Hero for Hire Read online

  He leaned in, and I watched his nostrils flare as he inhaled. “You smell nice.”

  “Dial soap and Pert shampoo.” What a stupid thing to say. Why didn’t I just say thank you instead of giving him a shopping list of my toiletries.

  He didn’t lean away, but asked, “No perfume?”

  Was his voice deeper than usual? Gruffer as he stood close to me and spoke softly.

  “I don’t own perfume.” My own voice was a little husky too.

  “Maisie.” He swallowed hard.

  “Yeah?”

  “Fuck.” He bit out the cuss then drew in a deep breath. “I wanna kiss you.”

  I felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room but I somehow croaked out, “Okay.”

  His tongue crept out between his lips, wetting them before those lips were on mine.

  God it had been so long since a man had kissed me. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed it until I found my hands buried in his hair as I grabbed his head and held him close.

  Now that I’d given in, I wasn’t about to let him get away. I wanted this kiss. I wanted so much more.

  I think he did too.

  He moaned and I felt his hands on my waist. He pulled me tighter against him as he took a step closer.

  I felt the long hard length of him pressed against me. Even with the clothes between us, the feel of his need made my body scream for satisfaction.

  Kissing him harder, I pressed closer until the bulge in his pants nudged against the apex of my thighs.

  A tiny sound of mingled frustration and satisfaction escaped me. Having him there felt so good. But I needed so much more than that.

  I needed him on top of me. Inside me. I wanted to be the woman in that movie we’d watched together. I wanted to experience the passion of that sex scene I’d had to cover Charlie’s eyes during.

  I wanted a bed and him in it. I pulled back. “Do you want to come upstairs?”

  “Fuck yeah.”

  “Do you have condoms?” I asked as I pulled him up to the second floor by the hand.

  “Yes.”

  “Confident, aren’t we?” I joked, glancing back at him.

  “No. But hopeful.” He grinned.

  “All right. I’ll forgive you then.” I pulled him into my bedroom.

  My clothes were strewn all over the bed and dresser because I’d had on three other variations of outfits before I gave in and settled on this one, even though it did feel too fancy for a date at home.

  He didn’t glance twice at the mess as he ran his hands under the skirt and up my bare thighs. “I really like this dress.”

  “It’s ten years old.” Again I said something stupid! When would I learn to take a compliment?

  “It’s perfect.” He hoisted me up against him and crawled onto the bed with me beneath him, driving all words right out of my head.

  TWELVE

  MAISIE

  “I’ve wanted you since the day of my first lesson.” Jamey kissed me hard then leaned back far enough to say, “Even back when you were being so mean to me.”

  “You almost killed me and Stardust,” I said, breathing heavier as he bunched the skirt of my dress and pushed it up to my hips.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you now.” With one tug my underwear were down my legs and on the floor.

  Then Jamey was between my thighs, those eyes the color of a fairytale forest focused on me as he lowered his mouth.

  “Oh my God.” The force of the pleasure physically hit me, throwing my head back so my cry was directed at the ceiling of my bedroom.

  It had been a long time since I’d been kissed, but it had been forever since a man had done this. And teenage Dusty fumbling between my legs while trying to convince me to give up my virginity to him was nothing like Jamey’s expertise now.

  Holy hell.

  My hips lifted off the bed as if they were no longer being controlled by me.

  Maybe they weren’t. Jamey was clearly in control now as he worked me with his mouth. He added two fingers, sliding them right where I needed them, providing the smallest tease of satisfaction to my overwhelming craving to be filled.

  A preview, a promise, of what ecstasy was yet to come.

  My muscles tightened. I felt them. He felt them too—I heard his groan as my body began to grip the fingers inside me.

  “Don’t stop. I’m going to . . .” I couldn’t bring myself to say all the words but I was so close. So afraid he’d stop before I tipped over the precipice where I teetered.

  He groaned deep against my core. I forced my eyes open and saw him focused on my face.

  My cheeks flaming, I couldn’t watch him watching me and threw my head back. As he doubled his efforts with his hand and mouth, I lifted my hips higher. The change in angle sent me rocketing over the edge.

  A cry I couldn’t control filled the room. Thank God no one else was in the house. Or even on the property.

  I’d never been really vocal during sex before. Then again, I’d never been with Jamey before. He brought me to the peak and kept going. Pushing me further, until I crested again, higher, harder. I felt out of control.

  My mind had just enough rational thought left I realized I no longer had power over my body.

  Even as I careened over the waves of my orgasm, it was frightening. I pulled back, mentally and physically, yanking my hips away from his mouth. He leaned back and let me pull away.

  “You okay?” he asked, sounding as breathless as I felt.

  “Yeah. Just, too much.”

  On his knees, he poised, unmoving, waiting, fully clothed and uncertain. If I asked him to stop now, he would. I knew that to my core. But he didn’t want to.

  His gaze on me as his chest rose and fell beneath the cotton of his shirt told me he would be on top of me in an instant if that’s what I wanted.

  Now that I had control of the situation again, that was exactly what I wanted, but I was obviously going to have to ask for it.

  I bit my lip. This was harder to say than it should be, considering what we’d just done.

  Maybe words were overrated. Actions spoke louder anyway, didn’t they?

  Sitting up, I pulled my dress up and over my head, tossing it to the floor. Then I reached behind me to unhook my bra.

  Jamey’s nostrils flared as he breathed hard while watching every move I made. I kicked off my sandals last. They landed with a thud on the floor.

  I was naked and there was nothing left to do except lean back and hope he took my invitation.

  I guess he got the message. Jamey was on his feet and stripping in seconds. And damn, what was under his clothes was as good as I’d imagined.

  He crawled naked on top of me, all lean hard muscles and smooth warm skin. I’d just gotten my hands on him, running them down his back and marveling in the feel of him, when he leaned back.

  “Shit.” With that he climbed off the bed.

  He bent to retrieve his pants and after a struggle with his pocket and his bulging leather wallet, he emerged with a strip of condoms.

  “Four?” I laughed. No wonder the wallet had looked so overstuffed.

  He seemed torn between embarrassment and excitement as he cringed, the strip dangling from his fingers.

  “Too much?” he asked.

  With him? Maybe not enough.

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Let’s find out.”

  His eyes lit with his smile and he tore into one packet, covered himself and climbed between my legs.

  “I’ve only ever been with one other guy. That was Dusty.” The admission burst from me before I could stop it.

  Why I felt I needed him to know right at this very second was beyond me, but there it was, hanging between us like a third person in the room.

  He stopped, his tip poised at my entrance. “Oh.”

  I was so close to what I knew would be incredible and now he had that uncertain expression again. And I’d put it there. I should learn to keep my mouth shut.


  “Um.” He moved to pull away and I panicked.

  I locked him in place with two hands on the arms he had braced on either side of me. “I didn’t tell you that because I wanted you to stop.”

  Relief washed over his features. “Good.”

  “In fact, I wouldn’t mind if you, you know, got started.” Jeez, my bedroom talk sucked.

  That’s it. From now on I kept my mouth shut. Or maybe I needed to watch some movies to see what I was supposed to be saying—

  My thought died before I finished thinking it. Driven out of my mind by a single thrust of Jamey’s hips. Killed by the ecstasy of him sliding inside me.

  The pleasure as much as the force of his thrust had me expelling a breathy, pleasure-filled, “Oh.”

  He leaned low, putting his mouth close to my ear. The warmth of his breath engulfed me, intoxicating me.

  “Wrap your legs around me.” His gruff voice in my ear sent a shiver down my spine.

  I somehow managed to comprehend the meaning of the words and wrapped shaky legs around his narrow waist while I clutched his wide back with my hands.

  With one arm supporting my hips and the other braced against the bed, the man proved he was in as good shape physically as he appeared.

  His stroke never slowed, never faltered as he thrust inside me. There were mechanical vibrators that were less energetic than this man.

  Still tingling from my first orgasm, my body was primed and ready for another. His enthusiastic lovemaking drove me closer until I was gasping into the heat of his chest, trying not to sound like a porn video as a cry escaped me on every breath.

  Every sound I made only seemed to fuel Jamey, until the crescendo hit and I felt him thrust hard and deep and hold there, throbbing inside me. It tipped me over the edge and my muscles went crazy, tightening around him, meeting him pulse for pulse.

  He held close and deep, until the last aftershock subsided.

  His erection faded and still I clung to him. Maybe I didn’t want to face him. Face the reality that this time between us had been perfect—but that was it. All it could be.

  He was still him. I was still me. We—our lives—didn’t fit together.

  But damn, we fit together perfectly in bed.

  Finally, he pulled back and asked, “Hungry?”

  I laughed. God bless him, he took what could have been an awkward situation and made it feel so simple. So casual. “Yeah, actually, now that you mention it I’m starving.”

  He grinned. “Good. Wait until you see what I brought.”

  Jamey glanced around the room and spotted the small table and two chairs in front of the window.

  It had been where my mother and I had tea parties when I was little. And where she’d read stories to me while my dolls and stuffed animals all sat in the chair with me.

  “You want to stay here and I’ll bring it up?”

  “Um, okay.”

  And apparently that table was going to be where I had a post-coital meal with the celebrity I’d just banged.

  What would my mother say to that?

  She had been the coolest, most empowered woman I’d ever known, right up until the day a myocardial infarction took her from us. That was back when I was still too young to even pronounce the cause of her death.

  I watched Jamey pull on his boxer shorts and jeans, before shooting me a dazzling smile and striding barefoot and shirtless out of the room. I had a feeling my mother would approve.

  THIRTEEN

  JAMEY

  I’d just been inside this woman, but it still felt strange going through her kitchen cabinets looking for plates and forks.

  Maybe we’d jumped into bed too soon.

  My cock didn’t think so but now that my brain was coming down from the endorphin high, I realized if I didn’t feel right putting my hand in her cutlery drawer, I probably shouldn’t have had my dick inside her.

  Too late now. The only thing to do was forge ahead . . . and hope she was ready to do the same because I really liked this woman. And not just the sex.

  I liked all of her. Her sense of humor. Her family. Her work ethic. Hell, even her smart mouth when she was pissed at me.

  Dishes and forks in one hand and the shopping bag filled with take-out containers in the other I ran up the stairs.

  By the time I made it back to the bedroom, she was dressed again. That was a shame, though I guess if I wanted to show her I was serious about our date, we shouldn’t eat naked.

  I set what I carried on the table next to where she sat and walked back around the bed to find my shirt.

  Presentable again, mostly but not completely since I was still barefoot, I made my way across the room and opened the bag.

  “Wolfgang’s famous for his smoked salmon pizza, but I didn’t think that would travel well so I got stuff that could make the hour’s drive and still taste good. I hope you like it.”

  “You know Wolfgang Puck?” she asked sounding shocked as she watched me set the box of truffle potato chips with blue cheese dipping sauce on the table.

  “No. Well, I mean yeah I met him once. It was at an Oscar after-party last year, but no, he didn’t cook and pack up dinner for me personally today.”

  Glancing up, I saw her shield dropping into place. The one Maisie put up to keep the distance between us. It had lifted while we’d been naked and sweaty, but now it was sliding right back down again.

  “You know, it’s a public restaurant. You can order food too. I’m not special or anything. I placed a take-out order just like everyone else.” I set the organic farmer’s market salad on the table and hoped my words convinced her.

  She let out a snort.

  I paused in opening the cardboard box the chicken salad with candied cashews was packed in. “You really do think I live some kind of charmed life, don’t you?”

  “You don’t?” she asked.

  “No.” I shook my head, sitting in the chair opposite her.

  She let out a derisive huff in response. “So the fifteen million dollars you’re getting for your next movie is what? A normal life?”

  Obviously she’d done a really good job googling me.

  I should be happy she’d been interested enough to bother, but I wasn’t, because her seeing my outrageous salary for this next picture, which was actually on the low end for leading men in Hollywood, was not helping me prove my point that I was normal just like her.

  I sighed. “I know. It’s a lot of money. Insane for a few months work. But it can all go away at any given moment. I never forget that. I never assume otherwise or take it, or anything in my life for granted. I live as modestly as I can, considering the insane rental prices where we are. And I sock every extra dollar away for later so I have something when all this does go away one day.”

  She watched me as I talked. I could see her doubt. “And what would you do if it did? If tomorrow it all went away.”

  If she had been trying to prove me a liar and catch me without an answer, she was about to be disappointed. I thought about the end of my career more than was healthy.

  “I’d buy the building my friend Walt’s gym is in. It’s in Rancho Cucamonga. I’d own and run the business with him. Training boxers and MMA fighters. It’s where I started my adult life. I figure it’d be a good place to finish it.”

  She tipped her head to one side, as if considering me and my answer. “You really have thought about this.”

  “Yes. I told you I had.”

  She nodded. “I guess I’m not used to men telling the truth.”

  That brought a frown to my brow. “Get used to it.”

  I stood and grabbed one plate and fork since she hadn’t made a move to serve herself yet.

  Next date was going to be out at a real restaurant. This woman deserved to be served, and not by me.

  As I put a bit of everything on the plate, I said, “What about you? Do you ever think about ever doing something else?”

  “Yes. I mean I’d still teach lessons but I’ve thought
seriously about expanding the business.”

  “Expanding it how?” I asked, setting the plate in front of her and grabbing the other for myself.

  “I want to start an overnight summer camp for kids. I always thought that kids nowadays could benefit from a few weeks a year working with the horses. You know, being outside using their hands, instead of sitting indoors on their cell phones. But it would mean building bunkhouses for sleeping quarters, and we’d need bathroom facilities and a dining hall, so it’s probably just a crazy dream.”

  “I don’t think it’s crazy at all. I would have loved having the kind of place you’re talking about to go to when I was a kid.” Especially before I’d gotten placed with a decent family in Chino and discovered Walt’s gym. “I think it’s totally doable. I mean you already own the land.”

  “Yup. We do. For now. And I figured I could rent out the facilities for like corporate retreats the rest of the year when the kids aren’t here. That way I could bring in money while keeping the cost to the kids as low as possible.”

  “That’s a really good idea. Wow. Pretty and smart.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “You already got me into bed so you don’t have to flatter me.”

  I smiled. “But see, there you’re wrong because I want to make sure I can get you into bed again later.”

  Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink as she poked at her food with her fork. “Anyway, I don’t love the idea of having to work with corporate assholes but I figure I can put up with a lot if the money is good.”

  “Like why you’re putting up with me?” I joked.

  “Yup.” She smiled before she shoved a big piece of lettuce between her lips.

  I laughed. Women didn’t treat Jamey Garret, Hollywood leading man, like this. That was exactly why I was here with Maisie. She gave me no bullshit.

  Her straight up honestly and inability to be star struck or dazzled by money or fame was exactly what I needed to make me feel normal. Like the real me again.

  Maisie was who I needed in my life to keep me grounded in a town where everyone’s head was in the clouds.

  Now if only I could prove to Maisie that what she needed in her life was me.