Only in L.A., I think. Only in this town would I somehow be the crazy one in the situation.
“Everyone has a price,” Rex tells me, and his eyes are dead serious.
He says it like a challenge.
I find my body responding to him despite my better judgment.
“I don’t,” I say, and I mean that with every drop of blood in my body. “And especially not when it comes to love.”
“Who said anything about love?” Rex asks, arching an eyebrow.
“I did,” I say, not wanting to elaborate.
Having grown up as an adopted kid with a family that never quite connected to me, and certainly never showed me love, I’ve learned that finding love—a real, true, ride-or-die love—is the most important thing for me. More important, even, than landing a huge movie deal. “When I get married, it’ll be for love,” I tell him. “I want a real marriage, not some farce. I want love and romance and a true life together. It’s the most important thing in the world to me.”
“More than money?”
“Way more,” I say. I shrug my shoulders. “I’m sorry about the mix up, but you’ve got the wrong girl.”
Rex watches me carefully. “Maybe,” he says. The warm light of the room makes his olive skin look perfect, and his sculpted arms are so hard and strong I could clutch them for days.
“No, definitely,” I say, making sure he knows that there’s no chance I’m changing my mind on this.
“I suppose I can deal with the fact that you’re not going to be my wife,” he sighs. “And I won’t tell the agency I’m unhappy with you either. Truth be told, I was having a nice time with you before Andrew ruined everything with that contract.”
I find myself smiling. “Yeah, it was all Andrew’s fault.”
Rex folds his muscular arms. “You mentioned dinner earlier. How about we salvage the evening? Stay, and we can finish up our little date—just like Damien sent you to do—and then we’ll be even. I’ll even cook for you to prove I’m not a total savage.”
“You’ll cook, huh?” I say, definitely intrigued by this new turn of events. I wonder if he’ll cook shirtless. If I were braver, I’d negotiate for that.
“Whatever you want,” Rex says softly, and with a different intensity.
I swallow, feeling my lower belly do a slow flip and my nipples harden.
It’s funny how the air can change in an instant, and suddenly I’m dying for him to kiss me.
He steps closer, and I feel heat rush to my cheeks just from his presence. “Stay, Addison,” he says softly, and I want to melt right then onto the floor.
“Maybe just a little while,” I breathe out, glad I can still speak.
“Come on,” he says, taking my hand and leading me toward the kitchen. The feeling of his hand holding mine shoots butterflies through to my core.
He pulls out a stool at the island and I hop up. A bottle of champagne from is sitting nearby, and Rex pours me a glass, and then one for himself.
“To a contract-free evening,” he says. “And now, for the main course.”
I’ve decided to relax into what is most definitely the strangest evening of my life so far. Rex begins moving around the enormous kitchen—worth three of my studio apartments, at least—and takes out pots and pans. I watch the muscles on his smooth back flex and contract as he moves about the kitchen.
“Cooking’s a hobby of mine,” he says. “Relaxes me.”
“You haven’t even told me what you do for a living,” I say. I assume that all this is the result of a trust fund.
“I help run my family business,” he says. “And one day I intend to run it alone.”
“Okay,” I say, wondering what that means. “What kind of family business?”
“Started with my father as luxury hotels but we’ve branched out to just about everything from golf courses to real estate to helicopter leasing. I think my brother might be leasing private jets too.”
“You don’t know?” I ask.
“I don’t care,” he says, and his tone is suddenly hard, as if this particular avenue of conversation is blocked off permanently.
We fall silent momentarily.
Rex begins making burgers and freshly made fries as I sip on the champagne and watch him move around the kitchen with ease.
I never knew that a man in the kitchen could be so sexy, but Rex is. Unfortunately he managed to find a T-shirt so his outstanding abs are covered, but his arms sure flex nicely as he works the knife over the potatoes.
“You’re an actor,” he says. “Tell about that.”
I tell him a little about what I’ve done so far, leaving out the experimental theatre and the mustard squirting bit. My resume is not impressive to say the least. I tell him that extra work is what’s been paying the bills but that it’s painfully dull.
“Sets are actually kind of boring,” I tell him. “Growing up I thought they’d be magical, you know, this place of make-believe. But it’s tedious, watching the real actors go over their lines again and again and again.”
“But that’s how you earn your living?” he says. “By acting?”
“What little living there is to earn, yes.”
“Well then,” he says, “you’re a real actor too. Not just the ones saying the lines.”
That small comment makes me feel pretty good. I suppose he’s right. Everyone starts somewhere, right?
We eat dinner at the kitchen bar. It’s the best burger I’ve ever had in my life, and the fries are perfectly crispy salty too. As we talk he keeps swiveling on his stool, knee bumping mine. I wonder if I should change back into my clothes but am having such a good time with Rex that I don’t worry about it. Instead I swivel my chair and bump into his knee. And then I angle my chair toward his just the slightest so that our knees stay touching.
He doesn’t move away.
Tonight is not real. It’s not a real date. Rex isn’t really interested in me, at least not in that kind of way. He’s been flirty but it’s probably just in his nature. I can already tell he’s the kind of guy who always gets what he wants, and that includes the girl.
And I am clearly not the girl.
So for the rest of evening I will just enjoy drinking his champagne and looking at his exceptional body, and face, and great head of hair. I’ll enjoy the evening knowing that, come tomorrow, I’ll have my rent money and will live to audition another day.
“Want to go up on the balcony for a drink? It’s a great view,” he says.
“Sure,” I say.
We leave the dishes and I follow him down a long corridor to another staircase. He carries a new bottle of champagne and both our glasses. I follow Rex up the stairs, staring at his ass the whole way.
Rex
I’ll admit it: I’ve brought lots of girls up here under the guise that we’re just going to have a drink and gaze at the city glittering below. And all those girls were supermodel gorgeous, stunning women who wouldn’t think twice about giving a blowjob to a rich guy they just met.
But Addison is different.
From the moment she walked through the doors to the pool, I was floored. There’s something different about her, and not just the way I’m attracted to her—which I am, and wildly so. I’m still not sure how I managed to restrain myself, being so close to her with so few clothes on.