morning and way too early to be thinking about liquor.
He grinned wider. “Garlic, onion, morning breath. Hit me with your best shot.” He kissed her again, maybe to prove his point. His lips smoothed over hers softly as his thumb caressed her temple. He was sweet, tender and everything she wanted in a man. He pulled back. “I should go.”
She nodded and licked the lips he’d just thoroughly kissed. She wanted to ask when she’d see him again. Wanted to know if he planned to call her. But he didn’t say anything. He just looked at her. Almost as if he were seeing her for the first time. Or maybe the last time. She would’ve come right out and asked, if it wouldn’t make her look so sad and lonely: So, do you think you’re going to call me after this? Think you might want another fuck in the near future? Her language always got atrocious when she got upset. The last thing she wanted was to scare him off. Being Julie Fraser entailed a lot of baggage and not all men wanted the hassle of the mass publicity. She’d certainly learned that lesson a couple of times.
So, she hid behind a smile the way she was supposed to. The way she’d been taught to do by everyone in the business. Never let anyone see you vulnerable.
She lifted an eyebrow. “For the record, you’re not what I expected.”
He cocked his head to the side. “What did you expect?” He sounded genuinely surprised.
“Macho.” She shrugged a shoulder. “I expected macho. You carried me through a bullet storm and got shot yourself. That screams ‘macho’ like nobody’s business.” She took his hand and linked their fingers. “But that bath in the middle of the night?” The sixty-nine hadn’t been the end of the night. Not by a long shot. “A bath screams sensitive.”
“Yeah?” His slow grin melted her all over again.
“Definitely.”
“I have to admit...” He shook his head as if he’d disappointed himself. “It was a purely selfish act on my part. Watching you come in a hot tub was the fucking sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Julie’s cheeks burned hot, but she refused to look away from his dark eyes. Eyes that said way more than the man ever did. “You like me,” she whispered, tracing a finger across his jaw.
He nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Yeah. I like you. Go to sleep.” He kissed her softly and she enjoyed the warmth and softness of his mouth before he moved away.
“You’re out of here awfully early,” she said after a quick glance at her bedside clock.
“I need to be at Ari’s at seven-thirty. He’s got an eight o’clock meeting.”
“With who?” she asked. Maybe it was one of the investors Ari had told her about. The quicker he got the funding, the quicker he’d decide on casting. But she didn’t want to think about Ari now, when Troy was seconds from walking out the door. “Forget it. I don’t care. I don’t want to talk about Ari. I want to talk about you. I had a great time last night.” She put her hand on his shoulder, rubbed a gentle thumb under his ear. He tipped his head into the caress. They acted like long-time lovers and the sentiment made Julie’s eyes sting.
“So did I,” he said, with a slight nod. “A really great time.”
Enough to want to do it again? But she didn’t ask. The question stayed buried because of too many fears to count. What if this really had been a one-night thing for him? What if he didn’t feel anything more for her than lust?
He leaned in again and kissed her. “I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
How soon was soon? A few hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? The choices killed her. “Okay.” She smiled as he eased away from a last kiss. Almost as if he really didn’t want to go as much as she didn’t want to let him go.
But he walked out of her bedroom without a backward glance and whether she wanted it to or not, Julie’s heart went with him.
* * *
Later that morning, before she hit the road for Arizona, her mom dropped off some contracts for an indie film Julie had decided to do. Her agent had sent her an amazing script that had all the ingredients of a sleeper hit. The writer/director was young and new, and the lead role screamed Oscar nominee. Julie had more