Chapter Twenty-Four
‘Lena, hang on,’ Ethan whispered into his phone, squinting in the morning glare as he stepped out onto the balcony and carefully slid the glass doors closed behind him.
‘Why are you whispering?’ she asked.
‘What? I’m not. I wasn’t.’ He peered through the window at Hazel, asleep in his bed. Her long legs dangled out from the sheets, her arm stretched over the space where he’d been lying only twenty minutes earlier.
He’d woken her with a kiss that started out soft and quickly became messy and wet and hungry. Arms and legs had tangled as warm bodies transformed into hot flesh. Round two had been slow and sleepy, Hazel straddling him, making little noises of pleasure that he knew would be etched into his memory forever. It was taking every ounce of discipline he had not to hang up on Lena, wake Hazel and start all over again, because fuck, that woman was something else. Life didn’t have to be all about the next big role, or the next big meeting, or the next five kilos he had to pack on or shred. Life could be about Hazel, holding each other on the couch, cooking meals together, and having sex so incredible it had redefined the word for him.
Except that wouldn’t be his life, because it couldn’t be. His life was going to be a long way away from hers.
He dropped onto the couch and stared out at the ocean.
‘What’s your day like?’ Lena asked.
‘Other than it being a Saturday, it looks fine. I’m driving myself to the set. I gave Tony the day off. He shouldn’t have to work the weekend too.’ Ethan wasn’t being quite that altruistic. With Hazel having her car back, he had his jeep back too, which meant that if he drove himself to work he could squeeze out every last second of his morning with her.
‘Will you have time to do a self-tape for me?’
‘For what?’
‘For that action script you’ve been going on about. Nancy and I got you an audition.’
‘What?’ He snapped forward. ‘Are you fucking serious?’
‘I’ll get the scene to you today with any direction the producer’s have. They also want body shots. Do you have time to record something? Tell me you’ve been working out.’
‘I’ll make time, and when don’t I work out?’ His blood rushed in his ears.
‘Maybe I should come up there,’ she said.
‘I’ve got it, Lena. There’s a great PA on set, I’ll get her to shoot it and I’ll email it to you. Trust me, I know exactly what they want. I’ve got this.’
‘If you land the part the timing is perfect. They would want you for stunt training the week after you wrap Barks. You’d have to go straight to LA and you wouldn’t get a break. Will you be okay with that?’
He glanced over his shoulder at the still sleeping Hazel, feeling a punch to his guts. Ethan’s eyes fluttered closed.
‘I’ll be ready whenever they want me.’
Hazel practically stumbled through her front door in a fog of bliss, her legs still unsteady, smiling at the glorious ache between her thighs. She unclipped Harry, dropped her bags on the kitchen counter and went to find Kevin, the little dog following along behind. Kevin glanced up from the chair in the corner of her bedroom.
‘You okay, buddy?’ She tiptoed over, her hand hovering above his head. He studied her with narrowed eyes and she dropped her hand to her side, deciding not to set herself up for disappointment. Her mood was too good, she didn’t need her cat to ruin it.
She’d woken in Ethan’s bed to a pink beach daisy on the pillow beside her along with a note saying he’d see her later at Max’s on the Beach. That night was her trial shift, and he wanted to be there to support her. Everything about that made her heart beat in a way she knew it shouldn’t. A way she’d promised herself it wouldn’t.
She headed to the kitchen to put Ethan’s daisy in water, leaving Kevin and Harry hanging out together like the odd couple they’d become. She’d just dropped onto the couch with a strong coffee when her phone rang. She didn’t recognise the number, but answered it anyway, in case it was something about her shift that night.
‘This is Natalia Rossi, owner of Molti Pesci,’ a woman said. ‘Is this Hazel?’
Hazel sat bolt upright.
‘Y-yes it is.’
‘I hope you don’t mind me calling, Hazel. Blake O’Brien works with me; he gave me your number.’
Blake was an old colleague of Hazel’s. The last she’d heard, he’d moved to Perth for a job. She had no idea he was back in Sydney, let alone working at her favourite restaurant.
‘Oh, hi Natalia. Did you not get my email?’ Hazel asked.
She’d answered Natalia’s email, politely explaining that she was living in another state and wouldn’t be available for several months, asking if she could get in touch in the future.
‘I did, that’s why I’m calling,’ Natalia said. ‘I thought it might be good to meet up sooner rather than later to discuss future opportunities for you. Will you be coming to Sydney to visit family anytime soon? I’ll shout you lunch at the restaurant.’
Hazel’s heart lurched. She had no plans to go home for a visit, and wasn’t sure if she was ready to do that. But she would be going home eventually and she’d be stupid to pass up this opportunity. Besides, how could she say no to lunch at Molti Pesci?
‘I could probably organise something,’ she said.
By the time she’d hung up, Hazel had agreed to fly to Sydney the following weekend for a casual chat about her future. It turned out Natalia not only knew Blake, she also knew the owner of Mamma’s Kitchen, who had nothing but good things to say about Hazel. She was surprised by that, and then furious that she’d allowed some egocentric dickhead to shake her belief in herself when apparently no one else had given him a second thought.
She grinned and let out an excited squeal. A break, at last. Hazel couldn’t wait to tell Ethan. But what if he got it into his head that she was going to abandon him mid-contract? Don’t be silly, she told herself. She was only networking, and they were both ambitious, he’d get it. Leaning her head back against the cushions and closing her eyes, Hazel was assailed by the image of Ethan falling apart beneath her, his beautiful face all radiant and sweaty, his lips parted and his breath ragged. Heat instantly tingled between her thighs.
She opened her eyes and quickly stood. She needed to get ready for her shift, and she needed to start thinking about her next move. The one after Ethan. How far away was that? Seven weeks? Suddenly, that didn’t seem like very long at all.