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I was standing with a few acquaintances when Miller and Willow walked in. I spotted them immediately, but I checked my first impulse to make a beeline for them. For Willow. I watched her, though, keeping track of her even as I bantered with the others about one of their latest releases.
She looked stunning in a red, off-the-shoulder dress that clung to her generous curves, then flared out in a midi-length skirt. Black high heels. Her mouth was a bold red slash. I’d known she would look beautiful, but I was surprised by how perfect she looked, considering I knew damn well she didn’t have a stylist and makeup artist at her beck and call like most of the women here.
She looked more comfortable than I’d expected, too. Part of me was disappointed. Maybe I’d wanted her to be a little out of her depth so I could rescue her again. The realization made me wince. If I was looking for a damsel in distress, I’d fucked up. Willow would have let herself be crushed by that mob before she’d asked me for help.
But Miller being Miller did something predictably shitty–he squeezed into a tightly knit circle of other documentarians and left Willow standing alone. For just a moment, her confident expression faltered. I made my excuses to the group and moved toward her, casually so that any onlooker might think I was headed to get a drink and just happened to stand next to her at the bar.
Willow knew better though. She half turned, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. “What am I doing here, Lewis?” she hissed.
“A really bad job pretending you don’t know me?” I guessed at normal volume.
She flinched and turned full around, her expression somewhere between pleading and murderous.
“Relax,” I said, my voice rumbling with amusement. “I just wanted to see you, and I thought you’d have fun. Have you ever been to one of these things?”
“I’m not having fun,” Willow said between clenched teeth. “And we can’t be seen together.”
I glanced around to make sure no one was in earshot, then murmured, “What’s wrong? Are you afraid everyone will know just by looking at us?”
Willow glared at me, but I could tell by the way a faint flush worked its way into her cheeks that she was afraid of just that. And maybe she was right to be. I couldn’t help the way I reacted to her. It was in my blood, my bones, my viscera. My body was drawn to her, my eyes magnetized by her. The room was filled with the most beautiful women in the country, but they were all background actors as far as I was concerned. Willow was the only one in full, vivid Technicolor. And maybe she couldn’t help the way she reacted to me, because I wasn’t the only one unconsciously closing the gap between us.
“What’s wrong with people knowing?” I asked, dropping my voice even lower. “They’re going to know eventually. This wasn’t a one-time thing, Willow.”
Her eyes flickered with surprise. “Maybe it’s not,” she allowed more gently, “but that doesn’t mean it ever has to be apublicthing.”
Again, that prickle in the back of my neck.She’s hiding something. I shoved it away with both hands. I didn’t need that shit tonight. “You want to keep me your dirty little secret?” I murmured, and watched the flush in her cheeks deepen. “I don’t mind. For a while, anyway.”
“You’re the one who should be worried about keeping this a secret,” she whispered. “Sex with a production assistant in the era of Times Up is a dangerous game, Julian.”
For a second, my cynical suspicious side wondered if this was a ploy or a thinly veiled threat, but she sounded like she meant it. Like she cared. “I can take care of myself, Willow. And you. We’ll just wait until the documentary wraps before we actually come to one of these things together. No one will give a shit.”
Her eyes flickered again, and her mouth curved with what looked like grim amusement, but she didn’t let me in on the joke. I told myself it was because the bartender was making his way to us, but even after we got our drinks and moved away, careful to keep a casual distance between us, she didn’t fill me in. She stared distractedly out at the crowd with an unfocused gaze. I couldn’t tell if she was looking for someone or just avoiding looking at me.
I studied her warily over the rim of my glass. “What’s on your mind, Laurier?”
“I’m wondering if this is a really bad idea,” she said bluntly, still staring out at the crowd. I liked that she didn’t sugarcoat things. It meant I didn’t have to either.
“Bad news, Laurier. When my tongue has been between your legs, it’s not just an idea anymore.” I leaned in to whisper the next part in her ear, to hell with what it looked like. “And you know you want me to do it again.”
The distracted haze lifted. Her eyes widened as they found mine. A full blush was blooming on her cheeks, but she didn’t take a step back. I had her. Any doubts that might have wormed their way into my brain were dispelled. If I could get her alone–a shadowy corner, an empty room–I knew that I would find her wet and waiting.
The realization went straight to my cock, and it took self-control I didn’t know I had to prevent it from springing into a full-blown erection. I was on the verge of asking Willow if she wanted to get the hell out of here though, when I heard a familiar voice.
“Hey, there you are.” And a hand clapped around my shoulder. Garrett and his wife were finally inside.
It was the last thing I wanted to hear, even though he was my best friend. It meant we were trapped at this fucking circus for another three hours. My fantasy of dragging Willow out the side door and spiriting her back to my place evaporated in a plume of acrid smoke. Distance opened up between us as Garrett, Destiny, and Dana suddenly turned our twosome into a cozy circle. Even Miller was making his way back toward us. Then we were heading to our table, cutting through the crowd and commotion, the happy voices around us climbing over one another.
I managed to engineer the seating so that I was sitting between Dana and Willow. Miller was on her other side. Garrett and Destiny were across the round table. It took a few minutes, but when Dana was leaning forward, talking to Destiny around Garrett, and Miller was turned around in his chair, talking to another director, I managed to catch Willow’s eye.
We didn’t need words. We were both thinking the same thing.
She was coming home with me tonight.
17
WILLOW
We were barely inside the front door before Julian’s hands were on me. Bracketing around my waist, turning me around. He kicked the door shut with his foot and backed me up against the wall of the foyer. He hadn’t left a light on upstairs, so it was dim and shadowed. Only a thin trickle of moonlight allowed me to see the hungry expression on his face.
