He was quiet for a while, but I could see the gears turning in his head. "I do get irritable," he said. "In the parking lot of the store, I didn't mean to jump your shit for looking at my leg."
"No worries," I said. "I figure it's a sore spot."
"It's not, though," he said. "Not really. Doesn't bother me, I mean. I'm luckier than a lot of other guys. It's just a leg, anyway. I'm fucking bionic and shit now."
I trailed my hand down his trim abdomen, then lower, watching his cock respond to my touch. "You might as well be bionic here, too," I said, my attempt to lighten the mood.
He grinned, making the sides of his blue eyes crinkle. I didn't know what exactly he was carrying with him, but it looked like the weight of the world on his shoulders-until he smiled. Then it was like everything melted away.
"You want me to show you bionic?" he asked, his voice low. I wrapped my hand around the base of his cock, felt it harden at my touch.
"Is that a promise?" I asked. I ran my hand lightly up his cock and down again, rubbed my thumb over the bead of pre-cum already glistening on the head.
"Come here and I'll show you," he said. He pulled me against him, his hardness pressing against me, and kissed me. When he slipped his hand between my legs, it made me gasp. "I guess you like bionic."
"Just a little," I said. I was starting to think I liked it a lot more than a little.
Afterward, his fingers traced their way lazily down my arm. "I was thinking you probably needed help with getting a rental car this morning," he said. "Right?"
"That would be nice," I said, clearing my throat. "If you wanted to. There's also probably a store open now."
"Fuck, yeah," he said. "I made you a promise last night."
I felt my face flush warm at the thought of what I wanted him to do to me.
"You know how long you're staying?"
"I haven't thought about it," I said. That much was true. None of this had been planned. I had no idea what I was doing here, in West Bend or with him. The entire thing was insane. It was insane to even think about staying here for a few days. I should go back to my life. I needed to go back to my life. Running from a film set was crazy. It wasn't something you did. I couldn't imagine the shitstorm that was going to happen.
I felt his hand over my chest. "Your heart is racing," he said, his voice soft. "And you're all tense."
"I don't know what I'm going to do," I said. "How long I'll stay." That's not true. I knew I couldn't stay long.
"And that's why you're tense?"
"No," I admitted. "It's the thought of what is waiting for me when I go back-the questions, the decisions I need to make..."
"About Viper," he said.
"About everything." I already knew what I wanted to do about Viper. That wasn't even a decision. I wanted him gone, out of my life completely. It was everything else I didn't know how to handle - my family, my career-those were the big questions. Those were the things I couldn't explain-didn't want to explain to a stranger. How could I explain how fucked up it was, the fact that my mother was who she was, that I kept supporting her after everything she'd done to me, that she still did to me? It was this weird, dysfunctional thing, my relationship with my family.
It was embarrassing.
I couldn't explain it to an outsider.
He didn't ask me to elaborate. "Are you starving?" he asked. "I'm hungry."
I was grateful he changed the subject. "Absolutely."
"You sure you want to eat outside?" June asked. "I only have this small table out here, so you'll have to do some balancing with your plates, especially on these rocking chairs."
"I think we're okay," I said. "It's so beautiful out here. I don't get the chance to do this kind of thing very often." Sitting outside on the front porch like this, enjoying the crisp Colorado air, away from smog-infested Los Angeles, made me almost feel like a regular person. June's border collie, Bailey, curled up a few feet away, basking in the sunlight.
June looked back and forth from Elias to me. "I hope you had a good night's sleep," she said, as she bent down to set a basket of muffins and a bowl of fruit on the small table between our chairs. When she stood up, her expression looked innocent, but her eyes twinkled.
"Great night's sleep," Elias said. "Best night of sleep I've ever had, actually."
Cade walked across the meadow between the houses, Stan perched on his hip. He set him down, and Stan toddled around the front porch, exploring. "Hey, babe." Cade kissed June on the cheek. "Good morning."
"He's so cute," I said, as Stan put his little arms around Bailey and Bailey sighed.
"Cute and a handful," Cade said. "Since he started walking, he's on the move all the time. Came by to see if you needed anything in town, babe."
"I'll go inside and get my list for you," June said. "Keep an eye on Stan for a minute?"
"Did you need that rental?" Cade turned toward me.
"I'll take her into town to get it." Elias spoke quickly. "If you want, I mean."