Page 1 of Scarred Heart

1

SPENCER

“Ohh… shi-it… so close…” The nameless blonde tossed her hair to the side so she could look at me over her shoulder.“Harder,” she whispered, meeting me thrust for thrust.

If there was one thing I believed in, it was giving a lady what she wanted.My grip on her hips tightened so I could hold her in place before pounding into her in sharp, deep strokes that left her clenching around my dick while she bit her lip to silence a moan.

This was nothing.A distraction, a little fun.Short-lived, but then bathroom sex generally had to be,especially when it took place in a public bathroom at a Hollywood industry event.

Burying myself balls deep, she gripped the marble, her legs trembling as she tipped over the edge, causing my orgasm to follow.Then I slipped out of her and tossed the condom, tucking myself into my boxer briefs.“Thanks for that,” I offered dryly, zipping my pants.

“Mmm… thankyou.” The woman purred like a cat, her red nails trailing down my chest after she righted herself and flicked my silk tie in a gesture that was probably supposed to be playful.As far as I was concerned, she’d already worn out her welcome.“We should try that again sometime.Maybe someplace a little more private.Not that this wasn’t incredible,” she added.

Fucking her while she leaned over the sink was hardly incredible, but then I couldn’t speak for her prior experience.For all I knew, I was the best she’d ever had.“I’d better get back out there,” I told her, ignoring the way her face fell when I avoided the topic of getting together again.One last look in the mirror confirmed everything was in place before I offered a brief smile and headed for the door.“Give me a minute before following.”I didn’t bother to stick around to hear if she said anything more.It didn’t matter.

After all, I was under strict orders not to fuck around with any of the women at this event.My best friend, Lex Landry, had invited me to the awards ceremony and luncheon honoring his father.Being the son of a legendary studio mogul meant sitting through boring events.I was allowed to alleviate the boredom, but only if I promised to leave the young actresses alone.

His family studio, handed down from grandfather to father and soon to son, had sat at the top of the Hollywood heap for decades.There wasn’t an actress in town who wouldn’t kill for a role in one of the films they produced.While Lex had never participated in that whole casting couch bullshit, rumors could be vicious.The slightest hint of that swirling around him might be more than enough to shift public perception.

The coast was clear when I stepped out.Lex was nowhere in sight.Straightening my suit jacket, I scanned the banquet room for him, wondering if he needed a wingman to free him from a dull conversation.

Instead of finding him, I swore I saw a ghost.

For one breathless moment, my heart stopped beating—the reaction that resulted from a sudden shock.It couldn’t beherweaving her way through the crowd with a tall, shapely goddess following close behind.It wasn’t possible.

A scream rang out in my head as sharp and clear as the night I heard it coming from the girl in the passenger seat—shrill, terror-filled, with the power to lift the hair on the back of my neck.

Other memories flooded back, overlapping chaotically, reflecting the chaos of that terrible night.The crunch of metal, the shattering of glass.The terrifying, profound silence in the moments after we came to a violent stop when I looked to my right and found a nightmare come to life.

So much blood.I didn’t know people had that much blood in them.She can’t be alive.But she can’t be dead.

The purr of the women exiting the bathroom behind me pulled me back to the present, but she wasn’t the blonde who’d taken my mind hostage.“Will I see you again?”the stranger asked.I never did get her name.If I had, I would’ve forgotten it the second I thought I saw the woman who’d changed the course of my life.

“I don’t think so,” I murmured without glancing at the nameless blonde, already on my way to where I would’ve sworn I saw her.

Rowan.

A name I hadn’t spoken aloud in years, one which only existed in my memory now.

Get it together.I was more tense now than I’d been before sneaking off to that rather dirty bathroom with one of the event staff.Why the hell would memories of Rowan haunt me now?I hadn’t thought about her in years, a deliberate avoidance at first that became easier as time went on.

“Wake up.You have to wake up!”Fuck, so many things could race through a person’s mind all at once.That scream of hers.The sound someone made when they knew they were about to die, onlyshe couldn’t be dead.

“There you are.”Lex’s warm, jovial voice startled me out of the nightmare that insisted on wrapping itself around me.Of course, I hadn’t seen her.This town was overflowing with beautiful blondes.

“Here I am,” I replied.“Sorry if I left you hanging.”

“I figured I’d find you screwing a starlet in the bathroom,” he joked, his gaze moving over the room.

“I wouldn’t do that.”And I hadn’t.I was true to my word.“If anything, this is a little boring.I thought these big industry parties evolved into orgies.”

“So that’s why you were so quick to accept my invitation.”He lifted his drink to acknowledge an old man who waved across the room.“Sorry.wrong decade.Though I bet that old geezer over there could tell you a few stories.”

What a shame, considering the quality of the women around us.Not only were they gorgeous, but they were willing.Almost hungry.I knew the look in their eyes and the determination written across their perfect faces.Somebody needed to tell them not to smile so hard.It looked forced.If there was one skill an actress needed, it was the ability to look sincere.

But this wasn’t a set, and we weren’t making a movie.It didn’t matter.Hollywood wasn’t known for realism.Every event was an opportunity to make a good impression on a director, agent, or executive, and an event such as the one my best friend had roped me into attending was no exception.

Sinking into a chair along the room’s periphery, I could at least relax my facial muscles.It was different in the Hamptons last weekend at the wedding where I could genuinely be glad for the couple getting married.Besides, it was good to see my colleague, Miles Young, looking at peace for a little while despite everything going on around us.

---