by Davies, Amy
“I’m going to have a quick shower before dinner, okay? I won’t be long.”
“You’d better not, Pup!” Scarlett shouts at me as I run up the stairs towards my bathroom. Turning the water on, I start to get undressed. My phone beeps and my heart skips a beat.
James: No! I can’t tonight, I’m busy.
I sink into the chair in the bathroom feeling like I have yet again lost him. I type my reply.
Me: When can I see you? We need to talk James. Please.
I sit and wait again but give in, as I need to shower before Scarlett rips me a new one. The water is hot but it doesn’t take my mind off James. I just stand under the water letting it run over my aching body but I can’t cry not now. Scarlett is going to ask way too many questions and I’m just not in the mood for her twenty questions on my love life. I climb out of the shower and make my way to my bedroom. I dry slowly and get dressed sluggishly, not really having the energy to do anything. I brush my hair and tie it back, not bothering to dry it. I’m not going back out tonight. I meet my sister at the dining table, where my food is ready and waiting to be eaten. It smells delicious but I don’t think my stomach can handle it. I will try for Scarlett though, since she already cooked and plated it.
“You okay, Talls? You’re not looking right.” She gives me a concerned look.
I smile and shrug, “I’m okay, just a busy day at work. It’s coming to the end of the summer and everyone wants to get their family photos done and portfolios need to be updated. Things like that.” I start to eat my food but struggle, thinking about James again. My stomach tightens again. Scarlett’s phone rings, bring me back to the now. I hear her saying, “Okay” and “Will do” and she ends the call. “Who was that?”
“Just a friend,” but she doesn’t look up at me. I remember that I have left my phone in the bathroom, so I sprint up the stairs and check my phone. There is a text from James.
James: I really don’t know. I have a busy week so….cya around.
He has really left me, and tears stream down my face and I can’t breathe. How could he do this to me? He promised that he would never give up and told me ‘he loved me’. I sink to the bathroom floor with a thud, pain shooting through my knees, but the pain of my breaking heart is much worse.
Chapter 14
I don’t notice Scarlett joining me on the floor until she has her arms wrapped around me, rocking me back and forth. “Shhh Pup, it will be okay.” I stop crying by her words and look up at her.
“I need to see him … tonight. I hurt him. I pulled away when Erica came into the studio. I didn’t know how she would feel about us being together. We just got together and he walked away so easily,” I try to lift myself up off the floor but Scarlett stops me, holding me to her.
“Pup leave him, he isn’t worth it.” I can hear the anger in her voice.
“But Scar…” She cuts me off.
“Natalia Slone, you will stay clear of him for a few days, okay? Promise me you will do that, give yourself some time?” Maybe she is right. I should cut him off like he has with me. Obviously I didn’t mean that much to him. I nod but stand anyway.
“I’m going to bed Scar, I need to be alone right now.” Scarlett leaves me in my room. I climb into bed and weep into my pillow, which still smells like James Wilde. I cry until my body gives in and falls asleep.
It’s been two days since I saw James last. I distract myself by running myself ragged again. I wake to the sun shining through my window and my phone ringing, ‘It’s too early to be calling people!’ I shout at my phone. “Hey Miss Tally, did I wake you?” Oh God, it’s Carlos.
“Oh my God, am I late for work? Did I sleep through my alarm?” I sit upright and glance at the clock on my wall. It says it’s five-fifteen. I relax and fall back down on my bed and I can hear Carlos laughing. “Yes Carlos, you woke me. What’s up? Is everything okay?”
He stops laughing, “We have been given a permit to do a shoot on a location and it’s your contract Talls, you need to get over there ASAP. Can you do that? I will email you the details, okay?” Without me answering, he ends the call. Great. I stagger out of bed and go shower. I quickly dry my body, still aching by the way, and get dressed. Today I’m going for skinny jeans and my Exposure thick strap camisole and if Scarlett doesn’t like it, then tough. I head to the kitchen and Scarlett is no-where to be found. Then I remember it’s stupid o’clock, she won’t be up yet. I scribble a note and head out to the location. Carlos has sent all my equipment over already, so they are just waiting on me. I have The Script playing in my car to calm my down, as there is a high possibility that Wilde is going to be there.
I turn down a tree lined lane and at the top on the road there is a stunning, larger than life house, no doubt worth millions. There are cars and trucks parked to the one side, so I park my Wrangler in the same place. I bang my head on the steering wheel and try to slow my breathing down. A tap on my window startles me; I whip my head around to see who it is. Staring at me is this petite young girl, with short designer blonde hair and a huge smile across her face. I exit my car and she greets me with her chipper morning attitude. “Morning Tally, I’m Cleo. I will be your PA while you’re on this QBC contract. Everyone is inside waiting for you.” I look at her as she hands me a thermal mug of tea.
“Morning Cleo, who is in there exactly?” She looks at me as if to say should-you-already-know-who-is-in-there.
“Um, Mr Williams, Miss Vogel and some guy called Marcus. I don’t know what he does on the show, but he is hot.” We walk towards the house and Cleo blurts out, “Oh, and Mr Wilde is here.” I stop in my tracks and blink a few times trying to gather my thoughts.
“As in, James Wilde? He is here now?” She smiles and nods. I follow Cleo into the house, through the main hall and the kitchen. We reach the garden, where all my staff and equipment have already been set up. I can’t see James, but Carmen is sitting by one of the patio tables. I make a bee line for Mr Williams. “Good morning Mr Williams. Sorry I’m late.” He stands to greet me and offer his hand.
“It’s perfectly fine Miss Slone; we weren’t told until the early hours that we could use this magnificent home and garden.”
I feel some tension leave my shoulders but its short lived when see Carmen darting towards me. Arms open, she pulls me in for a hug and kisses both my cheeks. “Oh Tally, it’s so good to see you again. How is the job going? Good I hope.” She has the most perfectly white teeth that I have ever seen before. I still don’t get a good vibe from her.
“So this is the famous Tally Slone?” I hear a man say my name over my shoulder. I close my eyes briefly and turn to face the man. I know as soon as my eyes rest on his face that it’s Marcus, but I don’t give it away.
“And you are sir…?” I present my hand and he laughs, a full head back laugh.
“Like you don’t know. I’m sure James has talked about me before today.” I lower my hand and straighten my shoulders.
“And why would Mr Wilde be talking to me about you Mr? I still didn’t catch your name.”
He chuckles. “I’m Marcus Wright. James’s best friend and bodyguard,” he says, with a wicked grin on his lips. I steady my breathing, trying not to give away how irritated I’m feeling right now.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Mr Wright. Please, could you tell me where Mr Wilde is? I’m sure that everyone would like to get started now that I’m here.” Marcus points to a tent down on the grounds. I thank him and walk towards the tent. Taking deep breaths, saying to myself, ‘Just breathe, you can do this Pup.’ As I get closer to the tent, I can hear giggling and talking. It’s James’ voice and my breath catches again when I hear a girl’s voice. Less than forty-eight hours and he has moved on from me. Wow, I was only fooling myself.
“Are you single James? Please tell me you are. I would love to taste your cock right now; I have heard so many stories about it.” Fuck me, this girl has no shame! Before James can answer her, I enter the tent. James is sitting in a high c
hair, and the make-up artist is standing between his legs, rubbing her hands up and down his thighs.
James must hear the tent door move, because without looking in my direction James speaks, “I will be out when I’m ready.” I cross my arms over my body.
“Well, that will be a whole three minutes then won’t it, Mr Wilde?” I smile to myself. I like this Tally. Wilde spins around and faces me.
“Tally, what are you doing here? I thought Sam was working today.” I walk further into the tent and the make-up tart is blushing big time.
“You know this is my contract, or have you forgotten that? Since you have obviously forgotten a few other things too. Oh, by the way Mr Wilde, I believe this very young girl asked you a question. I think it’s only polite on your part that you answer said question.” Make-up whore moves past me and exits the tent. “Oh, don’t leave on my account. I believe that Mr Wilde wants you to finish working him over … oh, I mean working on him!” I yell after her. James stands and shoves his hands in his jean pockets, and as he goes to speak I raise my hand to stop him. “So much for not giving up on me. I can’t believe I fell for it again.” James’ head whips up at me from the floor and he frowns.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” He is pissed and I just chuckle to myself.
“You played me like Dean did, but without the rape and the beatings. You spent time with me, told me you understood everything that had happened. For fuck sake Wilde, you told me you loved me. I let my guard down and made love to you.” I rub my eyes and look back at him, “No I fucked you, isn’t that right Wilde? Then, after all that, I make one simple fucking mistake and you run. That was the perfect excuse for you to fuck and run. You are pathetic, Wilde. You know how hard it was for me to sleep with you? I deserve better.”
We stand there staring at each other for the longest of times, waiting for the first move. It’s James who takes the first steps. He moves closer to me and reaches for my face but I step back “Don’t Wilde” He sighs.
“Please stop calling me Wilde. I like hearing you say my name.”
“Wilde is your name, isn’t it what your friends call you?”
He takes another step closer and again I move back. “You’re my girlfriend and I love you calling me James. Please baby.” I frown.
“Girlfriend? You could have fooled me,” I say throwing his words back at him. He looks shocked by the tone in my voice. “I just walked in on you and that slut. She was asking to give you a blowjob Jam...” I stop. I can’t say him name. He runs a hand through his perfect hair. Oh, how I want to do that. Stay strong Natalia.
“I would have told her I had a girlfriend but you came in before I could say anything. Please believe me baby.”
“I am not your baby,” I growl at him. I catch my reflection in the mirror and make my way over to the table, walking straight past James, brushing my arm gently against his. I pull my hair tie out and start to brush my hair. I can see James watching me. He stands there all sex-god like, with his hands stuffed in the back pockets of his jeans. I straighten my hair and decide to add some make-up as I didn’t have time at home, thanks to Carlos. I roll on the mascara; add a thin line of eye liner, and look around for the perfect lip gloss. I add a natural pink to my lips, then smack them together and slowly run my tongue along them. I can see James licking his lips. Good, it’s working. I smile, then bite my bottom lip. I stand there looking at myself in the mirror, thinking how much I have missed this Natalia Slone. I feel and look more confident.
James steps forward to me, slides his arms around my waist and lays light kisses on my neck. “You smell divine, baby. Can I kiss you, Tally?” I can feel his smile on my neck because he knows that was the same question he asked me the first time he kissed me.
“Not a good idea Wilde,” I have to fight the shiver trying to run through my body.
“Oh for the love of God Natalia, call me James.” I try to pull away but he tightens his hold on me.
“Fine, if I call you James will you let me go? I have work to do.” I sigh “We have work to do.” A wicked smile crosses his face.
“If you call me James and let me kiss you, I promise to let you get back to work.” Oh, I have missed his kisses, even though it hasn’t been that long since we actually kissed. “I just think we should let this be and get back to work, okay? It’s for the best, Wilde.” He sounds angry again and steps back from me.
“My name is James, for fuck sake Tally. Is this how you want to end us?” I shake my head and laugh at him. I can’t believe he wants to blame me for this.
“You blew me off, you’re ending this not me. I told you over and over again that I was sorry for what I did, but can you blame me? I haven’t worked for Exposure long and all of a sudden I’m fucking one of their biggest clients. I was going to tell Mrs Silver, but now I can see that I won’t need to.” I try walking away again but he grips my arm. He closes his eyes briefly and then looks down at me.
“Kiss me Tally, you know you want to.” I sigh, feeling defeated.
“Fine! James, you can kiss me.” I know I’m going to regret this kiss. A small but very sexy smile appears on his soft lickable lips. He pulls me tight to his body and I place my hands on his chest to keep a safe-ish distance.
“Don’t fight me baby, please,” James’s lips brush mine softly at first, then he pulls back from me, then bring his lips back to mine once again. I’m in trouble now. My heart rate picks up speed and I know that I should stop this now before it gets too far. I pull away from James and put some distance between us.
“We have work to do James, we need to go.” I turn to walk away but James wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close to him. He brushes my hair to the one side and kisses my neck.
“I’m sorry Tally, I really am. I should have understood why you pulled away from me.” I’m happy that he can now see why I did what I did, but his actions hurt just as much. “I’m not like Dean, you know that, babe. I never meant to hurt you, but fuck Tall you hurt me too … at the time, but I get why and I understand it. Please, can we just move on from this now?”
I pull out of James’s hold and walk towards the tent door. I can feel James staring at me but I don’t look back at him, but instead say, “We have work to do James, get a move on, yeah?” I can hear him sigh heavily and I feel a slight pang of guilt. “If we get this shoot done quickly enough, perhaps you can take me out dinner. You game?” I wink at him and then I exit the tent, smiling to myself. I can give him another chance since it was both of us that screwed up this time. I start to climb the steps and I hear James running towards me, so I look over my shoulder and smile.
“You had better run baby, because I will catch you, and when I do this photo shoot will just have to wait.” I squeal and start running towards everyone. I just get to the top step and James catches me by my waist and swings me around. I giggle out loud and everyone stops what they are doing and turn to face us. James turn me around to face him; he is wearing my favorite smile. His fuck-me smile.
“Where the fuck have you two been? Or shouldn’t I ask?” A gruff voice comes from behind me. James breaks our gaze to look over my shoulder at Marcus.
I blush, even though I know we haven’t done anything. “Just spending time with my girl, you got a problem with that dude?” I kiss James’ jaw and pull away.
“Come on, we have work to do.” I walk past Marcus, who puts his hand on my arm to stop me.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Tally.” I smile and walk away to set up the first shots.
Chapter 15
During the photo shoot, James flirts with me every chance he gets, just the minor of touches, whispering in my ear. Every time I check the shot on my laptop, James has to stand behind me to check also. Marcus often passes comments at us, but I know he means well. Carmen isn’t pleased with us, but hey, he is my boyfriend, not hers. Marcus doesn’t leave my side and we chat throughout the day. He really is a nice guy. We chat about how long he has known James, what it
was like growing up next to him. Marcus sees James’s parents as his own since his parents were killed a car accident when Marcus was twelve. Scarlett would love him and eat him alive. We get completely engrossed in the shoot. James is looking super hot in his show outfits. At the moment, he is wearing a light three-piece grey suit with a thin black tie and dress shoes.
Carmen is trying her hardest to get James to notice her more, but he seems to only have eyes for me, which makes me blush uncontrollably. This hot and sexy man has made love to me, put that sexy as sin mouth on me. I blush at the thought and bite my lip. I catch James looking at me. He tilts his head to one side and studies me. I send him a smile and he walks over to me and whispers in my ear. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, we are going to have to abandon the shoot for an hour because I need to be deep inside you right now.” A shiver escapes my body. James stiffens and grabs my hand. “Take an hour everyone. I need to sort a few things out with Miss Slone here.” I blush all over because I know what everyone is thinking. Damn me for not being able to say no to James.
I can hear Marcus laughing behind me and shouting after James, “That’s my boy!”
James pulls me along the trees and flower bed towards a small building at the bottom of the garden. It’s a little outdoor guest house. It’s decorated with bare brick walls and a complete glass roof. There is summer furniture in pastel colors. James takes me straight through to the bedroom. He locks the door behind us and pins me to the door, crushing his lips to mine. I lick James’s lips and he parts his mouth, letting my tongue dance with his. He still tastes so damn good. I run my fingers through his hair and tug slightly; a small groan comes from James throat. “Bed, now.” I say to James. He doesn’t need to be told twice. He holds me by my ass cheeks and carries me over to the bed. Both of us fall onto the bed and James makes quick work of my clothes. I follow suit with his. James starts kissing my neck. He slowly runs his tongue down my neck and down across my collar bone, making his way to my breasts. He pulls my top up and my bra down. Flicking my nipple with his tongue making it hard and erect, he sucks hard, making me arch my back and cry out.
