His laugh was low and quiet, reverberating through me. “You go first.”
Ryan’s arms felt like the safest place I’d ever been. “What did you want to be when you grew up?”
“I thought you’d be asking me something more complicated that that.” He pulled me closer. “I wanted to be an inventor or a scientist. I liked the idea of making things that solved people's problems.”
“Which you kind of do. With your programming.” I could smell his cologne, musky and smooth. I wondered if I could get away with spraying it over my clothes before I left so I could sleep with the scent when I was home.
“I suppose so. I don’t think I ever wanted to do a really specific job. I wanted a house where I had space, and a garden. Lots of garden.” He chuckled, his fingers playing with my hair. “If everything goes through on the property I’ve seen I’ll have that, so I guess that’s what I want to be.”
“A landowner. You sound like one of the characters in the series I’ve just filmed.” It was only mid-afternoon but my eyelids were dropping, probably the come down from the orgasms.
“Hmmm, maybe. What are you filming next?” He sounded as sleepy as I did.
“A movie. Should be about ten weeks, split between New York and London.” The thought of it woke me up. Filming in New York meant there would be no chance of seeing Ryan for however long I was there for, and I’d be there before the football season ended too, so he wouldn’t be able to fly out to see me.
“Who’s in it with you?”
I listed a couple of the names. It was still a little subject to change, as the male lead was involved in a bit of a scandal with his previous co-star and the producer was getting cold feet about having him involved. Ryan seemed interested, even though I knew he wasn’t that much of a film buff.
“What about your question. You get to ask me one.” I turned around and rearranged myself so I could watch him. “Then I need to shower.”
“I’ll help you.” His hand grazed my breast, his eyes dropping there too. I sensed round two wasn’t that far off.
“Your question.”
“Have you ever had a relationship with a co-star?”
It threw me off. I hadn’t expected him to want to know about my past. “Yes. Once when I was younger and wasn’t really known. It lasted for the duration of filming and then ended, which is the standard length for a filming fling. It’s intense, because depending on where you’re filming, you spend a lot of time together just as a group of people. I was broken-hearted when it ended but then it kind of all made sense afterwards. I stay away from dating someone I’m filming with, although sometimes the publicity team will set rumours off with the press that co-stars are dating because it adds interest.” I sat up, exposing my breasts for Ryan to gaze at.
“This question doesn’t count,” he said. “Have you been seeing anyone else while we’ve been hooking up?”
“No. Have you?”
“No.” He sat up. “I think now’s a good time to show you how the shower works.”
He showed me a lot more than that.
Buffy & Angel
November
CHAPTER15
Ryan
“Got to say,Ry, I didn’t expect this.”
I rested my head back against the seat and tapped my steering wheel. The last few days had beendifferent.Otter had managed to stay an extra night, and for the first time in forever, I’d had a woman in the place where I lived.
And it hadn’t been awkward.
We’d lounged about the place on Sunday, playing chess – somehow it came up in conversation that she played, eating the healthy pre-prepped stuff prescribed by Neva, and driving out to the Peak District to have a walk round a small town called Severton that Amber had recommended. Otter had fallen in love with an alpaca that had escaped from somewhere, and actually followed us into a cafe, enamoured with Otter, which I could understand.
Monday we’d gone for lunch in Manchester, a couple of photographers tipped off by Genny. If I hadn’t known what Otter did for a living, I’d have guessed by the time we’d walked into the restaurant and finished our starters. She knew exactly how to play a role for the cameras and had no issue directing me either.
I was happy to be directed, having no clue how to act natural when I knew we were being watched. There were slight touches, her hand on my arm, me kissing her knuckles, and under the table, where the camera wouldn’t be able to see – that was just for us. Knees touching, her foot training up and down my leg, my hand on her thigh. It was what the photographers didn’t see that left me lacking in understanding of myself.
Something that was compounded when she went back to London. The apartment felt empty without her. My bed felt cold. I must’ve called her at least three times that first night she was back in the capital.
