Page 22 of The Stars Over Hollywood

Tracy blew out a breath and stood back from the doorway, drumming her fingers against it until Hayden was inside, and she locked it behind her.

They silently went into the living room, neither of them sitting down. Tracy perched herself on the arm of the sofa, her arms folded across her chest.

“Okay…” Hayden pursed her lips. “I came here to check on you and make sure you were okay. I wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction.”

“But you can see how it looks, right?” Tracy wanted to believe Hayden, but it just looked like such a set up.

“Tell me what you think it looks like.” Hayden’s voice was surprisingly calm.

“It looks like Lara roped you in, telling you that if you learned how to surf that you could be the star of this movie, and maybe you didn’t know about trying to get me involved. Maybe that was Lara’s idea.”

Hayden started pacing. “It was all Lara’s idea. We were all as stunned as you were.”

“And you’re not here to try and change my mind?”

“No. After what you told me? About why you left acting? No. Never.”

Tracy bit the inside of her cheek, taking in everything Hayden was saying. “So, you had no idea that was going to happen?”

“None. And that’s what I wanted to tell you. Lara explained after you left the reason why she couldn’t let this movie go, why she couldn’t seem to take no for an answer from you. And it’s because Kerri wrote the screenplay.”

“What?” Tracy stared at Hayden who kept pacing.

“Yeah. I couldn’t believe it either. But that’s not even the craziest thing.”

“What is?”

“She wrote it specifically for you. After Lara bumped into you and you got to know them again. I don’t know. That’s what Lara said, and it’s not that I think she’s lying. I just know that it’s not relevant. I know you don’t want to get back into acting, and that’s fine. I have a lot of things I need to sort out with her tomorrow, but I wanted to just come here and make sure you were okay first.”

Tracy reached out, stopping Hayden from pacing, her hand on Hayden’s arm. Tracy slid her grip lower, until she was holding Hayden’s hand and firmly tugged her closer, her hand gliding up Hayden’s neck and into her hair as she kissed her, harder than she ever had, trying to put every emotion she was feeling into it.

Hayden sighed into the kiss, dipping her head to kiss Tracy back, her fingers splayed against Tracy’s cheeks as they deepened the kiss.

Tracy might have been upset leaving Lara’s, certain that the whole thing had been a set up, but when she heard Hayden defending her, when she heard Hayden say with so much confidence that the circumstances around this movie were irrelevant, because she knew nothing would convince Tracy to get back into acting, it was like a switch had been flipped, and everything she’d been feeling towards Hayden in these last few weeks took over.

And then all she could think about was kissing Hayden.

Tracy barely broke the kiss as she sat down on the couch properly, sinking into the cushions, Hayden coming with her, straddling her waist as they continued to kiss.

And Tracy knew this was different. There was more emotion, more passion tonight, a desperation almost, and when Tracy thought about how she’d felt just a few moments ago, they’d been on the brink of a misunderstanding that would have ruined them before they’d even begun.

That was how this kiss felt. Relief. Anger. Lust. All wrapped up in this moment, because Tracy had been so close to not letting Hayden in. She’d wanted to be strong enough to tell her that she didn’t want to see her or talk to her, and what a mistake that would have been.

Tracy moaned when Hayden’s tongue danced with her own, her hands sliding up Tracy’s arms to rest on her neck, her thumb trailing along Tracy’s jawline.

Tracy’s hands slid down Hayden’s back as their lips parted again and again, and Tracy found herself unable to hold back, groping Hayden’s ass, the well-worn whitewash jeans smooth beneath her palms.

“I want you,” Hayden panted, her lips finding Tracy’s again, and Tracy arched up into her, moaning into the kiss, her grip on Hayden tightening.

Hayden rocked back against her as they kissed, and she broke the kiss, her breath hot against Tracy’s ear. “You’re driving me crazy,” she murmured, Tracy’s hands encouraging another roll of her hips, and the moan that left Hayden’s mouth left Tracy aching for more.

Tracy placed open kisses along Hayden’s neck, nipping at her ear before Hayden turned to capture her lips in another searing kiss, goosebumps breaking out along Tracy’s arms as a shudder ran through her, and Hayden’s hand disappeared beneath her shirt.

Tracy groaned into the kiss as Hayden’s hand palmed her breast through her bra, her thumb swiping over her nipple, and Tracy felt it everywhere.

Hayden sat up straight, breaking the kiss to lift her shirt over her head, revealing a white bra, Tracy’s eyes drawn to the swell of her cleavage and how smooth her skin looked.

Hayden dipped her head to find Tracy’s lips again, and Tracy slid her hands up Hayden’s bare back, her skin soft, her fingers skimming over her bra strap, gently pushing it off her shoulder before pressing her lips against her tanned skin, her hand gliding up Hayden’s neck, bringing their lips together in another intense kiss.

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