Chapter Thirty-Five
‘I just mean that it wasn’t very stealthy!’
‘Come on, it was just for the cameras!’ he protested. ‘FunZone seemed happy with the video!’
‘I bet they did! I thought we were going to try to play it cool for a bit!’
‘You make it hard to play it cool! You’re just so damn cute!’
I’d turned down a car service so Josh could drive me back to the hotel.
He’d taken us via the brilliantly ridiculous LA food shop Erewhon and we were now sipping on smoothies that had set us back more than $40.
It was unexpectedly hot to watch him drive, one hand on the wheel, the other draped casually over my seat.
‘It’s not like I want to keep it a secret, it just feels like a good idea for now?’
‘Oh, no totally. You know me, I’m as impulsive as they come, but I still think it’s worth waiting.’
I squeezed his thigh as we turned into the valet parking for the Beverly Hills Hotel.
‘Just checking my co-star gets to her room safely,’ Josh said with a wink, tossing his keys to the valet.
‘Again, not very stealthy!’ I whispered to him, but he was whistling nonchalantly as we made our way to my room. ‘You know, if you wanted to stay in a pool house my parents have one you could use,’ Josh said, appraising my lodgings.
‘This isn’t a pool house! It’s a presidential bungalow!’ I protested. Not that there was any way I was going to stay with him at his family home anyway. That would be way too much, too soon.
‘Presidential pool house,’ he said, teasing. ‘So, you want me to go?’
I shrugged, as if I didn’t mind either way. He sat on the edge of the bed. ‘I suppose I’ve got some time before I need to start being beautified for the premiere.’
‘You could go just the way you are and you’d still look perfect.’
‘You have to say that,’ I said, rolling my eyes.
‘You know that I absolutely do not. Come here,’ he said, and I straddled him on the bed. He drew me towards him, our lips meeting in a deep kiss.
‘Do we really have to go to the premiere? Can’t we just stay here?’ I asked him.
‘I never thought I’d see the day that Emily Montgomery would be trying to skip out on work responsibilities to hang out with me,’ he said, gazing into my eyes like he really couldn’t believe it.
‘You’ve been a bad influence on me.’
‘Debatable. I think I’ve been a good influence on you, if anything.’
‘Are you going to fuck me or not?’ I said, hitting him with one of the absurdly fluffy pillows adorning my bed, laughing at the mock shock on his face.
The answer was, of course, yes. He reached up between my legs and pushed my underwear aside, using his thumb to move in rhythmic circles against my clit that emptied my head of thoughts and instead filled it with stars.
It was like Josh always knew exactly the right thing to do, exactly the right way to touch me in that moment.
He unzipped his fly and pulled his trousers off, and I lowered myself onto him, pushing him deep inside me.
Sex with Josh always felt like an out-of-body experience to me, as if I became someone else.
Or maybe it wasn’t that at all, it was that I was in my body more than ever, was that I was actually becoming myself, and that Emily wanted to dig her nails into his back, let her hot mouth find his neck, watch his teeth bite down on his bottom lip, feel our bodies move against each other with the only purpose being pure pleasure.
No scenes to film, no deals to strike, no selfies to take.
Nothing mattered outside of this room. My hips ground down against him, hungry and desperate for him to fill as much of me as humanly possible, to feel every inch of him, the mouthwatering border between pleasure and pain.
‘Fuck . . . Emily . . .’ he panted, his eyes dreamy and bewildered, as if he still couldn’t quite believe we were doing this.
I moved my hands to his shoulders, feeling the muscles and the sinews under the skin, watching his muscular chest rise and fall with every breath until the wave hit, and I collapsed on top of him, both of us delirious.
And then he really did have to leave, and I really did have to get ready for the evening ahead, holding the secret between us like a precious thing.
If I’d found the Singapore premiere intense, it was nothing compared to the reception we got in LA.
The premiere was held at the TCL Chinese Theatre, probably the most iconic cinema in the world.
The crowds were huge and intense: I’d almost managed to forget about about the Wonderwick fervour while I’d been working on other things, but these fans were here to remind me that it was not going anywhere.
Chloe shuffled me along the line of reporters and I tried with every fibre of my being not to keep looking over my shoulder for Josh.
I was being interviewed by a Deadline Hollywood reporter on the red carpet when wild screams filled the air at the appearance of Darcy in an absurdly short, tight, white minidress, a gloriously excessive version of her character’s iconic white costume.
She posed, icy and angular, her hair looking even sharper than usual.
I couldn’t help but smile. This was what I’d been afraid of?
It felt amazing to see everyone so excited about her.
And now, I really meant it. I wasn’t just telling myself that, reciting lines off a press release.
Darcy’s popularity meant absolutely nothing to me, other than that it brought even more hype to our films.
Finally, I made it down the line and found myself in front of the press photographers at the exact same moment as none other than Josh Sacco.
He had never looked more handsome. Funny how a black suit didn’t look so boring when it was as well cut as this, utterly fitted to the body.
His hair was pushed back from his face, giving him the look of an old Hollywood star.
I had to fight the urge to run up to him, wrap my arms around him and kiss him, but this was not the moment.
Instead, I posed demurely for photos next to him, allowed him to slip his hand around my waist.
I felt Josh withdraw his hand, say, ‘I think we’ve done enough here, let’s go,’ and turn towards the entrance. I turned on my heel to follow him when—
Oh. Oh no. The first thing I felt was my spiky heel snagging on the red carpet, next the ripple effect up to my ankle, finally the unstoppable sideways movement as my leg buckled under me.
Surely one of the worst feelings in the world is the heart-in-mouth moment when you realise you’re falling and there’s absolutely nothing you can do to prevent it from happening and, oh my God, no, not here in front of all these people, all these cameras, my co-stars, not me, not now . . .
But I never hit the ground.
‘I got you.’ Josh smiled down at me. I wasn’t on the floor.
I was in his arms, looking up at him. I was like a ballroom dancer in the arms of my partner, an elegantly choreographed ending to a dance.
I blinked at him, heart thudding away at my ribcage, unable to believe my luck, for what felt like minutes but was actually just seconds.
‘You all right?’ The gasp of the crowd echoed in my ears, only rivalled by the sound of a million flashbulbs capturing the moment. Thank God for Josh.
I nodded at him, adrenaline pumping through my body. In one elegant move, he lifted me back onto my feet. He held my hand overhead, and murmured, ‘Give them a twirl, show them you’re in control.’
Carefully but confidently, my hand in his, I twirled on the spot like a ballerina, letting my dress swish around my thighs, laughing with the relief of someone who had basically just cheated social death. I came to a stop as one photographer shouted, ‘Was that planned, Josh?’
He shook his head, a roguish grin on his face. ‘No way, man. I just love supporting my co-star,’ he said with a wink.
Chloe intercepted me as Josh strode on ahead, giving me a backwards look and a smile before turning to his own publicist. ‘Oh my God, Emily, are you OK?!’ Chloe panted at me, eyes wide.
‘I’m fine!’
‘OK good because that was amazing.’
I felt a smile creep across my face. ‘And we didn’t even plan it.’
‘Who needs planning when fate takes care of everything! So, are you going to go public soon?’
‘I don’t know.’ I twitched my nose in thought. ‘I want to but I just don’t want to push things too far too fast.’
She sighed. ‘Very wise, although I’m living for the reveal.’
‘You’ll be the first to know when we do.’
‘I’d bloody better be, it’s going to be a lot of work to roll out something this epic,’ she said as we congregated backstage to be paraded on before the film started.
‘You’re already big news, classic Sacco stealing the show.
’ Max bounded up to me, his bow tie lopsided.
He held up his phone and showed me a photo on the E!
Instagram account. It was a great photo, completely straight on with Josh in the middle, his arms under my back, my body in a strangely elegant backbend with my long, straight hair cascading down, grazing the red carpet.
I swiped to the next photo, and saw it was me, laughing, one hand covering my mouth but my eyes full of joy, and the other hand in Josh’s, held overhead.
Not only had he saved me when I needed him to, he’d played the whole thing perfectly.
What could have been a complete disaster, the kind of thing that could have made it into a listicle titled ‘Ten Red Carpet Nightmare Moments’, was now immortalised forever as something cute, playful, even . . . romantic.
Finally, when the audience were all seated, we filed onto the stage to rapturous applause.
‘Thank you for joining us for what I truly believe is the most exciting instalment yet. Not to mention the most romantic!’ Martin said to a chorus of ‘oooh-s’ from the audience.
‘I’m lucky to get to work with such an incredible team on these movies, some of whom you see here on the stage, but most of whom you don’t.
But we’re lucky to have a few of the stars with us tonight, and I’m going to hand the microphone over to our two leads – Emily Montgomery who you know and love as Linderley Jones, and Josh Sacco, your very own Rowan Clearwater! ’
‘Uh, thanks, Martin,’ Josh said, a little caught off guard. ‘I don’t have much to add to what you’ve already said much better than I could, so I’ll leave the rest to Emily!’
‘Thanks, Josh, and thanks, Martin. It’s always such a pleasure to share with you the product of all of our hard work.
It’s such a team project and Wonderwick is very special in that way.
We’re a tight little family, and I know that can be a scary place to walk into, so I just wanted to properly welcome Darcy,’ I said, holding my arm out towards her.
Her eyes met mine and I wondered how different this would feel if I was still afraid of her, still threatened by her.
As it was, we could enjoy the moment together.
The audience cheered even louder, and I knew they were in for an amazing night.
‘I really hope you enjoy what we’ve made for you! Wonderwick forever!’
We took our seats, strategically positioned so we could sneak out part-way through.
I was proud of the film but didn’t necessarily need to see it again.
Instead we had dinner together before the official after-party.
I was seated next to Darcy, who laid a hand on mine and said, ‘It was so kind of you to say that before the movie.’
I shook my head. ‘Oh it was nothing!’
‘I mean it, I’m glad I’m working with you. You’re a good example.’
‘Well, thank you, I suppose,’ I said, blushing furiously.
‘So, is it true about you and Josh?’
‘Who told you?’
‘Oh so it is true! No one had told me, I was just picking up on a vibe.’
Damn! I’d walked right into that one. What an idiot. ‘Please don’t tell anyone.’
‘I won’t, I promise,’ Darcy said, eyeing Josh across the table.
‘He’s a funny one, isn’t he? You think he’s going to be all macho bullshit but he’s really quite sweet.
He used to date my friend, nothing serious, but he’s one of those guys where no one who’s dated him has a bad thing to say about him. ’
I felt flushed with something like pride. ‘That’s good to hear.’ I paused. ‘So you’re not . . . you know . . .’
‘Jealous?’ She laughed. ‘I mean, I guess I got a little swept up in his hype.
Just then, Josh looked up from his conversation with Martin. He met my eyes and smiled at me, and for a moment, everyone else melted away.
I was falling hard for Josh, both literally and metaphorically.