I freaked out about it, and I ran out of there without even saying goodbye.
I wish I hadn’t done that, because I actually had an incredible time, looking back on it now.
Once I got over the complete awkwardness of that whole marriage thing, I have to admit that I had a really good time talking with and hanging out with him. I would have never guessed that I could get along so well with a rich good-looking guy like Rex Croft.
When I picture him in the kitchen, making me dinner as we laugh and joke I get all the butterflies again. God he looked so hot moving around his kitchen so easily, but cooking me dinner wasn’t the hottest thing he did, not by a long shot.
The way he made me feel in his bedroom…the way I wanted him out on the roof…
It was pretty chicken shit of me, plus kind of mean, to just leave the way I did.
I wouldn't want some guy doing that to me, even if the festivities of the night were done and complete. Still, I'm smart enough to know that he doesn't want to see me again.
I’m just one of many, and surely not the hottest he’s had or seen or wants. Rex Croft can get any girl he wants. I can’t imagine a world in which he’d want me. But that’s okay, I tell myself.
I’ve got the memories of that one night to last me a very long time.
I turn on my side, trying again to force sleep. I hear a ping—my phone. I reach over to the cardboard box that serves as a nightstand (covered in a sheet to hide the fact) and grab my phone.
It’s a text from a number I don’t recognize and that’s not stored in my phone.
I’m outside. Want to come in and talk.
My heart races.
Who the hell is this? I think of the auditions I’ve been on and what creeper might have my information. I pick up my little stun gun that I carry with me—can’t be too careful in a city like L.A.—and I slowly pull back the thin curtain and look down at the street.
Standing beneath the street light—it’s him. It’s Rex. He’s standing next to a swanky Porsche and is looking up and down the street, his phone in his hand. And then he looks up at my window.
What in the world is Rex Croft doing outside my apartment?
He raises his hand in a small wave, and I find myself doing the same back, mostly because I’m confused as hell. He points to the building’s front door. I move away from the window.
I probably shouldn’t let him in—why is he here and how did he find out where I live? But he is a rich guy, and rich guys always find a way.
I grab a cardigan and wrap it around myself, the best I can do in lieu of a robe. All I’m wearing is a short T-shirt. As I press the buzzer to the front door I look around for a pair of pants. God, I can’t keep being naked around this guy. As I’m tossing through dirty clothes there’s a soft knock on my door.
I creep over and slowly open it, sticking my head around the corner.
As soon as we look at each other, a small grin edges across both our faces, surprising me. I quickly look away, and Rex clears his throat.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“I know it’s late,” he says. “If you want me to go I will. I just…I had to see you again, Addison. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” I say, feeling more than okay.
“I’m glad,” he says.
We watch each other for a moment, his amber eyes heavy on me. I decide to let him in. I open the door wider, and he steps through.
I shut the door and am mortified for a reason that has nothing to do with my not wearing any pants—Rex is looking around at my studio apartment.
He’s seeing the dump I live in without me having had a chance to spiff it up, not that anything I could do would help much.
“It’s…small,” I say, stating the obvious.
Rex turns back to face me, and all thoughts of my crappy little apartment fall away when he looks at me. “Your apartment is fine, Addison,” he says. “Better than fine, in fact. Because you’re here.”
I pull the cardigan tighter around my chest but his eyes don’t roam over me—they stay on my own eyes, like they’re the only thing he cares about seeing. Me—he only wants to see me.
That’s what it feels like but that can’t be the truth. Not with a guy like him.
“Look,” I begin. “I’m sorry I ran out on you this morning. I just…last night was a bad idea. I mean, I had a great time with you and all, but taking a job like that is totally out of my character. I came here to be an actor and I shouldn’t have taken a job like that, even if I thought it was just a one night thing…”
“Addison, it’s fine,” Rex says. “I don’t care how or why you showed up at my house. I’m just glad you did.”
Neither of us moves. His eyes are still on mine, so soft as I squirm under his gaze. I remember the way his thick brown lashes laid heavy on his cheeks this morning as he slept.
“I just don’t know if it’s such a good idea, you being here,” I say. “Obviously you’re looking for someone different than me—”
“No,” he says, cutting me off. “That’s the thing. Addison, I came here tonight because I’m looking for you. Not someone else.”
He takes one step toward me, and it’s like the air in the room is slowly falling away.
“Yeah, but don’t you want…” I begin, but it’s like I don’t have enough oxygen to get the words out. What I want to say is, Don’t you want a wife? Or someone hot? But he takes another slow step toward me, and all I can do is stay rooted to the spot in front of the door.
“Don’t worry about what I want, Addison,” Rex says. “What I want is standing in front of me. Looking pretty freaked out, I might add,” he says.
I grin, because my shoulders are up by my ears.
“I’m not freaked out,” I say, even though I kind of am. More than that, I’m intimidated. More so than any audition I’ve ever been on, and that’s saying something.
“Good,” he says, almost a whisper. “So tell me what you want. Do you want me here? Or do you want me to leave? I’ll leave right now if that’s what you want.”
I futz with my cardigan again, tugging it around me as Rex watches me. His hair has once again fallen over his forehead, shadowing his eye.
One thing is for sure—I’ve never felt this way around a guy before in my entire life. Not that there’s been many guys—a high school boyfriend who treated me like shit and a two-week fling at summer stock. But still.
Rex, I suddenly realize, has me back up against the door without so much as touching me. He’s got me nervously moving away from him but also—well, wet.
I can feel my pussy reacting to him, throbbing between my thighs at his presence.
He leans one hand against the door, half pinning me in. He leans close to me, his breath a warm tickle on my cheek.
So quiet I can barely hear, he says again, “Do you want me to leave?”
Words don’t come, so I shake my head no.
He puts his other hand on the door behind me, locking me in place.
“Good,” he says. He dips his face closer to mine, and I keep thinking he’s going to kiss me. I edge my chin up but he stays just far enough away from me. My pussy is now clenching, begging for touch.