Part 9 (1/2)

He pulled his finger from me.

”Please, don't stop, please.”

”Tell me,” he said.

My pleasure was contingent upon my answer. My hips rolled back against him and ground against his c.o.c.k.

”None,” I said. Heat bloomed in my chest. I'd had lovers, but none that I'd allowed to fully take me. Not as Sterling had. No man had been inside my body since him.

He gaze locked with mine in the mirror. Surprise spread across his face. Surprise and something that was reverence.

”Rhiannon.”

He turned me toward him. The heat was there still but something else, something deeper, something more sincere. ”What do you mean? How is that possible? You've been in Europe for years.”

”I've dated. I've even had lovers, I've simply never ...” I couldn't meet his eyes. Embarra.s.sed by my choices, by what seemed to be my lack of experience. ”I simply haven't had s.e.x with anyone else.”

I'd wanted other men; physically my body had longed to be taken by others, but I refused. Each time I got close, each time I neared the moment of being with a man, it was Sterling's face I saw. Sterling's touch I craved. Instead of forcing my eyes closed and moving forward, I'd simply pulled away. For years. As I'd grown close to experiencing the most intimate of moments with another man I would pull away. For me, the physical pleasure of s.e.x was forever linked to Sterling Legend.

Sterling looked as if my words had slapped him. He stood frozen in front of me. Solid, like stone. It was as though he had no idea how to respond, what to say to my admission, to the knowledge that I'd taken no other lovers. In all the time, all the travel, all the men, I'd not allowed anyone else to enter my most intimate of s.p.a.ces. And Sterling Legend was now realizing what that meant.

Sterling What the f.u.c.k? My belly pitted and my throat was tight. What could I say? How could I say it? She'd been with no other man in seven years? She'd had lovers, but no man had f.u.c.ked her in all that time? I released her. I grasped at my hair, confused by Rhiannon's statement. I stepped back from Rhiannon and looked at her exquisite nakedness. My hands fell to my sides. The anger that I'd felt toward Dad and then directed at Rhiannon was extinguished. Anger at her being here, and anger at her refusal to give me the answers I needed vaporized. But what was her intention?

But with her admission I needed to consider what was mine. Our teenage affair, our love, had meant as much to her as it had to me. And when it had ended I'd try to f.u.c.k away the memory of her, while she'd been unable to f.u.c.k at all.

I bent to the floor and my fingertips brushed the soft linen of her dress. I turned it right side out. I stepped to Rhiannon and pulled the dress down over her head. Her beauty, G.o.d, her beauty still stunned me. The questions in her eyes made confusion burst through me. But what could I say to her? How could I explain? I couldn't just f.u.c.k her now, out of anger, and loss, and simple desire and need. She was an exquisite porcelain creature that I cared for and she cared for me. I pressed my lips to the top of Rhiannon's head and wrapped my arms around her. I drew her close. I had to think. I had to be still.

”Sterling? Are you angry? I don't understand.”

”No,” I said. Reverence permeated through me. Desire combined with the knowledge that this woman was still my precious gift. A gift that I'd unwrapped much too soon, but a gift that was still mine. I pulled back and looked into her eyes. ”I want you. I've always wanted you. I've spent my lifetime wanting you. But here, now, like this? This isn't how I want us to be together. I need us to be an us.”

Her bottom lip trembled. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers, if only to stop the sadness and pain and confusion in her eyes.

”Can I show you my Venice?” I asked. I pressed my forehead to hers.

She nodded. It was a slow and tentative nod, but it was a yes.

My phone rang and I pulled it from my pocket. ”Cami” flashed across the screen. I took a long deep breath, knowing what was coming based on my phone conversation with Mike Fox.

”Excuse me, I'm sorry,” I said. ”I have to take this.”

Rhiannon wrapped her arms around herself and nodded. She turned away from me and back to her mural. The giant piece of art that she'd created. The art that I liked to believe she had created just for me, for us. I pressed the on b.u.t.ton.

”Hey, Cami,” I said.

”Sterling, you heard?”

”Yeah, I heard,” I said. ”Congratulations. It's a big deal. You may be the first female director to ever be offered a project with that big a budget.”

”Those a.s.sholes!” Cami said. ”I'm not taking that f.u.c.king job! Are you kidding me? No f.u.c.king way. And Jennifer? She can kiss my a.s.s,” Cami said. ”In fact, she has kissed my a.s.s and I might just leak that to TMZ because she is being such a d.a.m.ned starf.u.c.ker!”

”Whoa, wait? You're not taking The Legend Kills gig?”

”h.e.l.l, no,” Cami said.

”Cami, as much as I appreciate your loyalty, are you sure this is a good idea? The Legend Kills is a huge film, a part of a billion-dollar franchise. That film could cement your career. To turn your back on a Steve Legend film with a hundred million budget for a tiny indie that sports five million? I mean, no agent in town would advise that. No one in town would advise that.”

”f.u.c.k 'em,” Cami said. ”I didn't get into this business for the money. I got into it because I want to tell awesome stories with awesome people. Besides, in ten years will anybody remember who directed The Legend Kills? They will remember who won the Oscar for best director for a feature film called The Lady's Regret.”

”Cami Montgomery,” I said. ”I like the way you think. You are awesome.”

”Worldwide bailed right? On foreign distribution and financing?”

”Yes,” I said. ”We need a financier who will cash flow the whole thing.”

”Already done,” Cami said. ”I'm going to Montecito for dinner tomorrow. Mom already said she'd consider it, and with these strong-arm tactics from Worldwide, I'm sure she'll say yes. We still have to find a lead. Jennifer is starry-eyed over working with your dad and that huge payday.”

”Just wait until she finds him in her Starwagon with his d.i.c.k out of his drawers.”

”She won't care,” Cami said. ”p.u.s.s.y or d.i.c.k, she simply likes to screw. How do you think she got this far this fast?”

Chapter 13.

Sterling.

After showing Rhiannon around Venice, I'd taken her home to Gayle's ranch. Days later my body still ached for her. Was this an ache I'd experience for the rest of my life? I wanted Rhiannon with a fierce hunger and a need that eclipsed just the physical and went much deeper to the emotional core. I wanted her. I didn't want her to return to Paris. I wanted her to travel with me and be mine.

I ripped the car from Venice toward the Palisades and Amanda's house. I wanted to sit down with Amanda and discuss The Lady's Regret and how things were coming along getting the film into production. To be honest, my sit-down with my sister wasn't all about work. She spoke to Rhiannon almost every day. They'd fallen back into their fast friends.h.i.+p. Perhaps my sister could give me some guidance on what to do and how to proceed.

Cami had texted me the good news that her mom was still in. Elizabeth Montgomery would cash flow the film. We were still missing our star. Jennifer Laredo had accepted Worldwide's offer to star alongside my dad in The Legend Kills and they had begun soft prep. How were they doing this? No producer, other than Dad, had stepped up to take over the film. Dad couldn't star in the film and produce. My father could do a lot of things, but he didn't have the ability to troubleshoot and remain calm. Which was primarily what a producer did on set, plus keep the entire cast and crew on time and hopefully happy.

My phone rang in the car. ”This is Sterling.”

”I have Kiley Kepner for Sterling Legend,” a light and airy voice chirped into my car. I grimaced. This was not a call I was keen to take, but curiosity got the better of me. The divorce between my father and Kiley had been finalized two months ago. She was no longer a part of my family, but the memories of how awful she'd been to my sister, my dad, and my friends were still fresh in my mind.

”Put her through,” I said. I didn't like Kiley but she was, as of this moment, one of the world's biggest female stars.

”Sterling.” Her voice would feel like a soft caress if I weren't aware of the cruel shallow person to whom it belonged.

”Hey, Kiley.” I put my Hollywood film producer nonchalance and I-love-everyone game face into high gear. Kiley couldn't be trusted. She was a deceitful, vile creature in a fantastic-looking package. Filmmaking was just like any other business-you didn't always have the luxury of working with people you liked. ”How are you?”

”I hear you're making The Lady's Regret, with Cami Montgomery directing.” Kiley got straight to the point.

”That's the plan. We still need put some pieces together.”

”I heard you went out to Jennifer Laredo.”