Page 52 of Love At First Fright
Rosemary had been about to say something that hopefully sounded sexy and inviting, but it morphed into a yawn.
“Okay, I see your point.” She smiled into the phone. “You know, after the last couple of days, I have to say I don’t dislike you anymore, Ellis.”
He huffed out a laugh. “I’m glad. Get some sleep, Rosemary, the next few days are going to be busy.”
Maybe this was just another part of the dom/sub vibe, but Rosemary really did feel herself relaxing somewhat at his words.
“Good morning, Ellis.”
“Good morning, love.”
19
Ellis awoke to a heavyweight pressing down on his chest, something warm covering his face. He inched his eyes open to find Fig’s face resting on his, her stinky breath blowing directly up his nose. Delightful. She had tucked herself into the crook of his neck like she used to do when she was a puppy, except she was big enough now that she ended up lying across his entire chest.
“Alright, Fig. Let’s get up.”
Unlike Ellis, Fig was ready to go immediately, standing on her hind legs and scratching at the door. He pulled on jogging bottoms and a hoodie; it was midafternoon but really, that was morning, since they were on night shoots, and he didn’t expect anyone else to be downstairs. It wasn’t until Ellis opened the door, Fig bounding down the stairs ahead of him, that he caught sight of Rosemary’s door, and the previous night came back to him.
Had he moved too fast, initiating phone sex when they’d only just kissed? But Rosemary had seemed so enthusiastic, so willing. Ellis didn’t quite have words for the relief he felt whenhe realised Rosemary was a willing submissive. He had an uncanny feeling that they just understood each other.
Ellis took Fig out into the field between the Gatehouse and the manor, throwing a stick back and forth for Fig to get some of her energy out. Times like this reminded him of Hank, and of the brief time when he’d had both Fig and Hank together. They’d go bounding after the same stick—Fig a touch faster than Hank with his short legs and rounded Corgi frame—but Fig would wait, and they’d both come shuffling back to him, one end of the stick in each of their mouths. When Hank had died, Fig had been bereft, too, but they’d got each other through it.
There were a couple of set decorators in the woodland just to Ellis’s right, and he waved to them. They were preparing the area for a shot tonight that involved his character being chased through the woodland by the ghosts.
They waved back, and Ellis heard their voices carrying over on the wind.
“I heard he was flirting with her like crazy at the pub,” one of them said to the other, and Ellis paused to throw another stick for Fig. Who were they talking about?
“Yeah, he’s been all over her. Every time I look they’re eye-fucking each other.”
“I thought he was dating that model, Jenna something?”
Shit, they were talking about him and Rosemary.
“They’re all the same, though, actors.” He could practically hear the eye roll in the set decorator’s words, and he tried to move away a little so he could still hear, without it being obvious that he was eavesdropping.
“So true. Can’t help themselves when they see something young.”
“Just like DiCap—”
“Shh, don’t say his name,” the other one interrupted, laughing. “If you say it three times in the mirror he’ll come and ask if you’re below twenty-five.” They dissolved into cackles and Ellis walked away. Was he really like them, those A-list actors who spent their middle age swapping out young women for even younger ones? Rosemary is twenty-nine, he felt the urge to shout back, only twelve years younger than him. Only.
“Christ,” Ellis groaned aloud, running a hand over his face. What had he beenthinking? He was just as bad as they were. No, worse, because within only hours of kissing her for the first time, he’d instructed her to fuck herself with a dildo over the phone. He was leery. A pervert. He was everything Brody had ever told him he was. Ellis knew he was spiralling, but the bitterness felt good, he deserved it. His needs, his desires, they weren’t right. Even if it felt right with Rosemary, felt so perfect, it didn’t matter. Sooner or later he would show his true self to her, with all his perversions, and she would run away. Better nip this in the bud now, before he was emotionally invested. Who was he kidding, he was already emotionally invested. It didn’t matter, he needed to rip the Band-Aid off.
He found her in the kitchen, plaiting her hair down the side while she waited for the kettle to boil. The sunlight streamed in through the windows, lighting her hair on fire. She turned to face him, her full lips sliding into a grin, and all he could think was,She’s too good for you, she’ll always be too good for you,and the loss of it, of what they could have had together, sank deep into his soul like a rotten seed.
“We can’t do this,” he said, a lump in his throat.
“What?”
“I’ve acted unprofessionally,” Ellis said.
Rosemary snorted. “I think we’re past unprofessional.”
“I’m older than you, Rosemary, enough that it matters.And you’re the exec producer here, I’m the actor, it…we shouldn’t.”
“None of those are good enough reasons, Ellis.”
