“Get a grip,” I mumbled but couldn’t help being infected by his laughter.
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be gripping tons when I get in there,” he managed. “Meek, how could you not have told me?”
“I don’t know what there is to tell.” I wanted to stomp my foot. “Your ass isn’t even supposed to be here.”
“I know, little one, but you lost the bet.”
I winced at the name and at him pointing out what I was trying to forget. My competitiveness had gotten the best of me again. “Everyone on set cheated.”
And they had. I swear his makeup artist was in on it. She’d gone and counted those damn cupcakes for him and when he’d bet me he could get closer to the right number, I stupidly thought he’d play fair.
Jay charmed every woman he met—including the lead actress he’d had to make out with twenty times that day for the film set under the Palace of the Arts—and used them to swindle his way into everything he wanted. Including winning the bet he’d made with me.
“Stop being a sore loser,” he chided, his thick, dark eyebrows waggling at me.
“I’ll stop being a sore loser when you stop cheating. Did you sleep with Betsy just to get the exact count?”
“Does it matter?” He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me in for a bear hug. He swallowed me up into his expansive chest as he grumbled, “The crew had a meeting and I wasn’t staying for that.”
“Wait, what?” My hand flew to my book bag to find my planner for Jay. “I didn’t have that scheduled.”
“Because it wasn’t. I’m not sitting around to listen to them complaining about irrelevant issues—”
I wanted to scream at him. “Jay, this is the role of a lifetime. If they want you to make small talk, you do. If they want you to sing, you do. If they say jump, you’re supposed to say how high.”
“It’ll be fine. They’ll get over it,” He said it so nonchalantly that I almost believed him. “I honestly didn’t want to sit there with Betsy and Lela. I’ve tasted every part of Lela’s mouth and I’m about done there. Plus, you needed company. You always bitch and moan when you have to go visit your mother. Now, I guess I understand why there’s moaning.”
I slapped him hard in the stomach, trying my best to feel irritation at his lewd jokes, but instead my body took note of how rock-hard his abs were beneath my hand. I cleared my throat and tried to get out from under his arm. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Okay. Fill me in.”
“On what?” I tried not to roll my eyes and readjusted the leather bag on my shoulder. It always held my scheduler—my lifeline, the hardcopy of everything I needed to remember.
He started toward the front doors. “Well, for instance, when you told me you were lucky enough to have a mother who created a successful business and you were able to learn so much from her, I would have definitely liked to know that business was in porn.”
“Oh, here we go.” I grabbed the metal handles that connected to clean steel doors. “This is the reason I don’t share this with people.”
My mother was meticulous in her design of the shop. She wanted straight lines, bright neutral tones, and white lighting. The furniture placed throughout had tufted cushions and carved wood frames all stained white. She claimed her store was a boutique of sex and fantasies, and most of her customers did too.
“Does Dougie know?” Jay asked about my boyfriend.
I waved off his question. “Why wouldn’t he know?”
Before I swung open the door, Jay’s hand was on it, holding it closed, and he was up against my back. I smelled his pine aftershave and a hint of the sweet lollipop he’d eaten earlier.
“Meek.” The gravel in his voice when he said my name low like that sent shivers down my spine. It shouldn’t have affected me like that. “It sucks that you told him and not me.”
I tried to laugh off his comparison and how close he was to me. “I’ve been with Dougie for years, Jay. He’s my boyfriend.” Jay would look twice at any woman and so the reminder was always a good one for him. Normally, I didn’t need that reminder. My friend was a natural charmer, a man who couldn’t be tied down. I had someone much better than that at home and I knew it.
Except right now. Except when Jay was in front of me and Dougie was brushing off another night with me.
“And we’ve been friends for approximately four years now,” said Jay. “Every time I flew into LA, I called you. When I moved here, you were there. You were the only one I kept in touch with when I flew back and forth. I tell you everything, my whole life.” He whispered it into my neck, like he was working the words into it, massaging them in until they found a home.
I closed my eyes and reminded myself that Jay charmed everyone, that we were just friends, that I had a boyfriend who wanted to stay with me, to commit. “You tell me your secrets because I’m your PA. I know all about your family because they’re American Royalty. You share everything with everyone.”
“Not true.” He smiled that winning smile, where one side lifted just a bit more than the other, showing off perfectly straight, white teeth. “You know my friends, my family, my darkest secrets. I want to know yours. If I’m still this close to you after tasting your mouth the other night, it means I want to know everything about you, Little Pebble.”
“Jay,” I whispered, not sure what to say. Not sure where we went from here. The uncharted waters looked dangerous, risky, and too deep to wade into. “You remember?”