His arms went around her shoulders, and mine looped around her waist. Together, we held her as she trembled. “I haven’t even started filming yet,” she said and rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes. “What happens when that first movie comes out, and this person hates it? Will they come after me to punish me?” She laughed. It held an edge of hysteria. “Or what if they love it? What then?”
I rubbed my hands up and down her back soothingly. “Don’t play ‘what ifs’ with yourself,” I said. “We can’t guess what will happen.”
She looked at me. Her eyes turned to warm, liquid honey.She was an angel. “So, what can I do?”
“Live your life,” I said. “Let us worry about all of this.” I gestured to the broken glass. “We’ll keep you safe.”
“I like to be in the loop,” she said. “I like to know what’s going on.”
“Of course,” I said. “But knowing what’s going on shouldn’t impede your life.”
Callan kissed the top of her head. “Why don’t you go run a bath? Foster and I will clean this up.” She shook her head, obviously ready to argue, but he stopped her. “Filming starts tomorrow, right? We’ve got to be up early.”
I watched the fight drain from her face. She smiled up at Callan, and then her gaze slid to me. “Thank you both,” she said, and the corners of her mouth curled into a smile that made my stomach drop to my knees. She was too pretty for own goddamn good.
When she was gone, I reached over and smacked the back of Callan’s head. He whirled on me. “What the fuck, dude?”
“You had sex with her.” It wasn’t a question, and Callan didn’t try to lie his way out of it.
Instead, he gave me a hard, studious look. “You want her,” he said. It wasn’t a question either, but I didn’t try and deny it.
“I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near her,” I said, and we both knew it was the truth. Ethan’s code about clients was ironclad, so even though I did want her, I wouldn’t have touched her.
“Merc wants her too,” Callan said, ignoring me. “We saw that from the moment we walked into his office.”
“So?”
“So, what if she wants all of us?”
I hadn’t expected him to say that part out loud. It had been two years since we had shared a woman for more than a night or a long weekend. Since we lost Laura. I shook my head.It doesn’t matter, I thought.She’s off limits.
“Even if she does,” I said, “she’s still a client. Ethan would never go for it.”
Callan scoffed. “You give him too much credit,” he said. “He’s not some monk.”
“Boys?” We turned, and Adrianne stood in the hallway behind us. She’d changed into a short, silky robe that hid absolutely nothing. My mouth watered. I imagined what it would be like to peel that little robe down and open her up like a present. We both stood, gobsmacked, for a moment. “The vacuum and broom are in that closet,” she said, pointing to the door behind me.
“On it,” Callan said, voice tight. “We’ll get this all cleaned up.”
“Thank you,” she said. “You’ll be staying tonight, right, Foster?” I met her gaze. “I’ll feel more comfortable if I know that the both of you are here.”
“I won’t go anywhere,” I promised. She turned and disappeared back through the living room. Neither of us could look away from theswish-swishof her robe.
“When Ethan kills you, I’ll make sure to delete everything in your phone so your folks won’t be embarrassed.”
Callan shoved me. “I like you better when you don’t talk,” he snarled. “Let’s just clean up the damn glass, all right? We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
“Aye, aye.”
5
ETHAN
Keep calm and don’t punch him, I told myself over and over as I waited for Callan and Foster to shuttle Adrianne to set.
Foster had sent me a text the night before, but even before I opened it, I knew that Callan had made a move. It was practically written all over him when he skipped out the door with her.
I’d spent the night chewing on this, and I had made the decision to fire him... but then there was the ghost of Laura Townsend and all that she was to us.