Page 12 of Full House

CHAPTER FIVE

Victoria stared at the man above her. The light coming through the open door only revealed half his face. The rest was in shadow. But the half she could see had her heart pounding. He looked determined. No that wasn’t the right word. He looked impatient. Hungry. It was surreal that Nathan Reed, the movie star, stared at her so intently with that expression.

She wasn’t one to act so brazenly. She honestly didn’t know what had come over her tonight. First, at the studio and again just then. The only thing she could blame it on was him. Nathan Reed. He had her libido all amped up, making her do crazy things that were totally out of character.

And what was even crazier, she wasn’t embarrassed or sorry she’d done them. Yes, in the light of day, she may look back on her actions and cringe a little for being so bold, but if sex with Nate was even half as great as the sneak peek he’d given her when they’d first entered the bedroom, well then, it would definitely be worth a little unease the next day.

“What are you thinking?” Nate asked, his thumbs tracing a pattern on the insides of her wrists.

Victoria had been brave all night. She wasn’t going to stop now so told him the truth. “This might be the best mistake I’ve ever made.”

A deep line formed between Nate’s eyebrows. “Mistake?”

She kept truth-spewing. “Even though I’ve never done something like this before, I’m not naïve. We both know how on-set romances end. They fall apart when the director yells cut. I’m not expecting more than this,” she bumped up her hips, emphasizing her point, “from you. So, in the long run, yes, this will be a mistake.”

His jaw hardened, and she realized, too late, she’d managed to piss him off. He released her wrists, rolling off her to sit at the side of the bed, feet planted on the floor, his back to her.

She sat up, her eyes zeroed in on the expanse of his back—the broadness of his shoulders with traps and lats clearly defined under smooth, tanned skin—not sure how to fix her mistake. She should have kept her thoughts to herself. “Now, I’ve really ruined the mood, haven’t I?”

His shoulders stiffened, and she realized her joke had fallen flat. His muscles rippled as he stood from the bed, taking a few steps before bending over to nab his jeans off the floor. “Get dressed, Victoria. I’ll take you home.”

He still hadn’t looked at her, and the use of her full name caused a strange lump to form in the back of her throat. She swallowed it down, refusing to examine why she was suddenly so upset. It was better this way, and he’d finally come to his senses and realized that. She should do the same.

She scooted to the edge of the bed and looked around the floor, spying her clothes way too close to his proximity. But that wasn’t a problem for long because after sliding on his last boot, he strode from the room without a backward glance.

She gathered her clothing from the floor, throwing them on, while a strange heaviness filled her chest. “Stupid,” she muttered as she stepped into her jeans. Why did she have to open her mouth? Why did she pick this night of all nights to be brave for the first time in her life? She pulled her shirt over her head and glanced at the bed one last time before slipping from the room. Worry over whether she’d screwed up her budding friendship with Nate followed her like a dark shadow as she descended the stairs.

To say the ride to her house was uncomfortable would be an understatement. Nate hadn’t said one word after asking her to punch her address into the sat nav, and so far, she’d sat through fifteen excruciatingly long minutes of silence. Not even the radio had been turned on for relief.

She hadn’t been able to suppress the urge to glance Nate's direction when she knew his eyes were on the road, quickly averting her head when they’d stopped at red lights. And every time she’d looked, he still wore an angry mask, making her wish he’d put his acting skills to the test.

They came to a stop, and she looked out her side window, seeing they’d pulled to the curb in front of her place. She reached for the door handle but stopped short of pulling on it when she felt Nate’s hand on her arm. She turned her head his direction.

He was still upset, she could tell from the stiffness of his posture, but his voice held a hint of tenderness when he said, “I’ll drive you closer, but I need directions.”

Her complex was large, holding more than fifty units. Of course, no matter how angry with her he was, he wouldn’t just drop her off on its outskirts for her to forge her own way to her condominium. She pointed a finger vaguely through the window. “I’m in the third cluster of units on the left.”

The car started rolling again, and he made the turn in to the drive.

“Right here is fine,” she said as he pulled alongside her building.

He hit the brakes then looked out his side window. “Which one is you?”

“My unit faces the greenbelt. It’s just down that sidewalk and to the right.” He opened his door, and she quickly added, “You don’t need to walk me. It’s just around the corner and perfectly safe. I do it alone all the time. Even later than it is now.” Plus, she just wanted this awkwardness to end. Tomorrow she’d pretend like nothing had ever happened. She didn’t take four years of acting in college for nothing. She could fake it with the best of them.

If possible, his already tense jaw grew tenser, and she was pretty sure she saw his eye twitch. “I’ll walk you.”

He didn’t say anything else as he got out of his car, slamming the door. Technically, he wasn’t in a real parking spot, but she figured he probably knew that, and quite honestly, didn’t want to confront Mr. Grumpy with anything else tonight.

He started walking down the sidewalk, and she followed behind until he paused at the turn and let her precede him. She passed two units, stopping in front of the gated entry that led to her enclosed patio. She’d already fished the keys from her purse, hoping for a clean getaway.

“This is me,” she said, sliding her key into the knob on the gate. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

But he didn’t leave. Instead, he followed her in.

She stopped mid step. “This really isn’t necessary.” She didn’t think she needed to explain the this but maybe she did because instead of wishing her a goodnight and leaving, he plucked her keys from her fingers and headed for her front door.

It took him only two tries to find the right key. Victoria heard her alarm start beeping, and she pushed past Nate to get to the box on the wall by her front door. Her biggest fear was setting off her alarm and pissing off her neighbors. And though she knew she had a good thirty seconds to deactivate it, she always rushed to the panel as if it were the last piece of pizza in a room full of teenagers.

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