Red Lines (8 page)

“Is that your offer?”

“Yes.” She giggled. “Every day in exchange for that sage business wisdom, as you call it.”

Evan stood to retrieve his pants and handed Haven her lacy black underwear. “Girl, you really are going to kill me.” He flashed one of his killer grins while shoving his belt back through the loops.

“Did you get that idea from
Red Lines
?” she teased. She remembered something about an office scene, but she was pretty sure the scene also involved a tie, a pair of high heels, and the guy was the one on his back.

“What? That? No, I wanted you. I have my own inspiration.” He poured two drinks from a decanter near the couch. “Why, did you like the kind of stuff they did in the book?”

Haven hopped off the end of the desk, her underwear in hand. She blushed. She had only talked about those scenes with her college roommate. Discussing the details with Evan was a little intimidating. “Some of it.” She chewed on her bottom lip.

“Like what? Tell me.” He handed her a brown liquid. It smelled like bourbon.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not? Haven’t we been sleeping together all summer?”

“Because it’s-it’s—” She didn’t have a particularly good answer. She knew there was no one who knew her body like Evan did, and she had done things with him that she had never experienced before, but talking about sex specifics felt embarrassing. She didn’t know if she could open up to him like that.

“Come on. I sleep with you naked. You can tell me. What if there’s something you really want and I don’t know it.” He smiled, as if he knew that wasn’t possible.

“You know that’s not it.”

“How about this?” He paused, and pulled the underwear from her hand, stuffing it in his pocket. “Every once in a while I’ll try something from the book, like this.” He patted the pocket. “But you have to tell me right then and there if you want me to do it. None of this quiet, keep-your-opinions-to-yourself thing. What do you think?”

“You want to try the scenes from the book?”

“Only if you do.”

She nodded. “Yeah, let’s try it.” Her body was still flushed from desk sex, but she felt a new heat emerge under her skin.

He kissed her on the cheek. “So, speaking of
Red Lines
, how would you feel if I took the role?”

“As in, you want to be the next Dexter Red?” Sure, they had talked about it in passing, but Evan didn’t seem interested. She was still surprised he read the book on the flight home.

“I don’t know. I met with the new agent today, great guy by the way, and he says I’m at an all-or-nothing crossroads. I either need to retire or do this movie. There’s no gray area. I’m thinking about doing the movie. I can’t say I’m ready to completely give up acting.”

“I can’t imagine you retiring right now. That seems extreme. You’re only twenty-eight. Do people your age retire?”

“I don’t know of anyone. But the movie? How would you feel about me being in the movie?” He asked it quietly, and Haven knew he was worried.

She sat on the couch. “If you want to do it, I don’t see how it has much to do with me.”

“Darlin’, it has everything to do with you.” He paused. “Emmy’s signed up to play Karina. I’d be in it with her, so I can understand if that would make you uncomfortable. I talked to her today, though, and she’s completely onboard. She knows about you. She knows this would be
all
business. I made that completely clear.”

It was hard to focus. Evan had just asked her to play
Red Lines
sex games and now was asking permission to star in the hottest movie to ever hit the big screen with his ex. What in the hell was she supposed to say? This was coming at her from two completely different angles.

“I trust you, Evan, and I know it’s a movie. It’s not like you’re actually sleeping with her.” The last part came out more like a whisper. She realized she knew nothing about moviemaking.

“Definitely not.” He wrapped an arm around her. “But, just say the word and I won’t do it. It has to work for both of us.”

Her lips were still swollen from his kisses, and she could smell his soapy-scented cologne on her shoulder. He was all around her, part of her, in her head, her heart, her body. If this was what he wanted, she wasn’t going to stand in his way.

“Do it. I think you should do it.”

“Really? You sure?”

“Yes. Absolutely sure. You’ll be an amazing Dexter Red.”

“And you’re up for helping me prepare for the role?” He winked. “Because I was wondering if we could start rehearsals right now.” He placed his glass on the table and took hers next.

The palms of his hands ran along her thighs until he had wriggled her skirt up to her hips again.

Haven smiled. “Yes, we can start right now.”

“Wait.” He paused. “You wanted to ask me about something from your meeting?” He crawled forward.

“Rehearsals,” she whispered. “Let’s start with rehearsals.”

She leaned against the arm of the couch as Evan’s hand slid between her thighs. If she had to play this part to help him prepare for the biggest role of his life, she wasn’t going to say no.

E
VAN LOOSENED
the ties from Haven’s wrists, and then unlooped the ends from the bedpost. She smiled and rotated her wrists in circles. It had been three days. They had locked themselves in his room, barely coming out for food or water. Lenny left trays of food by the door as if it was part of the Carlson Ranch room service package.

“You ok?” He looked at her wrists, hoping they weren’t bruised.

She smiled. “Better than ok. That one was a yes.” She crawled toward him on the bed.

He didn’t know if he could explain it, he doubted she could either, but ever since he had signed the contract to play Dexter Red in
Red Lines,
they couldn’t get enough of each other. They had tried almost every scene in the book, improvising on some, and getting creative on others. For three days, they had worn clothes only to answer the door, or if they were a prop needed in one of the scenes.

Owning the decision for Evan to star in the movie had ignited something in their primal sides.

“You realize we have to get back to the real world some time?” Haven teased.

“I thought this was our real world.” He swooped her underneath him and feathered kisses along her collarbone.

“Stop, stop.” She laughed. “I’m going to take a shower.” She rolled out from under him and sashayed to the bathroom.

“Hey, what if we go out tonight?”

“You mean out of the bedroom or the house?” she called over the shower water.

“The house. I think we could use some air.” He ran a hand through his hair. Air was the last thing he wanted. All he wanted was her. She was his air, but something in the back of his head told him that maybe they needed to get out of the ranch walls for a while.

The contract with Jeff was signed. The contract with Heart Shock Studios for
Red Lines
was signed. According to Anna, the foundation was running smoothly. Everything was back on track, but at some point, they had to emerge from their sex spell.

“Sure. You want to take me to a real cowboy bar? I’ve been in Texas over a week and I still haven’t been to one of those.”

“Yeah, baby. Let me show you Texas.” He smiled. Over the summer, she had taught him how to shag and introduced him to beach music, but now it was his turn. This girl was going to two-step.

“Ok. I need a few minutes, and do you think Lenny would fix us something before we go out? I’m starving.”

“Sure thing.” He punched the button on the intercom and called the kitchen. “What do you want me to tell him?”

“Surprise me,” she called over the shower’s running water.

“You got it.” He wasn’t sure after the past few days if that was even possible. She had been the one surprising him one move after another. Her adventurous side had never been more evident. He looked at the ties he had left on the sheets.

“Yes, sir? Did you need something?” Lenny’s voice piped in through the speaker.

“Yeah, could you fix us a quick dinner before we go out for the night?”

“Certainly. What would you like?”

“How about something with grilled chicken? Doesn’t matter what.”

“Ok. I can come up with something.”

“Thanks, we’ll be down in an hour.” Evan thought that would give Haven plenty of time to get ready, and enough for him to join her.

T
HERE WEREN’T
many places he could go near the ranch where people didn’t wait in line for autographs and pictures, but the Gold’n Spoke was one. It was far enough outside the Austin city limits that it didn’t attract tourists and the locals who hung out there had seen Evan plenty of times not to be excited when he walked through the swinging doors.

He led Haven by the hand and found a table on the outer edges of the wooden dance floor.

“So this is a real cowboy bar?” Her blue eyes took in the scene.

There was a band playing tonight. Lonely Roads. He hadn’t heard of them before. The whole damn bar was shouting and screaming to every note that came out of their mouths.

“Yep, this is it. What do you think?”

She smiled. “Looks like fun. That band must be popular.”

“I’ll go get us some beers. Sit tight.”

He pushed through the crowd and waited his turn at the bar. It looked like everyone had turned out tonight. He threw a twenty in the tip jar and carried the two brown bottles back to the table.

“Here you go.” He handed one to Haven.

“Thanks.” He watched as her lips touched the bottle.

“You excited about going into the studio with Carly tomorrow?”

She nodded. “I am. The whole thing is surreal. I’m going to hear her sing one of my songs.”

“I can’t wait to hear it. But, you know, I think we’ve been sidetracked the past few days. You needed some business advice, didn’t you?”

“It’s no big deal.”

He remembered how she had come to him a few days ago after her first meeting at Blue Steel, but all he could think about was her and
Red Lines
. He felt like an ass for taking the spotlight away from her big moment.

“It is a big deal. This is your first contract. Tell me what’s going on. I want to help you.”

She sighed. “Ok, so it’s not about the music I’ve already written. It’s about what they want me to write.”

He nodded, waiting to hear the entire story.

“Bruce wants Carly and me, mainly Carly since she’s the face of the label, but anyway, he wants us to put out music that will bring the female listeners back.”

“I don’t follow.” He swallowed the beer.

“There were all these charts and reports. Bruce said they had focus groups and had done surveys. I don’t know. But they want us to make it more girl music. Not girl power, but whatever we can write that will speak to girls like us.”

He listened to her words. She would pick up speed then slow down. He hated seeing her unsure of herself. Her music was beautiful. This was the nasty part of any business, breaking down artists who just wanted to make art.

“Darlin’, I love your songs and a million other people are going to love your songs. Bruce has a business to run. God love ‘em, I get it, but that doesn’t mean you have to write music that isn’t still important to you. Look at me. I’m a brand, a damn label because that’s how the game’s played.”

“But I don’t want to play a game. I just want to write. That’s all.”

The look in her eyes had him convinced he should buy his own music label tomorrow and let her write whatever songs she wanted. This was pure garbage. Hell, it was insane.

“Haven, you are talented and they want that talent, but you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to once your contract is up. I think sticking with Carly is the way to go to start with. She’s strong and she doesn’t usually bow down to the boys club, if you know what I mean. If you’re looking for my opinion on whether you should write these songs, I think you can do it and still be you.”

“You do?”