Just Like the Movies

by Natasha Preston

  “That’s not true. You’re not making things hard anymore, Mum.”

  Jessica tilts her head. “I’m not stupid. We both need a breather. I’m going have a long bath and watch something on TV. There are quite a few good shows on, you know?”

  “You’ve done that a lot.”

  “I’m not ready to go out. For now, I’m happy for this to be my routine. One step at a time.”

  “I understand that, but I don’t think it’s healthy to stay in all the time. Why don’t we go for a walk tomorrow night? There’s a lovely short trail out by the forest that’s well lit.”

  Jessica taps the side of her mug. Her fleeting smile answers truthfully. “I’ll see how I feel.”

  She’s not going.

  “It’ll be good for both of us. Maybe we could start running together. Your doctor said physical exercise would be great for you, and from what I’ve seen on TV, running looks fun.”

  I watch in silence as Jessica absorbs Indie’s idea. Her eyes are tense. “Maybe.”

  For fuck’s sake, plan something with your daughter! Who can’t be bothered to go on a short walk?

  Indie drops it, knowing she’s fighting a losing battle. Her mum isn’t ready.

  Forty-Six

  Indie

  “We’re ice-skating?” I ask as Spence pulls up outside the closed rink.

  At least I hope we are because I’ve never tried snowboarding or skiing. Not sure I want a broken bone.

  “We loved it here.”

  My heart soars. “I haven’t been back since you went to LA,” I tell him. Same as the beach. These things are ours, and I could never come with someone else.

  His smile is blinding.

  “Come on, beautiful, let’s skate.”

  He gets out before I can state the obvious.

  “Erm, Spence,” I say, jumping out of his ridiculously large car. “It’s closed.”

  “Not to us.”

  Oh my God, is he for real?

  “Wow, Hollywood. You actually paid the owner, didn’t you?”

  He shrugs and locks his car. Wrapping an arm around my shoulder, he says, “The manager was only too happy to take ten grand.”

  “Fuck off!” The words burst from my mouth. Spencer winces, as if he’s let out a secret he’d planned to keep. “Seriously, what the fuck?”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you swear so much, babe.” He unlocks the double doors and lets us inside. I follow in a bit of a daze, trying to figure out how I feel about this. A lot can be done with ten thousand pounds.

  “You paid ten thousand pounds to take me skating. Are you mental?”

  He locks the door behind us and switches on the light. “That’s not very PC, Indie.”

  “I don’t care. What the hell?”

  “Well, you do make me crazy. Let’s get you some skates. We have two hours, and we’ve already spent about three hundred quid.”

  How much money does he have?

  I don’t want to know, not really, but spending ten grand on two hours of skating has me curious.

  He takes my hand, oblivious to the freak out happening in my head.

  “Here’s a five, tiny feet.” He hands them over, chuckling when I glare at him.

  At least I get awesome deals in shoe sales.

  I slide the skates on my feet and do fasten them tightly. “Spencer…”

  “I’m not going to apologise for spending, Indie.” He has a look of defiance when I face him, like a child.

  “It’s a lot of money.”

  “Our lives are going to be different. We can’t do this sort of thing without a lot of attention. I don’t mind paying out. I’m not prepared to miss dates like this with you.”

  Okay, my heart. I try to suppress a smile because I’m supposed to be annoyed still.

  He holds out his hand, and I take it, grinning from ear to ear. “I guess I’ll let you off this once.”

  His lips brush mine as we stand very still on our skates. “Is that right?” I push up to kiss him, but he backs away.

  “Oh, is that how we’re playing it, Spence? Because I can guarantee that you’ll give in and kiss me first.”

  He raises his eyebrow like an evil villain. “We’ll see, Miss Croft.”

  “What does the winner get?”

  His smile stretches, and now he really looks like a villain. “I win, you blow me in the middle of the ice rink. You win, same deal.”

  “Spencer! They have CCTV.”

  He shakes his head. “Not for the next two hours.”

  “Thought this through, haven’t you?”

  “Rules were going to be first one to fall over, but we’ll add kissing, too. I can’t wait to get you all riled up and on your knees.”

  Goddamn, how quickly he can make me breathless. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  There is no way I’m losing.

  He holds my hand as we take a few awkward steps from the bench to the rink. I push off, still clinging to him, and we glide on the ice.

  We’ve been enough times to not suck. We can’t do anything fancy, but we can skate in a circle, turn and stop without falling. Well, I can. Spence still falls over a few times.

  “When are you going to London?” I ask as we glide.

  He has appearances coming up in our capital. He’ll be in LA for a while, and then have to fly back for a few days. I was thinking of meeting him there.

  “The very end of February. You want to come?” His eyes are full of hope.

  “I’ll meet you there for a couple of days.”

  “Yeah?” he asks, smiling like fool.

  “I’ll let you pay ridiculous prices to take me on a date. Don’t you dare spend thousands again, though.”

  Ten grand. I still can’t wrap my head around it. The manager is probably still laughing.

  He turns on the ice so that he’s skating backwards, facing me. His eyes widen a fraction as he wobbles, but he somehow manages to stay upright.

  Please fall on your arse or kiss me.

  “Thousands for a date with you is not ridiculous.”

  “Very smooth, Hollywood. Was that in a script?”

  He holds his heart as we slowly circle the rink. “Ouch, Indie. These are all my own lines.”

  “Hmm, something happened to you out in LA. You didn’t say these things to me when we were together before.”

  “One: we were together for two weeks. Two: I was seventeen and nervous as fuck.”

  My body tingles all over thinking back to teen me who was obsessed with him, constantly counting down the hours until I saw him next. Nothing has changed; he still makes me giddy.

  “Really? I made you nervous back then?”

  “You still do,” he tells me.

  “I know the feeling.”

  He slows, and I almost crash into him. My legs wobble, forcing me to shoot my arms out to the side to steady myself.

  Spencer chuckles.

  “For someone so smooth, you’d think you would try to help me out there.” I straighten and glide.

  “I have a lot riding on this bet. You can hit the floor.”

  “Romance is alive and well,” I mutter, making him laugh again. “You know, if I fall and hit my head, I won’t be able to do anything.”

  “You’ve never wiped out badly, Indie. I’ll take my chances.”

  “I think we should break up.”

  He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, you got one shot at ditching me, and you used that when we were seventeen.”

  “I can only break up with you once?”

  “Yes. You’ve used your time. That’s it now.”

  I pretend to be annoyed. “Damn it. I’m stuck with a beautiful movie star gazillionaire.”

  “Gazillionaire.” His eyebrows rise. “I’m not quite there yet but let’s shoot for the stars.”

  “I don’t care about money.”

  “I knew you only wanted me for my body!”

  Laughing, I reply, “Busted.”

  �
�That’s fine. I’m only with you for your boobs… and that thing you do with your tongue while you blow me.”

  “Move over, romantic Spencer. Crude Spencer, you’re up.”

  “Crude, huh?”

  We pass the gate to the exit again. I cannot stop smiling.

  His gaze drops to my cleavage. It’s done that quite a bit. My top is low cut, black, and made of silk.

  “My eyes are up here, Hollywood.”

  With a smirk, he looks higher. “Your eyes are stunning. Your breasts are, too.”

  “Why, thank you. I like your boobs, too.”

  The look of hunger turns into a glare. “Indie Croft…”

  “Pecs. I’m very sorry. I love every bump in your six pack. That’s my favourite. I love tracing my tongue in the dips.”

  His mouth parts. “Fall over, Indie.”

  “I don’t think I will. You look a little uncomfortable there, Hollywood,” I tease, seeing the pained look in his face and bulge in his jeans.

  “You know exactly what you’re doing,” he grits through his teeth.

  I shrug. “I have no idea what you mean. Shall we go around once more?”

  He turns and changes course, skating towards the middle of the rink.

  What are we doing now?

  With my heart flying in my chest, I follow him. Spencer doesn’t take his eyes off me.

  “I feel like prey gliding towards its predator,” I tell him.

  He takes my hand and pulls me flush against his chest. “How apt.”

  Without another word, he sinks to his knees.

  “What are you doing?”

  Hungry green eyes stare up at me. “You know exactly what I’m doing.”

  “I didn’t win yet.”

  His fingers work my button and zip. He says nothing as he pulls my jeans down.

  “Spencer,” I breathe, pushing my hands through his hair.

  He’s not even touched me yet and I’m burning up. I squirm as his hands travel up my bare thighs, his maddening fingers making me lose my mind. The man is a magician with his hands and mouth. I try to hold off and make it last longer, but I never can.

  “Fuck the bet, Indie, I need to taste you.”

  A bolt of lust ripples through my body. “Spence, that’s so hot.” And I’m so the winner.

  With a smile and a devilish glint in his eyes, he leans forwards and places a kiss just above my knee... and another a touch higher.

  “Oh,” I moan. His fingers and lips caress my skin, making me ache for him. “Please… stop teasing.”

  He’s barely touched me and I can’t stand the wait. Lust ignites every nerve ending under my skin.

  I tilt my head back and close my eyes. His hands and mouth on my body send a heavy, unbearable pulsing between my legs.

  “You’re stunning,” he whispers against my skin.

  “I need your mouth.” My voice is a desperate plea that would make me self-conscious if I wasn’t with him.

  I look down and try to press my legs together, but Spencer holds them apart, chuckling as his tongue grazes my skin and creeps higher.

  I. Am. On. Fire.

  “Spencer, please,” I whimper, tangling my hands in his hair.

  He wanted to take this slow, to tease me until I beg. There is no time for that. When I know I’m about to get his mouth, I have zero self-control.

  It’s my favourite thing in the world. He knows exactly what to do, and he does it with such enthusiasm.

  He moans against my skin, his fingertips curling around my back and digging into my butt as his mouth slowly reaches its destination.

  Fuck.

  I shudder as his tongue brings me dangerously close to climax. He licks lightly at first, with maddening soft strokes that make my feet tingle and my chest heave. Then he presses harder and flattens his tonight against my clit.

  “Jesus,” I pant, moving my hips to his pace. I don’t intend to hurt him, but my hands curl into his locks as I hold on for dear life.

  If he’s in pain, he doesn’t let on. Instead, he sucks the little ball of nerves harder, and I almost come instantly. My stomach clenches, and I buck my hips wildly. He has my weight, holding me up on my skates by pinning me to his mouth, with his hands on my butt. It’s hot as hell.

  “Oh, God, I’m close.”

  Holy. Fucking. Shit.

  “I love it when you—”

  That’s all he gets to say before I push my hips into him again and tug at his hair hard.

  He chuckles against my aching skin, flicking his tongue against me at such speed, I can’t keep up.

  I grind against his face, the friction doing crazy things to me.

  My eyes snap shut as lust courses through my veins. I ride him, my body moving of its own accord, desperate for the release I know is coming soon.

  One of his hands leaves my butt to curl around my thigh. I know what he’s about to do.

  My breaths are embarrassingly loud. I’m bordering on hyperventilation.

  “God, Spencer, please.”

  I writhe against his mouth, and he pushes his finger inside, drawing it back as if he’s beckoning me. I clench around him and grip tighter. If it wasn’t for his other hand holding me against him, I would have fallen.

  My back arches, and I split apart, crying out his name as the orgasm blinds me.

  “Shit.”

  He doesn’t stop until my body turns lax. I open my eyes, and he drops a final kiss to the inside of my thigh.

  “I love it when you come against my mouth,” he rasps.

  “Me, too.”

  Like the gentleman he is, he pulls up my underwear and jeans for me. I place my hands on his chest when he stands. My head is still in the clouds.

  “I think our time is up,” he says. “We should get you home.”

  We haven’t been here for two hours yet. I want to leave, too.

  I couldn’t care less where he takes me now. My body is pulsing and growing ever desperate for more of him. “Uh-huh.”

  Laughing, he pulls me along, and I skate forwards, having to stifle a giggle as I spot the two wet patches on his knees. I bet he was freezing down there. I, however, was molten hot.

  I fall into his chest, and he wraps me in a hug, kissing the crook of my neck.

  “I love you, Hollywood.”

  His lips smile against my skin. “I love you, too.”

  “Do we really have to leave? I don’t want to let you go tonight. There’s so much more we need to do.”

  He pulls back, and his eyebrow arches. “Oh, really?”

  “I need to be closer to you. I want to feel you inside me.”

  “Let’s go. I’m staying over.”

  “You’ll have to put your hand over my mouth so I don’t make too much noise.”

  His nose flares. “Change your fucking shoes. We’re out of here.”

  I laugh all the way back to the bench.

  “Easy, Spence,” I say as he rips the skates off his feet.

  “I’m three seconds away from pouncing on you,” he says flatly. I’m sure his hands are shaking as he puts his shoes back on. Poor boy hasn’t come yet. I should sort that out for him, but I love it when we burst into a room and he can’t get inside me fast enough. I can’t get enough of him.

  He takes my hand, and we run to his car.

  Forty-Seven

  Indie

  “You doing okay?” I ask him as his knuckles turn white around the steering wheel.

  He doesn’t look at me, but he does take a very deep breath to calm himself. Oh, it’s not anger, though. I smile, knowing that it’s frustration. He’s all pent up and we’re still five minutes away from mine.

  “You’re loving this,” he accuses.

  “A little. I’m anxious to get back, too. I can’t wait to feel you slide inside me while your mouth is on my neck, kissing and biting.”

  “Indie.” His voice is a threat and a promise, and it makes my pulse race. I’m so ready for him I’m surprised I haven’t combuste
d yet. He turns me on so much, I feel like I’m going insane.

  He pulls into my drive and slams the brakes on as if a child has run out in front of us.

  “Jesus, Spence!”

  “Sorry. Come on. Do you think your mum will be in bed?” he asks, getting out of the car at lightning speed.

  I follow him, unable to stop smiling like an idiot.

  “Probably. She’s been going to bed earlier lately.”

  It’s a good thing because she gets up early, makes tea, and eats breakfast. She also makes it for me. We’ve actually sat at the table and had breakfast together.

  I unlock the door and let us in.

  “The light is still on,” I say as he bends to kiss my neck.

  Groaning, he looks over his shoulder. “She’s still up?”

  I almost bite my lip off. Am I really going to have to stand there throbbing with a visual of Spencer underneath me while I have a conversation with my bloody mother?

  “Rain check. I’m sure she’ll go to bed soon.” I walk past him, into the living room.

  She’s on the sofa.

  She’s very still.

  Blood drains from my face. “Mum?”

  Spencer, hearing the hollow tone in my voice, pushes past me.

  “Shit!” he hisses and runs to her.

  She’s laying on the sofa, arm stretched out, almost pointing to the empty pack of pills on the floor.

  No. She’s fine. She’s pale but she hasn’t been sleeping too well since our story was splashed all over the internet.

  Spencer kneels in front of her and pulls his phone out of his pocket, fumbling as he rushes to make a call.

  I can’t move. I’m frozen to the spot. But I want to move. I want to take off.

  Stop freaking out, she’s just asleep.

  Her chest will move in a second.

  My ears ring. I blink hard but nothing changes. She’s still lying there.

  “Mum, get up,” I whisper. No way would she leave me.

  I’m aware of Spencer now on loudspeaker to the emergency services.