Warmth bloomed inside me at the idea of my house beinghome. “Okay,” I said. We went back to the table as Ryan was settling the bill. There was a sack of packaged tacos. It looked like the waitress had thrown in a few extra. “You didn’t have to pay for mine.”
Ryan shot me a look. “It’s not like either of us is hurting for money,” he said. He wasn’t wrong, but having someone buy my food had always fallen into “date” territory. “Don’t overthink it, Adrianne,” he added. “You can get it next time. No strings attached, okay?” I heard Callan scoff, and Ryan rounded on him. In a low voice, he asked, “What is yourproblem, dude?”
Callan shook his head. His face relaxed into a deceptively neutral position. It was off-putting to see him so expressionless. “No problem, sir,” he said, voice polite but empty.
Ryan studied him for a moment and then grabbed his bag of tacos. “I didn’t think so,” he said in that haughty, Hollywood way that made me want to gag. We walked toward the bar’s exit. “Are you ready for this?” he asked me.
No.“Let’s do it.” We walked out into the blinding flash of paparazzi cameras. They shouted questions at us, but we did our level-best to ignore them all. In the parking lot, Callan popped the lock on his F150. I would rather climb into the passenger seat, but I got into the back with Ryan, which set off another round of flashing lights behind us.
When we got back to the studio, I climbed out of the truck with Ryan. “I have a car coming,” he said. “I’m guessing tall, dark, and threatening is driving you home?”
I smiled and rolled my eyes. “It’s part of the package,” I said. “See you tomorrow?”
He nodded. “Tomorrow.”
I opened the passenger door and climbed up into the seat. I could see tension running through Callan’s whole body. “Let’s go home,” I said softly.
Some of that tension eased, and a smile touched his face. He pulled out of the lot and angled us toward the Hills. Luckily, traffic was light. Other than my little-used BMW, there weren’t any other cars in the driveway.
“Foster and Ethan are still at the office,” I said. They had to go to the Mercado Security building today to check on the staff and other clients. It was easy to forget that Ethan ran a fairly large security company and that other people reported to him all day long.
“So, we’re alone?” Callan asked as we got out of the truck.
I put a hand on my hip. “What did you have in mind?”
He smiled. “How about a nice swim? To relax?”
I loved that idea. I never really got to make use of the pool that I shelled out a pretty penny to maintain. It was always ready for visitors, but my schedule just made it hard to plan for pool parties. “We should change,” I said.
Callan smirked. “Why?”
It was the middle of the day, for one, but I thought about my neighbors, the elderly woman I'd only ever seen one time, and the neurosurgeon who had worse hours than I did. A flutter of bravery and absolute arousal went through me. “Okay,” I breathed out.
Callan took my hand, and together, we went around the side of the house. I threw my purse into a lounge chair, and he did the same with his keys, phone, and wallet. Before I could pull my dress over my head, Callan came to me. He reached down and grasped the hem of my dress. He pulled it up and over my head. “Adrianne.”
His voice was gruff, and I smirked. “Yes?” I asked innocently.
“Are you going commando?”
“Maybe,” I said.
“Have you been without panties all day?”
I shrugged casually, as if we were discussing something completely mundane. “Just any time I was out of costume.”
Callan made a sound between a growl and a groan. “You had a bare pussy all through dinner with him?”
I leaned against him. “So I could be ready for you when we came home.”
“Fuck, Princess,” he groaned and slanted his mouth over mine. Callan dipped his tongue into my mouth, tasting me and groaning like he'd never done it before.
His hands slid up my back and undid the clasps on my bra. The thing went lax against his chest, and I shifted so that it dropped to the ground.I'm naked in my back yard, I thought, and things low in my stomach tightened in excitement.
I wasn't normally the exhibitionist type—after living so much of my life in front of cameras, I wanted things completely private whenever I could—but there was something so naughty about standing here, bare before Callan and anyone who might be able to peek in on us.
Our kiss broke, and I backed up with a wink and dove into the crystalline waters of the pool. It was salt water and kept warm year-round. Perfection. When I broke the surface, I turned and got a glimpse of Callan pushing his jeans down his legs before he was jumping in after me.
A hand grabbed my ankle, and I shrieked with laughter as Callan yanked me beneath the water. We wrestled for a moment, rolling around, breaking the surface of the water before submerging again. Despite the inability to breathe at times, it was fun and childish just playing in the water with him.