CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Marly
Sir. One stupidword. And yet the effect it had on me was consuming. For hours, I stared at the pages of my script, the words blurring together, memorizing nothing.
I tossed the pages aside and bent to the floor, scooping myself up into a long stretch. Closing my eyes, I listened for Jude in the other room. Was he in bed reading lines? Was he thinking of me? Was he as affected by all this as I was?
My mind grew still as I studied the sunlight pouring through the window, dousing the room in a golden hue. Outside, the sky had shifted from bright azure to brassy tangerine streaks cutting through the blue. If I closed my eyes, I could still feel Jude’s touch on my skin. Still feel the way he laced up the monoglove and brushed my hair from my face. I want him. I want him so damn badly.There was only one person who could talk some sense into me.
I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my contacts. After a few rings, Omar’s low voice rumbled. “Hey, boo. How’s the whips and chains? Please tell me Rihanna is there?”
“I don’t have time for Rihanna right now—”
“Whoa. No time for Rihanna? This must be serious.”
“I want to sleep with him,” I blurted out, clutching the phone tight against my ear with both hands.
Omar was silent on the other end of the line and I squeezed my eyes shut, dropping to a seat on the bed. “Say something.”
“He’s going to find out you snore.”
“Say somethinghelpful.”
“Okay,” he said. “Use ribbed for her pleasure.”
“Omar!” I fell back on the bed and stared at the white ceiling.
“Marly, you know I love you, but if you’re actually interested in a man? He must be pretty spectacular.”
“Oh, come on.” I snorted. “It hasn’t beenthatlong.”
“Well, you and I have been ‘engaged’ for six months, so it’s been at least that.”
“You’ve been laying low, too,” I said, pointing out that Omar hadn’t been on a date in six months either. “And I don’t see you risking your career and jumping the bones of the first hot guy you see.”
“I’m laying low, yeah. But I’m not celibate.”
“And look how wellthatworked out with Simon.” I cringed the second the words left my mouth. Silence rolled between us like a storm cloud.Shit. “Omar, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that—”
“I don’t want to talk about Simon right now. You called for help, right?” His tone was clipped, but not altogether angry.
“I know. I’m sorry.” I sighed. “Please talk me out of this. Ican’tsleep with Jude. That would be crazy.” Only, it didn’t feel crazy. It felt right. His touch felt right. The spanking felt right. The way he brushed my hair before bed… even the BDSM stuff that feltwrong, somehow still felt right. Like him ordering me to drink water. Eating the scone off his lap. My pussy squeezed and my skin prickled with the memories.
Omar sighed. “First of all, this is your choice. You know that. But from my outside perspective? You need to ask yourself some questions and be brutally honest. Do you only want to get laid because you’re horny?”
“Omar!” A blush crawled over my skin.
But Omar ignored my outburst and kept right on talking. “Because if you just need a dick in your cooch, then no, you cannot sleep with Jude. You can’t risk your career and this role over a one-night stand.”
I closed my eyes and sighed.Yes. That’s what I needed to hear. “You’re right, I can’t risk my career—”
“That’s not what I said,” Omar cut me off, his voice a low rumble. “Are you just horny? Do you not care about Jude other than the fact that he’s a hot guy who’s paying attention to you? ’Cause,girl, we can go out tonight and toss a bottle cap into a crowd and find you a sexy, warm body.”
I swallowed. Was that all this was? Was I just horny? I thought about Jude. His sandy brown hair and barely-there smile. The way his voice rasped when he called me Poppy. But beyond that? He was the first man in years, other than Omar or my dad, to care for me. To make sure I ate a decent meal. To talk to me,reallytalk to me, and ask questions that dug deeper than the typical press junket interview. He was deep and thoughtful and caring and kind—and he could spank my ass until it was raw. “No.” The ache in my chest resonated in my voice. “It’s not just that. I really like him.”
“I figured as much,” Omar said, his voice softening.
“Everything I’ve worked for. All those rumors I’ve tried so hard to dispel. And I’m going to… what? Play right into them? Do exactly what the whole industry expects me to do and sleep with the lead in the movie? Everything you and I have been doing with this engagement will be for nothing—”
