I take a deep breath, feeling proud for standing up for myself, but wanting to throw up at the same time. It’s people like Cora Gregory that make me want to be far, far away from the world of Hollywood. I don’t understand how Cal and Sean are even friends with her. I look over at the three of them posing in front of the media wall and something about the way Sean looks at her makes me do a double take. Is Sean in love with Cora? I shudder at the thought.
I notice Cal’s publicist switch cardboards and show the photographers the one with my name on it as she makes her way back to the limo. I freshen up my lipstick and take one more look at myself in my compact mirror. As the car door opens, I say a quick little prayer, hoping I can fake my way through this.
Cal and Sean refuse to sit through the premiere after they introduced the movie to the audience, so we head to the after party early. There are plenty of people in the industry already there as most of them saw a pre-screening of the movie. As soon as we walk in, Cal and Sean are surrounded by people wanting to congratulate them. Cora is not in the movie, her attendance more for publicity and support of Cal and Sean, so she goes off to mingle with other actors who also came out for the same reasons. I’m left to fend for myself, so I head straight to the bar and order a vodka tonic.
I take a sip of my drink and turn around to people watch when I notice too many eyes in my direction, nothing kind about the looks they are giving me. I sigh as it looks like my evening will be spent hanging at the bar. I turn back around and chat up the bartender since that will probably be the most genuine conversation I have all night with anyone.
Three drinks later and I’m feeling beyond buzzed. I don’t know how long I’ve been left alone at the bar, but I feel that my work here is done. I take some money out of my purse to leave a tip when I feel someone tap my shoulder. I turn around to see Cal’s agent with two older gentlemen who look too big for their own britches.
“Jenna, I want to introduce you to the heads of the studio, Patrick Hensley and Michael Morris. Gentlemen, this is Jenna Pruitt.” Because I am tipsy, smiling isn’t as hard as it was earlier and I return their handshakes.
“Congratulations on the movie,” I say, happy to hear that the band is starting to play so it will be harder to carry on a conversation.
“Thank you for coming. Pre-sale tickets have increased in just the two hours of you being here. We appreciate you taking one for the team,” Patrick winks and all three men laugh. I stare at them in disgust, feeling I was just degraded amongst the good old boys club. Tipsy Jenna has zero filter and I am about to unleash upon some of the most powerful men in Hollywood when I am grabbed by the waist and hauled to someone’s side. I look up to see Sean coming to rescue me.
“There you are! Cal has been looking for you. Gentlemen, if you will excuse us?” he says with his most charming smile. He leads me away but instead of going toward where Cal and Cora are standing, he heads straight for the dance floor.
“What are you doing?” I hiss, the attention from being the only two people on the dance floor the last thing I want.
“I saw the look you gave those men and we cannot have angry Jenna making an appearance tonight. I think we need to liven this place up with a little dancing.” He pulls me in close and holds on to me tightly. “Just keep that smile plastered on your face and follow my lead.”
I smile brightly and grit my teeth. “I want to go back to the hotel, Sean. I’m done being the pawn in this game.”
“To which game are you referring to?” He smiles and nods to someone he sees in the crowd. He swings me around, where I see Cal ignoring Cora as she’s trying to talk with him, his eyes trained on us with suspicion.
“Everybody’s game, but more specifically, being used to boast Cal’s image.”
“Cal doesn’t give two shits about his image. If he did, then he wouldn’t be looking at me so openly with hatred right about now in front of all these industry people.” He raises his eyebrows in mock questioning towards Cal, whose jaw visibly locks in anger.
“What about your game, Sean?” I taunt, the alcohol flowing through my veins giving me liquid courage.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I see him smile at another person while twirling me around. He smiles at me as he brings me back into him, pulling me closer than before. I quickly look over at the other end of the dance floor where Cal waits for our arrival, Cora watching him with a sour expression on her face from the lack of attention.
“What about using me as the pawn to make Cora jealous? I saw the way you looked at her earlier. Must be tough to watch the woman you love in love with someone else.” I smile as his step falters but he quickly recovers by turning me so swiftly, that I have to hold onto him even harder to keep my balance. “You should have warned me, Sean,” I say, as I lean in to whisper in his ear, “because I already told her she can have him.”
I lean back to look at him with a flirtatious smile to see that he is not smiling anymore, jealousy burning in his eyes. I suddenly regret my decision to push him, thinking I have gone too far when he dips me down and holds me close. “You want to make them jealous? Then let’s give them something to talk about!” He brings his lips to mine in a crushing kiss.
Before I know what is happening, Sean brings me back up to my feet and ends the kiss so abruptly that I nearly stumble back, but am saved when he swings my arms up and the crowd goes wild with their applause. He timed the kiss to the end of the song so perfectly that it looked like this was all planned. He makes us take a bow and the crowd goes even more wild. He wraps his arm around my waist and walks us over to Cal.
“She’s all yours,” he says to Cal and downs the rest of Cal’s drink and stalks over to the bar.
“We’re leaving NOW!” Cal hands me my purse, grabs my hand and practically drags me out of the party. I try to get my hand free, but he grips it even tighter.
“You’re hurting me!” I hiss, as we get closer to our car. He let’s go of my hand and tells the driver to take us back to the hotel. He roughly opens the door and practically shoves me into the limousine.
“What the fuck was that?” he growls after the partition is closed all the way so the driver can’t hear us.
“I don’t know, ask Sean! He’s the one who wanted to dance.” I massage my hand, trying to rub out the pain.
“I don’t give a fuck about Sean, it’s YOUR reputation I care about!” he snaps, raking his hands through his hair.
“My reputation? I thought the whole point in me being here tonight was to save YOUR precious reputation!” I counter, not understanding why he’s so angry.
“I’m not the one who looked like a slut kissing another man!”
Rage overtakes me and I pounce on him. I beat at his arms, his chest, screaming and calling him every name I can think, letting all of my suppressed anger flow out through my fists. “I FUCKING HATE YOU, YOU ASSHOLE!” He just sits there and lets me beat him, looking as if he is almost bored. This makes me even angrier and I straddle him so I can get hit him harder. He deserves to be slapped on the face for calling me a slut. I go in for the kill when he grabs my wrists and hauls me against his chest, searing me with his lips.
My struggle against him is pointless because despite my anger toward him for calling me a slut, I want him just as badly as he wants me. He invades my mouth and I kiss him back with even more fervor than expected. He loosens his grip on my wrists and I plunge my hands into his hair, making my tongue grapple even closer with his. I start to moan when he deepens the kiss, sparks of electricity going straight to my core. He breaks free of our kiss and moves his lips down my neck, working his magic on each and every sensitive point until I am panting out his name.
I push his jacket off his shoulders and he leans forward for me to pull it off his arms. I rip open his shirt, not caring that I just broke the buttons off and ruined it. I lean down and start kissing along his neck, down his chest and flick my tongue over his nipple. “Jenna,” he moans and grips my head closer. He then t
rails his hands down my back and unzips the top portion of my dress. I kiss my way back up his chest and go back to his mouth, where everything there feels so right. His kisses light that fire to the explosion and I am ready to feel it.
He pulls down my one shoulder strap and takes my now bare nipple in his mouth. I moan and grind my hips down into his erection, the friction against my clit making me gasp. I can feel him straining against his pants and my hands move to unbuckle them. As soon as he is free, I wrap both of my hands around him and rub up and down his shaft. He lays he head back and starts to pant. “Jenna, you are going to make me come if you continue to do that,” he moans as I rub his pre-cum around his tip.
Not being able to take the intense need of having him inside me, I slip my hand inside my slit and unsnap the soaked barrier between my legs. I lift out my skirt and guide him to me, where I slowly slide down on him. I hiss at the delicious invasion, my inner muscles already gripping him tight. I wrap my hands around his neck and crush my mouth to his, my tongue craving his as I slowly start to ride him. The need becomes overwhelming and I throw my head back and bounce harder, faster.
“Fuck, Jenna, you are still so tight,” he murmurs as he places his hand on my breasts and squeezes. I moan louder and grip him tighter, the pressure inside me building. He wraps his arms around me, lifts me up to place me on the floor of the limousine and thrusts hard into me. I dig my nails into his ass as he pounds out my orgasm. My release explodes within me and I scream out his name, every emotion releasing out of my body. He collapses on top of me after his own orgasm, his body shuddering from his powerful release.
I was a fool to believe that I was ever going to feel this way with someone else. No one has come close to making me feel the way Cal Harrington does. And as I come down from this amazing high, I notice that the car is stopped outside the hotel and my reality sinks back in. I was asked to come here to PRETEND to be in a relationship with him and here I am ready to give up my heart based on a facade. Shame and guilt crash into me and I push against his chest.
“Get up,” I say, needing to get away from him and how he clouds my judgment.
“Jenna, what’s…”
“Get off of me!” I scream and he rears back in complete shock at the turn of my mood.
I attempt to zip up the back of my dress by myself, but with my arms being too short, it goes nowhere. I grab my purse, grip the top of my dress to my chest and bolt out of the limousine. I rush into the hotel and decide to take the stairs up to the eighth floor so no one sees me. By the time I reach my suite, I am gasping for air from the excursion. I go into my room and lock the door. As soon as I turn around to head to my bathroom, there’s banging on my door.
“Jenna, let me in! We need to talk!” Cal bangs on the door, making the furniture against the wall shake.
“There is nothing to talk about! That was a mistake and will never happen again!” I shout, wishing for him to just go away so that I can deal with my feelings and figure out what to do.
“Open this door, Jenna!’ He yells louder and bangs it again with his fists.
“No! GO AWAY, CAL!”
A moment of silence ensues and then a loud bang as I watch in horror the wood around the door knob splinters off and break apart as Cal kicks open the door. The door swings open and he enters my room, his chest rising and falling with each breath he takes.
“If I want you, Jenna, no goddamn locked door will stop me!” he growls. He looks me up and down as I stare at him in disbelief. “Go to sleep. We’ll discuss this in the morning.” He turns on his heel, walks into the other room and slams the door.
I push a chair against the broken door and throw myself onto the bed where I proceed to cry myself to sleep.
33
A firm knock on my door wakes me from my deep sleep. I look up at the clock to see it is six in the morning and groan at how early it is. I roll over and stare at the ceiling, memories rolling in from last night.
“Jenna?” An unfamiliar voice knocks on my door again. “It’s time to wake up. We need to catch the flight to New York.” I get up from the bed and move the chair away from the door to see Kellan standing outside of it. He looks me up and down and shakes his head at the condition of my dress. “That’s going to cost Cal a pretty penny.” He eyes the hole in the door and looks back at me with questioning eyes. “Remodeling are we?” he jokes.
I shake my head at him and rub my eyes. “Do I have time for a quick shower?” I ask. He nods his head and I proceed to get ready. Thirty minutes later, I come out and he has coffee, muffins and water waiting for me. He hands me two ibuprofens with a wink and some water.
“Don’t tell Morgan I’m letting you eat a muffin. She would absolutely kill me!” I smile weakly at his joke and devour the muffin, realizing that I haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday. No wonder I feel nauseous and shaky as I start to immediately feel better from the food and water.
I take a look around and notice that Kellan and I are the only ones in the suite. “Where is everyone?” I ask, more specifically, wondering where Cal is.
“Most of the crew took the studio’s private plane to New York late last night. Cal called saying you weren’t feeling well and needed to spend the night, so the studio had the jet fly back to Los Angeles after drop off in New York. Must be nice to have the studio’s balls like that!” Kellan laughs. If he only really knew…
“It’s a five-hour flight to New York and with the time change, we’re going to be cutting it close to premiere time. Fortunately they do everything later in New York, so I think we’ll be okay. We’ll have to get ready on the plane and then a car will pick us up and take us straight to the premiere.” I nod my head in acknowledgment, dreading a five hour plane ride. “Cal and Sean are waiting for us in the car, so if you’re ready, we can leave now.”
“Sean is still here?” I ask, shocked that he wasn’t on the plane last night.
“Seems like Sean also was not feeling well last night and decided to depart with you guys,” he says with a knowing smile. I smile back and help him load up the luggage cart he brought in with the dresses and luggage for tonight. We take it downstairs and a bellman helps Kellan load it into the awaiting car. I get inside the car and see both Cal and Sean sitting next to each other, sunglasses shielding their eyes.
“There she is, my beautiful dance partner. Did you sleep well, sweetheart?” Sean sarcastically smiles. I put my sunglasses on and push them up the bridge of my nose with my middle finger, which causes Sean to laugh. Cal chooses to ignore me, which is fine with me.
I stare out the window as the car takes us to the airport, wondering how I’m going to pull off another night of this. Fortunately Cal will be headed to London right after the premiere and I will take the last flight home to Chicago, not wanting to spend a night in New York by myself when I can be home with Avery by morning. I let my thoughts drift to last night in the car and marvel at how our sexual chemistry is still so intense, how quickly his sensual lips turn me on with just one kiss and how incredible he feels inside of me……holy fucking shit, we didn’t use a condom last night!
I don’t realize I groan out loud until Kellan asks me if I’m okay. Giving him a fake smile and a thumbs up, I go back to brooding about what a complete moron I am and how Cal Harrington completely annihilates all of my smart brain cells. I am on birth control, but it would be just my luck if I get an STD since I don’t know how many women Cal has even been with.
By the time we pull up to the private plane, my mood has blackened from my stupidity and I don’t want to be anywhere near Cal. I ask Kellan to sit next to me on the plane, making up a story that I need him to go through how he plans on styling me for tonight. He gives me a questionable look, but complies. The plane is incredible with couches, a large screen television and even a master bedroom with a bathroom in it. I never even knew planes like this existed and just shake my head in awe at the amount of money the plane must have cost. I take a seat in one of the cushy leather chairs, Kellan
grabbing the one next to me while Cal and Sean decide to sit in the seats opposite of us. Out of all the places to sit on the plane, it is not surprising that Cal decide to sit in front of me. I pretend to ignore him and concentrate on Kellan as he goes through the plans for tonight. The plane swiftly takes off and we make our way to New York.
I jolt awake from my head falling forward, not realizing that I fell asleep while looking out the window. I glance at my watch to see we’ve only been in the air for an hour. I look around to see Sean laying on the couch asleep, while Kellan still sits next to me watching a movie on his computer with headphones in his ears. Cal has moved to the lounge chair in front of the plane, his legs stretched out before him, looking like he’s asleep but hard to tell with his sunglasses on.
“Jenna, why don’t you go sleep in the bedroom?” Kellan says, as he takes his headphones off to talk to me. “I’ll wake you up an hour before we land.” I nod in agreement, my body and mind so exhausted that all I want to do is sleep. I make my way to the bedroom, shut the door and drift back to sleep.
A little while later, I turn over and cuddle into what I think is a pillow, except it is very hard and has that intoxicating scent that smells just like Cal. I open my eyes to see I am staring at the front of his red cotton shirt, my hand resting on his chest. My legs are completely intertwined with his and his arms are around me. I don’t remember him coming in, nor do I remember feeling him get into bed with me. My eyes make their way up to his face, where I find him watching me.
Heartbreak Warfare (Let Me In Book 1) Page 26
