Page 111 of Dirty Rock

“But you couldn’t stop me if I wanted to.”

“You wanna bet?” She leaned down and dropped a kiss to my lips. Her hands reached up to hold onto my wrists, and she pressed them down into the pillow.

I kept my eyes open as she kissed me, watching as hers closed. I heard that when a girl closes their eyes during a kiss, it means they’re really into it. I didn’t understand that. When I kissed someone like Jules, I wanted to see it all. I wanted to witness her reactions, watch how her face changed when she pressed her lips to mine. I wanted to see the way her cheeks moved, and her nostrils flared when her breath stuttered.

She began to circle her arse against my growing dick. My body wanted her without her even having to touch me, but my mind, right there and then, wanted something more.

Something it could feed the heart.

I pushed back against her and sat up with her in my lap. Her arms wound around my neck, while I curled mine around her waist to hold her tight.

“Don’t… Rhett…” she whispered against my mouth.

“What?” I breathed out, watching her as I ran my fingertips up to her neck and stroked her smooth skin there.

She continued to kiss me, and I saw a single tear creep out from beneath her closed eyelids.

“Jules.” I pulled back to take a good look at her, but she kept her eyes closed and dragged my face back to her so she could kiss me again.

I let her do it.

Her pulse quickened, and her heart raced. I could feel all of it. I could sense every little thing she was experiencing.

Jules was terrified.

My own ego didn’t even consider what that could mean. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was fixing her up until she felt the peace I always felt around her again.

Closing my eyes and joining her, I held her tightly and kissed her slowly. Our tongues met, one massaging the other, and our lips melted into one another’s.

Eventually, when her breathing slowed, and I was confident she’d regained some control, I whispered against her mouth, “I do, though. Just so you know.”

* * *

“Rhett, this is Rhonda Tyson from Good Morning, America.” Julia turned to me, ever the professional, and she flashed her bright white teeth as she introduced me to one of the hosts of the telefon I was to be a part of the next day.

“Hey, Rhonda.” I shook her hand.

“Nice to finally meet you, Rhett. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear.”

“It would be a crime if I didn’t.” Her laughter was off. The forced kind that makes you widen your eyes and press your lips together while they rock back and forth to try and sell their lie. When she calmed, she placed a delicate, well-manicured hand on my shoulder, and gave me one of her equally fake Hollywood smiles. “And I must say, you’re even more handsome in reality than I ever could have imagined.”

I glanced at Jules, who simply half-smiled in her own way and held a breath in her chest.

I’d had my warning on the way over to the studio. The one begging me to behave, go along with the process, not complain too much, and play nice. What she really meant to say wasJust for one day, Rhett, be as fake as all the other arseholes around here.

Since making Jules happy had somehow become my new favourite pastime, I did as I was told and flirted back with Rhonda for a few minutes. By the time she walked away, she was putty in my hands. I watched her leave—her oversized silk blouse billowing behind her—before I turned back to Jules and thumbed over my shoulder.

“She really believes she’s got a chance at sucking my dick, doesn’t she?”

“You sell yourself well.”

“Maybe I should go into acting.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Jules sighed, her face falling as she looked down at something that was written on a little clipboard she held onto.

I laughed and pushed my hands into the pockets of my jeans as I took a look around the familiar faces floating around in the recording studios.

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