“I can’t.”
“You can, if you want to,” he argued. “Leave all of the stuff with your dad and Liam behind. Pippa and Dan are safe andyour friendMr Stewart is on the case with maintaining their safety.”
“Jerome’s notmy friend,” protested Tasha as he pressed himself against her.
“That would be Mr Stewart to you if he’s not your friend,” he said and added, “spanking is on today.”
“Mr Stewart is not my friend.”
“Good because you are mine, all of you,” he said as his hand made soft circular movements from her lips, across her cheek, jaw, shoulder and chest. “Come to L.A.” he repeated as his fingers rubbed across her lips.
“I can’t,” she insisted.
“Do you want to? Because if you want to,” he added, feeling bad that he was trying to make her feel guilty, but needs must and whether she realised it or not they both needed her to be safe with him and he would be in L.A.
“Of course I want to,” Tasha protested, but refused to be moved on this now. She couldn’t just up and leave. Dan and Pippa might be living with her grandparents but they were still her responsibility and as for the ever unfolding mess of her parents and Liam, well that just kept getting worse and worse.
“So, you’ll come?” His hand skimmed lower, past her breasts and belly before coming to rest just above her pelvis. “To L.A.?”
“I don’t know. The timing—”
“Okay,” he replied curtly. He pulled himself away from her and stretched past her to pick up his shower gel and proceeded to shower.
She had no idea what to say or do now. He wanted her to agree to his demand and she couldn’t so this was a stalemate, no compromise. “James, I—”
“Natasha, it’s fine, you should do what you think is right and don’t worry about what I want. We should get washed and dressed before Angie arrives. I need to phone down to make a lunch reservation.” He rinsed off and wrapped a very small towel around his waist. He had just reached the door when he turned back to face her. “We should go back to yours tomorrow until Tuesday and we will go to the première from here.”
Then he was gone, leaving her lonely and confused; last night she had acknowledged that they were meant to be together and today she was being obstructive about going to L.A. moving to L.A. to be precise, but why? She knew he wouldn’t move to be with her so she would have to go to him eventually and there was very little standing in her way, not really. He was upset with her, although she didn’t think his handling of it, his attempts to manipulate her put him in the best light either.
She decided to discuss it again, later, when she was dressed. He could be very persuasive, but even more so when she was naked. If he had asked her just once more in the shower she was sure she would have been splayed on the bed right now screaming his name before booking her flight to L.A. in first class. Maybe she should just march outside and book a flight now, she could go as soon as next Wednesday if she really had to. Jim had been right when he said she had no more work lined up and Jerome Stewart and her grandparents wouldn’t allow anything untoward to happen to Pippa, so what was stopping her? She was the only thing standing in their way, but this was all so new and she was just so confused about everything and everyone right now.
Jim reappeared. “I’ve booked a table for lunch. Come on,” he ordered and left again.
She finished showering and wrapped a towel around her hair and slipped on one of the complimentary robes before returning to the bedroom where Jim was dressing in black jeans and a white t-shirt.
He looked across at her. “We will sort this Tasha. One way or another I will make this okay, baby.”
She knew he was referring to the situation with stories from her parents breaking in the tabloids and keeping Dan and Pippa safe rather than simply achieving his wish to have her based in L.A. with him.
“You know if it wasn’t for Pippa and Dan, and the thought that the whole world might find out about me and Liam I wouldn’t care about the story. They could run it every day for the next year, but Pippa and Dan need to stay anonymous in this and I can’t be viewed as the whore who shagged around at almost fifteen and miraculously found fame and fortune via an up and coming artist and a series of good choices between the sheets. That would be professional suicide. Then if they start digging they could find out about the abortion I had. Oh God, this is getting worse.” She looked scared and close to tears.
“Do you trust me?” he asked, desperate for her not cry. He hated her to cry because she was frightened and sad.
She nodded. “Absolutely, in everything.”
“Good. Then believe that this will be resolved, to your satisfaction.” He pulled her to him and removed the towel from her head.
“I’m sorry about L.A. Can we talk about it later?”
“Don’t worry about L.A. You have to do what you’re comfortable with. I don’t want you to do anything that you are not one hundred percent sure of. It was unfair of me to open the subject with you when this story is hanging over you, forgive me?”
She was even more confused now. He had gone from being angry and revoking his affection for her refusal to commit to L.A. and now he was dismissing it. He didn’t mind that she’d not said yes. In fact, he was encouraging her not to make a decision. Had he changed his mind? No, she knew he hadn’t. She was being unfair to him, she needed to make a decision and commit to it completely and soon.
He stroked her hair and kissed her head gently. “Tasha, you really need to get dressed for lunch,” he said as she slipped her hands beneath his t-shirt.
“I don’t want to, I want you,” she said lowly.
He laughed. He needed to stop being a dick and trying to manipulate her unduly, although it was all for her own benefit and safety. However, she was not like his previous wives or girlfriends. She was better than them and too good for him because she was far more receptive to reasonable and understanding Jim than hard faced dick Jim and would never dream of taking advantage of his better side.
