“Uh huh, anyhow, what I do know about my little brother, the infamous playboy, is that you don’t like to toy with a woman’s emotions. I’m sure most of the women on that show signed on thinking they were going to meet their dream man. You need to take this seriously, or it’s not fair to the women.”
“Jill, this is the last thing I need right now, but point taken. How are Mom and Dad?”
“They’re fine. Dad said he and Tracker have been taking long walks every day. He’s thinking about getting a dog again.”
“Wish I was out there taking walks with Tracker instead of here.”
“Not much longer.”
“Yeah. Hey, I’ve got to get the phone back to its owner. Take care, Jill. And tell Terrence thanks.”
I walked back inside. Leo was putting his wallet and keys in his pocket. “Well, I’m out of here. Got a date.” He took the phone from my open palm. “Later, suckers.”
I headed back to the house. It was just after ten. I decided to head out back early to wait for Eliot. I knew damn well there was more than a good chance that she wouldn’t show, and I couldn’t really blame her. That still didn’t keep me from sneaking out to wait for her.
I easily slipped past the spotty camera coverage at the back of the house and climbed over the back fence. My feet hit the ground and then the road that led behind the houses and down the hill to civilization. I had to keep myself from taking off at a full run, without looking back.
Since the top two houses on the hill were owned by the studio, the last section of road was deserted. It had been one of those close to triple digit California days, a shitty day for the stupid ass obstacle course Doug had created for today’s shoot. Even with the sun having set hours earlier, the air was still warm with a dry breeze.
I walked along the road to the second estate. They kept some of the outdoor lights on to give the illusion that it was occupied, but the house itself was dark, save for one or two dim lights shining through various windows. From the road, I could see all the way through the side yard to the rainbow of city lights below. The pool had an amazing view, and on a night like tonight, the cool water looked inviting.
I sat on the retaining wall lining the property and stared into the dark wilderness. There was more than a good chance that I was waiting for nothing. I sat there in the silent shadows of night wondering how I would feel if Eliot didn’t show. I’d given her the option. I’d been feeling like a self-centered heel, too worried about my own feelings to consider how hard this had to be for her. She would stay away, I told myself and then instantly assured myself she would come. I suddenly found myself agonizing over the possibility that she wanted nothing to do with me.
I stared down the road. The more I considered the possibility that Eliot would stay away, the darker my mood grew. As hard as I tried to convince myself that I’d be all right with her decision, I knew that was bullshit. I had no fucking clue how this had happened, except that Eliot was anything but the ordinary girl she pretended to be. Everything about her was real and funny and smart and fucking beautiful. She had convinced herself that she was moving through life, unnoticed and unspectacular, completely unaware of the glittering trail of starlight following along behind her.
Headlights lit up the road below. I stood from the wall and reminded myself it could be anyone. When the same headlights came around the last bend, I released the breath I’d been holding. The unexplained weight that had been pressing on my chest lifted.
Eliot pulled over and parked. I realized that, once again, I was holding my breath as I waited for her to get out of the car. The breeze pushed her thick hair forward. She reached up and brushed it back from her face. Her lopsided smile followed.
I walked toward her as she shut the door and stood next to her car.
“You came,” I said, mostly to convince myself that she wasn’t just a mirage.
“Yes. But trust me, there was a whole lot of debate happening inside this head.” She pointed up.
“I’m glad the yes side won.”
She looked around. I figured that she was checking out the surroundings but then I saw that she was trying to blink back tears. “The yes side didn’t win. Every rational thought told to me to turn the car around and head far away from here.”
I swallowed the tightness in my throat as I tried to piece together what she was telling me.
“You decided this wasn’t a good idea?”
“I didn’t need to decide. I know for a fact that this is a bad idea. A very bad idea, where I end up just a little more broken than I already am.”
I stood waiting for her to continue, wanting badly to stomp toward her and pull her into my arms.
Her blue eyes looked like jewels glossed by tears in the moonlight. A long stretch of silence followed, and then her thin shoulders shrugged. “Yep, every rational thought, every reasonable argument went right out the damn car window.” She ran toward me.
I caught her as she jumped into my arms.
I kissed her long and hard.
Reluctantly, our lips parted, and she looked up at me with those amazing eyes.
“El, I don’t want to let you go. I just want to leave this place with you and never look back.”
“Just say the word, Outlaw, and you can steal off with me in the night. I won’t even put up a fight.”
I lowered my mouth to hers again. The warm Santa Ana breeze brushed our skin as we stood beneath the navy blue and silver sky. Everything about it was perfect, except for the fact that we were having to sneak around and I was legally bound to pick a wife. And, in the midst of it all, Eliot had to worry about losing her job.
But it was late, we were completely alone, and we were out of range of security cameras and anything else that reminded us of our shitty situation.
“I’ve got an idea.” I wrapped my arms tighter around her. “Why don’t we take a swim in that pool with the awesome view. The cameras aren’t on, and the place is empty. We’ll have it all to ourselves.”
Eliot glanced across the nicely landscaped yard to the dark house. “But I don’t have a bathing suit.”
“Yep, that’s all part of my plan. We’re alone, which suddenly makes skinny dipping a viable option.” I reached up and brushed the curl off her forehead. “What do you say my tempting little assistant?”
She smiled as if something amusing popped into her mind.
“What are you grinnin’ about?”
She shook her head. “It’s nothing. It’s just that Jackson told me that Doug and Kiley had made me assistant because I was a safe choice.” Her smile widened. “Oh, I do love a good dose of irony, don’t you?”
I laughed. “I do.” I took hold of her hand and led her toward the path to the pool gate. “Especially when it’s followed up with a good dose of naked pool fun.”
I reached over and unlatched the gate, and we continued to the pool area. Gray brick pavers filled the area around the pool, which was built so that it looked as if it was flowing off the side of the cliff. The city below pulsated with colorful lights. It lent just enough glow to the pool area for a romantic swim.
I kicked off my shoes and pulled off my shirt. Eliot hadn’t taken anything off. She stared at the house. “I guess they leave a few lights on inside to make the place look occupied, not that many people come this far up the hill anyway. Seems like the only intruders they’d need to worry about are coyotes and raccoons. I heard one time a whole family of raccoons—”
She ended her story with a gasp as I walked up behind her and grabbed the ends of her shirt. “You’re procrastinating with raccoon stories.”
“No, I’m not.” She lifted her arms, and I pulled the shirt off. “Just thought it was interesting.”
I unfastened her bra and slipped it off her shoulders. Then I turned her around and gazed down at her naked b
reasts. “They are even more beautiful in the moonlight.” I lowered my mouth to kiss and tease each breast while I unbuttoned her shorts.
She braced her hands on my shoulders and kicked off her shoes. Her shorts dropped to the cement, and I gave her panties a little push.
She crossed her arms. “Feeling a little exposed out here.”
“You’re right. Those raccoons might be watching us.” I pulled her against me and kissed her.
Her laugh stopped the kiss. “The breeze is tickling my butt.”
“Guess this is the first time you’ve stood outside naked?”
She peered up at me. “Oh no, I do it all the time. My naked roommate and I like to go out to the apartment parking lot and wash our cars in the nude.”
“You do realize just how fucking hot that sounds, right?”
“It was meant to be sarcastic, but I see your point. Well, I was invited for a swim.” She ducked under my arms, ran to the pool and jumped in. She popped her head up through the surface. “It’s like a bathtub.”
“Thought it might be. It’s in full sun all day.” I stripped off my pants and underwear and walked to the edge of the pool.
Eliot gazed up at me. “This is a very nice angle. In fact, I’m wondering, do you even have a bad angle?”
“I’ve got plenty of them, you just have to look for them.” I jumped in and surfaced again next to her. I brushed my thumb over her forehead. “No curl when it’s wet.”
“The only time Jack disappears.”
I pulled her into my arms. She rubbed her fingers over the beard stubble on my jaw. “So here we are. Swimming. Naked. A first for me, by the way.”
I laughed. “No way. You mean to tell me you got through high school without at least one skinny dipping adventure?”
“There was one night, but we kept on our underwear, and I’d had three sips of a disgusting rum punch, which helped me loosen up.”
“Well damn, I didn’t bring any disgusting rum punch.” My hands smoothed down her back and over her ass as I lifted her toward me. My cock pressed urgently against her pussy. “I wonder if there’s anything else we could do to loosen you up?”
“If we think really hard.” She pressed her lips against mine.
I carried her to the small ledge seat in the corner of the deep end. We had an unobstructed view of the city below. We both stared down at the endless mosaic of colorful lights that ended in stark blackness at the coast.
“It’s so clear I can see some of the boat lights out on the water.” Eliot turned away from the view and rested her head against my shoulder. “Rafe, I don’t want to end up with the tattered remains of a broken heart.”
“I would never do anything to hurt you, El.”
“Then tell me—” She stopped and glanced out at the lights again before turning back to me. “Tell me how this ends because right now, I don’t see any way around the broken heart thing.” Her voice wavered.
I reached up and took hold of her face to keep her from looking away. “I will figure this out. But know this—no matter what happens, it’s you. I choose you, El. You were the woman who stood out right from the fucking start.”
I kissed her hard, and she wrapped herself tighter around me as she straddled my lap.
“El, I didn’t come prepared,” I said between kisses. “But I had to go through a physical before the show and—.”
“It’s all right. I’m covered too.” She floated up and hovered above my cock, brushing against the tip to tease me. I groaned as she lowered herself an inch over me and then floated back up with a giggle. “I wonder if this is what it’s like for the astronauts up in the space station, except for the unwieldy space suits and the fact that NASA scientists are watching.”
“You are an anti-gravity tease.” I took her breast into my mouth and traced the nipple with my tongue as my hands took firm hold of her ass. Her long fingers tangled in my wet hair as she slid down over my cock.
“God, I knew your pussy would feel like this, like warm silk around my cock.”
She wrapped her arms around me as she lifted and fell over me, her pussy swallowing more and more of me each time. I teased the tight hole of her ass with the tip of my finger as she writhed over me, moving her hips forward and back to feel every inch of me.
The lights of the city below blurred into one mass of color as our bodies worked in rhythm, bringing each of us closer to the edge, like the pool we were sitting in. Warm water rippled around us. I held her ass firmly as she moved over me, faster and harder with each pass. Normally, I could control myself and hold onto an erection for as long as my partner needed, but with Eliot it was different. Everything about her sent pulses of need through me and being inside of her was all I needed to come. Especially now that there was no barrier between her body and mine.
I gritted my teeth wanting badly to explode, to spill my hot seed, but I wanted to hear her cries of ecstasy first.
I worked my finger deeper into the tight hole, and after clenching against it, initially, Eliot moved against the pressure, using it to bring her toward climax.
Her fingers tangled tighter in my hair, and soft sounds rolled from her lips until her body tightened and she clenched her pussy around me. “Oh, Rafe.” Her weak cry echoed out over the valley. She crumpled against me. I was so close to coming, my cock ached, but I withdrew and carried her across the pool to the steps. I lifted her out of the water and carried my dripping wet and extremely hot assistant to one of the chaise lounges.
Eliot’s flawless skin shimmered glossy wet in the moonlight as she stretched her arms back and took hold of the top of the lounge. I lowered myself between her thighs, and she wrapped her legs around me as I plunged into her. A low moan rolled from her lips as my cock penetrated her pussy. She held the ends of the lounge and lifted her ass higher to take in more of me. I was eager to comply. I drove into her fast and hard until my body hardened and shuddered as I came.
The water in the pool lapped gently against the tile edges. The earlier breeze had died to an insignificant shift in air.
Eliot scooted over, and I stretched out next to her and pulled her against me.
She gazed up at the night sky. “If the observatory really wants to make some money, they should put out chaise lounges instead of having people sit in those weird chairs with the hard neck pads. I can actually see the big dipper.” She pointed up toward the sky. “Never saw it on that darn observatory field trip, but there it is, plain as day.” She turned to me with a smile. “Or plain as night, I guess.”
I smoothed her hair back. “I’m so damn glad you showed up tonight, El. I kept telling myself that I would be able to bear it if you decided not to come, if you decided you didn’t want any of this, but the truth is, I would have been torn up about it.”
She snuggled her face against my chest. “I’m glad I came too. Terrified and confused and completely dizzy with the thought of you . . . but glad.”
Chapter 30
Eliot
I thought about Tricia’s ‘pinch me’ comment the day Rafe had walked into the studio in all his big, manly glory, and a laugh shot from my mouth. Pinching wasn’t nearly enough for me now. I needed to have someone slap me, and hard, to wake me from this completely unbelievable dream.
I pulled up to the parking lot behind the Sealed with a Kiss studio. Sealed with a Kiss, indeed . . . and so much more. The night before, I’d driven away from Rafe with a heavy heart, not ever wanting to leave him again. But I knew it was going to be that much harder to drag myself out of bed for class if I lingered too long in the luxury of his strong arms.
I parked and climbed out. My stomach was fluttery with the notion that I was going to see Rafe soon. It was just past ten, and there was a good chance he’d just woken up. Unfortunately, it was also the beginning of the work day, and I’d have to walk
around nonchalantly as the bachelor’s assistant.
The usual noises and activity of the day were already in full swing as I walked down the corridor to the main studio. Jackson was perched on a stool in the set director’s office hunched over a sketch on the drafting desk. He glanced up as I walked past with a smile and a wave. He didn’t return the smile. His mouth was in a tight grim line, an unusual expression for Jackson.
He looked quickly around and hopped off the stool. He raced to the door of the office and took hold of my arm.
“What the hell is going on, Eliot?” His tone and the look of worry sent a shockwave of terror through me.
My throat dried, and I struggled to speak. “What do you mean?”
“God, sweetie, did you just get here? No one’s quite sure what’s going on, but Doug has fire coming from his nostrils. We’re all walking around on egg shells.” He stopped for a second, seemingly afraid to continued.
“Jackson, what’s going on? You’re freaking me out.”
“That makes two of us. Doug moved Walt to your position as the bachelor’s assistant. He just sent him to the house to pick up Rafe.”
“Eliot! In my office, now.” Doug’s angry yell nearly knocked me over. My throat dried even more. I could barely swallow.
Jackson squeezed my hand and let go.
I turned in the direction of Doug’s office. It seemed every face in the studio watched as I made the short but torturously long walk to his door. My mind spun with all the possibilities of what was awaiting me, but deep down I knew. Somehow Doug had found out that I’d been taking my assistant duties just a little too seriously.
Doug got up from his desk. Jackson’s earlier description of nostril flames had been accurate. I’d never seen him so angry. “Shut the door, Eliot.”
I closed it. He leaned against the front of his desk. He was holding a phone and sliding his thumb over it. “Come closer,” he barked. “Something you need to see.”