by Anna Bloom
I would have taken a bullet to the head right there and then if I thought it would help.
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” She propelled herself forward and no amount of gym time would have stopped her from landing in my arms and clambering into my lap, her legs clamping tight as she moulded herself to the very shape of me. “I want you, Blake.” Her eyes pleaded with me. “I want it to be you.”
Her lips found mine and search as I tried I couldn’t find the resistance I needed. My lips hesitated against hers, grazing and brushing, not kissing, but not moving away either. Our breath mingled and for one long second it was like we were whole—with a goddam fucking kiss. This was insane. No one was whole from a kiss.
Closing her eyes, she sighed my name and it snapped at the threads of my constraints. One by one my strength left me as I ran my lips over hers, just lightly, and felt her tremble around me. On the second pass I pressed harder, testing her nerve but she held me firm, her lips parting and her tongue diving out and running along my lower lip. I grabbed her, yanking her tight onto my lap as I crushed our mouths together until all I could sense was her breath and the warmth of our saliva as they mingled together with the darting of our tongues.
Need, want and greed, dragged me down. My hands dropped to the curve of her waist, skimming along the ribs, my thumbs brushing along the skin of her back, dancing over the strap of her bra. I wanted to know what her skin would be like to touch, how she would feel around me if we were to shed our restraining clothes and become one.
My fingers ran through her hair, pulling on the blonde ends of silk. Then I remembered the pigtails and the girl I used to chase pretending to be the bogey monster.
I pushed away hard enough to break our connection. I lifted her easily from my lap placing her on the floor. I couldn’t look at her. “You need to leave.” It was a bark, and it rang through the air. She needed to go before I undid the both of us and crossed a dangerous line that would take me from protector to predator.
With a jump, she straightened from the floor. “Don’t worry, Henderson. I’m going.” With those final words, she stormed for the door and slammed it behind her so hard the entire pool house shook.
My fingers felt my lips. They still tasted of her. I could still feel them pressed against me, the flick of her tongue as it danced inside my mouth.
Shit.
Taking just a few moments to grab my keys I ran out of the building for the personal use car I hardly ever drove and once safely inside I gunned my way down the sweeping driveway and waited for the electric gates to pull open. They took forever and for every second that I sat there I had a million thoughts running through my head. Thoughts about what I could do if I went back to the house and told them that I no longer wanted my job. Then telling Sophia that she was the only thing I thought about. Thoughts about what my life would be like if I wasn’t there and I never saw her again. Would it be easier? Did that constitute running away if you were running away from something that wasn’t yours to have?
Once the gates were wide enough for the BMW to squeeze through, I put my foot down and headed for the shadier parts of town—although in a place like LA, the shady and the light were tangled so tight it was hard to know which was which.
I found a bar and placed myself on a stool, sinking the cool beer the barman slid towards me. It went down with ease so I had another and another until the sensation of Sophia’s mouth against mine began to blur.
A woman sat on the stool next to mine and stared at me, twirling a paper umbrella in a drink that looked part nuclear. “I’m Andrea,” she said when I finally turned to acknowledge her presence.
“I don’t give a fuck who you are,” I growled, downing another half a bottle. “I just care who you aren’t.”
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CHAPTER FIVE
The ringing was incessant, a nonstop buzzing that made me throw an arm over my head and groan into the crook of my elbow. The beers were a mistake and didn’t my head know about it.
“Are you going to get that, Honey?” A firm touch ran down my stomach and I sucked in my breath, pulling my skin away from the touch before opening my eyes. The blonde from the bar looked up at me through lashes matted with the previous night’s mascara. What had I done?
“Get what?” The remnants of beer slowed my tongue and made my words thick and heavy. The woman, not that I could remember her name, took my tone as one of desire, sliding herself down my chest, peppering kisses along the exposed skin. There was a lot exposed. I didn’t have a stitch of clothing on. The only item I wore was the shame of my one night hook up with an unknown face just so I could forget what went down in the pool house. I wasn’t a saint, never had been, but I’d never been a dirt bag either. Not until Sophia had destroyed me.
“Your phone, or whatever it is, it’s been beeping for ages. I’m surprised you didn’t wake for it.” Her lips skimmed the length of my dick and I rolled out of the way, jumping my way free as I placed my feet on the floor and went for the dumped clothes of the day before.
The beep was still going, and for a long moment I was unable to place it. It rang familiar, a call that I knew I’d trained myself to hear, but for a whole ten seconds it meant nothing.
Then it did.
Sophia.
I dove for my jeans, grabbing in the pocket for the security alarm linked to Sophia’s bracelet. My phone fell out into my palm, the time flashing at four thirty in the morning, along with at least twenty missed calls. My mouth, already gummed with stale beer, dried to such an extent that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to speak again.
I switched on the GPS only for the battery to fail as soon as I pressed on. “Shit.”
“Forget it and come back to bed, I’m not done with you yet.”
I’d forgotten the stranger was even there. I rose my eyes to the bed taking in her sprawled form. “I’ve gotta go.”
She sat up a little straighter. “Just like that? No thank you kiss goodbye?” She gave me a slow smile I think was supposed to be seductive, but failed on all levels excluding that of turning my stomach.
“Work beckons.” I waved my phone in answer and dragged on my clothes as quickly as I could pull them up.
“Shame, gorgeous. I could do with those stomach muscles giving me an extended ride on a frequent basis.”
I hesitated. I wasn’t one for being rude, but there was little for me to say. “Bye.” It was as awkward as fuck, but I was beyond caring. As soon as I was through the door and crashing down an unknown stairwell I began to breathe.
What had I done? I’d fucked a stranger and left Sophia alone and now what? She needed me?
I pressed my phone and waited for Samuels to answer. “Dude, where are you?” he hissed and in the background a commotion filled the line.
“Out. I had the day off, remember?” I knew no one would remember. I’d never had a real day off before. They all probably thought I was holed up in the pool room. “What’s going on?”
There was a pause and then Samuels spoke again, quieter. “It’s Sophia. She’s missing. She didn’t show up for dinner and when Erica went to check on her she was gone.”
My heart stopped pumping and the blood running in my veins turned to ice. “Missing? Don’t be crazy, she was there earlier.”
“Nope. No one’s seen her since yesterday afternoon. Have you?”
“Well yeah, early evening, but I’ve been out since then.”
“Doing what? I hate to say this Blake, but you are going to be in the shit when you get here.”
I jogged down the road, desperately searching for where I’d parked my car. I knew the strange woman only lived a short walk from the bar, it was part of the draw which had made the idea seem so appealing. No strings sex to get Sophia out of my mind. Except it hadn’t, not in the slightest. She’d been all I could think about.
I spotted the car and ran for it as fast as my legs could move. “I’ll be there in fifteen,” I said.
“Bett
er make it ten.”
I did make it ten and then I ran into the living room. Usually empty and just used for magazine spreads and photo shoots, it was now teaming with people. Erica’s eyes were red rimmed. “You, you, where have you been?” She stepped forward and at first I thought she was going to slap me but she held herself back.
“Erica, you gave me time off remember?” This wasn’t exactly how it had gone down, but I wasn’t going to split hairs over it. “What’s happened?”
“I don’t know. This morning she went for a lie down, and then this afternoon I saw her heading out to the pool house. I figured she was seeing where you were after your night off. Since then I don’t know.”
I narrowed my gaze. “You don’t know where your daughter has been since this afternoon. Have you called the police?”
Erica’s eyes widened at my tone and she tugged at a loose strand of hair. “It’s your job to protect her, Henderson.”
“And when I’m not here? Because if I remember correctly you suggested I move on?”
Erica grabbed my arm and I saw Davies step in as he was expecting her to hit me. She didn’t. She grabbed my arm with all her might and squeezed. “Just find her, just find her and we can discuss everything.”
Marty was sniffling in the corner but she stepped forward. “This is my fault, I knew she was unhappy.”
I glanced around at the anxious faces. “Listen, it’s okay, we can get her back. I’m sure she’s not far.”
LA in the early hours of the morning wasn’t a great place for a girl to be. Especially not when that girl was a world-famous actress. If something worse didn’t happen beforehand then the press would get hold of it and use it to their heart’s content.
Davies grabbed his phone. “I’m going to ring around.”
“No, wait. I’ll get her.”
I knew I would. I would never let anything happen to Sophia, not as long as I lived.
In the kitchen, I stepped away from the hand wringing and general hubbub and plugged in the GPS. She’d set the alarm off before the battery had died I knew that much. My stomach turned on thoughts of what might have made her press that bracelet. She was angry with me, and for good reason. I’d kissed her and then pushed her away. It was neglectful of me.
I stood there staring at the unit in my hand, like watching would make it get a spark of charge sooner. My phone rang and I answered instantly, my whole body twitching with the need to be out there doing something. “Sophia?” I shouted.
“No, but I could be.” filtered a voice down the line from a different time zone.
“Sloane? This is not a good time.”
A deep chuckle rumbled in response. “Please tell me you haven’t lost your little, hot actress, I’ve just managed to pick you up another gig.”
“You have?”
“Sure, everyone wants the man who guards the princess of Hollywood.”
“Mm. Listen. I’ll give you a shout, I’m just dealing with something.”
“Sure thing, Blake.” He hung up the phone. He wasn’t a guy to hang around when he knew other shit was going down. It was one of the things that made us become friends years before.
The GPS flickered to life in my hand and I stared at the map at first, not quite believing what I was seeing. I stormed back in to the lounge and found them all standing there waiting for me to lead the way. “Did any of you actually look for her? Even a little bit.”
Davies jumped out of his seat. “Now you hold on, don’t speak out of turn. You are the one who is always hanging out with her like some freak. We figured you’d know where she was.”
“Oh, I do.”
“And? Where is she?”
I glanced at the time on the grandfather clock ticking in the corner of the room. “I’m guessing she’s giving you all exactly what you want.”
I slid my phone into my pocket and threw the tracker onto the sofa. I didn’t need that. I knew exactly where Sophia was. I just hoped that I was wrong about what she was doing, because I was sure that it would kill me.
The BMW tore through the town and I screeched it to a halt outside the Peninsula. I threw the keys at a sleepy valet and ran into the foyer. The desk was empty apart from one night manager who looked like he’d rather be in his bed than in the glitziest hotel on the night shift. “Where is Jonathan Fairweather’s room?” I barked.
The man rose his eyes and looked at me like I was a day-old dog shit on the pavement. “He’s not here.” He replied, his voice level.
“Bullshit, he’s not. What room is it? Because I can tell you right now I’m going to knock on every door until I find him.”
The man with the greying skin and fish eyes gave me a narrow smile. “And I can tell you, you won’t.” He motioned to security but I just laughed and leant over the desk.
“Do you want an underage statutory rape to take place on your shift? Because I can assure you if it happens everyone will know what this hotel allows.”
His dead eyes widened and he glanced me up and down. Maybe wondering if I was an undercover cop. I didn’t give a fuck what he thought. I grabbed in my pocket and flicked out the wad of green I’d grabbed from the kitchen drawer. “Time is of the essence here, my friend,” I told him, peeling one note off after another.
There was nothing money couldn’t buy in this town. Nothing.
“Six ten,” he told me when I’d counted to five hundred big ones.
“I want a back exit, no staff.” I met his eyes and peeled off another two notes.
“Take the laundry route.” He pointed to a far-off corner and discreet staircase. “No housekeepers are in yet.”
I didn’t bother to say thanks. I ran for the main stairs and launched myself up seven flights. The whole way up all I could think was what had I done? I’d hurt her feelings, acted like a dick, shagged someone else, and finally, as if all of that wasn’t bad enough, I hadn’t answered her call when she’d rung.
I didn’t even knock on the door. I kicked it open with considerable force, my eyes scanning the space in front of me. I saw her, but then I saw him, or rather his white arse risen in the air. In two steps I was across the room, hauling him off. “What the fuck are you doing?” I roared, my voice ripping the atmosphere into two.
He was naked but I managed to grab him by the scruff of his hair and plant him on his feet. Sophia’s eyes went as large as dinner plates when she saw me standing there with Jonathan Fairweather hanging from my grasp.
“Get off me you fucking idiot,” he spat in my direction and my fist automatically caught him in the gut. He doubled in pain and I took immense pleasure from seeing him blanch to an unhealthy shade of white. Sophia screeched and launched herself off the bed. She wasn’t totally undressed, and I blessed small mercies, but she was bare enough.
“Blake, stop. What are you doing?”
“He’s hurting you. You called me.” I stared into her wide eyes and watched as realisation dawned deep within the recesses of her thoughts. She glanced at her wrist and the missing bracelet. It lay on the floor along with her discarded jeans, T-shirt and bra.
The fight went out of me. “You didn’t call me?”
She shook her head, folding her arms across her chest and all I could focus on was her and I and the way our breathing was in time, laboured and intense. “No.”
I let go of Fairweather but I couldn’t look at him as he scrambled for clothes. My attention was solely on her. “What are you doing, Sophia?” I softened my voice and held my hand for her, my head shaking softly back and forth. “What are you doing?” I repeated.
She glanced at me long and hard. “What you wouldn’t, even though I tried to make you see.”
“See what?” My words were the barest whisper.
A tear loomed along her lashes but I resisted the urge to wipe at it. “Us.”
I shook my head harder this time. There could never be and never would be an us. It was an impossibility, a twist of fate that had us in different places at different points of our
lives.
Fairweather had recovered from his shock and was grabbing for his phone. “I’m going to have you arrested for this, you fucking prick.”
Sophia yelped and stepped to his side, placing her hand on his arm.
“It’s okay. He won’t, Sophia.” I gave her a sad smile. It hurt as it lifted my lips. “I’m guessing you didn’t tell him you weren’t eighteen for another few days.”
Fairweather’s cheeks scorched an inflamed red but he didn’t take the bait of an argument.
“Are you coming with me?” I asked Sophia. “Your mum is beside herself.”
A sneer plastered itself on Sophia's face and it was like nothing I’d ever seen. “Sure, she is.”
She came with me though, not even saying goodbye to a glowering Jonathan Fairweather.
We made it out the back entrance without being seen and sat in silence all the way home. When we pulled up to the gates I turned to her and found tracks of tears coursing down her face.
“You deserve better than that, you know.”
She turned, her tear-lined face staring up at me. “How do you know what I deserve?”
“Because I know you better than you know yourself right now.”
“But you don’t want me?” The catch in her voice tore me in two. The tantalizing prospect of telling her the truth danced just out of reach.
My heart morphed into stone. “No.”
As the gates opened, she sprung from the car and ran up the driveway and I cruised to the pool house. She’d tell them all something or other. I didn’t think it was for me to worry about anymore. I knew it was time to let this obsession go.
Inside the pool house I gathered my limited belongings, placing the guitar back in its case. I scrawled a note and left it balanced on the black leather. I dropped my keys on the kitchen counter and tipped the old milk down the drain, rinsing away the liquid.
Then I picked up my phone, hit dial and walked out of the door.
“Sloane, sorry about earlier. About that job?”
