The Director (Hollywood Nights) (11 page)

She smiled at Shay and said, “That
beard. He’s had it since he was eighteen. The year after Dana died he grew it
out, quit acting, quit college…I thought he was going to quit life for a while.
You have no idea how hard it is to mother such an independent and emotionally
deep child like Jed. I was so relieved when he started taking an interest in
the behind the camera activities. Then he started working for a few places
doing documentaries. Next thing I know, he’s grown, gallivanting all over the
world in the most dangerous places…”

She put her hand to her heart and
took a moment to collect her emotions before she continued in a very Harvey
Agency fashion letting Shay know that Harvey was indeed his mother’s older
brother. “Take care of my baby, Shay. If you need me to come back here, you
just call. I’m going to head on over and take some soup to Janice. Both of her
boys are down. She’s wearing a facemask and trying to handle them and not get
sick herself. My poor little girl. You know, no matter how they are, when you
have children they are always going to be your babies.”

“Is Frankie okay?” Shay asked. She
didn’t want to shatter the illusion of good mothers being everywhere.

“That’s right, you know Frankie.”
 

Shay nodded.

“She and Jonas are both fine,”
Helen smiled. She started to say something, but then stopped. She settled on, “I’ll
leave my number on the counter downstairs.”

***

At some point in the night she
fell asleep. The moment she heard him wrenching his guts up in the bathroom she
bolted upright and almost fell off the foot of the bed where she had apparently
been napping.

He stumbled back into the bedroom
and crawled into the bed. Shay moved to cover him and he touched her arm at her
elbow and then slid his hand down to hers. He pulled at her until she was
sitting in the bed with him. He moved and adjusted in the bed until he had his
head in her lap.

Shay grabbed the pillows,
flipping them over as she did, to avoid his germs the best she could. She
leaned against them, still sitting up more than lying down, and began to stroke
his hair. He was too hot for his covers. She knew that would not last. He was
asleep within moments and within an hour he was shivering cold. It went on like
that. She fed him soup. She covered him when he was cold and she uncovered him
when he was hot. She found herself sitting in the bed stroking his hair, his
back, his beard every time he returned.

She had fallen asleep that way,
sitting up in the bed, petting him. She opened her eyes as he rolled over. He
was on his back looking up at her.

“Hey,” he said.

“How are you feeling?” She
touched his forehead. His fever was gone.

“I’m hungry.”

She smiled down at him. “I bet
you are. I’ll go get you some soup.”

“No,” he frowned. “No more soup.
I’m starving.”

She let him take her hand and he
clasped her fingers in his. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. He
closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them, and then said, “Thank you.”

She smiled down at him. His blue
eyes were again clear, coherent, and alert. “I’ll add a sandwich, but only
half. If you keep it down for an hour, I’ll let you have the rest.”

She brought him his food and
appreciated that he had already stripped the sheets and had replaced them with fresh
linen. It had been a chore to keep changing it from sweat soaked sheets to dry
ones as needed.

“Get in the bed,” she said as she
placed the plate on the nightstand. She tucked him in and noticed his smile.
“You look better. I think you’re through the worst of it. I’m going to run
these down to the laundry. I’ll be back in a bit.”

He grabbed her hand and placed it
over his heart and whispered, “Take part of it with you. If you come back in an
hour, I’ll give you the rest.”

She could feel the rapid beat of
her heart against her chest match the beat of his. Tears threatened her eyes.

She smiled down at him. Of course
she loved him. It was entirely too frightening to say out loud. She leaned over
and kissed his forehead. “I’ll be back within the hour.”

His relief was evident by the
heat of blush tinting the tops of his cheeks. The only evidence he couldn’t
hide behind that beard.

Chapter
8

A few weeks
later…

Shay left Harvey’s office with an
armful of scripts. In two days she would attend her first movie premiere. She
would walk the red carpet, though she wasn’t a star. She wasn’t even an extra.
She was the girlfriend of the director’s son. She had consulted with Alex and
he had approved of her choice in outfit. He had been much nicer since the
exchange with Jed.

“Shay,” a feminine voice called
from behind her. She turned to see Ivy Mills, once Maybelline Milner, once her
nemesis, walking her way.

This was the first time she had
seen Ivy face to face since she had sent her a letter of apology, part of the
steps in the Harvey Agency program. Ivy never responded. Shay wasn’t sure what
would transpire. She just knew that for the first time in her life she felt prepared
for anything.

“Ivy.”

“I wanted to say thank you,” Ivy
said as she came to a halt. Her hair was brown again, natural. Her puppy dog
brown eyes looked at Shay with childlike innocence. “I only recently got the
letter. It meant a lot to me.”

“I meant it,” Shay said honestly.

“I saw you coming out of Harvey’s
and I thought you might want to know…I’m backing out of Sleepers. I’m sure they
will need to fill the role quickly. You should tell them to call in the
morning, after eight. No one knows.”

“Why are you backing out?” Shay
asked. She wasn’t sure why Ivy seemed a little off, but she did.

‘Let’s see.” Ivy put her finger
to her lip a moment then said, “I’m quitting. I’m tired of it. I am closing the
curtain.”

“Are you all right?” Shay was
concerned for the woman. She really was.

“No.” Ivy shook her head for
emphasis. “I’m not. But I will be, because I am going to get my life back. I’ve
been working nonstop for the past five years. I have had one real boyfriend
during that time, and he turned out to be a jerk. I missed holidays, birthdays,
and my sister’s wedding. I’m taking a hiatus.”

“Ivy, can I call someone for
you?” Shay was nervous. The woman seemed on the edge of a breakdown.

“No,” she smiled. “But you can
promise me that you won’t let it do to you what it did to me, Shay. Don’t let
it take everything you love away from you, okay?”

Shay nodded and said, “Okay.”

“I’ll see you around,” Ivy said.
“Don’t forget to call them at eight in the morning.”

***

Later that night…

           
Jed tried but failed to keep his
hands to himself.
 
Shay growled and sat
the script on the coffee table. He had stopped by unannounced with two cups of
coffee and every intention of making her dinner. She had already placed an
order for delivery, so she called back and added to the order. He sat looking
at her, anxiously waiting for her to say or do something. Her green eyes lit
with mischief.

           
“I have something to tell you,” she
said.

           
He pushed his thumbs along the arch
of her foot and she sighed. “Tell me.”

           
She pulled her foot away and he was
no longer touching her at all. He tilted his head and waited.

           
“I ran into Ivy today. She said she
is backing out of Sleepers. She told me to tell Harvey to call them at eight in
the morning. I told Alex.” She looked at him with such excitement in her
expression he couldn’t do anything but smile at her. He had never imagined
himself with an actress. He hadn’t really imagined himself with anyone since
Dana, but Shay had eclipsed that youthful first love. He couldn’t imagine life
without her. Would she settle for him when her star was on the rise? “Say
something!”

           
“You want to be the lead in
Sleepers?” he asked.

           
“Yes!” she practically shouted. “I
auditioned for it. They liked me. They told Alex if it wasn’t for Ivy they
would have given me the part. They couldn’t take a chance on a new face when
America’s Sweetheart guaranteed to sell tickets.”

           
“What’s it about?” He held out his
hand and she moved to put her foot back into it.

           
“It’s a psychological thriller.”

           
“Hmmm,” he didn’t want to ask the
next question, but a punch of jealousy meant he had to. “And the co-star?”

           
“I don’t know. I didn’t follow it
once I didn’t get the part. Alex said to leave it behind me. I needed to focus
on the next audition. I wouldn’t get anywhere if I kept living in the past. We
reviewed what went right, what I was nervous about, and then we made a plan for
improving those things.” She said it much like Alex had said it to him many
years ago. Only Jed couldn’t leave the past behind then. He was currently the
only non-acting actor on Harvey’s list of clients. They still represented him
and had been instrumental in getting him started with documentaries.

           
He was tired of talking about this.
He had her now. He needed to make her realize he could be there for her over
the long haul. He could revel in her success and commiserate in her failure. He
lifted her foot and watched her eyes round as he gently bit her toes.

           
She giggled. “You’re being very
naughty today, Mr. Gunner.”

           
“I missed you,” he admitted. “I
haven’t seen you in two days.”

           
“You saw me yesterday.”

           
“Did I?” He pulled her across the
couch until she was forced to sit in his lap facing him. “It felt like longer.”

           
She put her hand between them and
slid it over his growing erection and said, “It feels like it’s getting longer
to me too.”

           
She leaned in and kissed him. He hoped
he never lost the sensations that rolled through him every time they kissed.
Deep inside his core he was never more at home than when she was with him. They
had not exchanged the words, but the emotions were there. They found new ways
of expressing love without words all the time. She got that about him. She
understood him in a way no one ever had.

           
The kiss ended when she lifted his
shirt and needed to get it over his head. He lifted his arms to accommodate
her. He was starting to feel less kinky and more sentimental. Unfortunately, he
had already started her on the fast track to fun so he needed to reengage his
creativity. He could take his time later.

           
His hands pulled at her shirt and
lifted it over her head. The pretty pink bra had black polka dots on it. He
knew by the feel of the material it was custom made. She had a lot of talent
that had nothing to do with being in front of a camera. “Wait a second.”

           
He fished in his pocket for the
phone and watched her eyes grow wide. She folded her arms and said, “Are you
taking a phone call?”

           
“No.” He hit record and said, “Don’t
forget to talk about designing underwear later.”

           
“What are you talking about?” she
giggled.

           
“I always forget. I see these bras
on you all the time, but as soon as they are off, I forget all about them.” He
sat the phone aside and said, “Where were we?”

           
She bit into her lower lip and
uncrossed her arms. “You were admiring my handy work.”

           
“I do believe I was.”

           
It didn’t take long for them to shed
all clothes and inhibitions. Shay didn’t always get wound up beyond the typical
positions a couple procreated in. When she did, like she was now, he knew they
would both discover new things. The last time he wound her up he learned that
she liked him to spank her. He learned that he didn’t mind spanking her.

           
“Damn, Jed, do… something.”

           
A desperate whisper that said she
trusted him with her body and wanted to test its limits. He looked down at
where they were joined together. Taking a chance, he placed his thumb over the
tight bud of her anus. Since she didn’t say no, he removed it, tried to gather
as much moisture as possible on his index finger and then pressed it into her.
She groaned and pushed against him.

           
“I can feel my dick inside of you. I
can touch it.” He was surprised by the sensation.

           
“If only you had two of them.” She
said it in the heat of the moment.

           
“Would you like that?” he asked.

           
She didn’t respond. He stopped moving
and asked again.

           
“I don’t know. I just…”

           
Jed pulled both his finger and his
dick out of her. She turned with a slight panic in her expression. He smiled
before she could apologize or explain. He never wanted her to hold back with
him.
 
“I’ll never share you with another
man, Shay. Would you share me?”

           
She shook her head no.

           
“But I know you have something that
can help me make this real for you, so go get it.” He placed his hands on his
hips. She looked at his dick and then at his face. “It’s not going to multiply,
babe. So go get it.”