Anxiety pooled in her stomach. “Why?”
His smile deepened. “You already know everything about me,” he said teasingly.
Grey’s mouth dropped open and her face flushed. “What? Do you think I’m, like, some kind of stalker superfan?” Fucking perfect. Guess that answered the question of how he thought of her: a glorified groupie.
“So you don’t know it?”
“No!” September 3. “Get over yourself, god.” She glanced over at him, at the amusement that crinkled the corners of his eyes behind his sunglasses, and felt a surge of courage. She had to know, now, or this weekend would be unbearable.
“Thanks for your help on my audition, by the way. It went well, I think. You’re a very committed scene partner.”
Ethan’s face slackened like someone had pulled the power cord on him. He was silent for a long moment, then reached his hand over to her. She flinched, but he was just turning down the radio.
He cleared his throat.
“Listen. Grey.”
She was listening all right, but several more seconds passed in loaded silence before he said anything else.
“What happened the other day…I think we’ve all been there, right? We got a little too into the scene, a little carried away. It happens. I didn’t mean…I mean, we would’ve stopped before…” He paused, then started again. “We just have to keep it professional.”
She couldn’t help herself. He seemed so flustered she had to tease him a little.
“Professional. Right. Like how both of our last relationships were with our costars?”
“And look how well that worked out for us,” he muttered under his breath.
She looked over at him, for real this time, a little surprised at the grimness of his reaction. His mouth was set in a tense line.
Maybe this wasn’t the time to bring up the casual sex idea after all.
They pulled up to The Blue Oasis late in the afternoon. The exterior was still the same impeccably preserved original Spanish colonial revival design from when it had been the ultimate getaway for Hollywood stars of the twenties and thirties. However, over the last five years, the interior had been painstakingly renovated to be the pinnacle of modern convenience. Grey and Ethan were ushered into their villa, which was more like a luxury condo than any hotel room Grey had ever stayed in.
There was a full kitchen, a living room area with an enormous couch and a half bath, a master bedroom with a walk-in closet, and a palatial bathroom with a two-headed rain shower and full-sized Jacuzzi. Outside, a tall fence lined with palm trees provided privacy for their small patio and private pool. The perfect lovers’ getaway.
When Audrey had said “weekend,” Grey had assumed she meant they would be there Friday through Sunday, but apparently her definition had them arriving on Thursday and leaving on Monday. Five days, four nights.
One bed.
“I can take the couch,” Ethan said as soon as the bellhop had deposited their bags in their room. “Looks like it’s a pull-out. Could be worse.”
“Sounds good,” Grey said, scolding herself internally for even thinking for a moment that he might consider sharing the bed with her. She brought her bags into the bedroom and ducked into the bathroom to freshen up. When she returned to the living room, Ethan was examining the extravagant gift basket that the resort had laid out for them on the coffee table, which included an expensive bottle of champagne and several chocolate-covered strawberries. He picked one up and inspected it.
“Should we go out to the lobby and feed these to each other?”
Grey laughed. “Bring out the champagne, too, so you can shake it up and spray it all over me.”
Ethan looked stricken.
“Um. I meant for the cameras. Never mind.” She shifted her weight, desperate to change the subject. “What time is our dinner reservation? Seven? I think I’m going to explore a little. Want to come?”
She was a little relieved when Ethan shook his head.
“I’m just going to hang out here for now. Maybe take a shower. You go do your thing, though.” He kicked his shoes off and sprawled out on the couch, flinging an arm over his face dramatically. Grey let herself take one long, languorous look at him; the lift of his arm revealed several tempting inches of skin between the bottom of his T-shirt and the top of his waistband. She wondered how he would react if she crossed the room and straddled him, pushing up his shirt and covering the terrain of his torso with her hands and her mouth. Now that she knew how he felt on top of her with the, well, firm evidence of his arousal pressed up against her, the fantasy was more real than it had ever been.
The worst part was, she now knew he wouldn’t push her away. It was whatever would happen afterward that was stopping her. If things got awkward between them on this trip, there was no office for him to retreat to, no home of her own to lie low in for a few days.
Ethan shifted his arm a little bit and peeked at her, catching her red-handed. Red-eyed?
“You’re still here?”
“I, um…I forgot something.” Grey dashed into the bedroom and rifled through her bag, pulling out her sunglasses and a baseball cap. She tossed them on as she came out into the living room. “Gotta go incognito, ya know?”
Ethan nodded gravely. “Naturally. I think I have a fake mustache in my dopp kit, if you need it.”
Grey laughed. “I’m not sure if I’m at that level yet, but I appreciate the offer.”
* * *
—
GREY DIDN’T RETURN until an hour before their dinner reservation, greeting Ethan quickly before shutting herself in the bedroom. Ethan heard the shower running. He had showered shortly after she left, jerking off twice. He wasn’t taking any chances.
It was unbelievable. He hadn’t slept with anyone since his divorce, and most of the time had little desire to. And yet here he was, unable to think straight around her without coming first, like a horny teenager. He’d come dangerously close to losing control with her the other day on his couch. He didn’t want to think about what would have happened if they hadn’t been interrupted by Audrey’s call. But, of course, he had thought about it, hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. It was hard enough trying to keep his mind off of her when he was by himself in his house, let alone when he knew she was, at that moment, a few short steps away, naked and soaking wet.
This weekend was going to be a nightmare.
At first he’d thought it was maybe just the fact that he had barely been in the presence of an attractive woman for the last few years. It had to be the novelty.
But then, he’d had girlfriends before. He’d been married. He’d certainly had more than his share of flings. None of that felt quite like this. Being around her felt like parts of him were being switched on that he’d never known existed. It petrified him.
When she slid open the door to the bedroom forty-five minutes later, he couldn’t stop himself from openly gawking. She was wearing a floor-length dress in a gauzy material that clung and draped over her body so alluringly that it almost seemed like magic.
The fabric looked flimsy enough to melt under the heat of his touch. He half expected it to do just that when he rested his hand on the small of her back to guide her out the door. However, he quickly discovered that the dress’s halter neck left her entire back exposed, his palm landing flush against the dimples in her lower back.
The unexpected sensation of full skin-to-skin contact almost had him involuntarily pulling his hand away like he’d been scalded. At the same time, he felt as if he couldn’t move it if his life depended on it.
They slowly made their way down the path toward the Oasis Lounge. Grey set their pace, carefully placing each step so she wouldn’t get her stiletto heels stuck in the cobblestones. Ethan quickly reconfigured his hold on her, sliding his hand all the way around her waist and taking her other hand in his to help steady her.