Breaking Free (15 page)

"Mmm…" Sophie hummed as she settled between his thighs and nuzzled the ridge of his thickening cock through his underwear. "These are in the way." She slipped her fingers beneath the waistband, and Tennyson lifted his ass off the mattress so she could pull them down.

Pushing himself up on his elbows, he stared at her hungrily. "Mother of Christ." A hiss passed through his lips as she licked the underside of his erection. "Don’t tease me. Put me in that pretty little mouth of yours."

She smiled and gathered her hair over one shoulder so it wouldn’t be in the way. "Right away, sir."

His eyes fell closed momentarily when she slowly sucked him into her warm, wet mouth.
Jesus fuckin'…
Again, out of this world. Her tongue swirled around his cock, getting him wetter.

"Perfect," he exhaled. He got physically weaker, but he wanted to see, so he folded one arm under his head. His other hand found the back of her head, and he wove his fingers into her silky hair, gently guiding her up and down his cock. "Perfect, perfect…" He didn’t care he was getting repetitive. His vocabulary had checked out.

Parting his legs a bit more, he gave her room to move better. She moaned softly and sucked him harder, at the same time cupping his balls and massaging them gently.

Pleasure pooled in his gut, spreading warmth through his body and tensing his muscles.

"Almost there," he groaned, panting. "You want it, baby?"

That innocent blink, pouty lips tightening around his cock, and eager nod always did it. She fucking knew it too, the dirty little girl.

Tennyson felt his orgasm rolling through him and he couldn’t help but rock deeper into her mouth. With both hands in her hair now, he slid his cock along her tongue and pushed the head into the tightness of her throat.

Sophie relaxed her throat.

"Ah,
fuck
." The groan fell from Tennyson's lips right before his body seized up. His come rushed up his shaft and shot out in three pulses, and Sophie swallowing around him drew a final release from him before he collapsed, completely spent.

Sophie licked him clean and then crawled up his body, dropping kisses here and there that made him shiver violently. By sheer will, he managed to lift his arms and wrap them around her.

"Give me your sweet pussy," he whispered, nuzzling her bare shoulder. "I need a taste."

Sophie hummed. "It's out of service, I'm afraid." She lifted her head and quirked a smirk at him. "That time of the month, but try again in a few days."

Tennyson chuckled drowsily and pulled the top sheet over them. It was warm enough without a blanket. "Fair enough, although I'll probably try sooner." He carefully rolled them a little so they were on their sides, and then he slipped his arm under Sophie's pillow. "Anything I can do, though? Do you get cramps?"

"I'm fine." She smiled before a yawn escaped. "I took an Advil earlier." Snuggling close, she let out a sigh of contentment and closed her eyes. "I'm glad you wanted me in your room, Tennyson."

Tennyson kissed her on the forehead and stroked her cheek. "Me, too."

He was in deep shit, wasn’t he?

Chapter 18

"It was good finally meeting you, Sophie."

"You too, Asher." She shook his hand and smiled. "I'll probably let you know tonight about the scripts."

The only thing that held her back from screaming yes was that she did have
some
limits. But as long as the roles didn’t require anything freaky, she was pretty damn sure she was in the clear and officially free of her dad's clutches.

"I'm looking forward to it." Asher sent her a wink and then went over to assist Tennyson with packing up their SUV.

The Wrights were heading back to Vancouver early because Karen and Griffin had a flight back to Oregon to catch, but Sophie and the others were staying until lunch. They wanted to take advantage of the beach—and the sun that had decided to come out today.

"Sophie, dear." Karen stepped out of the house and grasped Sophie's hand in both of hers. "I left the rest of the apple pies in the fridge."

"Thank you, Mrs. Wright," Sophie replied.

She didn’t really know where to place this woman.

"Of course." Karen patted her hand. "How many weeks are left until you're done here in Vancouver?"

"Um, about three."

Karen nodded and released Sophie. "Perhaps I can convince my sons to visit once production is over. They rarely come home these days, though I suspect Tennyson's reason is more related to Tricia than us. She still lives in Oregon."

"Tricia," Sophie stated. Something akin to dread crept up her spine. "You mean Tennyson's ex-girlfriend?"

"He told you about her?" Karen seemed surprised, and of course Tennyson hadn't told Sophie. She'd learned that off the internet. "That man is so stubborn, I'm telling you. Since you and Tennyson have grown close during your little publicity romance, maybe you could talk to him."

Sophie had a feeling she was about to find out just where to place Karen. "What would I talk to him about, exactly?"

"That he needs to stop living in denial, naturally," Karen answered. "They had such a good relationship, and they still love each other. But you know men—they get cold feet."

Sophie chuckled shakily and wished the ground could swallow her whole.

"Unless…" Karen tilted her head. "Is there something between you and my son I should know about?"

"No." Sophie forced a smile. "It's just for show, Mrs. Wright."

"Good. Very good." Karen seemed satisfied by that, and she gave Sophie's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "He deserves someone who can really be there for him and isn't too busy growing up. Someone perfect."

Ouch
. That comment hit where it hurt, and it was so directly aimed at Sophie that she didn’t have the energy to pretend she didn’t get it.

"I'll never be perfect," she said quietly. "I just want to be good." She swallowed against the emotions that welled up. "It was nice seeing you, but I should take Max for a walk."

She pivoted and headed inside, barely making it into the bathroom before she burst into tears.

*

For the rest of the day, she was numb.

Karen's comment wasn’t supposed to tear through Sophie that painfully, but it did.
God
, it did. Which made her retreat into herself in an attempt to clear her thoughts. Was she in love with Tennyson? Had it gone that far?

Whether or not she had fallen, she
had
to put herself first. It was long overdue. After twenty-one years on this planet, she still couldn’t take care of herself. If she wanted to grow up and be the kind of woman people looked up to, the kind of woman who was strong enough to help others, she couldn’t afford to lose herself in a man.

But as they got back to the set in the early afternoon, the thought of losing Tennyson—even though she didn’t actually have him—caused a physical pain that had her running for privacy in her trailer so she could break down yet again.

Tennyson thankfully had meetings, so Sophie didn’t have to worry about any interruptions.

She waited for the heartache to ease, but it fucking didn’t. Eventually, she had to face others, and to anyone who asked if something was wrong, she blamed cramps.

It was an excuse she milked for all it was worth for the following three goddamn days.

Sophie got lost in work as filming began again, and all her alone time was spent going back and forth. It was Tennyson's mother who didn’t approve of her, not Tennyson himself. It was Karen who'd been a bitch, not Tennyson. But, on the other hand, didn’t Tennyson deserve better than some ex-party princess who'd spent a fortune on poison?

Regardless, it was useless to worry about. What they had was temporary.

The day came when Sophie had to stop blaming her period and PMS, so her acting skills took over. She buried her fears and clung to every word Tennyson said, loved him at night, and sometimes she got so caught up in their fairy tale that she forgot reality.

As predicted by a certain smug director, Tennyson and Max were becoming buddies, and even Daniel was accepted by Max—as long as Max never felt crowded.

Every once in a while, though…Karen's words returned to pierce through Sophie.

Eight days had passed since they'd left the beach house, but that pain remained as fresh as ever.

Sophie growled and threw her hairbrush at the wall. "Suck it up, Pierce," she told herself. "Be strong."

Max moseyed out of the bedroom, having heard the thump from the hairbrush, no doubt, but he soon went back to sleep.

Sophie faced the mirror in her bathroom, knowing something had to be done. It had gone too far if the mere thought of losing Tennyson made her fall apart.

"Fuck," she whispered, burying her face in her hands.

She had to end it, didn’t she? Now—not in two weeks. Now. For the sake of her mind, because…she honestly didn’t believe she could handle more, and she knew the pain would only grow the longer she stayed with him.

Checking the time, she cursed because she was late, and this was part of the problem. She was here to work, not get distracted.

She was due on set in an hour, but she was going to the office first. So she got dressed in a pair of yoga pants and one of Tennyson's T-shirts and then left her trailer.

Daniel was waiting outside the office with a huge grin on his face.

"Is everything ready?" She couldn’t muster any enthusiasm.

"It sure is, darling." He opened the door to the office. "Why aren't you happier? This is big."

It
was
big—monumental. It had sort of snowballed since Asher had offered her two parts in two productions, and now Sophie had a lot of things to look forward to. But it would be a while before she could appreciate it.

She was glad she'd be able to afford Daniel on her own because she'd need him for a long, long time.

The office was empty, so Sophie and Daniel sat down at a table where all the papers had been sorted by the best PA she could ever wish for.

"Agency contract." He slid the first stack of papers her way. "Everything's been okayed by your lawyer, aside from two additions he made on the third page."

Sophie nodded and signed the dotted line on each page, which made it official. She had her own agent. Some hotshot who ran a big agency with his wife. Daniel was also looking into finding her a publicist.

He continued to the next item. "This is the production schedule for the first project—still untitled. I'll fax it to Asher, and then you'll get your check and tickets next week after your production physical."

This one made her nervous. She blew out a breath and eyed the contents, nodding at the dates. Her heart sank, but this needed to be done. Filming began in Toronto merely two days after they wrapped here in Vancouver, and she'd be gone for two weeks. Then she'd have a couple weeks off before the next project, which was due to start August 25th.

For that production, where she had a bigger part, she'd be on location in Barcelona for several weeks.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked, concerned.

Sophie realized she was hesitating with the pen. For some reason, it was impossible to sign the schedule. And it sure as fuck wasn’t because of the script.

"Sophie." Daniel placed a hand on top of hers. "I've kept my mouth shut because it's not my business, but I'm gonna say this, okay? As a friend, not your PA." She managed a jerky nod, and Daniel went on. "Something is obviously going on between you and Tennyson, and I'm guessing you're holding back now 'cause you're gonna miss him—"

"We're not together."

Daniel's expression told her he didn’t believe her for crap.

"No, I mean…" She released a frustrated breath. "We're…casual, I guess. It's not a relationship."

"Oh." Daniel frowned and gave her hand a squeeze in sympathy. "Got it. But you don’t want it to be over?"

"No," she admitted for the first time out loud. "I…I think I'm in love with him, but I can't…" She choked up and looked down at the contract. "It wouldn’t work."

She'd heard too many stories about how Tennyson enjoyed his solitude in the house he'd bought in Mendocino. He spent months there looking for his next project, surrounded by scripts, and he disliked LA something fierce.

In the meantime, Sophie needed to take this chance to get her career started. She'd gotten so fucking lucky with Asher's projects, and if this continued, she could be the kind of actress she wanted to be. Not the child star has-been who'd gotten too "promiscuous" for kids' TV.

"Damn," Daniel sighed. "I wish I knew what could make you feel better, but we've all been there." He squeezed her hand again. "Is long-distance not an option?"

Sophie bit her lip, hesitating, then shook her head. "It would hurt even more."

She had no reason to think Tennyson wanted anything serious with her, anyway.

"No," she said firmly, mostly to herself. "This is about me. My career, my life. I have a lot of shit to make up for and a new reputation to build."

Daniel smiled in wonder. "You're so much more than you give yourself credit for, Sophie. I'm proud of you."

Sophie swallowed and managed a small smile.

Then she finished signing all the papers.

"How long do you think it'll be before my dad finds out?" she asked as she signed the last contract.

"We'll keep this under wraps until you're off to Barcelona."

Good.

*

Thank God for work
, Sophie thought. Despite that today's work involved more waiting around than acting, it still helped keep her focused. Otherwise, it would've been easy to run over to Tennyson and tell him she'd signed on for Asher's two productions.

Tennyson already knew she was gonna sign, but he didn’t know the details.

"One more take!" Tennyson announced.

The motel room set cleared, leaving only Claire, Chris, and one cameraman. In the scene, Sophie was supposed to be in the shower, hence her damp hair, poorly washed-off makeup, and wearing pajamas. But for now, she sat in the background and just waited for her scene.

Behind her, Noah walked in and headed toward Tennyson, looking urgent. Noah had been gone most of the week, shooting with the second unit. In a small town a few hours from here was the motel they'd used as a model for this set, and everyone would be going there tomorrow for exterior shots.

Tennyson listened to whatever Noah said to him; it was too quiet for Sophie to hear.

"Call Ash," Tennyson replied quietly, holding up a finger for Steph to wait a sec. "That’s for the studio to fix, and they better fucking do it today." Noah nodded in understanding before leaving again, and Tennyson gave Steph a nod to proceed.

"Roll sound! Roll cameras!" she hollered.

The scene started, and Sophie watched as Chris checked his wallet for money, wanting to buy alcohol.

Claire was on the phone with the police, and she hissed into the receiver. "What do you mean, you won't search for her anymore?"

The recorded response of the actor who played the police officer came out over the speakers, which was merely for Claire's sake with the timing of her lines. "Ma'am, every one of your daughter's friends who we have interviewed has repeated over and over that Josephine wanted to leave Denver and get away from her family." The man who portrayed the police officer kept it polite, but there was an underlying current of "
I've heard about what kind of parents you and your husband are, and I'm not sure Jo should be found by you."

"She could—" Claire instantly lowered her voice and looked in the direction of where Sophie was supposed to be in the shower. "She could be lying dead in some ditch, and you won't do anything about it?" she whispered furiously into the phone. "You're the police, for fuck's sake. Do something!"

Sophie glanced over at Tennyson as he scrubbed a hand over his jaw, something he did when he was in thought.

The police officer's voice came on again. "Your daughter is over eighteen, there's no indication of any crime taking place, and Josephine's boyfriend has even admitted that she had plans on leaving—without him. Mrs. Miller, your daughter has most likely left town, like she said she would."