First Take (Star-Taken) (12 page)

She glanced at the computer clock. “It
’s almost three.” Which meant it was only one his time. “What are you doing in so early? I assumed the Hollywood crowd partied until dawn.”

He nodded. “It’s early by some people’s standards. I’ve never been much f
or staying out late though. I prefer private, more intimate things.”

She smiled. “Can’t get much more intimate than this.”

Now it was his turn to touch the screen. “I wish I was there. You’re beautiful when you sleep. Would it be weird of me to ask you to leave the chat on for a while?”

Weird, yes, but she didn’t want the call to end either.
“No weirder than it would be for me to ask you to tell me a story.”

He smiled. “What kind of story do you want to hear?”

“Hmm,” she murmured letting her eyes drift shut. “Your favorite story from when you were a kid.”

“That’s a tough one.” He was silent a moment.

Had she asked for the wrong thing? He hadn’t shared what his parents had been like as parents, but she had to assume if they’d ditched him, then—

“Once upon a ti—”

“Oh, I like fairy tales.” Felt like she was living in one. A smile curved her lips, and they all had happily-ever-after endings.

“
Shh. Once upon a time in a land far, far away…”

~ * ~

ELEVEN

“Do you have any sixes?” Rachel asked.

“Go fish,” her dad said.

She narrowed her eyes and stared at him, looking for any tells, but he’d always been a damn good poker player, or rather “Go Fish” player in the current case. If Mom and Robert weren’t off eating dinner, they’d no doubt be having a competitive family Texas Hold ‘Em tournament instead. Rachel wouldn’t be surprised if her dad wrangled them all into a poker match once he was settled at home again.

Without a crack in his stoic expression, Dad asked,
“What? Are you challenging me?”

Slowly, she drew a card. “No, but I’m watching you.”

He chuckled. “Do you have any threes?”

Rachel tucked the seven she’d drawn into her hand. “Go fish.”

“So tell me about this new guy.”

Startled, she glanced up. Her dad had folded his cards and placed them on his chest. “Who told you there was a new guy?”

He snorted. “Who else? Your mom. She’s worried because Nate didn’t come by yesterday or today. She thinks you brushed him off. Please tell me you brushed him off.”

She rearranged a couple of cards, closed her hand then re-fanned the cards
. Smiling, she said, “Actually, I set him up with Anna yesterday. Probably why he didn’t stop in for a visit.”

He nodded. “I can see that. She’s blonde, which he always seemed to like. No offense.”

She shrugged, but her dad’s level of perception amazed her.

“And she was always a bit…
mercenary.”

She snort
ed. That was one way to put it. Anna had dated the head quarterback in high school only to dump him when he decided not to play college football—though in the eyes of a lot of Texans that would have an unforgiveable sin and justification for termination of a relationship. She’d moved on to dating the quarterback of her college team, but then he’d dumped her when he got drafted.

Still, Anna was inherently a good person, and besides, a lot of women dated men looking toward securing a good financial future.
“Yeah, but not in an at-all-costs kind of way. She wouldn’t throw anyone under a bus for a dollar.”

He laughed and tears threatened Rachel. This was more like her dad. She hoped she never had to see him pale and gray and
slow again. She swallowed hard.

“So tell me about the new guy.”

Her phone buzzed. Stephen’s name showed on the display. After folding her cards, she laid them face down on her chair as she stood. “Speak of the devil.” She wagged her phone at her dad and swiped her thumb over the face to answer. “Hey, I take it you landed safely.” Earlier that afternoon, Stephen had called as he headed to the airport for his flight out of LA.

“Yeah, um, actually, I’m here.”

“I’m glad you made it back to New York fine. That was a quick flight.” She’d thought it take longer to fly cross-country.

“No, not New York. Houston.”

“You’re in Houston?” Was he there for her? Why else would he be there though? He would’ve mentioned if he was coming for business. The implications left her reeling, and as her blood pounded through her veins, she drew in a deep, steadying breath.

As if from a distance, she heard Dad say, “Tell him to come by.”

“Yes, Houston, but more specifically, I’m at the hospital, in the waiting room.”

Her heartbeat
stalled and she shook her head to clear the buzzing sound that had started. She counted slowly from one upward until time, her heart rate, and her breathing returned to normal. “Oh, okay, I’ll, uh…just let me warn my dad and I’ll be out.” She hung up before Stephen could respond and faced her dad. Stephen was on his list of top male movie stars, but that didn’t mean her dad would like him as a person. Nerves twisted her belly.

“What do you have to warn me about?” He sat up higher in th
e bed, pushing the button so the bed would do most of the work. She’d already warned him about trying to do too much too soon more than once. Maybe he was finally learning.

Yeah, right.

He wasn’t supposed to get excited. Not that he would go all raging-lunatic-stalker about Stephen Raymond, but it would be a shock. “It’s nothing bad. It’s just when you meet him, you’ll recognize him.”

A frown wrinkled his brow
. Great, she was doing a horrible job of preparing him. Now he was worried. “It’s not Paul is it? Please tell me you didn’t take the ‘software developer’ back.”

She would’ve laughed at the joke that
Paul hadn’t fooled anyone with his claims about his nonexistent job, but she was too freaked. Stephen Raymond had flown to Houston for her and was about to meet her father, the most important man in her life. “No, it’s not Paul. When I say you’ll recognize him, it’s because you’ve seen him dozens of times even though you’ve never met him.”

“Oh, for pity’s sake, pum’kin, just spit it out already.
You’re starting to sound like a bad riddle and you know how much I hate
Batman
.”

Rachel choked on a laugh partly caused by her dad’s bad joke an
d partly caused by near panic. After clearing her throat, she said, “The guy I’m seeing is Stephen Raymond.”

Dad’s
eyebrows shot toward his hairline. “Stephen Raymond? As in
Dreadnought
Stephen Raymond?”

An action sci-fi, the movie
was one of her dad’s all-time favorites. She nodded.

“Well don’t leave him out in the waiting room or wherever he is. The poor man may get swa
rmed by groupies.” He shooed her out the door, and chuckling at his excitement, she left the room. Leave it to her father to remind her of the practicalities and ground her in reality.

A
s soon as she was in the hallway, a different sort of worry gnawed her stomach. What would happen if people found out Stephen was at the hospital? Would it be overrun with paparazzi and fans? Her dad, her family, didn’t need to be subjected to that kind of attention. She hadn’t thought of the limelight that came with dating a star, well, because who cared about celebrity one-night stands with a nobody, and then, when it had changed into something else, well, Stephen had been halfway across the country, but now…

Her steps faltered. She could prevent it all with a word. Stephen would leave if she asked him to,
asked him to wait until she was back in New York and sanity had fully returned before asking her to face this reality, but she didn’t want to. Quickening her pace, she approached the waiting room, flutters replacing the worry. Stephen had come to Houston to support her. His phone calls, texts, and video chats had been an escape from the stress of the past few days. However, none of it would compare to the reality of being in his arms again. A worm of guilt threaded through her thoughts. Would she really abandon her duty to her family for incredible sex?

But it wasn’t only about the sex. She craved the comfort of his presence as well.
After taking a deep breath, she tugged open the door. As she entered, Stephen, hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans, turned. Since the warm fuzzies robbed her of the ability to speak, Rachel smiled.

He cocked an eyebrow. “You had to warn your dad about me?”
He might’ve striven for a neutral tone, but the twitching muscle in his jaw contradicted it.

She walked toward him, her smile fading. “Yeah, he’s not supposed to get overly excited.”
Stopping when she was within arms’ distance, she said, “You’ve starred in some of the films on his top one hundred movies list. I was a little concerned.”

Stephen’s expression cleared
, and his lips twitched. “Only top one hundred? I’ll have to work harder.” He glanced away, blew out a deep breath then met her gaze, all humor gone. “I was already uncertain of my welcome because this is a family thing. I was afraid you were going to refuse to see me.”

She shook her head. His insecurities always came out at the oddest moments. Stepping closer, she placed a hand on his chest
and savored the strong beat of his heart against her palm and the heat of his body as it washed toward her. “I’d be insane right now if not for you.” She threaded her free arm through the space between his arm and side and gave him a half hug.

He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed.
He was solid, her rock. Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked to clear them. She couldn’t believe how she’d come to depend on him in the course of a few days.

“I’m glad you came.” She’d never even thought to ask him
, but here he was. Of course, she also hadn’t asked to stay in touch after their wild night of sex. For some reason, he’d made it his mission to keep her in his life.

He kissed the top of her head
, stilling her thoughts. “It was just as easy to fly here as it would have been to return to New York, and only half the time on the plane.” After one last squeeze he released her, but before she could feel the loss, he slid a hand down her arm and captured her hand. “So, should I be afraid of your dad?”

She laughed. “H
ardly. His bark is worse than his bite.”

She led him to her dad’s room. While only semi-private, the other bed was currently unoccupied. She stood back as Stephen introduced himself. Then he and her dad fell into an easy discussion about a series of things
—movies, sports, fishing. By the time her mom and brother returned from dinner, Rachel was thoroughly bemused. Her dad had never taken to any of her boyfriends the way he’d taken to Stephen. Not that she’d ever slap such a mundane label on this man.

Stephen turned himself to charming her mom, who surprised
Rachel by falling for him quite easily. He had her simpering and preening just as readily as Nate had. Fickle woman. Though Rachel didn’t know quite why she was surprised. After all, he’d wrapped her around his finger over sushi.

W
hen the room fell silent, she glanced around. Everyone’s gaze was on her. “What?”

They all laughed,
and her dad said, “See, woolgathering. I was just telling Stephen here he should take you out of this depressing place, and I don’t want to see you until tomorrow.” He shifted his weight to his opposite side. “Hopefully, they’ll be releasing me then as well. I can’t wait to be home in my own bed.”

Rachel walked over and dropped a kiss on her dad’s cheek. “Okay, I know when I’m not wanted.” She hugged her mom and brother. “Don’t wait up for me.”
Maybe she should have protested, but she didn’t know how long Stephen was in town for, and she didn’t want to waste another minute.

Stephen
held out his hand and she took it. He weaved their fingers together. “It was nice meeting you.”

Her family said their good-byes, each with a bemused smil
e, and then she and Stephen escaped. Rachel giggled as soon as they hit the hallway. “I think they’re all half in love with you.”

He squeezed her fingers. “And what about you?”

Her heart skipped a beat. Was he serious? He couldn’t be serious. “Oh more than half,” she tossed out as if she was talking about how much more tea she wanted in a refill, but she was startled to realize she meant it.

But really was it a surprise? Hadn’t her decision to risk exposure to the paparazzi for not just the sex
with Stephen, but also his companionship, hinted at as much?

He shot her a half
smile, and she didn’t know if he was disappointed or happy. While she was gaga over his handsome face, she wished she could read his expressions better.

When she headed toward the parking garage, he tugged her to a stop. “This way.” He nodded toward the glass doors leading
to the busy street that flowed through and around Hermann Park and the Houston Zoo. “I’m booked at the hotel on the opposite side of the park. We can walk.”

She laughed. “I was on auto-pilot. You’d think after living in New York for so many years, I’d want to walk everywhere, but when I get back here, all I think about is driving.”

They walked outside, the humid, summer air slamming into them like a wall. It would take a good fifteen or twenty minutes to reach the hotel, and even though it was heading toward eight o’clock and only an hour or so of sunlight remained, the heat of the day still clung. Of course, even if it hadn’t, Stephen’s presence beside her would’ve raised her body temperature as effectively. Since she refused to relinquish his hand, she couldn’t take off her sweater. Luckily, the garment was cotton and not a hotter synthetic.

While
she told him stories of field trips to the zoo and playing in the park, their hands swung lightly between them, matching the rhythm of their steps, which slowed when they wound their way past the sidewalk fountains and reflecting pond. The extra humidity in the area had sweat beading in uncomfortable places, and the normally soothing sound of flowing water did nothing to settle her nerves. They’d spent the past few days doing all sorts of naughty things on the phone and computer, but confronted with the reality of getting naked in front of him again, she’d turned into a quivering, hot mess.

Stephen
stopped and faced her. With a hand at each of her hips, he looked into her eyes. “How does room service and a night in sound?”