Chapter 32
Independence
BAZ
“Baz, I don’t have time. The car is in the alley,” Lanie pled.
“Lady Osgoode, you’re going to be gone for weeks. I won’t see you until God knows when. I’m not letting you leave yet,” I said.
“I want you. I need you, but I also—”
I’d pinned Lanie against my living room wall.
Her luggage sat by the door. We survived the holidays—somehow playing husband and wife remarkably well at Eldergrove.
It was the most fun I had in ages. But just as soon as I’d adjusted to the role of doting husband, Lanie was headed away to shoot in Wales.
It was the role of a lifetime for her, and I wouldn’t hold her back.
Meanwhile, I was torn between Caleb’s project, owning a football team, running an estate in Scotland, and a development in Copenhagen.
I’d see very little of Lanie now that she couldn’t travel with me.
“I need to go,” Lanie gasped as I slipped my hand into her leggings.
“Fuck,” Lanie moaned, pressing her hips into me.
I bit her earlobe and played with her clit.
“Fuck me, then. Quickly,” Lanie begged.
I’d said nothing, but she was putty in my hands.
We undressed enough to make this work. I pinned her back to the wall once more. She craved me. I loved the way she looked—excited, flushed, desperate. But, I realized I’d not roughed her up in a while.
“Over the couch,” I pointed. “Go.”
Lanie followed my orders, leaning over the arm. She looked back at me as I slid inside her tight, wet little pussy. It elicited a long moan—relief. I intended to send her off desperate to have me again. I would leave her knowing I was the best she ever had.
“I should have sat on your face,” Lanie panted.
I spanked her ass. “Who says you get to decide, Lanie? You’re mine right now. You’ll do what I say.”
Holding on for dear life, she cried out in nonsense. Her breath quickened with each thrust. I awaited the beautiful sound of her orgasm. I’d miss that most of all. Pulling her auburn ponytail, I drove her over the edge. She screamed my name and pulsed around me. I felt her go limp, spent for now.
“Oh, God, Baz,” Lanie said. “You are so good!”
“I know. Never doubt me, Lanie.”
I debated how I wanted to finish. On one hand, I wanted to mark her as if she were my territory. There was a special satisfaction in that. So, knowing I wouldn’t last much longer, I pulled out. Lanie turned, as if dissatisfied.
“I want you to know who owns you, Lanie. I want everyone to know. This is all you deserve,” I pumped my shaft and pressed the head of my cock against her ass.
“You really think that will work?” Lanie asked.
“I think you know where your bread is buttered, yes.”
I smacked her ass even harder. She moaned, satisfied. She loved a good spanking.
I enjoyed the handprint I left on her rough, pale asscheek. So, that became the target of my release. I focused on that as I came, my cum running down her ass onto her full thighs.
“Baz, you’re an asshole!” Lanie groaned and scowled. “Clean me up. I must go.”
Satisfied with her cross expression, I grabbed a kitchen towel and mopped the semen dripping down her leg. After a final rough spank, she turned to face me.
“I need to go.”
I tossed the towel aside and pulled her chin to me. “Go, but you’re always mine, Lanie. Don’t forget who owns you.”
She gave me a slight smile. “Bad boy, Baz! You can think that all you like.”
“I know it, Lanie.”
She said nothing, just left. I pulled myself back together, having little time to myself before I packed off to the stadium to meet Caleb at the club level.
“Where is the wife?” He joked.
“Finally headed to Wales at the mercy of Leah Roughy.”
“Well, in that case, I have someone to introduce you to.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant until he led me to two tall women he brought as guests. The brunette was obviously more interested in Caleb. In early conversation, however, it became clear the blonde was little more than an offering at my altar—a prize for surviving a few months of newlywed life.
“You like her, right?”
“Jessica?” I asked. “She’s fit.”
“And single. I plan to head to the club after this,” Caleb said. “Fancy joining us?”
I thought about it a moment. Any other time, I would have taken him up on it.
This was a situation where a woman was dangled before me.
She didn’t care about the wedding band on my left hand.
She was an easy lay. I could have a bit of fun.
Caleb was good with that promise. Then, I thought about how it might get back to Lanie.
I knew our agreement remained, but would she still feel the same?
“I don’t know. I should probably turn in early today,” I said.
“Mate, don’t get boring on me. I thought Lanie would be cool with it. And she doesn’t have to know. We’re just friends.”
I ignored my gut as I watched the Dyers go 4 to 1 against Newcastle.
I told myself I enjoyed the ability to blow off steam with friends.
Didn’t I deserve a bit of fun? After all, Lanie left me.
Baz Osgoode wasn’t good at celibacy and Lanie wanted us to be independent, right?
Instead of listening to the angel on my shoulder, I packed off to the club and gave into my deviant side.
I ignored the ring on my finger as I let Jessica kiss me and drank more, knowing full well what I was about to do.
As I went to get us more drinks, I checked my mobile.
LANIE
I’m a sap. I miss you.
I heard her say it in her sweet little American accent.
And suddenly, it wasn’t worth it. All the hall passes in the world didn’t feel right now.
Who was I to chase tail when Lanie had hardly been gone and was missing me?
Instead, I went home and turned in, wondering if Lanie had finally broken me.
I always swore monogamy wasn’t for me, but perhaps I was too old for this shit.
I’d take Caleb’s judgement over my sudden transition to good boy if it meant I wouldn’t hurt the woman I realized I was falling for.
Instead of bedding a woman I didn’t know, I texted my wife.
ME
I miss you, too. I’ll be there soon.
LANIE
Promise?
ME
I cannot be away from you for long, love.
LANIE
Good. I’ll keep the bed warm.
I was in love with my wife.
LANIE
Crew introductions began two days after we arrived for a table read on the grounds of Leah’s family castle in Wales.
This was the actual home of the former Countess of Dwyfor.
This is where Annie spent her entire adulthood.
It’s where she arrived—alone, a frightened American girl—and raised her children.
She became a local celebrity and a favorite of Princess Maud when she travelled to London.
But as I took the place in and the crew set up for our first day of shooting, I was overwhelmed at the sheer size.
The castle was big. It was lovely, but dizzyingly so.
I still didn’t feel like the lady of the house.
However, this castle was usually open only to the public for weddings or for the enjoyment of Royals.
Leah’s father inherited the place and was on hand to watch shooting begin.
It didn’t feel accessible. In a way, I knew I’d be able to draw on that as I played Annie.
Then, I realized what I would have to contend with. It was much more than the scope of the set or how I had to film an uncomfortable love scene in two days. No, it was upon crew introductions.
“Hello, Lanie.”
I was walking the hall between the library and the former Countess’s bedchamber that I ran into my ex.
Sam Clarendon stood in one of his typical vintage t-shirts.
He was effortlessly sexy without trying.
And here I was—a bit of a sloppy mess. It was as if I were once more the young actress who’d arrived on the set of a low-budget indie flick years before.
He was the older, wiser, more important man.
Or, at least that’s what I’d felt. And when his career really took off, he dumped me.
“You’re working here?” I asked. “I wasn’t… aware.”
“I am, yes,” Sam said. “Leah’s people reached out when their guy went to rehab. So, as of three hours ago, I’m on set for the foreseeable future as DP.”
“Great,” I lied, wanting to escape into the walls.
“I hope we can work together, Lanie,” he said. “I hope we can… coexist?”
“We can, yeah,” I said. “Of course. I’m cool if you’re cool.”
After he’d broken my heart, I wasn’t keen on letting bygones be bygones, but Leah got what she wanted. She only worked with the best, and Sam was good at his job—perhaps the best in prestige dramas like this right now.
“Lady Morgan! Or, should I say Lady Osgoode?” Leah’s voice cut through my worries.
She swept me up in a big, excited hug. “How the hell are you?”
“I am… good, thanks,” I said. “This place is gorgeous. I met Prince George. Your dad is so sweet.”
“He is… something,” Leah snickered. “I promised he has no desire to be on set for the big, awkward scene. We’ll lock it down. Have you met the intimacy coordinator yet?”
“First thing this morning. Brian worked through it,” I tried not to think about how hard it would be to do a very awkward love scene—one written to be deliberately so—before my ex-boyfriend.
Thankfully, I wasn’t nude in this scene. That wouldn’t happen for a few more weeks. I wondered if I could ask to exclude Sam somehow, but I knew it would just make me look “difficult”. I’d finally made it. I’d have to let it go and be a professional.
“Okay, well good. If you need anything, I’m around. Just ask for me.”
“I will do so,” I agreed.
She left.
“She is just… so very interesting,” Sam said. “She’s got energy for days.”
“Stage actresses are another breed. You should know that by now, Sam. It takes a lot to perform that many times a week.”
“You never did struggle to perform.” He rubbed his temples nervously, realizing that sounded like an innuendo. “Shit, Lanie, I didn’t mean it like that. Promise. I know you’re married. Let’s just get that elephant in the room out of the way, okay?”
“I am, yes.”
“I was a little surprised, honestly.”
It was the first vulnerability I’d seen in Sam. He was hurt. I was nearly drunk on his discomfort, turning from embarrassed to satisfied.
“Baz moved fast. He didn’t want to lose out on the best thing he ever had,” I twisted the knife. “What can I say?”
“Sometimes, I feel that in ways you’ll never know, Lanie,” Sam said.
That wounded me more than I’d wounded him.
I still loved this man—not Baz. I wanted him.
Had I made a major mistake? And if I Sam came onto me, would I be able to resist him?
And if I did, would that be an overreach?
I knew it was best to stay away—far, far away.
Sam was bad for me. He hurt me once. I was married to Baz.
Baz treated me with respect. He treated me like a queen.
The impulse to respect Baz won out over my feelings for Sam.
I texted Baz when I got back to the hotel, needing some words of affirmation.
ME
How is Sweden?
Baz typed immediately. I wondered if he missed me as much as I missed him right now.
BAZ
It’s Denmark now, darling. And it’s bloody cold.
ME
I’m sorry.
BAZ
I miss you, Lanie. I will try to swing down to you next weekend.
ME
Really?
BAZ
I don’t think I can make it another week without you. I’m selfish
I smiled. I wanted him to be selfish. He adored me. We may not have had a love for one another quite yet, but we had this. And whatever it was, it grew over time. I pulled on his favorite shirt—the one I’d stole—and climbed into bed. I was allowed to miss him, wasn’t I?