Star Struck (Hollywood Heat) Read online

  “Oh, princess.” He took another step toward her then stopped, his face hardening. “We…I need to say something.”

  “Okay.” He opened his mouth but she spoke again before he could. “I love you.”

  “I…what?”

  “I love you.” She couldn’t stop herself. The words ran out of her mouth as though they’d been let out of a cage. The last unspoken phrase between them. “I wanted to tell you before, but I had to let go of everything from the past before I could say anything. I needed to know nothing was holding me back because I want my I love you to mean something. I want it to mean we have a chance at something real—maybe the first real thing I’ve ever had. A chance at a future. That’s what my I love you means. I love you.”

  “Heather…” Seth blinked. “I…”

  Even his stammering didn’t bother her. He might not feel the same, but she didn’t regret saying it. “I’m sorry I interrupted. I know you had something else to say and I don’t mean to highjack this conversation or pressure you. You don’t have to say it back. But you’ve been so transparent with me from the beginning and I’ve been anything but. Now I can be as honest as you. And I honestly love you.”

  She wiped at the tears that had appeared out of nowhere. Crying again? She was such a baby. Well, she could either let this be awkward or she could move things along. “Now, what were you going to say?”

  “I….” His eyes were pinned on hers, searching. Then his features softened. “I was just going to say I love you too.”

  She was in his arms so fast she wasn’t sure who moved to whom. Their mouths found each other instantly, like they were tuned into each other, and their kiss was at once deep and urgent. Though she loved being lip-locked with him, this kiss was meant as a gateway to more fulfilling passions—desires that already pulsed in her lower regions with heavy need.

  She moved closer, trying to ease her ache by grinding against the bulge in Seth’s pants. Desperate for him, her mind started plotting a location. The bedroom was too far, the stairs would be uncomfortable. There was a marble column to the side of them—could they fuck there, standing up?

  Seth’s passion matched hers. His hands unzipped the back of her dress, then traveled down to her ass, where he fondled her thong-bare cheeks. “I need to be inside you.” His voice was husky against her lips, eliciting a pool of want at her core.

  She set her eye on the column and tried to press him in that direction. But without any warning, he lifted her and tossed her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder.

  “Seth!” she shrieked. “Put me down!”

  “No way.” He began up the staircase. “Bedroom?” It was more of a grunt than a question.

  “Turn left.” Then, when he started to turn right, she said, “Your other left!”

  She was a thin woman, but still, his ability to carry her, up a staircase no less, hit all her hot buttons. Of course she was already turned on to no end. Being carried was just extra fuel to her already stoked fire.

  Swinging her torso to try to see around Seth, she directed him toward her room. “The double doors.” Deftly he opened a door with one hand and made his way through the spacious room to the king-size bed.

  Instead of simply setting her on the ground, he threw her into the middle of the bed. A fit of giggles threatened to overtake her, but then she looked up at Seth who had already toed off his shoes and was now pulling the belt from his pants. His eyes showed no humor at all. They were completely glazed with lust and something else—love. Yes, that’s what was different. His whole face, eager with raw desire, also glowed with an affection she hadn’t seen before. Maybe she just hadn’t been looking hard enough. But it was definitely there, and she imagined it mirrored her own expression.

  “Take off the dress.” His low tone vibrated through her thighs as he unfastened his pants.

  God, what his commands did to her. Besides increasing her arousal to astronomic heights, it pleased her to obey. She scrambled to her knees and slipped the dress over her head before tossing it to the ground.

  Seth took in her near-naked body with a hungry stare. He stepped toward her and with one hand, unhooked the front clasp of her bra, letting out a pleased groan as her breasts spilled from their captivity. He bent to nibble at one, taking her nipple into his mouth and sucking it to attention. He repeated his ardor on the other breast, her soft sex sounds seeming to spur him on.

  Too soon, he pulled away. His eyes still fixed on her, he lifted his shirt over his head and stepped out of his pants, leaving both in a heap on her floor.

  Heather’s mouth watered at the sight of his erection straining against his boxer briefs, the tip peeking out above the band. She watched, enraptured, as he rubbed his hand up and down his bulge before removing his underwear. Then it was his naked cock she stared at. Her eyes widened with eagerness.

  But she didn’t have long to gaze at his bounty before he was directing her again. “On your hands and knees.”

  She complied, sticking her fanny up in the air. Maybe he didn’t have it in mind to spank her but she wanted to give him the signal that she did.

  He chuckled. “Such a tease.”

  She peered back at him over her shoulder and fluttered her eyelashes. “It’s not a tease if I plan to let you have it.”

  “If you let me have it? Don’t you mean, if I let you have it?”

  “Whichever.” She circled her butt in front of him, eager for his touch. “Just have at it already!”

  The weight of the bed depressed as he climbed up to his knees behind her and pulled down her thong, maneuvering it past one knee, then another before throwing it aside. Then he placed his hands on her rump, sending electric sparks directly to her pussy. Warmth spread through her body as he kneaded his fingers deeply into her tight muscles—who knew that an ass could get so tense? She relaxed under his touch, moaning as he continued his massage.

  His first strike came without warning, followed by another round of massage. The sting of pain followed by the intense pleasure drove her mad. She was so wet she wouldn’t be surprised if she was dripping.

  The next hit was on the other cheek. She gasped as he struck her, and he echoed her with a groan. This time his massage took him past the curve of her ass to the place she wanted him most. She bucked into his hand as he slid a couple of fingers into her hole at once. There, there. That was what she needed. More, though. Much more.

  She rocked back and forth, trying to manipulate his stroke to ease her need—a need that could only be fulfilled with his cock. So focused on his attention to her pussy, she wasn’t prepared when his other hand struck her rear again. The combination of two erotic zones being pleasured and pained at once was almost too much to handle. She felt herself climbing that wall, nearing the top where she’d fall over into cataclysmic orgasm.

  Then he stretched his thumb up to rub at her clit. He struck her rear again, and over she went. White light streaked across her vision as her entire body exploded, her arms and legs shaking with the force of her release. No longer able to hold her weight, she collapsed on the bed.

  Her vision hadn’t returned before Seth flipped her over and settled between her spread thighs. Anchoring his fingers in her hair, he entered her with a solid thrust.

  Still numb, Heather felt the gathering tightness in her belly. God, she couldn’t come again. Not yet. But he nudged her thighs back, angling her so that he touched a spot—the spot—that drove her crazy. Soon the tightness was spreading and Seth’s strokes deepened and his hands pulled tighter in her hair, and her nerves were alight everywhere.

  He captured her lips for a probing kiss, then pulled back. “Look at me.”

  She opened her eyes and met his.

  “I love you, Heather Wainwright.” His words were strained and spaced between thrusts. “No matter what happens. Everything I’ve done since I’ve met you has been for you.”

  She blinked, her eyes growing heavy with her orgasm just at bay. Though she couldn’t fully comprehend
his meaning, she could feel the intensity. Could feel the importance.

  “Did you hear me?” he grunted, and she could tell he was close to release.

  “Yes,” she managed.

  “Good.” His tempo increased and it was only a handful of thrusts before she was clenching around him and he followed with his own release.

  Seth rolled off her and gathered her into his arms. He showered kisses over her face as their breathing returned to normal. It was sweet—the kind of adoration she had realized was not really her style. But in his embrace, it felt wonderful. Maybe she just needed to find the right guy. And that was Seth—the right guy in every way.

  She lifted her face to meet his eyes. So many things she could say to him, so many ways she could say them. She wouldn’t mind if she spent forever trying to say it all.

  For now, she turned her body into his and said the words that seemed most appropriate for the moment. “Again, please.”

  Seth lost count of how many orgasms passed between the two of them before they finally settled, worn out, in each other’s arms. It was the first time that their fucking had been something deeper. It had been making love. He winced at the term. She’d turned him into such a big-ass pussy. And he didn’t even care.

  The night would have been perfect if there still wasn’t that one last brick in the wall between them—his brick. His lie. He’d wanted to tell her, again had tried. But she’d confessed her love and he was lost. Lost in his own love for her.

  He pulled her tighter to him, clutching to her.

  She snuggled into his body. “What time are you on set tomorrow?” Heather’s voice was weary, her eyes already closed.

  He stroked his hand through her hair. “Ten. You?”

  “Eleven. Will you stay here tonight?”

  He chuckled. “All you had to do was ask.” Though he had no intention of leaving now, not just because it was the middle of the night, but because he wouldn’t leave her until she kicked him out.

  She nuzzled deeper into his chest with an incomprehensible murmur. It was only a few minutes before her soft snores were tickling his skin.

  Seth waited until her breathing suggested she was in a deep sleep. Then he slipped his arm out from under her and got out of bed. He found his phone, as well as hers, in his discarded pants. After setting his alarm to wake him up at seven, he threw both phones on the nightstand. Seven was earlier than he needed to be up to get to the set on time, but he couldn’t leave until he told Heather the truth and he had no idea how much time that would take. What he hoped was that he’d tell her and she’d be fine, that they’d laugh about it even. After that, they could spend the rest of the morning fooling around or making love or whatever it was called.

  That was what he hoped anyway.

  But after having been left by a woman once before because of his lies, he knew that scenario might be overly optimistic.

  Still, he had to believe it wasn’t.

  He climbed back into bed, spooning himself around Heather’s sleeping form. There would be a lot on the line in the morning. Tomorrow, he could lose it all.

  Tonight, though, he had everything.

  Nineteen

  Heather was vaguely aware of buzzing. Then movement. Then the buzzing stopped so she buried her head in her pillow and slipped back into sleep.

  What felt like only seconds later, the buzzing returned. Except this time it wasn’t buzzing, it was something else. It stopped before she could wake up enough to interpret the sound. Then it started again and she recognized it as her phone’s ringtone.

  She reached her hand out to her nightstand, searching for her cell with her eyes still closed. By the time she’d located it, the ringing had stopped. Then it started again.

  Without glancing at the Caller ID, Heather knew it was Lexie. Who else would be such a pain in the ass at God knows what time of the morning? She pushed the button to answer and put the phone to her face. “What?”

  “Turn on Channel Four.”

  “I’m sleeping.” Sleeping with Seth, she remembered. She rolled over to cuddle with him while her annoying assistant continued to chatter on the other end of the line.

  “Wake up and turn on Channel Four.”

  But Heather only rolled into empty bed. She opened her eyes. Yep, no Seth. She strained for a moment and realized the shower was running in the bathroom. Good he was still there. “What time is it, anyway?”

  “A little past seven.” Behind Lexie’s voice, Heather could hear what sounded like a television. “Now turn on the TV.”

  Heather didn’t know if she was more annoyed with being woken up so early by Lexie or with not being woken up by Seth. Was he planning to sneak out while she still slept? He still had hours until his call time.

  She sat up and rubbed her hand over her face. “Can’t you just tell me about whatever it is you want me to know?” So that I can get off the damn phone and surprise Seth in the shower?

  “Heather, get the fuck up and turn on Channel Four! The morning show is doing a segment on you.”

  With a sigh, Heather stretched to rummage through her nightstand drawer for the remote. “Shows do segments on me all the time. What’s so special about this one?”

  “Just turn it on!”

  “I am. I am.” She pressed the power button and scrolled through the guide until she found Channel Four. “How do you know what they’re going to say, anyway?”

  “They did a lead in. It said, ‘Coming up next,’ blah, blah, blah and all this stuff about your family.”

  Someone on the crew must have leaked the interview. Maybe even on purpose to build up interest. Whatever. She expected it. “People are going to be talking about my family, Lex. I didn’t think so soon, but—”

  “That’s not what I want you to hear. Wait, shut up.” Lexie paused. “It’s on now. Do you have it on?”

  “Yes, I have it on.” A publicity picture of her filled the television screen behind a familiar entertainment reporter. “I just have to turn up the sound.” She pushed the volume button up and threw the remote on the bed next to her.

  “— tell us that Heather Wainwright gave Jenna Markham a tell-all exclusive that actually tells all,” the interviewer was saying. “In the upcoming interview airing on this station at the beginning of the month, the star opens up about her life growing up, her abusive parents, and about ending her long-time relationship with Collin Satchel…”

  Heather heard the shower turn off. So much for joining Seth. She sighed into the phone. “I told you I don’t give a shit about this, Lex—”

  “Shh!”

  “But not all of Heather’s secrets are heartbreaking.” Heather’s picture was replaced with a candid picture of her and Seth at her house from the day before, probably taken on someone’s smartphone during lunch. “Seems she has a new man in her life. Hollywood Production Designer, Seth Rafferty, is the guy on her arm and our source says the couple is a very happy couple indeed.”

  Heather’s brow creased. “Why did they say he was a Production Designer?”

  “They said it in the lead-in, too. He never told you he was a P.D.?”

  “He’s not a Production Designer. He’s a carpenter.”

  “Are you sure?” Lexie asked softly.

  Despite Lexie’s gentle tone, Heather was getting irritated. “Of course I’m sure. He’s not a P.D., Lex.” She rubbed her forehead trying to think. God, she needed coffee. There was an obvious explanation for the report and she wasn’t getting it because she wasn’t quite awake.

  The network had probably just made a mistake. That was it. “They got it wrong, Lex. In the interview. You know how the media can mess facts up.”

  “I looked him up, Heather. While I was calling you. He’s listed on IMDB as S. Patrick Rafferty. He hasn’t done any carpenter stuff for years. He’s been doing P.D. work for a long time now.”

  Heather shook her head, confused. “But why…”

  “Heather—”

  She looked up at the sound o
f her name to see Seth standing next to the bed, hair dripping wet and a towel wrapped around his waist.

  “Heather,” he said again. “I can explain.”

  “Lexie, I’ll talk to you later.” Heather hung up before Lexie could respond.

  Seth took a step toward her. “I was going to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?” She drew the sheet up over her naked breasts. For some reason she felt the need to hide. “Did you…did you get offered a job as a P.D.?”

  “No.” He took another cautious step toward her. “I…I’ve been a Production Designer since I’ve met you.”

  Her brows furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

  “I can explain,” he said again.

  “Then start explaining. Please.”

  Seth tightened the towel at his waist. “I haven’t been honest with you, Heather.” Normally she would be beyond excited to see him standing in her bedroom wet and near naked. But now it felt awkward. She wished he were dressed. He shifted his weight and she suspected he felt the same.

  “You haven’t been honest…?” she prodded.

  “And I’m so, so very sorry. I didn’t set out to lie. You assumed I was a carpenter and you were so turned off by that and I was so proud of where I came from that I decided not to correct you. But then it snowballed and I actively had to lie to keep it up. By the time I realized I had to tell you the truth, I couldn’t find the words or the right timing, no matter how many times I tried.”

  Her mouth went dry. His monologue hadn’t been that long, but Heather felt overwhelmed by the information. She couldn’t be hearing what she thought she was hearing. It was a misunderstanding. Clearing her throat she clung to what she knew as truth. “But you’re a carpenter on Girl Fight.”

  “I am. I used to be a carpenter. I pulled strings with a friend to get that job. To be near you.” He met her eyes. “I did it for you, don’t you see?”

  “No, I don’t see.” Although, she actually was beginning to see. She sat forward, pulling the sheet even higher. “So you’re saying that you’re not really a carpenter? That you’ve been a P.D. this whole time?”