Method Acting: An opposites attract, found family romance (Center Stage Book 2)

by Adele Buck

  “Normally I would have been too,” Alicia said. “I don’t know what got into me.”

  Colin winked at Alicia. “Whatever it was, I approve.”

  A light touch on Colin’s arm and the sound of his name caused him to turn, and he groaned inwardly. “Ah. Mrs. Lloyd-Hudson. How are you this evening?”

  The older woman opened her mouth to respond, then her gaze fell on Alicia, who had previously been hidden from her view.

  Mrs. Lloyd-Hudson looked like she had been turned to stone. Wealthy, very white stone. Carrara marble, perhaps.

  Glancing at Alicia, he saw that she looked almost as stiff. Comprehension flooded him.

  This will be awkward.

  “Mrs. Lloyd-Hudson, I don’t believe you have met my friend, Miss Alicia Johnson,” he said.

  A tight-lipped smile flickered over the woman’s well-bred face. “No, I haven’t had that pleasure. Miss Johnson.” The tiniest of bows of her silvery coiffed head was both greeting and instant dismissal.

  “Alicia, this is the wife of our senior partner, William Lloyd-Hudson. I haven’t seen Will this evening, is he here?”

  Mrs. Lloyd-Hudson’s cool, pale eyes fixed on Colin’s. “He is. He has gone off to get himself a drink, I believe.” Turning to Brandon, she said, “Lovely to see you Mr. Oberst, Miss Ashford. I was delighted to get the save the date card for your wedding. I am so looking forward to it.”

  Brandon nodded, and Mari’s gaze darted from Mrs. Lloyd-Hudson to Alicia and back again. An awkward silence stretched like taffy in the little group.

  “Don’t you think Alicia’s shoes are fantastic?” Mari blurted.

  “Excuse me, dear?” Mrs. Lloyd-Hudson’s face froze again. Oh, bless you, Mari, he thought as he prepared to dive into the conversational hole she had left open. He set his arm around Alicia’s waist, hand resting on her hip. She stiffened, and he squeezed her gently.

  Trust me.

  “Indeed. I’ve admired them all evening. Can you believe that someone was rude enough to insult her to her face? Over her choice in footwear. The most ill-bred thing I have ever heard of, I believe.” Colin kept his eyes averted from Alicia’s. If he looked at her now, he would start laughing and not know how to stop.

  “Is that so?” Mrs. Lloyd-Hudson’s voice seemed to have developed a crack and anger flashed in her eyes. The harpy must be furious, but she could hardly come back at him without claiming her own rudeness.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, it’s certainly interesting to see you with someone new,” Mrs. Lloyd-Hudson said, her jaw tight, then clipped her lips closed as her husband approached.

  “Oh, Will. Jolly good to see you this evening.” Placing his drink on a high table nearby, he shook the senior partner’s hand and introduced Alicia.

  “Everyone having a nice time this evening?” the older man asked. Nods and murmurs of assent went around the little group, followed by another awkward pause.

  “Will, I’m afraid I am developing a most wretched headache,” Mrs. Lloyd-Hudson said, her hand drifting to her forehead.

  “That’s too bad, my dear. I would take you home, but I have to give one of the awards this evening. Why don’t you go home and send the driver back here to wait for me? I’ll take you downstairs.”

  When the Lloyd-Hudsons were out of earshot, Alicia said, “I can’t believe you guys did that.”

  Colin picked up his drink again and took a slug. “I’ve never liked her,” he said.

  “Me neither,” Mari said, lifting her wineglass. “Anyway, the Lloyd-Hudsons were seated at our table and now at least we don’t have to spend the rest of the evening with her. Ding dong, the witch is dead.”

  Chapter 9

  Standing under the hotel’s portico as they waited for the car to arrive, Alicia looked at Colin from under her lashes and considered her whipsawing impressions of him.

  First, she had noticed that he was handsome.

  Second, she decided he was an asshole.

  Then, she found him intriguing.

  Tonight, she had learned that he could be kind. His attentiveness to the kids, his defense of her…

  This new realization made her feel dangerously tender toward him. He seemed unaware of her scrutiny, eyes scanning the street for the town car’s approach, but his hand found hers and held it, threading his fingers through her own. The gesture, so casual and yet somehow so intimate, sent a flush of pleasure through her.

  “So,” he said. “You mentioned in your e-mail that you thought you owed me?”

  Her stomach fluttered with nerves. “Yes.”

  He looked at her when she didn’t elaborate. “Am I ever to know how I served you, fair lady?”

  She bit her lip, uncertain of how he would react. Would he feel used? Would he think it was funny? “You really want to know?”

  His expression was enigmatic. “Why do I feel like I was the unwitting dupe in a bank heist?”

  Alicia suppressed a laugh. “Nothing that bad. You were half of my secret weapon when I auditioned for the role I just got.”

  He turned to look at her more fully. “Oh really? And how do I qualify as a secret weapon, since I wasn’t there?”

  She paused. Considered. Sighed. “The audition scene was my character bantering with a lobbyist. The scene had to be both buttoned-up and sexy at the same time. I envisioned you in the role of the lobbyist.”

  Both his eyebrows went up. “And that helped?”

  Alicia couldn’t repress the broadening of her smile. “Oh, it helped.”

  His smile matched hers, white teeth gleaming. “You said that was half of your ‘secret weapon.’ What was the other half?”

  Their car pulled up in front of them at that moment, the driver jumping out to open the door for her. Putting a hand on his shoulder to bring his ear closer to her mouth, she whispered, “The other half was that I wasn’t wearing any underwear under my very proper business suit.”

  Pulling away, she saw that his gaze had sharpened, pupils spreading black across the velvety brown of his irises. Inhaling sharply, he said, “Is that true?”

  “Yes. It’s also true now,” she said as she got into the car.

  Colin’s mouth went dry. Alicia gave him the smallest of prim smiles as the driver shut the door. Launching himself around the back, Colin got in on the other side and tried to control his breathing. And everything else. The blood pounding in his ears was like a drumbeat demanding he take this woman in his arms and find out just exactly how much…nothing she was wearing under that stunning dress.

  “Well that’s an anticlimactic reaction.” Alicia’s voice was cool as the car moved out.

  He blinked. “Sorry to disappoint. I’m trying to sort out how exactly a gentleman should respond to such a declaration.”

  “And here I was hoping I could get past that trademarked Very Proper British Reserve.”

  Colin took a deep breath, scanned her outraged profile, leaned across the space that separated them and murmured in her ear. “You smashed it to smithereens. But my upbringing and the fact that we have the driver to contend with kept me from grabbing you immediately and doing some very indecent things.”

  She shivered and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “How indecent?”

  Colin’s finger traced the soft skin of her thigh exposed by the slit in the skirt of her evening gown. “Very. Indecent.” Sliding his hand under the silk, he inched higher. Her skin was warm, strong muscles tensing under his palm. He focused on her face, assessing her reaction. Her eyes were locked on his, and her breath was coming a little fast.

  “How indecent would you like me to be?” he whispered. He had to know. Could not leave her intention to chance.

  “Very.”

  “Would you come home with me? Come to bed with me?”

  Her eyes opened a little wider, pupils flaring. “Yes.”

  Alicia stood at the foot of the short flight of stairs that led up to Colin’s front door. His house was one of a series of row houses o
n a street less than a mile from the apartment she was renting. The brick façade was painted a dove gray, the window trim a crisp white. Colin opened the glossy black door and reached out, helping her up the steps. Her heels wobbled slightly on the uneven bricks, and his large, warm hand was a welcome assistance.

  Pulling her inside and shutting the door, Colin took her tiny evening bag and put it on a small side table. Placing his hands on the back of the door to either side of her face, he paused, eyes boring into hers. She swallowed as he dipped his head, lips fastening to hers. She returned his kiss, running her hands up his shirt front, behind his neck, and up into his hair. It was smooth and silky and felt as good between her fingers as she had hoped. She tugged gently and felt him smile against her mouth, then tugged harder, eliciting a harsh groan.

  His hands pulled away from the door and slid down her sides, coming to rest at her hips. He pulled her tight to him, and her breath caught as she felt the long, hard evidence of his arousal against her belly.

  “I should have known,” he said, nibbling down the side of her neck in a way that sent chills running all over her body.

  “Should have known what?” she asked, tilting her head back against the door as his tongue explored the hollow of her throat.

  “Should have known you weren’t wearing knickers when I put my hand on your hip this evening,” he said, lifting his head and capturing her lips in another kiss, this time sweeping his tongue into her mouth and running his hands over her silk-clad rear. She hummed with pleasure as his fingers flexed, squeezing gently. “I don’t know how I could have been so unobservant.”

  “Well, you appear to be observing thoroughly now,” she replied, looking up into the shadowed hollows of his eyes in the dim hallway.

  “If you’ll follow me upstairs, I promise to make a full survey.”

  “Lead the way.”

  Drawing her into his bedroom, Colin kissed her again, cupping her face gently in his hands. “Lights on or off?”

  “On,” she said, her voice rasping huskily in her throat, making his cock ache.

  Stepping over to one of the bedside tables, he turned on the lamp there, illuminating the room. Her eyes roamed over the furnishings and came back to rest on him as he stepped toward her again.

  “What is it about tuxedos and uniforms that are so sexy?” she asked, fingers tugging at the black silk of his bow tie, releasing it from its knot.

  “I’m not sure I care about the why. I am, however, appreciative of the what,” he replied as she popped the top stud of his shirt and ran her hands under the lapels of his jacket, shrugging the garment off with some difficulty and laying it on an armchair.

  “It is too tight,” she said.

  “Somehow, my tailor isn’t my top priority at the moment.” His voice was tight, his throat constricted. Her hands swept from the shirt stud she was undoing, threading her fingers under his braces and pushing them down over his arms.

  “I’m not saying I’m complaining,” she said, squeezing his biceps and shooting him a look, her brown eyes mischievous behind her long, silvery blonde fringe.

  His cock gave another throb. “You know exactly how sexy that look is, don’t you?”

  “No idea what you’re talking about,” she said, pursing her lips and returning to the shirt stud she had abandoned.

  “Oh, bollocks to this,” he growled, fingers fumbling with his cufflinks and tugging shirt and undershirt over his head. Emerging from the blinding white cotton, the first thing he saw was her expression.

  She looked hungry.

  Alicia’s mouth watered as she looked at the expanse of Colin’s bare torso. The weightlifting that had been bantered about was now on full display, sculpted muscles swelling under smooth skin. Oh, and he had just the right amount of chest hair for Alicia, spreading across his pecs and narrowing to trail past his navel into the waistband of his pants.

  When I thought how sexy tuxes were, I had no idea how sexy half a tux could be.

  Gripping the suspenders that hung slack at his narrow hips and winding them around her hands, Alicia pulled hard, yanking him toward her and lifting her face to meet his mouth in a kiss that was almost as much combat as passion, lips pressing bruisingly hard, tongues sweeping against one another. Freeing her hands from the suspenders, she sent them roaming up his chest, exploring the hard planes and curves, the crisp hair and smooth skin, the insistent points of his nipples.

  Colin groaned and pulled back, his eyes heavy-lidded and intent. “Before I lose my mind entirely, I need to get you out of this gown. And it looks…challenging.”

  Alicia smiled and bit her lip. Twisting to the side, she found the hidden zipper under one arm and lowered it. “Up and off,” she said, turning back to him. “Gently, if you can manage it.”

  With fingers that shook slightly, he gathered some of the heavy silk in his hands and began to draw it slowly upward. Alicia raised her arms as he eased the gown up over her breasts, eyes locked on his until fabric obscured her vision, the cool air of the room hitting her body and making her already stiff nipples tighten further.

  When her head emerged and her body was bare, she opened her eyes. He was tenderly laying the dress on the chair where she had tossed his jacket. Something inside her twisted at his consideration and her fists clenched, fingernails biting into her palms.

  Colin paused as he turned back to Alicia. She was standing clad only in her red stilettos, her lovely body revealed to him, looking at him with a burning intensity. Her hands were balled in tight fists, her arms rigid and tense.

  Running his hands lightly down her arms, he teased her fingers open as he brushed light kisses across her lips. When she tunneled her hands into his hair again and started kissing him more aggressively, he straightened, placing his hands on her hips and walking her backwards until the bed was behind her.

  “Sit. Please,” he whispered, and she did, dark eyes wary and watchful.

  Lowering himself to the floor, he removed one glossy red stiletto, kissing the inside of her knee and then her inner thigh. Setting her shoe down deliberately on the floor, he removed the other, repeating the kisses on her other leg, the scent of her almost destroying the control he was exerting.

  Removing his own shoes and socks, he set them beside hers, standing and stripping off his pants and underwear and tossing them on the chair with the rest of their clothing. Alicia’s eyes still followed him, guarded and shadowed. Sitting beside her on the bed, he said, “Do you still want to do this?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “You’re looking at me as if you thought I were going to eat you alive.”

  More like the opposite. Alicia couldn’t figure out what he was doing. It unnerved her. She was used to bringing heat, making a man lose his mind, getting off, getting done, and getting out.

  But Colin countered aggression with tenderness. Despite the long, darkly flushed erection that proved his arousal, he wasn’t going to forget himself, at least not easily. She was not going to be able to take control by making him lose his.

  “Alicia.” His deep voice said her name like a caress, and she focused on the lush curves of his mouth. “I would like to make love to you. Is that what you want?”

  Make love. She should have known. It was completely consistent with everything she had seen of him. Old, self-protective habits pushed a response into her head. No, I want to fuck.

  But when she lifted her gaze and met his eyes, she couldn’t say it. Instead, she nodded, mesmerized by his sincerity.

  “Oh, thank God,” he murmured, shuddering and leaning forward to kiss her again. This time, Alicia let his lips gently explore hers, following him and lying back as he pushed himself up to stretch out fully on the bed.

  As one of his hands slid up her waist and gently cupped a breast, he murmured in her ear. “Tell me about your audition.”

  She turned her head, shooting him a quizzical look. “Why?”

  Gently pinching her nipple, a mischievous smile played across his fa
ce. “Because it sounds like you were very naughty.”

  Ah. She smiled in response. “I went into the ladies’ and pulled up my skirt.” She gasped as his mouth descended on the other nipple, sucking hard. His hand glided down her belly and over the strip of pubic hair, one finger sinking inside her.

  “And?” he mumbled into her breast.

  She swallowed. “And I took off my panties. I went into the audition with that naughty little secret.” She moaned appreciatively as a second finger joined the first, his thumb feathering over her clit, teasing. “When I went in to do the reading, I pictured you.” The fingers pulsed inside her, eliciting a responsive throb. “And I thought it was a secret, but somehow you knew.”

  His hand stilled, and he lifted his head to look at her, eyes black with arousal. “How did I know? Did you tell me you weren’t wearing any knickers?”

  “No.” She shook her head, restlessly pressing her hips up toward that teasing thumb. “You just knew.”

  “Clever me,” he said, turning his attention to her other breast, circling his tongue around the nipple as his thumb circled her clit with greater pressure and his fingers continued their restless pulsing. The synchronized sensations snapped the rising tension, making Alicia shudder and writhe, wailing as the spasms reached a delicious peak.

  When she could open her eyes again, she saw he was smiling. She took a long, shuddering breath. “Clever you, indeed.”

  “Ready for more?” he asked, taking in the flush of her skin, the languor of her limbs. She nodded, biting her lower lip, and he pulled his fingers out. Rolling over, he retrieved a condom from the drawer in his bedside table.

  “Wait.” Her pale hand splayed on his chest, pushing him back to the mattress. Unresisting, he complied and looked at her as she leaned on one elbow and regarded his body. Her head dipped and teeth gently scraped one nipple at the same time as her hand wrapped around his erection, squeezing gently. Colin inhaled sharply, his cock throbbing.