by Jane Fox
“If it’s no trouble,” Harris said.
“For you? Never. Find a table you like in the ballroom. We haven’t opened it tonight. I’ll send a server right out.”
“Thank you, John,” Harris said.
“No thanks necessary. Not after this gorgeous woman just made my entire night.”
Harris put a hand on my back and escorted me through the kitchen into a beautiful ballroom, with tables around the dance floor.
“Pick a spot,” Harris said. “We’ve got the place to ourselves.”
I chose a table near the dance floor that gave us good visibility of the entire room. I knew that we wouldn’t be disturbed—John would see to that—but I was still nervous about all the photographers.
A young woman came into the room with a bottle of wine and walked over to our table. She introduced herself and poured us each a generous glass of wine.
“Compliments of Mr. Chester,” she said.
“Did you mean it about steak?” Harris said to me.
“Yes,” I answered, a bit confused.
“We won’t need menus, then, Christy. Bring us the house special. Make mine bloody and Jenna’s…?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
“The same,” I said, smiling.
“A woman who knows how to order her steak,” he said. “Be still my heart.”
I didn’t even notice the server leave because I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him.
“So, how’s your introduction to Hollywood been?” he asked with a grin. “We haven’t scared you off, have we?”
“I don’t think it’s for me,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m considering moving back to Ohio.”
“Trenton threw you that much?” Harris asked, his brow creasing with concern. “Don’t let that asshole run you out of town.”
“I only moved here for my boyfriend,” I said.
And it had to be my imagination, but he almost looked sad. “What does he do?”
“Skinny blondes,” I said, my mouth running away without my brain once again.
I could see that Harris wanted to be supportive, but he couldn’t contain his laughter. “Please tell me he’s an ex-boyfriend,” he said.
“Yeah,” I responded, and bit my lower lip hard so my eyes didn’t fill with tears. The betrayal still felt fresh.
“He’s an idiot,” Harris said, taking my hand. “I prefer dark-haired girls with blue eyes.”
I felt almost dizzy. Was he flirting with me? There was no way.
“Well, you’ve got your pick,” I said. “Plenty of actresses around here.”
“I don’t want an actress,” he said, leaning across the table to brush my jaw with his thumb. “I prefer smart, sassy, gorgeous PAs who are willing to stand up for themselves.”
My eyes locked with his, and I didn’t see any mocking in them. “Is this real?” I whispered.
“If you want it to be,” he said, and leaned in further to kiss me. I parted my lips for his tongue and he explored my mouth, kissing me in a way that was somehow both leisurely and intense.
“I do,” I said, “but I can’t do the casual thing.” It was a weird thing to bring up, but I couldn’t handle being a one-night stand. Not even for Harris Richmond.
“Yeah, me neither,” he said, leaning in for another languorous kiss, which I melted into. He cupped my face in his hand, pulling me gently closer.
I have no idea how long we stayed like that before I heard a noise in the room and startled away from him.
“Later,” he whispered at me like a promise, then turned towards Christy with our salads.
Like I could eat after being kissed like that.
Clearly I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, as Harris said, “Could we actually get our meals to go, Christy?”
“Certainly,” she said, smiling wide at us in a way that made it clear we had been caught. “Just one moment, Mr. Richmond.”
“Come home with me,” he said as soon as she was out of earshot. “No pressure. We can just watch a movie if you want. But come home with me. I like spending time with you.”
I couldn’t do anything but nod my agreement. Christy was back in just a couple minutes with a bag full of food, and we were headed out the back door once again. John Chester saluted us on our way out, and called, “It was a pleasure to meet you, Jenna!”
“Thanks,” I said. I wanted to take a couple of extra minutes to talk to John, but I was so swept up in Harris that all I could do was follow his lead.
Cliff was still waiting for us out back. Harris opened the car door for me and then got in the other side. Part of me wanted to snuggle right up against him, but I didn’t want to be forward. I buckled myself in instead, a little sad when he did the same. But he immediately took my hand in his once again, rubbing his thumb against my knuckles, and that was almost as good.
“I keep expecting myself to wake up,” I said.
“Me too,” he said, raising my hand to his lips and kissing my palm. “Don’t find girls like you very often around here. In fact, I never have before.”
“And what am I like?” I asked with a smile.
“You’re open, and honest, and real. And I know you’d have my back in a fight,” he responded with a grin.
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” I asked.
“Live it down? Sweetheart, it’s the single best thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life, and I’ve seen a lot.”
It took a while to get to his house in the hills, but the conversation flowed easily. By the time we reached our destination, though, I desperately wanted him to kiss me again.
Harris seemed to feel the same way. He thanked Cliff and then put a hand on my back, setting a very brisk pace for the door. I didn’t have much of a chance to take in the exterior of the house, but what I saw was lovely and classic—stucco and tile. Very Old Hollywood.
When we got to the front door, though, it was clear that the house had been updated with modern amenities. Harris punched a code into the sleek black box next to the arched front door and I heard a locking system disengage.
Inside, the old-school glamor continued. White walls, exposed beams, and huge windows made the place look light and airy, even in the waning sun.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathed.
“Not quite like the ones they have in Ohio,” Harris said. “The first time I toured it, I knew this was it for me. It immediately felt like home.”
I understood what he meant completely, but it felt presumptuous to say it, so I settled for nodding.
“But we’re not here to talk about architecture,” he said, pulling me into his arms. “I have other plans for you.”
He kissed me again, his tongue tracing the seam of my mouth until I yielded to him, and then dominating the kiss in a way that made my knees weak. He pulled off my hair tie so my hair spilled over my shoulders, then plunged his hand into my hair to pull me closer.
“God, you’re gorgeous,” he said, breaking the kiss for a moment. It was all I could do not to laugh. “What?” He said in response to the look on my face.
“I’m nothing,” I said.
He shook his head. “Jenna, you’re everything,” he replied, and captured my mouth in another searing kiss.
I was too busy kissing him back to argue.
“Should we take this someplace a little less right through the front door?” he said with a grin.
“Where did you have in mind?” I asked.
“Well, this place does have eight bedrooms,” he said.
“I think yours will be my favorite,” I said.
Was that too presumptuous?
Apparently not, because Harris’s smile got even wider, and he grabbed my hand.
He opened a huge French doorway at the end of the hallway. I didn’t have a moment to look around, because the second the door was closed, Harris had me up against it, his lips at my throat and his hands stroking my sides. He wedged one muscled thigh between my legs, grinding hard against my clit, and I moaned, my
knees buckling a bit.
“I’ve got you, baby girl,” he growled, his arm tightening around my waist to hold me up.
And I had no doubt that he did. I let him hold me and focused on how good it felt to ride his leg. I moaned as I worked myself against him. He found the sensitive spot right below my ear and sucked hard, which made me almost lose my balance entirely.
“Gonna come for me, Jenna?” he whispered in my ear, and at that, my orgasm ripped through my body and I cried out. He scooped me up in his arms and I rode out the aftershocks against his solid chest.
“You did so good, sweetheart,” he said as he carried me to the large bed. “So good. Let’s see how many more times I can make you do that.”
I almost wanted to protest that I wouldn’t survive. But man, what a way to go.
Harris laid me down on the bed, his hands moving to my pants, unbuttoning and pulling the zipper down. I raised my hips and wriggled them off. Then he was tugging at my shirt, and I lifted my arms to let him strip my shirt off. Before I could think about the fact that I was almost naked in Harris Richmond’s bed, he began mouthing his way down my neck and chest, and I lost any ability I had to feel self-conscious. He ghosted his lips over the tops of my breasts and I felt goosebumps break out all over me.
“Want you so bad,” he said, one hand moving behind me and expertly opening my bra. “I want to taste every inch of you.”
I wrapped my legs around his waist, feeling every hard inch of him pressed against me. He kissed me as he pulled my bra off, leaving me wearing nothing but a soaked pair of panties.
Harris moved his mouth to my left breast, teasing gently with his teeth. He rolled the other nipple between his fingers, and I couldn’t figure out which sensation to pay attention to. I finally gave up and let myself be overwhelmed. I pressed myself against him, his cock rubbing my sensitive clit until I came a second time.
“God, I love how responsive you are, Jenna,” he said. “I can’t wait to be inside you.”
“I thought you wanted to taste every inch of me,” I teased.
His eyes flashed, dark, dangerous, and incredibly sexy. “Some other time. Right now, I need you.”
“Might need to lose some clothes,” I said, and then I was treated to the sight of Harris stripping down right in front of me. I’d seen those miles of tan skin on the movie screen, but it was indescribably better to have the real thing right in front of me.
Then, he pulled down his boxer briefs. His cock was definitely not something that I’d seen before. My only experience had been with my ex, and he was less than satisfying in that department. I didn’t think anyone would ever complain about Harris Richmond, though, even if he wasn’t a movie star.
“Be gentle with me,” I said.
“Give you anything you need, baby girl,” he said, pulling my panties down. “But with how wet you are, I don’t suspect we’ll have a problem.”
I was eager to find out, to say the least.
I tilted my hips at him and he didn’t need a second invitation. He spread my knees and pressed inside. He was right; I was so turned on that I took every inch of him. I could feel my walls stretching around him, and it was utterly amazing to feel so full.
“Okay, Jenna?” he said, stilling as he searched my eyes.
“God yes,” I said, wriggling under him. “Please, Harris.”
He pulled out and thrust in once again, hitting a spot that no one had ever touched before. I cried out as I bucked my hips against him.
“Is that the right spot, sweetheart?” he said. “You like that?”
He aimed for it again on his next thrust.
“No one’s ever found that sweet spot before, have they?” he said. “Oh, Jenna, I can’t wait to teach you about it.”
And he set a fast pace, continually brushing against that spot. I raised my hips to meet every stroke, nearly out of my mind with a pleasure unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
“I wish I could do this all night, but I can’t hold back much longer,” he said. “Come with me, Jenna.”
He changed his rhythm, speeding up and amplifying my pleasure. He looked deep into my eyes and I saw the moment that he lost it, spilling himself deep inside me. The look of awe on his face sent me over the edge, and I had the most toe-curling, earth-shattering orgasm of my entire life, crying out my pleasure as I spasmed around him.
Harris kissed me again as I came back down to earth. “God, that was amazing,” he whispered.
“It was,” I said. “I still can’t believe this is real.”
“Most of the stuff in this town isn’t,” he said, rolling on the bed and pulling me close to his side. “But this? It’s the truest thing I’ve ever felt in my life.”
He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, and I drifted off to sleep, sated and happy.
3
Harris
I woke up the next morning with the most exquisitely beautiful woman in my bed. I pressed a kiss to her shoulder and watched her eyes flutter open.
“Morning,” she said with a gentle smile.
“Good morning, gorgeous.”
She flushed at the compliment. She would have to get used to them, because I had no intention of stopping.
“I’ll be right back with coffee,” I said. “How do you take it?”
“Black,” she said, and I raised my eyebrow, impressed. She knew what her tastes were, that was for sure.
As I made my way to the kitchen, I walked by the small room that housed the security monitors, and something caught my eye.
The gate to my house was swarmed with photographers.
“Damn it,” I muttered. I suspected it had something to do with Jenna. I retrieved my phone from the counter and pulled up one of the major gossip sites.
HARRIS RICHMOND WINES AND DINES MYSTERY WOMAN
Underneath was a picture of me helping her from the car. Her face was turned towards mine, smiling, and the fact that someone had encroached on this moment made me furious. I chose this lifestyle, but she hadn’t. It wasn’t fair to her.
Things didn’t get better when I read the accompanying article, which stated that she was “miles (and lots of pounds) away from the leading ladies that Harris Richmond normally chooses.”
My phone rang. My publicist.
“Hi, Gary,” I said as I answered.
“Damn it, Harris,” came his response.
“I didn’t know there were paps in the alley,” I growled. “Although if another one makes a crack about Jenna, there might be one less in the world.”
Gary groaned. “Can we please not complicate the issue with assault?” he asked, and I could almost see him massaging his temples in exhaustion.
“That’s entirely up to them,” I said.
“Save it for set, big boy.”
“How do I get her out of here without her being eaten alive, Gary?”
“She’s there?” he said. “Jesus, Harris. Who is this girl?”
“Damned important, is what she is. I don’t want her dragged into this.”
“I can start shopping for an actress looking for some publicity. We can do a fake relationship.”
“Have you ever see that work, Gary?” I asked dryly.
“Well, there was—no wait, she got caught making out with that director, didn’t she?”
“My point.”
Gary heaved a sigh. “You’re not giving me much to work with here, Harris. You’re not getting her out of there without causing a distraction.”
“So maybe she just shouldn’t leave.”
“Yeah, brilliant,” Gary said. “She can just move in with you.”
I mean, it wasn’t the worst idea I’d ever had.
“Harris?” Gary said, alarmed. “She’s not moving in with you.”
“It’ll just be until something else happens to draw them in. It’s the best plan, and you know it.”
Another groan. “If she sells her story to Persona, I’m going to say I told you so,” he said.
/> “She won’t,” I said. “You have my word.”
I hung up on Gary who was still grumbling, but not panicking as actively as he had been at the beginning of the conversation.
I brewed coffee and brought two mugs back with me.
“That took a while,” she said, her brow furrowing. “Is everything ok?”
“It will be,” I said. “What do you have going on for the next few days?”
“Nothing, considering I’m unexpectedly unemployed,” she said. “Why?”
“Well, you might need to stay here for a little while.”
“Harris, what’s going on?” she asked. “What happened?”
“Someone got a picture of us last night. And the gate is surrounded. There’s no getting you out of here anytime soon without a lot more publicity than I think you’d like.”
She pulled the duvet over her head and groaned. “Crap. Can’t we just tell them I’m your new assistant or something?”
“Honey, no one who’s seen that picture is going to believe that I’m anything but head-over-heels for you.”
Her cheeks reddened adorably. “I couldn’t impose on you,” she said. I could tell that I was wearing down her resistance.
“What if I told you that this is all an excuse to have you to myself for a few days?”
I got a real smile out of that, which elevated her from merely gorgeous to utterly stunning. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” I said, pulling the duvet off and covering her body with mine. She arched against me as if she couldn’t control herself, and my body immediately reacted, my cock filling in anticipation of having her again.
“Besides,” I said, “I believe that I promised to taste every inch of you. Tell me you’ll stay.”
She nodded at me, her eyes hooded with desire, and I made very, very good on my promise.
Epilogue
Jenna
I fiddled with the neckline of my dress. It was a beautiful blue, covered in sequins, and much more form-fitting than I was used to.
I would have been entirely self-conscious if Harris hadn’t made it clear how much he liked the way I looked in it. In fact, he was so dedicated to showing his approval that we were almost late.
