Capture Me: Alpha Billionaire Romance (Hollywood Dreams) (6 page)

My hands froze and I quickly scanned both my dressers. “Oh, God—” I jumped out of bed and checked behind the desk lamps. “Where is it?” I got on my knees and began going through everything. “Tell me I didn’t do it again.” Dress shirt, slacks, bra, tie . . . I flipped up the bedspread. “Where the hell is the damn condom?”

I vaguely remembered unwrapping one, but was that last night? I’d forgotten once before with Paisley. We’d had way too many shots that night, then I took a few stupid shots inside her without protection. Sometimes it was good to miss and only hit rim.

I wanted to stay in the country, but not because of Paisley.

I started checking the pockets of my pants where everything else seemed to show up. Change, receipt from last night for an ungodly expensive meal that Paisley insisted on, keys—

What the hell was I doing? My stomach knotted and my thoughts went back to Tessa. Would I be this worried with her? Everything kept going back to her, even though I’d only known her a few days.

That meant something to me.

I saw it then, resting on top of Paisley’s leopard-print thong. The relief hit me so fast I started laughing. I sat back on my heels and pulled my shoulder-length hair through my hands. I felt good for the first time all morning.

That had been scary as hell. The fact that it was Paisley here didn’t make me feel any better.

“What’s so funny?” Paisley stepped into the room. She eyed the wrapper in my hand and a mischievous smile crossed her face. “I knew you couldn’t get enough.”

Before I could stop her, she sauntered over and wrapped her body around me. Why hadn’t I bothered to put some pants on?

I threw on the most disappointed look I could manage and said, “This was the last one.”

She kissed my neck and a chill went down my spine—only partially from pleasure. “That’s okay, I want to take care of you, make you feel good.” She began to lower to her knees. Paisley dragged her nails down my stomach and curled them around the band of my boxers.

I cupped her chin and raised her head to meet my eyes. “Thank you, but I’ll have to take a rain check.”
That I never plan to cash in
.

I dragged my pants on and slipped my arms through a clean cotton shirt. God, I wanted to shower, especially after the condom scare, but getting out of here was more important. I knew that if I dared to step into the bathroom, she’d follow and never leave. I kept handing clothes to her and finally she got the hint.

I did a mental calculation of my calendar but couldn’t remember when I had her scheduled. I needed some time. “When is your next shoot with me?”

A grin crossed her face as she said, “Friday was the last one, but I’m free later this week. In the evenings as well.”

Oh hell no
. With my hand on the small of her back, I managed to get halfway through my room. “I’ll have to get back to you.”

What could only be disappointment replaced her smile. I really hadn’t bothered to get to know her feelings all that well.

I wanted something different with Tessa.

What that was, I wasn’t quite sure yet, but I wanted to learn everything about her, to experience everything with her, to see if she was who I thought she could be.

Tessa wasn’t like the other girls I knew, and I liked who I was around her. I shouldn’t have slept with Paisley, but better to learn that now than later.

With her miniskirt strapped on, Paisley stood in front of my bureau, tossing her hair this way, then that.

“I can walk you out.”

“That would be great,” she said, then turned back to the mirror and fussed with her hair some more.

I grabbed my satchel and my coat—even though it was far too warm to put it on. I just needed anything to give her the hint to vacate.

“There’s this new coffee shop down the road if you want to join me.” She finally pulled her hair back into a long ponytail and I wondered what all the fuss was about. I’d been around models long enough to be used to their tendencies.

Right about now, a laid-back girl like Tessa looked even better to me.

“I’m good, really.” I wished I had a bedroom door to show her out of instead of such an open floor plan. “I have a lot to get done at the studio.” It was the truth. I had a full day booked. I made a show of checking my phone. “First model’s due any time.” Hell, I couldn’t remember when she was scheduled, or who was even coming first, but if I didn’t get Paisley out, there was no way I’d get anything done.

When she finally walked from the bedroom, she faced my wall of prints as if to stare down each of the photos. She crossed her arms and turned to me. “Why haven’t you put any of my photos up?”

I wanted to tell her that I’d put five up the moment she left, but I couldn’t lie to her. On the off chance—the
very
off chance—she ever came back here, that would be the first thing she’d look for. She’d probably make an excuse to come over here just to look at them.

“I only exhibit my former models on these walls.” I quickly did a scan and breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t done a shoot with any of them.

She shrugged and was about to fiddle with some papers on my dresser when I realized one was the immigration letter from ICE. That was one thing I did not need her to know about.

I swooped beside Paisley, put my arm around her shoulder, and led her to the door. When we got downstairs, Randy, my over-intrusive doorman, gave me a thumbs up.

I could see he was about to suggest calling the car service when I gave a quick shake of my head. “Hail a cab for her.”

He gave me a long look, then finally nodded and said, “Right away.”

People sometimes say good help can be hard to find, but I think that good help could sometimes be just as troublesome.

Paisley turned to me as we waited for the cab to arrive. She fluttered her lashes, forgetting that she hadn’t had the chance to paste a new set on. “Be a gentleman and spare a fifty for the trip.”

I wanted to tell her that even with tip, the ride would cost less than twenty for her to get home. I handed her the full fifty anyway and said, “Have an extra coffee on me.”

She flashed me a smile, and finally, she was gone. I had the urge to wave so long, but given Paisley, she’d take it to mean,
Hold the cab. Let’s drive to Florida together.

I ran a hand through my hair, thinking about how close she had been to seeing that letter. I didn’t really know if it would have mattered, but it wasn’t her business. I didn’t want Paisley anywhere close to my personal life.

I made a mental note to contact someone in immigration today. Thanks to the weekend, I hadn’t had the chance to follow up with anybody yet.

Randy was waiting at the door for me. I groaned, and if I didn’t actually need to get to the office, I would have gone for a walk right then.

“So, her again?” He walked beside me into the entry area.

The glass space typically gave the room such an open feeling, but right now, all I wanted was to take one of the waiting chairs and make a new door. I owned the building, so what did it matter? Not a good idea unless I wanted to replace Randy and the rest of the staff, along with the window.

“Call the car service for me,” I said to Randy.

“Oh, so you
do
remember the car service?” With his hand on the phone receiver, he said to me, “You know, a true gentleman would have taken the cab himself and given the car to the lady.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” And I would.

It was a good idea for Tessa.

CHAPTER 9

Liam

A few hours later, I sat back in my chair after finishing two photo shoots and the edits from another three. It had been one of the most productive days in the last month. I was able to get Paisley and the immigration issues off my mind for the whole morning.

But not Tessa.

I had wanted to give her the typical buffer time after the first date before texting her, and decided a day was long enough. My days could be numbered in this country so I might as well make the most of them.

It had been a few hours since I messaged her when I glanced at my phone again. Three missed calls from vendors but no texts.

I wondered what Tessa was doing right then. If she had been to my place last night, I wouldn’t have gotten a single thing done today because we’d still be in bed together.

I still didn’t understand why she had decided to not go back to my place on Saturday. If she’d had half the fun I had, there was no way she didn’t want to.

But if that was the case, why had she pulled away? Had she somehow read that marriage—in order to stay in the country—was on my brain? Didn’t she get that the subject wasn’t something I thought about all the time. Really, it was only my immigration status that had even put it there. I knew it wasn’t exactly the best circumstances to be considering the ultimate in a long-term relationship, but what choice did I have?

Of course, it wasn’t like she could read my mind. Then it would really be too good to be true. So, then, what was it?

I double-checked the message I sent Tessa.

Hope your first day is going well.

Maybe she would have gotten back to me if I’d asked a question. I clicked through my calendar to check when Sadie was scheduled next. Wednesday. I’d have to suck it up and wait until then to find out if Tessa had as good a time as I did.

And, seriously, only women thought things through this much. I had to get this immigration stuff figured out before it drove me nuts.

Or turned me into a woman, apparently.

I chuckled at that one and got back to work, doing my best to push Tessa to the back of my mind.

CHAPTER 10

Tessa

“What? What did you just say?” I asked. The phone felt foreign against my cheek, as cold and unnatural as the words my sister just said. Words I must have misunderstood.

“Mom and Dad are dead,” Dani cried, her voice strained as though she’d used every bit of strength she had to push the words out.

There was a long silence. I didn’t know if she was waiting for me to respond or if my head just refused to wrap itself around this new reality.

“Tessa, are you there?”

I had to laugh because this had to be some sick joke. Except Dani wasn’t the type to hurt others for fun. The phone started shaking in my hand.

“Here.” It was all I could say at the moment. Though the waiting room was large even for corporate standards, with its floor-to-ceiling windows and open floor plan, at that moment, it felt no bigger than my mother’s seasonal closet.

The walls had closed in and my world started to spin.

When Dani and I were young, no more than six and ten-years-old, we always had two hours to kill between piano and Latin lessons. Growing up in one of the largest homes in Greenwich made for some choice games of hide-and-seek. My sister took to the game like a pro and she always found the best spots. Some of which I never discovered. She found me every time, until I hid in Mom’s closet. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of hiding there sooner. Dani had a bizarre aversion to nutcrackers, and Mom had an extensive collection. For most of the year, they were lined up in rows along the back wall, tucked away where no one could see them, and I would sit there, surrounded by stacks of boxes. The room always smelled of dust and mothballs. Hell, except for anyone with claustrophobia, it was the perfect spot to hide.

Right now, all I wanted was to go right back to that closet where I’d never been found. Where horrible news didn’t exist. Where Mom and Dad were still alive. I shifted in my chair.

“Carbon monoxide poisoning. They’re gone.”

I was about to ask if it had been painful for them, but I started putting the pieces together. They wouldn’t have felt a thing. We had a great aunt who had died in her sleep a few years back, but that wasn’t what was supposed to happen to middle-age people.

Especially not to Mom and Dad. They were supposed to live long and happy lives. I was supposed to be starting my career working alongside Dad.

“Are you okay?” Something about her story didn’t click. “How did you—”

My brain and mouth weren’t exactly working together at the moment, but my sister knew me and what I was trying to ask.

Dani sighed on the other end, and after a moment, she finally said, “I wasn’t there.”

From behind the desk, Betsy frowned at me, probably unable to hear my side of the conversation, thanks to the fountain. It was perfect to get work done but not to learn office gossip. Eyes wide, she leaned over her desk, obviously wanting to know what was happening.

I felt my legs working on their own, standing me up, wanting to kick something, wanting some privacy. I walked to the other end of the room and looked out to the city. The first drops of rain streamed down the windows, distorting the view of the buildings. Umbrellas began to sprout all down the block in response. Cause and effect. Everyone went about their lives like nothing horrible just happened. And for them, nothing had, but it felt like my world just ended with this phone call.