they were out of the Golfinis’ view, Topher allowed her hands to fall to her sides. She expected James to drop his encircling arm but he didn’t, instead using it to usher her more quickly up the stairs.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Room arrangements,” Julia said grimly. “Topher’s things are still in the blue guest suite.”

  “Fuck,” James muttered, his fingers squeezing her far shoulder. The pressure wasn’t quite as pleasant as when he’d gripped her bare thigh, but it was still nice enough to make her catch her breath. “Didn’t think about that.”

  “Neither did we.” Julia led the way into the blue room and Topher slipped away from James’s grip, trying not to show her sigh of disappointment as she left the warmth of his side. She hurried to throw the few items she’d removed from her suitcases back in and then grabbed all her toiletries from the bathroom. When she returned to the bedroom, Julia was smoothing the rumpled comforter.

  “Did you get everything?” Julia asked as Topher zipped her larger suitcase.

  “I think so.” Topher reached for the handle of her bag, but James beat her to it. He hoisted both suitcases with an ease that made her smile dreamily at him. Strong men were so...handy.

  After giving the room a final check, Julia led the way into the hall before she stopped abruptly.

  Barely managing not to crash into the other woman, Topher whispered, “What is it?” She peered around Julia’s shoulder, wondering if one of the Golfinis had followed them upstairs. The hallway in front of them was empty, though, and Topher turned her questioning eyes to Julia.

  “I’m not sure where the best place to put you would be. Donna and Mike are staying in the ivory suite next to James’s rooms,” Julia said quietly, “and the lavender room is on the other side of Dan. The only other guest rooms are on the east side of the house close to my suite.”

  Topher stayed quiet. Although she got why it would be a bad idea to put her next to Danny, she wasn’t sure why she couldn’t be in Julia’s wing.

  From James’s low groan, though, he understood. “She can stay in my room.”

  “What?” The other two instantly shushed her, so she lowered her voice. “What?”

  Despite her loud and not-quite-as-loud objections, Julia started to hurry back to the stairs. James followed her, leaving Topher standing by the blue suite, hands on her hips, as her luggage headed for the third floor.

  Since she wasn’t going to get answers without anyone present to question, Topher followed them up the stairs, catching up to them just as they entered another room.

  “Whoa.” Her questions and objections were forgotten as she took in the suite. As masculine as it was, the place was still beautiful. It was big enough to be a loft apartment all its own, rather than a suite of rooms in a house. She’d have expected James to favor a modern look, but his bedroom reminded her of the study instead. It had a sitting area with a fireplace, and the rich browns and creams made the place seem cozy, despite its size.

  And the bed...the bed was a thing of beauty. It called to Topher, begging her to flop onto it, stretch out and take a nap, or maybe jump on it like a trampoline a few times.

  “I’m sorry.” Julia interrupted her fascinated contemplation of the bed.

  The apology was so far removed from her thoughts that Topher could only blink at her, confused.

  “The ivory suite is the only other one close by, and the Golfinis have already stayed in it before. They’d be suspicious if we put you all the way on the other side of the house next to my room when you and James are supposed to be...ah, together.”

  “Oh.” The reasoning finally sunk in to Topher’s brain. After seeing James’s suite, she found it hard to work up any indignation about staying in a stranger’s bedroom...a really hot, sexy, dominant stranger who’d made her wet just by threatening to spank her. The memory made her press her thighs together. “Um...it’s okay. There’s lots of room in here for me and Jamie-Bear.”

  Julia grabbed her in a hug, making Topher squeak with surprise. “You’re being such a good sport about everything. You came here intending to spend a relaxing few weeks with your new boyfriend and his family, and then all of this happens.”

  “It’s really okay, Jules,” Topher assured her, hugging back. “It’s kind of fun, like we’re in a mystery movie or something. And I like you and Jamie-Bear a lot.” When she risked a quick glance at James, she immediately flushed at his intent expression. “Besides, I don’t want Tiny Mike to put a hit on Dan-Dan, even if he is being a total dummy by not telling the ginger bitch that they’ve broken up.”

  “Thank you, Topher.” After a final squeeze, Julia released her. “Now we’d better do something with your hand so that we don’t blow our cover.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at that. “See? ‘Blow our cover?’ It is like a movie. I’m an actress, so I know these things.”

  Chapter Five

  With the bandage over her left palm, it was easy to remember to baby her pretend injury through the rest of dinner, especially with James next to her. He couldn’t have been more solicitous if she’d actually chopped off her hand. As the rest of the table made semi-polite and ungodly b
oring conversation, he cut her beef medallions into pieces small enough for a toddler.

  Instead of giving in to the urge to poke the back of his hand with her fork, she forced herself to give him a sugary smile of thanks.

  “You’re so sweet, honey-wuggums.” Topher decided she must be an excellent actress, indeed, since he gave her a satisfied nod, not seeming to notice her desire to fork him.

  “Aren’t you two just adorable,” Donna said flatly, her tone conveying just the opposite. Topher upped the wattage of her smile and stabbed one of the tiny pieces of meat on her plate. Once she put it in her mouth, though, she couldn’t hold on to her animosity. The food just tasted so good. Leigh might be dramatic and vaguely homicidal, but the woman could cook.

  After another bite, Topher held back a groan of pleasure and looked up to find Barb glaring at her. She wasn’t sure how she’d managed to offend the redhead, since Topher had just been innocently stuffing her face. She blinked and offered Barb a happily blank smile. Playing Tophie was actually handy when hanging out with rude people. She could just pretend ignorance of all bitchy looks and comments.

  “I would think that being an actress—” the emphasis that Barb added to the word made it seem like she meant “whore” instead of “actress” “—would make you more figure-conscious.”

  Putting on an expression of mild confusion, Topher pretended not to understand that Danny’s girlfriend had just called her a fat slut. James was close enough that she felt him stiffen, and Topher gave him a discreet pat on the knee. When Barb learned that Topher was too dumb to catch her insults, she’d stop bothering with them.

  “It would make me more what?” she chirped before James could jump in to defend his fake girlfriend. It was nice of him to be offended for her, though. She gave him a second leg pat as a thank-you.

  “Figure-conscious,” Barb repeated slowly. “As in, concerned with what you look like.”

  “Oh, thank you!” Bouncing a little in her chair, Topher beamed. “That’s so nice of you to say! I mean, I know I’m hot, because duh. I own a mirror. But I try not to be all stuck-up about it. Besides, it’s more important to be pretty on the inside, right? When people are mean, they start looking ugly.” She turned to an amused Danny. “Your girlfriend is so sweet, Dan-Dan. You’re super lucky to be dating her.”

  His mouth twisted in what appeared to be an attempt to hold in laughter. He was mostly successful and just gave a little cough as he stood.

  “Mom, should we bring dessert?”

  Julia nodded and stood, keeping her eyes down as she started collecting plates. Topher had the wicked urge to catch the other woman’s gaze and make her lose control of her tightly contained amusement, but Julia managed to avoid meeting Topher’s eyes.

  “Are you sure you don’t need any help, Jules?” she asked, wanting to escape to the kitchen.

  “No, no.” Julia hurried toward the kitchen. “Dan will help me. You need to rest your...um, hand.”

  “Okay.” Her sigh of disappointment wasn’t faked. “It’s good you’re practicing your waiter skills, Dan-Dan. You’ll get to use them a lot when you become an actor.”

  James cough-laughed next to her, and Danny sent her a glower before following his mom to the kitchen.

  “So, Topher...” Tiny Mike eyed her with half-closed eyes. He’d gotten slimier with each glass of wine. “What roles have you played? Any movies I’d know?”

  “Maybe.” Although she feigned her usual clueless cheer, Topher was grateful for the warm, reassuring weight of James’s hand on the back of her neck. “You might have seen me in that commercial for Wilson Used Cars. Oh, and I was Cheerleader Number Four in High-School Massacre—did you watch that?”

  “Afraid that’s not my type of movie.” Maybe it was just his usual smarmy, partially drunk delivery, but Topher had to hold back a shiver of disgust. If he was inferring something about porn in front of his wife and daughter, then that was just full-on disgusting.

  “Oh.” Topher let her shoulders droop and was instantly glad she had, since James started massaging her neck. It was an effort to keep her eyes from rolling back in her head with ecstasy. “Um, I was in June’s Treehouse, but that’s more for kids. I’m sure you haven’t seen me in that, since it’s been such a long time since Barb was little.”

  The rage on Barb’s face was so intense that Topher thought the woman might climb over the table to get to her. She leaned into James’s touch, getting ready to duck behind him for protection, if necessary.

  “Dessert!” Julia almost ran to the table to slide small plates of cake in front of Donna and Barb. Topher wondered if Julia had overheard her last—admittedly spiteful—comment. If so, she appreciated Julia’s effort at preventing bloodshed—or at least painful hair-pulling.

  As Dan served James and Topher their cake, he gave her a reproachful look. She felt bad for a few seconds, but then she saw the chocolate insanity that had been placed in front of her, and all thoughts of bitchy women and guilt disappeared. There were layers of moist-looking cake, frosting, mousse, some sort of chocolate goo... Despite her too-full stomach, Topher’s mouth watered.

  She reached for her fork, but James took away her cake before she could even take a bite. A whimper escaped her as she watched him place her dessert next to his own, and she felt her lower lip begin to slide out into pout position.

  “Jamie-Bear,” she whisper-whined. “Why do you get two?”

  He just smirked, scooped a bite onto his fork and lifted it to her mouth. Confused, she stared at him for a second. When realization finally hit, she felt her face heat.

  “I can do it.” She wasn’t sure why the idea of him feeding her cake was so embarrassing. “I’ll use my good hand.” Topher held up her right hand and wiggled her fingers, in order to show him that she was perfectly capable of using eating utensils. He just ignored her, though, and continued holding the fork in front of her mouth.

  Since it appeared that the only way she was going to get to eat that scrumptious-looking cake was to allow James to feed her like a baby, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth. When the confection hit her tongue, she couldn’t hold back an almost-silent moan. It was so incredibly good.

  When she opened her eyes, she saw that James had leaned closer and his gaze was fixed on her mouth. Even more blood rushed to her face, and she turned toward Julia in sheer self-preservation.

  “That’s it. I’m going to ask Leigh to marry me,” she said, making Jules laugh and the Golfinis stare at her with a mixture of distaste and confusion.

  “Tophie.” James held up another forkful of heaven. She didn’t even hesitate that time but just leaned in and closed her mouth around the bite of cake. Once again, she groaned deep in her throat as the taste hit her tongue. It was an orgasm for her mouth.

  James fed her the rest of the cake, watching her with a heated expression that grew more and more intense with each bite. When he reached for the second plate, Topher shook her head. She was full, it was true, but her main concern was the way James was eyeing her—and the way his obvious desire was making her feel. If he kept feeding her while looking at her in that hot, hot way, she was going to attack him with her lips.

  “No more for me, Jamie-Bear.” Leaning back in her chair, she patted her stomach with her non-bandaged hand. “If I eat one more bite, my tummy will explode like a water balloon.” She paused, frowning. “A water balloon filled with food. Gross. I don’t want to ever be in a water balloon fight if someone’s filling the balloons with food.”

  There was one of the awkward pauses that Topher was starting to expect after saying something especially dumb or odd. She actually was beginning to enjoy them, especially when she’d appalled one or more of the Golfinis. James seemed to be becoming accustomed to her goofy monologues, because he just gave her a knowing partial smile and ate the other piece of cake.

  Juli
a gave a strangled cough, breaking the silence. “If everyone’s done—” she glanced so briefly at the untouched dessert plates in front of Barb and Donna that Topher almost missed it “—we can move to the library. It’s cozy in there with the fireplace, especially on such a cold and snowy night.”

  “No, thank you,” Barb said, shooting an arch look at Danny. “I’m very...tired, so I think I’ll go to bed.”

  For someone who professed to be in love, Danny didn’t look that thrilled at the thought of bedroom fun with his girlfriend.

  “I’m not sleepy,” Topher piped up, just because it was too much fun to poke at Barb, “but I think I’m going to go up to our room so I can have sex with Jamie-Bear.”

  James choked, Tiny Mike smirked, Danny looked like he’d just swallowed his tongue, both Golfini women glared, and Jules pressed a hand over her mouth as she stared at the ceiling.

  Smiling with a hint of confusion, Topher looked around the table. “What’s the matter? Did I say something wrong?”

  “You’re just very—” Jules cleared her throat “—honest. Have a good night.”

  “Oh, I will.” Although she was planning on not saying anything further, she just couldn’t help herself. “Jamie-Bear will make sure it’s good. He does this thing where he takes his tongue and—” The rest of her words were muffled as James’s hand covered her mouth.

  “Good night,” he said austerely, standing as he removed his hand from her lips. “Let’s go. Quietly.”

  Once again, the stern command made her insides turn to goo. Trying to hide her inner molten state, she gave him a bright smile and got to her feet. His hand flattened on her lower back, and she held back a pleasurable shiver at his touch.

  “We’ll be turning in early, as well,” Donna said. “I’m exhausted from that nerve-racking trip from the airport.”

  There was a hint of relief in Julia’s smile, but her voice held nothing but warm sympathy. “I’m so sorry you were caught in the storm. You’re in the ivory suite again. James, could you show them the way?”