By that time, he had rolled over in his sleep and was facing the other way.
She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to drift off herself, but she ended up tossing and turning, and then accidentally banging her leg into Rico’s in the small bed and waking him up.
He groaned and turned over to face her again, opening up his eyes.
She saw them flicker and sparkle in the darkness.
“Sorry,” she bit her lip.
“It’s okay,” he smiled, reaching out one hand and placing it on her waist. He didn’t seem the least bit annoyed that she had woken him. His expression was so soft and caring as he gazed into her eyes. “Can’t you sleep?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Still tense, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you…do you think I might be able to help you?” he asked, unsure.
“I don’t know.”
“Will you let me try and help you?”
He sat up in bed a bit and she nodded. Anything that could help her relax and get to sleep would be welcome right now, but she didn’t know what he had in mind.
“Okay, uh…roll over onto your front.”
She did as she was told, her face in the pillow and turned to the left, getting herself comfortable as Rico got up on his knees next to her.
He blew into his hands, rubbed them together to warm them up, then leaned down over her, lifted up her pyjama top, and began to massage her shoulders with his strong thumbs.
She immediately let out a soft little moan and closed her eyes, beginning to relax.
His palms flattened out and moved down her shoulders, thumbs kneading into the center of her back and along her spine as he worked his way back and forth.
No one had ever given her a massage before, and not only was it very relaxing, but also incredibly sensual.
After only a few moments, she began to feel quite turned on, and her little noises grew louder, sounding more like the kind of noises she might make during sex.
Rico must have picked up on this, because he leaned down closer and began kissing her neck and shoulders at the same time, his touch still delicate and loving, his lips and tongue leaving little damp marks all over her shivering skin.
“Turn over,” he murmured, but it wasn’t a demand, more like a request.
One she was only too ready to abide by.
She rolled onto her back and began to undo the buttons on her pyjama top, slipping it back off her shoulders and revealing her naked breasts underneath.
He ducked his head and started kissing at them, gently sucking her nipples in between his lips and playing with them, not rushing her in any way.
She wasn’t sure where he was going to take this, and whether they would be having sex, but he was making this all about her, and every single movement was designed to bring her pleasure.
Eventually, he danced one hand to between her legs and slipped it under her pyjama pants.
But he didn’t push his fingers inside her as other guys had done in the past. He focused entirely on her clit, only going further south occasionally to wipe up some of the juices that were leaking from her, using them as lubrication for his fingers and thumb as they rubbed back and forth over her little lump.
She moaned and bucked into his hand repeatedly, then leaned up and crashed her lips to his, the two of them sharing an eager kiss as he sped up the pace, back and forth, over and over again on her pleasure zone, until at last she came hard, almost screaming into his mouth as more juices spurted from her and he held her close to his body, slowing down his fingers so she could ride it out.
He removed his hand from her pants and then carried on kissing her, all over her body, along her breasts and sides.
Not once did he touch himself, or allow her to do it either. The few times she tried to reach for him, he just intertwined their fingers together and held her hands gently, murmuring how gorgeous and perfect she was as he continued to worship her body.
When she’d calmed from her first climax sufficiently, he eased down her pyjama pants and kissed his way down there, burying his face into her warmth and eating her out, flicking his tongue back and forth over her hungrily, his mouth open to receive whatever she gave him, lapping her up until she came again.
And when she’d finally had her fill, he kissed his way back to the top of her body once more and settled beside her, pulling her into his arms and kissing at her neck, and finally to her lips.
She tried to reach one hand down for his cock, feeling it hard against her.
He shook his head gently and removed it, shushing her and kissing the top of her head. “Sleep now, my angel. You should be able to.”
And she could. Within a few moments, she had dropped off to sleep, her body feeling exhausted but on a high from the many orgasms he had given her.
Chapter Twenty-One
The next morning, they woke still entangled in each other’s arms, which was a big difference to their previous sexual encounters, where Rico had always end up spread out on the other side of the bed having stolen most of the covers.
Maybe it helped that they were in a much smaller bed.
Or maybe she should just stop questioning when things went well for her, especially when he rolled over and gently kissed her on the lips, then danced his fingertips down the side of her body, looking into her eyes and whispering, “Will you be my girlfriend?”
Despite him having told her he was willing to change for her, and that they could give things a go, she still hadn’t been expecting this question quite so soon.
Her heart skipped a couple of beats and her eyes gazed back into his with loving excitement.
She immediately nodded. “Yes,” she murmured. “Yes, of course I will.”
Rico smiled happily and leaned in for another kiss, this time allowing his lips to linger a little while longer on hers as she softly returned it.
“Do you mind… would you mind if we kept it a secret for a while though?” he asked nervously, obviously worried about upsetting her. “It’s not that I’m ashamed of you or anything, it’s just…”
He trailed off, but she rushed in and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “No, no, it’s totally fine, I get it. I was going to suggest that anyway. It’s just…things are complicated at the moment, right? Maybe it’d be best to wait until we finish the shoot. I wouldn’t want either of us to…get into trouble or…for loads of rumors to fly round.”
“There’s probably already rumors flying round,” he chuckled and rolled over onto his back before reluctantly sitting up in bed, knowing they both had to get ready. “We’ve been seen together on several dates…as well as chatting a lot on set.”
“Mm, true.”
“But let’s just keep them guessing for now.”
“More fun that way,” she smirked and got up, beginning to get ready for her audition.
“Exactly,” he laughed. “We’ll announce it after filming has finished.”
Once they were both ready, Rico gave her a ride to Francis Romero’s offices. She was only expecting to be twenty minutes or so, so he said he’d wait for her, then they could go and get some food together afterwards, both of them having skipped breakfast as they’d slept in a little later than planned.
“Sounds great,” she smiled, the two of them sharing a kiss just before she went inside. Rico waved her off then waited by his bike, taking his phone out. Ashleigh watched him for a moment, then took the elevator to the twelfth floor where Francis’s office was located.
A secretary showed her through.
She felt sick with nerves, but she knew she was well prepared. She could do this.
As the closed the door behind her, she glanced around the room. There were a couple of desks in there overlooking the window, and a couch against the wall, on which Francis was currently sat, studying a script.
He looked up as she came in and smiled warmly, his eyes roaming up and down her body.
“Ashleigh. You look absolutely ravishing as
always. Come over here.”
His comment made her shudder but she walked over and sat down on the couch next to him, keeping her distance although he was patting the space even closer and trying to get her to move up.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Uh…good thanks, yeah. Shall we begin?” She just wanted to get this over with now. Although she wanted the part, she was starting to wonder whether she’d be able to handle an entire shoot with Francis again. Whenever she spent any time with him, he made her want to puke.
“Very well, yes…” He stared at her legs instead of her face as he responded.
She shuffled back a bit, ready to read her lines with him, and he began reading the other parts in the script.
That all went fine and without a hitch. They went over it twice, with him giving her a couple of notes to see whether she could switch up her acting style and try things differently. She did her best to accommodate. It was all going pretty well, and she was starting to forget the uncomfortable situations they’d been in previously. He was actually acting professional for once, and she felt like she was in a genuine audition.
Next, he got her to stand up and deliver the song. Once again, it all went well. She didn’t mess up any of the words, and sang it perfectly, just as she had hoped.
Francis was smiling by the end of it, and he applauded her.
“That was truly wonderful,” he gushed. “You really do have a talent.”
She blushed a bit, genuinely pleased by the compliments this time, and relieved.
“I presume you’re still interested in the part?” he asked then.
“Definitely,” she nodded, a little out of breath from the singing and the adrenaline.
“You want a long career in Hollywood?”
“I do… I would like that very much.”
“You’re the type of girl who knows what’s good for her career,” he continued, but his tone had changed now, and his eyes had darkened, the expression on his face becoming predatory and creepy. She had seen that look too many times before and it brought a chill to her. She felt the atmosphere change in the room. “I want you to do something for me.”
Ashleigh swallowed and looked at him, still standing there in front of him as he looked up at her, and even though she was taller than him at this very moment, she still felt like he wielded all the power. “What is it?” she croaked.
“There’s something you can do…right now…something you can do…that will absolutely solidify your chances of being hired for this role, Ashleigh…” The whole time he was speaking, he was staring right up at her intently, his dark, beady eyes boring through into her very soul, and now, he slowly began to undo the buckle and belt on his pants.
Ashleigh’s eyes widened, and of course, she knew exactly what was happening here and what he was asking of her.
And in that moment, she didn’t think of her career or getting the job. All she could think of was how utterly horrified and disgusted she was.
“No!” she spluttered in shock and disbelief. “No, I won’t do that!”
And with that, she stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her and rushing downstairs, her heart pounding, almost feeling like she was going to be sick, or burst into tears, or perhaps both.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Of course, Rico asked how the audition had gone, and of course, he picked up on the change in her immediately. He knew there was something wrong. Either it had gone badly or…something else. And of course, he asked her about it, wanting her to open up to him. And over their late breakfast, when Ashleigh was pushing food around her plate because she’d lost her appetite completely and felt sick to her stomach, he still wouldn’t stop asking, and that was finally when she lost it with him.
She didn’t mean to, and she knew it wasn’t his fault, but she was embarrassed and ashamed by what had just happened, and she didn’t want Rico to know about it.
“I want to go home,” she snapped. “Take me back to the hotel now.”
“Alright, alright,” he held his hands up, standing and paying for their breakfast. “But I want to know what happened at some point.”
“Rico, just stop. That’s enough. Stop asking me.”
“Alright,” he said again, and this time, he did, obviously knowing better than to argue when she was in a mood like that.
He drove her back to the hotel.
“I’ll…see you at work,” she mumbled, handing the helmet back to him before rushing off inside without giving him a kiss.
As soon as she was in her room, she threw herself onto the bed and burst into tears.
A part of her started to wonder whether what had happened in the audition had been her fault.
She should have been firmer with Francis from the offset, made it clear that she wouldn’t tolerate that kind of behavior and that she had no intentions of doing anything like that with him. Perhaps she’d been too nice to him, led him on, or given him misleading signals. Had she made it seem like she’d wanted him?
Maybe she shouldn’t have gone for dinner with him that time. It’d probably given him the wrong impression.
Or maybe she should have just done what he asked. Would she have gotten the part? Is that how hundreds of other girls got parts with him? She wondered how many times this had happened in the past and it made her feel sick all over again.
Her head was a mess.
She cried herself to sleep, and slept fitfully for most of the afternoon, waking up in the evening feeling awful all over again.
She had a couple of missed calls off Rico but she didn’t get back to him, ordering herself some room service and having a meal in.
Rico turned up unannounced while she was eating.
Or maybe he had announced it, she just hadn’t been responding. In fact, she’d turned her phone off completely. She didn’t want to be contacted by anyone that night.
“You’ve been crying,” he said immediately once he saw the bags around her red, puffy eyes.
He stepped into the room and took her by the hand.
“Baby, what’s wrong? What happened? You can tell me.”
She pulled away from him and shook her head, turning her back and going over to sit on the bed.
“Ashleigh,” he persisted, walking towards her and sitting down next to her.
Her wrapped one arm around her shoulders.
She visibly tensed at the contact, not wanting to have anyone touch her right now. All she could think of was Francis, his disgusting hands, the look in his eye, the expression on his face as he was undoing his pants.
“Go away, Rico,” she mumbled, moving away from him.
“Baby, I’m–”
“I said go away! What part of that don’t you understand?” She stood up and turned to him accusingly. “I told you earlier I didn’t want to talk about it, and I meant it! And now you’re here trying to make me do it again! Get out!”
“Ashleigh! Please…”
He looked so distraught and upset by her behavior that she faltered, and her anger dissipated, turning into tears she struggled to hold back.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, shaking her head. “But I can’t do this right now. Please…please, just go.”
He stood there a moment, looking at her sadly. Then he nodded. “Alright. But my phone’s always on…call me…”
She didn’t call him.
She couldn’t bring herself to.
Instead, she flopped back down on the bed and cried herself to sleep again.
Chapter Twenty-Three
After rejecting him twice and so insistently the day before, Ashleigh wasn’t expecting to hear anything from Rico for a while. In fact, when she woke up the next day, she lay awake in bed, worrying about how she’d treated him, worrying that she may have scared him away for good; her first day of being his girlfriend and she’d pushed him out, rejected him, wouldn’t talk to him about anything. She sighed in frustration, the tears threatening to well up again even though she’d already
cried so much yesterday. Just when she’d thought things were going so well in her life, everything had started to go wrong again. This is just typical, she thought to herself with a shaky sigh.
She reached for her phone and turned it on, ignoring the missed calls and texts from Rico, and instead going through her phone book and finding her old friends’ numbers from back home. She’d barely been in touch at all since she arrived, except once, just to let people know she’d gotten there safe. She’d been too busy, enjoying herself too much. It was exactly as Trina had suspected – she’d left her old life behind for the glitz of Hollywood and practically forgotten all about them. She felt pretty bad for that too, and so took the time to send Trina a text, asking her how she was and how things were going at the gym. She was still scared, and she didn’t want to lose contact, especially since at this point, it seemed as though she was probably going to end up going back home after the shoot had finished. There was no way Francis was going to hire here after what had happened, and she’d probably never see Rico again outside of the set. He’d only just found it in himself to commit to being a boyfriend and now she was giving him such a difficult time. That wasn’t exactly going to encourage him further, was it?
She hit send on her text and waited for a reply before realizing she probably wasn’t going to get one, not with the slight time difference. Trina would still be in bed.
She sighed and put the phone down, rolling onto her back again and staring up at the ceiling.
There was a knock on her door.
Frowning a bit, she got up out of bed. She definitely wasn’t expecting anyone, and although a part of her hoped it might be Rico showing up to bother her again, she knew that was unlikely after yesterday.
She twisted the handle and pulled the door back a bit, then released a soft gasp.
It was Rico!
What on earth was he doing here?
She opened up the door fully, standing there in her pyjamas while he stood there in his shirt and pants looking all smart and handsome.
She’d been intending to spend the day in her room alone and cry, but now he was here, and it was throwing her off, confusing her. Why was he here?
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