“What?”
“Are the stage versions just like the movies, or are they cut down?”
She thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “There are a few scenes left out. The less entertaining ones like the ones of Andie’s conversations with her dad. Some of those were just worked into the dialogue between her and Iona instead.”
He squeezed the wheel, suddenly grasping the reality of what he was in for. Just like watching her onstage with Simon, the fact that more than likely this actor did get to kiss her, this was a part of Bethany’s life. He was just going to have to somehow get used to it.
He glanced back at her, and she smiled, bringing his attention to her soft, pink lips. He swallowed hard and smiled back. There was no way he could be pissed at her for doing her job. He’d just have to deal with it, but one thing was for damn sure, forget taking Delfi to see Bethany’s show. He’d avoid witnessing someone else’s lips on his girl at all costs, even if it was just an act. He squeezed her hand, wondering why he hadn’t thought of this shit sooner. Because saying he’d deal with it was one thing; actually doing so if he ever had to would be quite another.
This relationship thing with Bethany was going to be a bit trickier than he had anticipated. As her boyfriend, he’d be expected to show his support. Now he’d have to come up with excuses and reasons for why he wouldn’t be able to make her shows. Maybe he should’ve thought this through a little more before locking it down.
* * *
Walking out of the Pump N Snack where Bethany wired more money back home, she let out an enormous breath as she pulled her phone out. She made her way to the bus stop, where she sat down and texted her sister.
I sent the latest but there will be more as soon as I get paid again end of next week. A couple of things have happened that may change our plans a little. All good. I promise.
For a moment she almost chickened out before sending it but then remembered Wednesday and sent it. Since her agreement with Damian that past Sunday, she’d had a lot to think about. Once this nightmare that had started over a year ago was over, she could move on with that part of her life and do as she pleased. She was nearly there already, just a bit more to go, and she didn’t see why she needed to deny herself what she was slowly beginning to believe was one of the best things that had happened to her ever.
The past Monday she’d begun to have second thoughts about having agreed to Damian’s “locking it down” idea. As she had told him Sunday, she didn’t think it fair to him. It made her feel a little guilty, though she knew there was more to that guilt than she cared to admit. The guilt was so bad that she’d even begun to put her speech together about why she’d been too hasty to agree and why she’d changed her mind. Then she got the texts from him right around the very time she’d been lost in thought about him. He said he missed her. Among a few other deep-sigh-evoking sweet things. Then Wednesday he’d shown up at her Zumba class. She didn’t see him until it was over, but what she felt at the sight of him after not having seen him for just two days was utterly irrational. The only thing that kept her from running and jumping into his arms was the fact that she was drenched in sweat. Still, she hadn’t been able to keep from kissing him back eagerly when he’d kissed her hello.
They’d gone back to her place, where she quickly showered, and then they spent the rest of one of her unusual afternoons off together. The night before, she’d explained to Damian how before Amos had given her a shot at her own show, she was waiting tables at his theater show. When he pulled the plug on her show so that she’d get some rest, he also pulled the plug on her waiting tables. So Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights were wide open for her now and would be for a few weeks, or however long Amos would insist she take off.
It was perfect timing for her and Damian that she had some time off just when they were getting to know each other. But from a financial perspective, the timing couldn’t have been worse.
Her third encounter with Damian, on Wednesday, had been no different from the second. They hadn’t done anything special except grab something to eat, then walked through one of the more glamorous casinos Bethany had yet to visit. The whole time they’d laughed and talked like a longtime couple. It continued to amaze her how comfortable they both were with each other. The only way in which Wednesday was different from her first two times being with him was that now being in his arms and kissing were a common and sometimes frantic thing for them. She appreciated that Damian hadn’t so much as mentioned doing anything beyond their kissing. The way she felt around him, she knew it wouldn’t take much to give in to him completely, and she knew that in her circumstances, she needed to take this more slowly than normal.
She’d be seeing him again tonight after having spent an entire evening with the guy just the day before yesterday. She really shouldn’t be this giddy and anxious about seeing him again so soon. But she was. God, was she ever. Trinity was the only person she’d told about her new boyfriend. It felt strange even calling him that, but as unusually quickly as things had gone down, it was already what he was calling himself. It’s exactly how he’d introduced himself to Trinity when they ran into her on their way up the stairs Wednesday night. Trinity was also just getting home from one of her “dates.” Of course, Trinity, being her bubbly self, hadn’t given Bethany a chance to do the introductions, so when she took the initiative, offering her hand to him and introducing herself as Bethany’s neighbor, good friend, and confidante, Damian had taken the liberty of adding his own title—Bethany’s boyfriend.
Immediately, Trinity’s face brightened, and no sooner had Bethany closed the door behind her, still breathless from Damian’s amazing good-night kiss, when there was a soft knock and a pathetic little whistle at her door. Bethany had no choice but to spill it, and Trinity had been overjoyed, calling Damian an absolute daisy. Apparently in Trinityspeak that was a good thing.
It felt good to tell someone, and it sort of helped to practice for the conversation she’d be having with her sister this weekend. Though that conversation would be much more toned downed than the one she’d had with Trinity. There’d be a lot less gushing and giggling, because she was certain her sister wouldn’t be quite as amused as Trinity was.
For now she needed to get through the interview she had with a local, small-potatoes comedian and try to concentrate on getting her questions together for him, even though it was almost impossible to do so. Her boyfriend had told her he had another surprise for her tonight. The very thought had her insides bubbling already. He’d mentioned being a good cook, and she wondered if he was planning on maybe making her dinner, which was something he sort of hinted he planned on doing eventually. Would that be tonight? This meant they’d be alone at his place. They’d hardly been able to keep their lips off each other as it was. It was craziness, but a kind of craziness she already felt herself becoming addicted to, because even as she stepped on the bus now she had the insane urge to get off and go shopping instead—shopping for the perfect set of lacy panties and bra.
The woman she sat next to on the bus must’ve thought Bethany was nuts. When she first sat down, she was sure she was frowning at having the thought of wearing sexy underwear for Damian. Her thoughts had immediately crossed over to what Trinity had said about Bethany’s dilemma. She told Trinity she wanted to take things slow with Damian sexually. She said as fast as things had happened, she was still old-fashioned and thought hopping into bed with him this soon was just not smart. It was partly true, but she had bigger reasons that she left out. Then she told Tiffany how hard it was to stay in control around him and how certain she was that if Damian tried to seduce her, she’d be powerless to stop him, because his kisses alone drove her insane.
With the straightest face, Trinity sat up, squeezed Bethany’s knee, and told her to make sure she wore the rattiest bra and panties anytime she went out with him until she was ready to take that next step. This would ensure that no matter how hot things got, Bethany would be too embarrassed to let
him see her panties with the “bullet holes,” as Trinity referred to the holes in her ratty panties.
Bethany went from frowning as she sat down on the bus bench to giggling into her hand, then frowning again as she scolded herself for even thinking about doing just the opposite of Trinity’s brilliant advice. The lady next to her had actually scooted a little away.
Leaning her head against the window as the bus made its way slowly through the crowded morning commute, she listened to both arguments going on in her head. You need to wait, was the one niggling voice. You owe this to yourself, was the other. The latter had won out all week, and as usual, she decided a compromise was best. It’d been so easy to say no to Simon when he’d asked her out a few times, and to stick to her guns, but then he’d never made her feel anything close to what she felt with Damian. No way was she depriving herself of that incredible feeling, but she would hold off as long as possible on taking things to that next level—as long as she could manage to anyhow.
Chapter 11
The young girl who stepped out of Jerry’s car was not what Damian had expected to see. Jerry said he’d be stopping by the shop Friday afternoon because his daughter Ashlynn had been asking him to take her there all week. Jerry had mentioned his baby girl was all grown up, but Damian could now see that had been an understatement of epic proportions.
“Hello, Damian,” she practically purred as she reached him.
The dark hair he remembered was mostly blonde now. And though her curly locks still had flashes of dark in them, it was very dramatic, and Damian felt dirty thinking it, but very sexy—too sexy for a girl her age.
She wore very short denim shorts and a short tank that only came halfway down her midriff, exposing her belly button along with the pink piercing in it. Damian wasn’t able to make out exactly what it was, because he felt weird even looking there too long. He knew it was hotter than hell and this was common apparel in the summer out here in the desert, but the girl was sixteen. Sure she could pass for eighteen, maybe even older, as tall and filled out as she was now, but the fact remained she was only sixteen. What the hell was Jerry thinking letting her out of the house wearing this? Not to mention she wore more makeup than some adult women. No wonder her mother couldn’t handle her anymore. The way she was fluttering those long lashes at Damian didn’t seem right either.
“Wow, Ashlynn,” he said, trying not to make too much of the way she sized him up. “You really have grown up.”
To his horror she lifted her arms in the air and spun around for him. Damian’s eyes were immediately on Jerry, refusing to let them wander onto any part of his friend’s daughter’s teenage but very adult-looking body. Jerry shrugged, “She takes after her mom.”
Her mom. The woman who got pregnant in the tenth grade after doing it in a parked car with Jerry, and he wasn’t even her boyfriend. Damian had heard the story several times, since he and Jerry didn’t actually become friends until after high school. But what Jerry did tell him was that they had to have a DNA test done on the baby, because even Shannon didn’t know who the dad was. She’d jumped in cars with so many different guys she had no idea which of them could be the dad, except that Jerry had been the only one with whom she’d been lame enough to rely on the old pulling-out method. It was a wonder Jerry hadn’t caught any diseases. Now he was letting his daughter dress and apparently behave like her mother?
Another thing Jerry had shared with him was that Shannon was very popular in school, just not so much with the girls. He had to wonder now exactly what Ashlynn was being bullied for in her school back home, and if she wasn’t to be blamed for it. Jerry had also shared with him that Shannon hadn’t discriminated against the guys with girlfriends. From the looks of Ashlynn that was probably the case as well. That explained why she might not be well liked by some pissed-off girlfriends and why she was getting bullied.
Damian hadn’t seen her since she was about eight and was a chubby little thing. She’d lost all the baby fat and then some. It all made sense now, and he prayed for his friend’s sake she wouldn’t make him a granddad prematurely, as Jerry had done to his own parents way back when.
Ashlynn hugged him, and he hugged her back, careful not to touch any exposed skin. It was kind of awkward, with him placing his hands carefully on the very small part of her top that covered her skin. “Umm, you smell good,” she murmured as she pulled away and once again looked him over in a very inappropriate way.
“Jerry!” Dimitri called out as he walked back out from the office, getting everyone’s attention at once. His eyes were immediately on Ashlynn, and they looked too pleased. Well, shit.
The only reason Damian had even stopped by was to see Jerry and Ashlynn for a few minutes and kill some time to give Bethany time to get ready. Now he had to find a way to get Dimitri alone and warn him to not even think about trying anything with Ashlynn. He could see that familiar spark he saw so often in his brother’s eyes already.
“Well, well, well.” Dimitri smiled, taking in Ashlynn from top to bottom, and if Damian had been close enough he’d have reached over and swatted his brother on the back of his head. “Is this little Ashlynn?”
She smiled back at him, the lashes already fluttering away, and she brought her hand to her mouth. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe I’m meeting you in person. My friends are gonna freak when I tell them,” she said, biting her lower lip, then added, “if they even believe me.”
Dimitri laughed a little too much at that. It wasn’t even funny. “We’ll take pictures so you can have proof. The old man will be back in a few, too, and that guy’s a ham when it comes to taking pictures.” He turned to Jerry, reaching out his hand. “How’s it going, man? It’s been a while. And damn,” he turned back to look at Ashlynn. “Damian told me you had a little girl, but I didn’t know you got busy that early. What are you, my age, sweetheart?”
“No, she’s not,” Damian immediately said, shooting his brother a look. “She’s only sixteen.”
Dimitri’s mouth fell open for a second, but he recovered quickly. “Actually I’ll be seventeen in a few months.” Ashlynn smiled, lowering her eyes in Dimitri’s direction.
His brother’s eyes were back on Ashlynn for an instant, then he glanced back at Damian, who shook his head just enough for Dimitri to catch it. He was going to have to get his brother alone one way or another before he left today and explain. Ashlynn might be his friend’s daughter and just sixteen, but even Damian had to admit that a girl who looked like her could get even a young, semifamous stud like his kid brother wrapped around her finger easily. The only thing Damian had said to Dimitri before Jerry arrived was that Jerry was bringing in his daughter for a tour of the place. Dimitri might be years ahead of his time when it came to restoring cars—and not only helping his dad run this massive business but dealing with being one of the stars of his own show—but he’d only turned twenty just recently and was still very much inexperienced for his age when it came to matters of the heart or being ready for anything serious. Damian could not let his little brother get any ideas about Ashlynn.
If she was anything like what Damian was suspecting based on her appearance and behavior alone, she could talk his brother into something that might get messy if Jerry ever found out—not happening.
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?” Jerry said, smiling proudly in Ashlynn’s direction. “The years just flew. Before you know it, she’ll be a young adult.”
“Yep,” Ashlynn agreed, smiling coyly in Dimitri’s direction. “Very soon.”
“And she’s a big fan of the show. We were hoping she could get a quick tour,” Jerry explained. “Hopefully that’s not too much trouble. We could always come back another day if today isn’t good for you. She’s staying with me for good now.”
“Are you really?” Dimitri’s brows shot up. “So you’re a Vegas girl now?”
“Sure am,” Ashlynn said, smiling.
“Nice.” Dimitri grinned at Ashlynn then turned to Jerry. “And not a problem at all,
man. We’re done filming for the day, and the old man went into town for some errands, but he’ll be back in a while. Now’s actually the perfect time for a tour. C’mon,” he motioned to Ashlynn with a tilt of his head and a smile. “I can take you now.”
Before Damian could do anything about it, Dimitri whisked away Ashlynn, who happily walked alongside him. Damian hadn’t even thought to explain Jerry’s situation to his brother. He hadn’t thought there’d be any reason to get into the details until he saw her get out of the car today.
“She was really excited about meeting Dimitri and your dad,” Jerry said, apparently very pleased to appease his baby girl. “Thanks for this.”
“Not a problem,” Damian said, turning to Dimitri and Ashlynn.
His brother was already laughing again as he had earlier, and Damian seriously doubted Ashlynn was that funny. He wasn’t about to let Jerry in on what he was worried about. It felt too weird. Maybe it was because she was Jerry’s little girl, but Jerry seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he had a hot daughter who looked way beyond her age and was probably experienced beyond her age as well.
Jerry told him all about how things were coming along with Ashlynn getting situated and enrolled in school for the fall. Damian got the feeling that once again Jerry needed to vent. Because as much as he seemed optimistic about the idea of playing the father role full-time for once in his life, he still seemed a little worried. As he went on at length about the conversations he’d had with Ashlynn, about her behaving and being respectful and all the “rules,” and how she really was a good kid, Damian grew a little more worried about his friend. The girl had murmured just loudly enough for only his ears that he smelled good. Not to mention he hadn’t imagined her checking him out, because she’d done it twice. Now she was off with Dimitri fluttering her lashes at him. He didn’t think Jerry had a clue what he was in for.