“You shouldn’t call me that here.” I stare down at her, watching her hips sway to the music as she presses her body against mine. Fuck.
“Oh, there are rules now?Puppy?” Her fingers wrap around my tie slowly, pulling it out of my jacket and giving it a little tug.
“No, ma’am. You can call me whatever you want, whenever you want.”
“That’s better.” She pulls me down to her and my head fights for blood flow since it’s all gone to my dick. “So, Puppy. What if I were to put your collar on you, pull you up on stage, and spank you like the needy little slut you are in front of all these people?”
Fuck! I’m so hard right now, and she knows it. Her glossy lips ghost mine, my eyes darting back and forth between hers. I want to pick her up and carry her to the nearest table. I want her to scream my name and call me a whore. No—to call meherwhore. I want her to smack me in the face, spit in my mouth, and tell me to get on my goddamn knees and worship her.
She’s opened Pandora’s box inside of me, and I have no idea what I am anymore other than hers.
“Careful, Puppy. We don’t want to have to leave the party early, and I doubt any of them will buy the old,‘ran to the store for smokes’excuse anymore.”
“There’s a bathroom?—”
“Chase Cooper! There you are!”
I’m only pulled halfway out of my trance as my eyes search out the source of the voice. I groan when I find it. Richard Lawson, big time movie producer and the guy who heads up this fundraiser every year. I’m about to hide a raging hard on from the biggest Hollywood royal pain in the ass. Fun.
I promised Cyn I would be on my best behavior with these guys since they still have pull when they want to use it.
“I’ve been looking for you, buddy.” Lawson has never, and will never, be someone I calledbuddy.
I’m thanking Ren with my smile, because the second I stand, she steps in front of me enough to keep my secret. I reach across and offer my hand. “Mr. Lawson, nice to see you.”
“Say, where’s the muscled out guy you brought with you last year? Sean, was it?”
“Steve. He’s married now, and I brought my date, Renate, instead. Renate, Richard Lawson.”
“Shame, he had…talent. Call me Richie.” He doesn’t say it to her, he says it to me, because Lawson still thinks we’re in 1952 and he matters.
There’s something about older men tossing ‘ie’ at the end of their name that always weirds me out. Like they’re grasping for the last strings of youth, which they haven’t had in decades.
“Look, I booked Ashton Vincenti to give an award tonight after the dinner, but he called me five minutes ago. Can you believe that shit? Do me a solid and take his spot, yeah?”
Lawson isn’t even trying, laying out the shoddy groundwork for an old Hollywood bait and switch. Vincenti found himself on the wrong side of a warrant last week, and he’ll have a hard time finding jobs after what they say he did. Lawson needs to distance himself from Vincenti, and I’m the perfect guy to help with that. Hollywood’s golden boy instead of the child groomer.
I glance down at Ren and shrug. I can tell she’s surprised that I’d even ask her. Of course I’m asking her, she’s my date. My queen. She nods and I flash her a grin before looking back at Richie boy.
“Sure thing. Anything special?”
“Nah, we’ve got the teleprompter for the intro. It’s a couple quick lines, you announce the name, bingo, bongo, you’re back next to your, uh, lady friend here.”
He hasn’t even looked at Ren, and he’s tiptoeing that line between things I’ll let slide and things he’ll regret. “Fine, you know where I’ll be.”
“Fantastic, I gotta run!” He ducks back into the crowd.
“I’m sorry. He’s always been a prick. It’s why I refuse to work with his people or his studio.” I ask as I pinch the back of my neck, the nerves kicking in again. Looking around the room, I notice a fair amount of other people I would describe the same way I described Lawson. I hope that I never turn into them, but I’ll also take their money when it’s offered for the right job. Feed the machine, as they say.
“People like him don’t intimidate me, Chase. Besides, I’d make most of the men in this room, includingRichieLawson, cry.”
“You’d have them on their knees, Sunshine. Come on, I want to see where they’ve got us, and get out of the crowd for a few minutes.” I caress her cheek and it’s as if I can feel the dynamic between us shift. She’s letting me take the lead, at least for now. I hold out my arm and she takes it with both hands as we navigate the swarm of people toward the photography step and repeat.
She stops before we step out in front of the cameras. Our big moment lies two steps ahead of us. We could turn around now and stay in the shadows, letting the paps make their wild guesses while I claim she’s from my rep’s agency. But as soon as we step out there in front of the cameras, there’s no more ‘rumored to be dating’, it becomes public knowledge.
“We’re good, right? If not, we turn around and walk the other way.” I check in with her one last time as she takes a deep breath, lets go of me with one hand, and shakes her hair out. With a wink that says ‘Let’s do this,’ I lead the way into the lights.
CHAPTER24
