The Director (Hollywood Nights) Read online

  “Frankie,” Shay called and Frankie’s head popped up immediately.

  “What time is it?”

  Shay laughed. “She’s ready to eat again. Jed fed her the last time, but it’s been five hours.”

  “Five hours?” Frankie sat up. “He really is the baby whisperer. I can’t leave here. He has to come back with us. Five hours!”

  Jonas stirred. He grabbed his neck and said, “Where’s Jed?”

  “He’s off to bed himself. I’m heading there too. See you guys in the morning.”

  Shay passed the little bundle off to Frankie.

  After saying goodnight she heard Frankie say again, “Five hours.”

  ***

  They had escaped the men for the day. If there was one thing Shay trusted Frankie on it was that they could get around a lot easier without Jonas tagging along.

  “So,” Frankie started. “How’s it going? I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages. I miss you.”

  “It’s going well. I’m learning…a lot.”

  “Me too.” Frankie looked at the baby. “I feel so much more relaxed today. You have no idea how bad I needed that sleep. Flying with an infant is ridiculous. I sometimes feel like I should just stay home until she’s like five or something.”

  Shay looked at the stroller and all the gear. “I can see why.”

  “It’s so nice here. It won’t be soon enough, winter is going to be brutal, but it is really nice right now.” Frankie looked out the window and sighed. “Are you guys going to have any?”

  “Any what?”

  “Children of course.” Frankie picked up her drink and took a sip.

  “It’s not in the plan, but if one got through we wouldn’t be sad about it.”

  “It’s really not in the plan?” Frankie seemed sad about it.

  “No,” Shay admitted. “Why are you looking at me like that is a bad thing?”

  “Well,” Frankie started. “I thought if you had children you guys might move back to LA. Janice misses him. He has only seen his new nephew once. Jonas misses him. I miss you. We just want you guys back in LA.”

  “I start rehearsals in less than a month. Jed is knee deep in a documentary on homeless people in the city. If I’m not mistaken, your husband will be off on location in a few months and Janice and Buddy are not lined up for anything anytime soon. So why does he have to be the one to move?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What?” Shay looked at Frankie. She normally had all the answers.

  “It just seemed like he should move because the rest of us are there. I wonder if I could talk Jonas into moving here. At least for the summer months. We can go back to California for the winter. I don’t want anything to do with this place in winter. You know how much I hated it here during the winter.” Frankie was already formulating a plan, and Shay knew that Jonas would do whatever Frankie wanted. “Do you think you could get him to dedicate a few months at a time to living in LA?”

  “I don’t persuade Jed to do anything. I can tell him the truth. I want to see Justine more than once or twice a year. I can remind him that his family misses him and that his niece and nephews are only going to be little once. Ultimately, the decision will be up to Jed.” Shay shrugged.

  “I thought for sure by now you would have flipped the roles. I’ve never seen you this…passive before. You left your house, you moved here, you…”

  “Fell in love with a man, a man who forced me to try out a job that I really enjoy and doesn’t take up much of my time. I came here with a man who opened my thoughts about what it meant to be a working actress, and he encouraged me to have Alex keep an eye out for theatre opportunities. He helped me get Kai, the label, up and running. I left LA with an alpha male, I get it. I know he is stubborn. I live with him. But I also know that he has given me everything I have ever wanted. If that means living in New York because it is the one thing he ants, I’m not going to press him to move.”

  Frankie nodded. “I get it. I told Jonas and Janice that I would ask. I have.”

  ***

  Jed looked at his little brother and asked, “So what do you want to do?”

  “Besides move in with you so I can sleep for five hours a night?”

  Jed laughed. “You’re already pressing your luck. This was her idea to have you here. I figured you might be better off in your own space, but I can see now that you’re not. Why don’t you get a nanny? Frankie can’t possibly keep up with everything on her own. You look like shit…”

  “Thank you,” Jonas said sarcastically.

  “Well you do. What’s the deal? Why are you resisting help?” Jed asked as he handed his little brother a cup of coffee. They were staying in today. Jonas didn’t want to go out and that suited Jed just fine. Anytime Jonas was about it was just a matter of time before he had a crowd around him.

  “Frankie doesn’t want to hire any help. Her mother didn’t have help, our mother didn’t…”

  “She needed it.”

  “Yeah, but she didn’t hire any. I don’t think she realizes that mom put everything on hold until we were older. She wasn’t working and raising three kids. Not in the same way I need Frankie to work. If you didn’t know she is also a bit of a control freak…”

  “Yeah, I kinda got that from the ruler incident.” Jed smiled as Jonas moved awkwardly in his chair and blushed.

  “Well, Justine is definitely on the two hour feeding schedule, but aside from that this kid is throwing her for a loop. She has read entirely too many books, articles, blogs, you name it. If she doesn’t pee or poop in a certain amount of time between feedings, she frets over her. If she doesn’t cry, if she does, I don’t remember it being like this with Buddy Junior. Janice was not this nuts.” Jonas exhaled.

  “Janice had Buddy. And when she didn’t have him, she had mom. Why don’t you ask the grandma’s to get in on the rotation a little bit.” Jed knew that Buddy hadn’t worked the first six months his son was born. He didn’t have to and he wasn’t going to miss out on what a lot of parents miss due to work. He also knew that their mom had given Janice breaks when Buddy did go back to work, and helped even more when Janice went in for a guest spot on a television series for a few weeks.

  “Well,” Jonas sucked in a breath. “Frankie has a particular way of doing things. When her mom came over, I thought she was going to strangle her.”

  “Frankie wanted to strangle her mom?”

  “No. Her mom wanted to strangle Frankie. I mean she obviously knows how to change a diaper, but Frankie has a routine and…”

  “Oh.” Jed nodded. “Well you have to be the voice of reason then. You have to explain and remind them that they were once first time mother’s too. Talk to dad, I’m sure he can help in that department.”

  Jonas nodded. “So how did you get her to sleep?”

  “Same way I used to get you to sleep.” Jed shrugged.

  “I’m going to figure it out before we leave, you know that.”

  Jed smiled.

  Chapter 16

  Shay had to admit, she was glad to see them go. It was nice to have company, but it was also nice to have her man all to herself again.

  She stepped into the shower behind him and traced her finger down his back as if racing against a drop of water. He had let his hair grow out a bit. She wasn’t sure if that was because he didn’t make time for a haircut or if he was purposely letting it get longer. His beard was in that length she liked the best, not long, but not prickly stubble. She could touch and enjoy the feel of it.

  She had missed his touch. They had refrained from sex with Jonas and Frankie there because Jed had volunteered to take turns getting up with his niece. His shifts lasted longer than everyone else since she actually slept when he held her, but woke immediately when he put her down.

  “Hi,” he said as he turned. She looked him over languidly. Her eyes started at the tips of his toes and she appreciated every inch of his body. By the time she actually looked at his cock, he was hard. A fres
h wave of heat rolled through her.

  She smiled. “It is seems like it has been forever since we…”

  He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. The kiss was ravenous. Hungrily he delved into her mouth with his tongue and explored as though it were the first time he had ever kissed her. His hands moved in an attempt to pull her closer to him though she was already hugging him as close as possible.

  He let one hand loose and turned the water off. He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around him so he could carry her to his destination. He said, “Grab the towel.”

  She reached out to grab the towel on the rack as they passed. Once in the bedroom he sat her to her feet. She made quick work of drying herself off and then handed it to him. He barely made the attempt to get dry.

  “Get up there,” he directed.

  She moved anxiously to get onto the bed.

  “Wait,” he said and halted her at the edge. “Turn around. Right here.”

  She watched him move to a kneeling position as she turned over to face him. She was sitting at the edge of the bed. She knew what he was going to do before he even began setting it up. Her core grew hot, liquid, and anticipation reverberated throughout her body.

  “Right here,” he said as pointed to his shoulders. Her feet moved into position on those broad shoulders and opened her up as he leaned in. She moved to lie back and he stopped. “Nuh, uh. Sit up, watch.”

  Her arms were already trembling and he had barely touched her. How could she possibly stay upright to watch?

  Jed moved in between her thighs gently shifting his bearded chin along the tender flesh of her inner thigh. The smooth feel always got a reaction from her. Her knees relaxed opening her more. He did that for a few moments, occasionally licking her thigh, nipping it, until she was gritting her teeth. Until she was visibly wet. Until she attempted to touch herself.

  “No,” he said and shook his head.

  The command sent a thrill throughout her body. He was in charge of this. She tried again to lie back and he said, “Sit up.”

  She looked at him. He looked up at her, his eyes liquid, soul searing, alight with mischief. He let his tongue slip out and tease her flesh. Her hips pressed forward and he retracted it with a smile.

  “You are being cruel,” she whimpered.

  “Am I?” he asked and then teased her again.

  “Yes,” she gasped.

  “And now?” he asked before leaning in and giving her an honest lick.

  He had already built her up. She was swollen, wet, and on the verge of losing control when he finally began to work his magic. “Oh God, don’t stop.”

  He tortured her for what felt like hours but was only minutes. He didn’t even get the tip of his finger inside her and she was breaking. Coming undone against her will. The orgasm slipped up on her like a thief in the night, stealing the momentum and crashing everything down on her at once. She looked at him. He quirked a brow at her, that happened easier than usual, even for Jed. Breathless she explained, “It just came out of nowhere.”

  “I’m pretty sure it came out of here.” He said and pushed his finger into her.

  She collapsed backwards onto the bed and let moan of delight escape her lips. He gave her a moment to catch her breath, to recover, before he began again. “Do you have any idea how good you are at this?”

  “Yes,” he said smugly.

  She giggled, but only for a moment. He was back to work and she was lost in his efforts. She knew he did this when he wouldn’t last long. When he was so wired up he just needed to release. It was as though it was a penance or a means of compensating for it. She had no immediate plans to tell him she didn’t mind a quickie now and then. She didn’t have to get off every single time. With Jed, she had. Greedily, she was going to continue that trend as long as it would last.

  She could hear her own guttural sound as the release swept through her in a flash of heat, light, and sparks that left her listless.

  She didn’t even realize he had moved. She just knew the moment the head of his cock pressed into her, she was full, whole, and she needed to turn her focus to him.

  He was using a lot of restraint. She could tell by the grip on her hips and the controlled thrust. The look in his eye told her he wanted more than he was getting. She gulped, “Harder.”

  He complied.

  “Harder, Jed.” She gasped as he again thrust harder than before. She knew she could take it. “I know there’s more.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” she groaned. Of course she was sure. He didn’t always want it this way. And in some ways, it turned her on to unleash the beast in him. “Don’t hold back. I want you harder. That’s it.”

  She watched as the tension built throughout his entire body. Each muscle bunched, tightened. His chest flushed pink, his cheekbones, and his eyes ablaze with need, focused on her.

  “You feel so good,” she said. One of his eyes closed then opened. He was getting there. The words spurred him on. “You’re so big. Give it to me, Jed. That’s it. Fuck me harder. Faster.” She gasped and said, “I love you.”

  He spent with a groan of pleasure and what seemed like an endless wave of bliss. When he moved, he didn’t extract himself right away. He covered her, kissed her, and whispered sweet nothings in her ear before telling her he loved her and then trying to fall asleep.

  Chapter 17

  Jed was pushing his luck. He knew that the moment he concocted this crazy scheme. He took one look at her and decided it was worth the risk. A few days ago she asked the question he had been waiting for. She wanted to know about the scar. He told her the details of that night, of the weeks leading up to it, and the months that stretched into years after. She had said simply that she was glad he changed his mind. Throughout his adult life he had debated if he had made the right decision on more than one occasion.

  Looking at her in that dress, knowing her heart was his, and that she loved him back, he knew he had made the right decision. Life was finally more than existing, he was living. It wasn’t always easy. Shay was an independent woman learning to allow herself to depend on him for some things. He was an overbearing nurturer who had to work on how he let her know that he saw her as his equal.

  He wasn’t sure if this was going to send the right message, but he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and every day they were not committed legally he ran the risk of something happening to him and she would be left with nothing but her own income and some memories. He couldn’t tell her about the incident in the homeless shelter. She had asked him to stay close to avoid danger.

  The one thing this particular film had taught him was that danger was everywhere. The potential for any situation to go awry was just a matter of happenstance. He had no control over it. For a man who had spent most of his life wishing he was dead, he was terribly anxious about the idea of dying. Before, he knew if something happened the people he cared about would be taken care of. Now, the one person he loved the most, would suffer the most. Sure, his family would do something for her, but it would not be the same. He wouldn’t risk it. Not anymore.

  “I’m going to be freaking out about this all night,” Shay said as she ran her hands over the vanilla cream colored dress she was wearing at his request.

  “I’ll try not to get you dirty.” He winked at her. He wanted a long and happy life with this woman. He was sure of it. He couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to rest until she was his in every way possible.

  “I somehow doubt that.” She held up her arm for him to clasp the bracelet he had given her. He liked that she didn’t try to put it on herself. She wanted him to do it. She wanted his attention, his touch. He almost frowned as he realized the diamond earrings were already in place. No matter. He had other things to give her this evening.

  “You ready?” he asked and offered her his arm.

  “Are you?” she asked. She looked at him and for a brief moment he thought she might have suspected his plans. “It’s a
big award. It’s not every day you get honored by your peers.”

  He sighed in relief. It was a big award, but not nearly as important as the approval he wanted from her.

  ***

  Shay couldn’t tell if Jed was high on life from winning or from some other intoxicating event that she was unaware of. He was at once in command and anxious, excited yet nervous. He reminded her of a child on Christmas morning. Ready to unwrap something but not sure if it would be the surprise item or just some new socks.

  They sat at a cozy table in the bar at the hotel. She looked up at him and knew whatever it was, she was in for it.

  “I think your outfit is missing something.”

  “You do?” She feigned surprise.

  He began twisting the straw wrapper to her non-alcoholic, but very fruity and caloric, drink into some sort of loop. He reached for her right hand and put it on her index finger.

  “I’ll have to be careful with it for sure.” She laughed.

  He pursed his lips and said, “Hmmm. Maybe this?”

  He pulled the straw from his glass of soda and ran his tongue over it to remove most of the beverage. She enjoyed watching it. Everything about his mouth was sexy. His tongue was magic. He had her full attention. He began twisting it. She enjoyed the way his large fingers worked the plastic tube into another band before placing it on her left index finger.

  “A little sticky so it might hold in place and hold up under the water.” She could feel her gut tighten as he reached into the breast pocket and extracted something she couldn’t see. He grabbed her right hand and her heart sank slightly. She was foolish to think it was an engagement ring. They were already moving at warp speed. She couldn’t expect that from him this soon, yet she did. For all intents and purposes he treated her like his wife.