Chapter 18
ANYA
I open my eyes to a strange buzzing. Reaching my arm out to my bedside table, I’m met with soft flesh under my palm.
I jerk my head up. There underneath my outstretched fingers is Danny Covington. My wayward hand is resting by his nipple and — oh my god, I licked that, I realize with mounting horror.
Flashes of the night before flood my head. My mouth on his lips, my mouth on his sculpted chest, his mouth everywhere.
Realizing my hand is still resting on his chest, I swiftly yank it back but before I can, Danny catches it. He brings our joined hands to his and presses a kiss to my knuckles. I finally allow myself to look at him and he shoots me a lazy grin.
I almost — almost — melt at that burning look in his blue eyes but the buzzing starts again.
“Shit,” I curse, flailing out of bed, the bed sheets wrapping around me as I search for my phone. I yank the bed sheet tighter around myself and start rummaging through the pillows scattered across the floor. “Jesus, are we in a H&M home?” I curse under my breath.
I hear a chuckle from the bed but refuse to acknowledge him. Finally under a wayward sock, I find my phone and answer with fumbling fingers.
“Hello,” I gasp into the receiver.
“Anya,” Sarah says sharply. “Where is Danny? He’s needed on set like, yesterday.” Quickly checking the time on my phone, I swear silently and bring the phone back to my ear.
“Uhm,” I say, turning to face said man laid across the bed like a naked Adonis, smirking and stroking his rapidly growing cock.
Heat rises to my cheeks as I battle my increasing panic and that infuriating streak of arousal. “I’m outside his room now, trying to wake him up.”
I pull the phone away from my ear as Sarah drones on about call times and grace periods.
Danny strokes his impressively large erection and my face burns red hot. My eyes snap back to his face where he sports an annoying smirk, noticing where my attention has lingered.
Heart racing, I tune back into Sarah’s diatribe. “Everyone is getting antsy, Anya. We can’t start the day without him.”
I grab a pillow off the floor and throw it at Danny, knocking his hand away from his cock. He laughs, the smug prick.
“I hear you, reception is on their way up now with the spare key. We’ll be there in half an hour.”
I click my fingers at Danny and furiously gesture at him to get out of bed. Smirking, Danny rolls out of bed and heads to the bathroom in all his naked glory, but not before pressing a quick peck to the top of my head as he passes.
Wait, what?
“He better be in this makeup chair in thirty minutes, Anya.” Sarah snaps, before hanging up.
I throw the phone onto the bed and run my fingers through my hair, taking a deep breath.
I slept with Danny Covington last night. The Danny Covington. Famous heartthrob and troublemaker, the star of my first big break Danny Covington. My boss Danny Covington.
As I hear the water running, I try extra hard to regret last night but…I can’t. I knew exactly what I was doing, and so did he. We were scratching an itch, getting it out of our systems. Getting it out of our systems multiple times. Now we can just move on with our lives like reasonable adults.
Determined, I locate my dress and yank it on.
Danny returns to the bedroom in a cloud of fog. Thankfully, dressed. He leans against the door and watches as I pull my trainers on.
Refusing to look at him I say, “Good, you’re ready. I haven’t got time to go home and change but no one saw me yesterday so it should be fine.”
Danny nods seriously and then says, “What are you going to do about that hickey?”
“ What? ” I dart to the mirror. There on the juncture of my neck and shoulder is a purpling bruise, made by Danny biting down as he thrust deep — nope, not going there.
In vain, I try rubbing to see if it will come off. Cursing myself, I frantically run my fingers through my hair as I announce, “If anyone asks, I’ll just say I met someone. They don’t have to know it was you.”
Danny comes up behind me, his arms encircling my waist. “If I hear you give the credit for this to anyone other than myself,” he says, pressing his lips to the tender flesh. “I’ll mark you again and sign my name.”
My breath shakes as my pulse flutters beneath his mouth, my thighs clenching involuntarily. His tongue peeks out with a tender flick.
Reluctantly, I pull away from his arms. “This cannot happen.” I try to take a step away but his arms rest on the desk, caging me in.
“It’s already happened,” he smirks.
I glare at him through the mirror.
“What can’t happen?” he asks.
“This.” I gesture between us. “Us.”
“Oh really?” he says in my ear. “Are you sure about that?” His fingers trace the mark on my neck, before traveling along the neckline of my dress to the curve of my breast.
“Yes.”
“Hmm,” he says pensively. “No.”
“No?” I bite out.
“I think we should do it again.” His lips return to my neck, his thumb brushing a tender nipple. “And again.” Kiss. “And again.”
Tilting my head back, I almost let it happen, almost let myself be swept away by his criminal mouth and his smoldering eyes. But no, I have a job. A dream job. Sort of.
I grab his forearms. “We can’t.” It sounds like a lie even to my ears. “We have to go.”
He sighs but relents. “I’ll let it go for now. But I mean it about that hickey.” I flush. “And this conversation is not over. I will be in between your thighs again.” He comes closer, “And you’ll beg for more of my marks on your skin.”
I swallow against the rush of arousal that sweeps my body at his words and nod shakily.
“Fine, we can discuss this later, but we have to leave now.” I turn to the door. “And Danny?” I spin back towards him, bumping into the hard line of his body. “This never happened, okay?”
He smirks. “Whatever you say, freckles.” He gives my ass a gentle tap.
I scowl at him and pull open the door. His laugh slides down my spine and I curse myself for ever being so foolish, because deep down I know he’s right. This isn’t going anywhere.
***
As soon as the car pulls up, Jess arrives on Danny’s side of the car, handing him his sides for the day. Sarah accosts me before I can even close the door.
“What is the point of you if you can’t even get him to set on time?”
Willing myself not to blush. I steel my spine ready to spit out any excuse that comes to mind when Danny says over the car, “My fault, I slept with my headphones in and didn’t hear my alarm or the pounding on the door.” He glances at me and adds, “Late night.”
The blush deepens across my cheeks and I press my fingers to my nose awkwardly.
Luckily, Sarah doesn’t notice. “No problem, we just swapped around you and Adriana. They’re waiting for you now.” She gestures to the makeup truck behind us.
Danny nods and turns to follow Jess. I go to follow him but Sarah’s hand stops me.
“I’m not your boss but you need to step up. I know he’s a liability but he’s your liability.”
I bite my tongue before I ask how I’m supposed to wake up Danny from his headphone sleep — his fake sleep — but Danny throws over his shoulder. “Anya, do you have my book?”
“Got to go,” I mumble to Sarah before rounding the car to where Danny is waiting, rummaging in my bag for the battered paperback I have carried around since I found him reading a thriller in his trailer. I pass it to him without looking in his eyes, a feat I have managed to accomplish since he last pierced my gaze in the bedroom mirror.
His fingers linger on mine as he takes the book, his skin brushing against my knuckles and sending a spark straight through my body. This was supposed to be gone, this energy between us. Worked out of our system by now.
I look at his Adam’s apple, unwilling to look up any further.
“I’ll uhm,” I splutter, “I’ll get you your coffee.”
He nods, his tongue tracing his lips as if remembering my taste.
I glance up finally, looking into his eyes before ducking away to the catering truck.
I manage to successfully avoid him for the rest of the day, fetching him water and escorting him back and forth without so much as a word passing between us. Instead of hanging in his trailer, I lurk around the production truck under the guise of helping the production secretary, Sadie, organize transport.
At the end of the day, I get Danny in his car without so much as a word. He seems to have picked up on my ‘don’t acknowledge me’ vibes so doesn’t protest my silent treatment, though after wrap Jess has obviously picked up on the strange tension.
“Has he pissed you off or something? You guys are usually always whispering in the corner.”
“Oh.” I swallow, horrified that anyone has even picked that up. “I’m pissed at him for making us late this morning so I’m making him suffer.”
“Love it, put him in his place.” Jess laughs. “Is that a hickey ?”
I slap a palm against my throat. “No I—uh— I burnt my hair on my straighteners,” I laugh weakly.
“Oh, I’ve done that before,” she winces in sympathy.
I say a quick goodbye before dashing past security and back into the city proper, walking instead of getting in the car with Danny. I’m tempted to hit up the local supermarket and grab a bottle of wine but decide I drank enough last night to last the whole month.
Finally on my own, I have the chance to sort through my muddled thoughts. This time yesterday Danny and I were getting closer, sharing life stories and a bottle of wine. Making terrible decisions. Although those terrible decisions felt gigantic when I was on set, in the dark of the night, last night doesn’t feel so catastrophically awful.
Last night might have been…incredible.
It doesn’t matter my personal feelings about the matter, I’m his paid assistant. Even if he didn’t hire me, if people knew, I would garner the worst kind of reputation. My first job in the industry and I’ve already tried sleeping my way to the top. Even if it was unplanned, that’s what everyone will say. No, it was good that we established this boundary now, before it got even more complicated.
We will act like nothing ever happened and everything will be fine.