Famous, p.12
Famous, page 12
part #3 of The Power of Three Series
Even with the shitty traffic leaving the city, I was home by five p.m. It helped I didn’t drive, but my intentions were to surprise Cami. Apollo pulled the town car behind Cami’s minivan.
“Take your time, Mr. Gregory. I’ll run to get dinner for you and the girls as discussed,” he called after me. I would have been insisting on him calling me Dane, but I didn’t have it in me to argue with the man. Not when getting Cam to leave for the night would take a lot of convincing.
The girls had learned the jiggle of my keys in the doorknob meant I was home. When it opened, Maggie ran toward me, attacking me. Cami was bringing up the rear with Bridget in her arms.
“You’re home early, honey.” She leaned in to kiss me, then looked behind me with a perplexed look on her face. “What’s up with the car in the driveway that just pulled out?” she asked.
“I’ve got a surprise for you, but you’ve gotta keep an open mind.” I’d been expecting an argument of sorts, but a broad smile crept onto her lips—she may just go along with my plan, after all.
23
Cami
He pulled Bridget from me, and she must have needed a break from her mom-o as much as I needed one from her. “What did you have in mind?” My voice was shaky, and although I needed a break, I wouldn’t leave our baby with just anyone. However, the man in front of me was not just anyone. Walking through the living room to our master with Maggie on my heels, Dane grabbed a suitcase and tossed it on my dresser.
“What do you have up your sleeve, Daniel Gregory?” I was a bit giddy. Hell, I needed to get away if only for an hour.
In our closet, he started tossing pajamas and a pair of jeans, my favorite T-shirt, and my slippers. In my top drawer, he grabbed a couple of pairs of panties and a bra. “If you need anything else for a night away, grab it.” He rifled for my toothbrush and my deodorant.
“It would help if I knew where I was going.” Walking to my makeup drawer, I pulled out a couple of basic items in case I needed to get fancied up. Maggie was pulling at my top, which was full of tears, snot, and Bridget’s lunch.
“Mom-o,” she was almost crying, “you can’t leave me. You are not allowed to leave.” I laughed at my child—an out-and-out mocking laugh. I loved my children more than anything on this planet, but if I didn’t get a night to myself, one of us might not make it to the next morning.
Dane was sexy. From the first day my eyes found his, I’d known he would turn many women’s heads. I was never the jealous type because I trusted my husband. However, when he bent down at eye level with Maggie, Bridget on his hip, I’d never seen him so fucking sexy in my life.
“It’s okay, Maggie Mags. Bridget, you, and I are going to have a movie night and McDonald’s.” He winked at me. I’d tried to ban it in our house, but now, it was Dane’s own little treat for the kids.
“You’re going out with Bridget?” She was so uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t be the one in the car with her.
“No, it’s being delivered.” Yeah, I forgot about the black luxury car in our driveway. Standing up, he kissed me, “Better hurry, your ride will be back in five minutes with our dinner and will take you to your destination.”
I sorted through my half-packed suitcase, grabbing the rest of what I felt I needed. I’d assumed I was going to some retreat or spa for the night, and it should have niggled at me a little. Dane was a junior partner in his firm, making good money. When Jack left us, part of our financial support had disappeared. It took a while to get back on our feet, to the point I’d considered going back to work. But we buckled down, and even though Jack sent us a check for a hundred thousand dollars, his way of alleviating the guilt of deserting us, Dane refused to cash it.
But now, after the past several days with very little sleep, I didn’t care what the cost was. I zipped up the rest of the suitcase when Dane’s text alert chirped throughout the room. I hated his bird noises, but he loved driving me crazy with it.
He was smiling at his phone. “It’s your ride and our dinner.” Maggie squealed. Apparently, the idea of McDonald’s replaced her concern about me deserting her for the night.
He had my suitcase in his hand, taking it to the front door. Opening it, I recognized the man immediately. When Dane’s smile reached mine, he began, “It’s just a quiet place to lay your head for the night. And somewhat decent company.” A smirk crawled onto his face.
My heart warmed. Something conspired between Miles and Dane for him to be comfortable sending me his way for the night. And in my heart, I knew it was not only physical, but it was also emotional.
After arguing with Apollo for five minutes over who would be carrying my bag up, I finally won. I didn’t know much about the large man who hung around Miles, only that he was always lurking somewhere. And when he insisted on walking me up to his room, I simply shook my head his way. He turned around, lifting his hands in the air and muttering under his breath about stubborn women. At least I set the precedent for our relationship.
The other night, I hadn’t seen Sophie programmed at his door. It was small, but after being at both Levi’s home and his sister, Elliot’s, penthouse, I recognized the device. Sophie was too expensive for what Dane earned; it was like a Siri for the rich and famous. And Miles was certainly both rich and famous.
I barely knocked on the door a few times when it swung open, and I was left a little giddy and a lot lightheaded. Miles in a simple pair of jeans and a button-down shirt made me salivate because he was all man. I guess, at first, I got swept up in the fact that we were falling for a star, but this person was only human at the end of the day and had been left hurt like Dane and me.
“You look almost normal?” I stated, his large arms pulling at my body.
“Good lord, Curly Sue, you look rough.” Oh, the man knew how to butter me up. He shrugged his shoulders because I’d always get the truth from him.
“Yeah, you’re right as rain. I’ve barely been able to pull my hair in a ponytail or brush my teeth.” He took my suitcase from my hands. “So, the first order of business is the shower.” I stepped on my tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the lips. I was moving toward the part of his house he had mentioned were his guest suites. Passing the dining room table, he sidestepped me.
“Where you going?”
I raised one eyebrow higher than the other. “Your guest room.”
“Yeah, silly girl, if you’re not sleeping next to me, you will sleep near me.” He twisted toward his steps. “Come on, this way. Those rooms are for people I don’t like much.” And like that, we ascended the stairs.
His guest suite was as luminous as his own bedroom with a long table, a wet bar, a fridge along with an inviting couch, and a sixty-inch television set mounted on the wall. After my shower, I felt like a new woman. Wearing just the robe he had in the bathroom, I heard a light tap on the bedroom door.
Opening it to what I thought would be Miles was a woman around ten years older than me in a black and white maid’s costume. Did they really even have maids dress in these anymore? I laughed because this was something you’d see in a movie, not in real life.
“Ms. Gregory, I have some snacks for you and new towels and a fresh robe. Just leave everything in the hamper, and I’ll do up your laundry.”
Oh, there was no way someone was doing my laundry, but I didn’t get this out before she asked, “Can I unpack?”
What the hell was what I wanted to say. Before I could, Miles swept in. “Lola, dear, I think Mrs. Gregory has everything she needs.” But he didn’t leave. He saw Lola out of the door and then started toward my suitcase, rifling through it and giving me a pair of jeans and a bohemian top I packed with my white satiny bra and panty set. “I’d love to know you were without restrictions during dinner, but for now, I’ll allow you to wear some underwear.”
I ignored his statement, him allowing me to do this or that, but he had to have known these commands only made me dripping wet. In the bathroom, I dressed quickly and brushed my teeth. Emerging, the arrogant ass was lying on my bed. “Shit, Cam, you look fucking gorgeous in everyday clothes. I may never let you dress up again.”
My hands were on my hips, and I stared at him. “So, now that I have panties on at your request, what are we doing? Because I want to be asleep tonight no later than ten p.m.”
Breaking the contact between us, he looked like a lion attacking his prey. “I’m taking you out because you deserve it.”
I backed up—I wasn’t ready for the paparazzi to get ahold of this story. We were lucky last week, but one day, our luck would run out. And sure as hell, the paparazzi loved to expose every secret Miles Sterling held. Every time he was spotted in public with a new man or woman, the headlines would always read, “Is the private and eccentric Miles Sterling moving on finally?”
“I know you’re worried about the media, but we’re going to the same place we went the other night. The Mancini family is good to me and will make sure we’re afforded privacy.”
I held out my hand, and he took it. Oddly enough, I trusted this man in front of me.
24
Miles
The smile on Cami’s face did something to my mind. Their intentions have never been hidden, but in it, I’d been witness to the protective nature Dane had when it came to his wife. And he trusted me with her tonight. Was this what being happy really felt like?
We were afforded privacy in the family’s dining room where they shared meals away from the guests. But the Mancini family wrapped their arms around me when I was ten years old, not having had eaten sometimes for days. My parents had the means to care for me, and I guess I did eat if you called goldfish a suitable meal.
She downed her second glass of wine before the pasta was delivered to the table. She attempted to grab the bottle, but I had it in my hands before she did. “Okay, Ms. Thirsty. Wanna slow down?” My bossiness never seemed to bother her, and I’d seen how she followed Dane’s lead. It was a turn-on.
“Sir, yes, sir.” She saluted me, and her little smirk caused my heart to ache for wine with the three of us over their dining room table with two little girls joining us. I’d not met these little ones, but I was sure they’d grab my heart just as their parents had. It hit me, how odd this idea was yet, I still craved it.
“You like alpha assholes, don’t you? It turns you on?” My hand snaked up her thigh. “And you love both Dane and me bossing you around, right? It makes you wet?” Her face reddened. “I bet you if I were to take a little swipe of your pussy, it would soak me.”
“Yeah, now you found my kryptonite. I mean, Dane and I aren’t like Fifty Shades or anything like that, but I trust my husband so much, I just seem to defer to him. Now, if I feel strongly, I’ll fight him, but that’s happened only a few times.”
I cocked my head to the side. I was still trying to figure out Cami Gregory. “You are the perfect submissive.”
She pushed her chair back, standing up, circling around the table. Her small arms surrounded my neck, whispering in my ear. “Now who’s Christian Grey?” Her tone had me breaking out in goose bumps.
I tugged at her little arms, bringing her onto my lap. “Oh, I can be your dominant any day of the week, little one, but I don’t have to dominate you to be turned on by everything that is Cami Gregory.”
A knock on the door brought Cami to her feet, but I pulled her back onto my lap. The Mancini family had never failed me. My trust had never been ill-placed. “Get back here, Curly Sue.” Mr. Mancini lowered our plates onto the table and gave me a little nod when he turned around, leaving us alone again.
Her eyes were locked to mine, and she didn’t pull away. Her lips invited me in, and I RSVP’d when our mouths connected. My hands roved up her back and into her hair. I kneaded her hair into my fingers, twisting it, and it was a move she loved as indicated by her little whimper. Hell, this woman—I didn’t have the words to describe what she and the sexy lawyer man were doing to me. It was like they were showing me I had a little bit of my soul left that Shawn and Lance stripped from me years ago.
She pulled back, hesitantly. “You’re going to break our hearts.” It was a statement, not a question. Her head fell toward mine, and I took in the aroma of this woman in front of me. Even with the Italian food swirling in the air, her arousal was feral, but her vulnerability was more of a turn-on than anything.
Our foreheads were still connected. “I don’t want to hurt you two, Curly Sue.”
“We’re falling hard.” Her words were no more than a whisper.
“I am, too. Hell, today, I thought all the radio silence was your way of letting go.” I pulled back, and her eyes reached my own. “I know it was selfish. I mean, your priorities are your family but …”
She reached for my hand, pulling it to her lips and placing a tender kiss on my knuckles. I watched her stare down at my hand as if she was warring with herself. “Our heartbreak was not public like yours. So you don’t have a baseline of what Jack walking out on us did to Dane and me. But the scars are deep. So as much as you are opening up to us scares you, it scares us just as much.”
“But in the end, you have one another, and the two of you together are amazing.”
She cupped my face with her tiny hands. “And you could have us, too, if you just let your barriers fall a bit.” Her eyes didn’t leave mine, and it was then I understood I was just not lost in everything of Cami Gregory; I was lost in everything of the man who was missing from us tonight, too.
She could barely keep her eyes open on the car ride home. “As much as I want to spend every second with you, I need you to walk your sweet ass upstairs and go to sleep.” I was about to gauge her response from what we discussed tonight about her submissiveness. She had submissive traits, and hell, did I want to encourage them—if not for anything other than the bedroom. And Dane, he was dominant when it came to Cami, but submissive for the most part when it came to me. I didn’t want to be a Dom in the plain sense of BDSM, but knowing I called the shots in the bedroom made my heart ache for them because there was trust already built between the three of us.
“You’re testing me?” She was barely audible, and her eyes were closed.
I shrugged, and her eyes opened just enough to see me. “I’m not going to answer you.” It was all she needed to hear.
She slid into my embrace and closed her eyes again. When I thought she was asleep, she spoke up. “Even if I wanted to argue with you, I wouldn’t.” She tucked her head back into the crook of my neck, placing her hand on my knee.
I was following her fine ass upstairs when my phone started to ring off the hook. First, I simply wanted to ignore it, but after three times, Cami turned on the stairs. “I can tuck myself into bed. Apparently, the world will burn down if you don’t get your cell.”
I hit accept and screamed in the phone, “Hold on, whoever this is.” Placing my cell on mute, I brought her into my arms. “I had a great time. I’ll check on you later. You better be asleep.” She kissed my lips ever so softly.
Taking whoever the fuck was ruining my night off mute, I looked at the phone. Figured—my agent. “What the hell was so important you ruined my night?” Sam was much different than the asshole who let me go because he was embarrassed by my lifestyle. The fat fuck’s agency folded a year later, and just like anyone who had fucked me over, I called it poetic justice.
“Well, you are sure full of rainbows and piss tonight.” Sam and his weird as fuck sayings—it was like he’d take part of one and combine it with part of another. But they made me laugh.
“Yeah, Sam, you made me say good night to a date a little early.”
He cleared his throat. “Anything I need to be aware of?”
I didn’t want to give too much away. I wanted to hold onto our secret just a little bit longer. “It’s still very new. I’ll be sure to get with Bella if anything progresses, I promise.”
He was silent, and I knew him well enough that he had a question he wanted to ask but wasn’t.
“Ask away, Sam. What do you want to know?”
“One or two?”
I chuckled because with how quick he asked me, it was the first thing on his mind.
“Two, a man and woman. Married, looking for a commitment, and they have kids.”
He never judged me, which was one thing I loved about Sam.
“You can’t do easy, can you?” He laughed, and again, it was not a judgement.
“Oh, what’s the fun in that? Anyway, I can do easy about as well as you and Bella can.”
He must have been on speaker because this time, I heard Bella’s sweet laugh. “Touché, Miles.” She took a breath and started again, “You know I’ll be able to handle it, no matter what. Just keep me up to date. But we didn’t call you to talk about your love life.”
Walking over to the kitchen, I pulled a beer out of the fridge, sitting on a stool at the island. “Well, I didn’t figure you did. So what’s up?” It couldn’t be anything about my musical with just talking about it a couple of weeks ago?”
The line was silent, and I quickly turned my phone over to make sure it was still connected. “Hey, you still there?” I asked.
“We’re just holding out the suspense a bit longer.” I laughed into the line and waited, not sure what to expect. “We heard back from two production companies today, and they want to work with you to produce your musical. They loved the concept.” Upon getting the news we’d been waiting for, I stood to cross over to the view of the Chicago’s skyline. I hadn’t expected what was next. “The only deciding factor,” he started, and I stopped at my sofa, “is they want you to star in it.”
I fell back onto my couch, a little lightheaded and very frustrated. I had no intention in co-producing, directing, and acting in a musical that wasn’t fully finished yet. “Um, I’d be wearing a lot of hats.”
