She grins, as if already planning out how she’ll wear it. “It’s not big enough to even wrap around me once.”
“Exactly,” I say.
But the next time I come over, goddamn if she doesn’t open the door completely naked—except for that scarf tied around her neck.
The desire to take her all at once is nearly overwhelming. My lust doesn’t even know where to start.
It doesn’t take me long to work it out, though. When it comes to Addison’s body, I'm learning that re-learning every inch of it is just as satisfying as feeling her for the first time.
Addison
I honestly don’t know what’s gotten into me.
Rex has.
But oh my god he’s got my mind spinning and my body constantly on fire. The other day I was in an audition—for a local discount store, which I didn’t get—and I was wet as I read my lines. I’d been thinking about him as I waited my turn.
Every time he comes to my apartment we begin by ripping each other’s clothes off.
And then he’s always like, “Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I picked this up for you.” Like it’s all no big deal, just an afterthought. First it was the flowers, then the scarf. He’s also given me a beautiful dress that somehow fits me perfectly, and a thin gold bracelet that is delicate and exquisite.
“You have to stop,” I tell him. “I don’t deserve all this. I don’t need all this.”
“Addison, there are no doors on your closet,” he says. “I can see how many dresses you have. Three. You look gorgeous in anything but I saw this and all I could see was your curves poured into it.”
“I don’t know where I’ll wear it,” I say. “I don’t think the hamburger joint audition I have coming up is appropriate.”
I’ve spent hours in front of the mirror trying out dozens of ways to deliver the one line I have for the commercial. Saying it in a designer dress would be ridiculous.
I should be more embarrassed about his coming over to such a dump every night, but with Rex I don’t feel at all ashamed about where I live, and he doesn’t seem to care either. He wouldn’t have cared if we were in a bus station that night with the scarf.
“I know the perfect place you can wear it,” Rex says. “Out on a date with me.”
“You mean leave the apartment?” I say. “Do you think we can even breathe out there? Would our skin sizzle and our throats constrict?”
“I think we should risk outdoor exposure,” Rex says, playing along, “if only to prove that we can.”
We’re in bed—we’re always in bed—and I’m snuggled up next to him. When Rex comes over he usually stays a while. We make love then lie in bed and talk, sometimes for hours.
We talk about everything—all the crazy stuff he’s seen in L.A., insider stories of celebrities and excess, the things people will do to get a leg up on the competition—and not just movie industry competition. I tell him stories of some of the ridiculous auditions I’ve been on and the assholes I’ve seen—we both mention Damien—and he always tells me that my time is coming, that the perfect part is just an audition away.
We don’t talk about our families. The more time we spend together the stranger it feels, talking about everything but that. Like him, I’m not eager to bring it up.
Rex always leaves late at night so he can go home, get a little sleep and then shower and get dressed for another day at work. But we haven’t yet ventured outside, that’s true. Having Rex ask me out on a date gives me a whole new level of thrills.
“Where would we go?” I ask, curious as to what levels of extravagance he might plan. “To the moon?”
“If you want,” he says. “But I was thinking something more like dinner. Maybe a show at the Hollywood Bowl.” He looks at me very seriously. “You have been to the Hollywood Bowl, haven’t you?”
“Yes, actually, I have,” I say indignantly. “I went for a job as a ticket-taker, but they’d already hired their staff for the season. So ha, I have been.”
“But not to see a show?”
“Nope. But it looked pretty cool.”
“God, Addison, why are you even in L.A. if you don’t see all the amazing stuff here?”
“Hello, look around, Mr. Moneybags. I don’t really have the funds.” As soon as I say it, I cringe. I don’t want to sound like a woe-is-me kind of girl. I don’t mind how I live, especially since one day, when I land my first big role, I’ll know it was all worth it. Hard work pays—that’s what I have to keep believing.
“Then I’ll take you,” he says. “I’ll show you L.A. How does that sound?”
It sounds like perfection. Actually, anything that involves seeing more of Rex Croft sounds like perfection. I tell him so with a kiss that lasts for hours.
Rex picks me up on Friday evening, right on time and in a limousine. I’m wearing the new dress and bracelet he gave me and have also dabbed on a little of the French perfume he brought me last time I saw him.
I have never had anyone treat me like this, showering me with such gifts. It makes me feel both uncomfortable and thrilled. Uncomfortable only because I can’t buy him anything in return. He doesn’t seem to want anything but time with me but still…it makes me feel a little guilty that I can’t return the appreciation.
Rex opens the car door for me and I get in as elegantly as I can. When he’s next to me, I realize two things: one, that I have never ridden in a limo before and two, that we could fit at least a dozen more people inside this huge monster.
“Picking up some friends on the way?” I ask as we pull out into traffic.
“No,” he says. “I figured if we got tired after dinner we could stretch out and take naps.”
“You think of everything,” I say. I snuggle into him and kiss his neck. “But I can assure you I will not be sleeping any time soon tonight.”
His hand rubs my thigh and I squirm slightly. The truth is, I’d like to straddle him right now, this very second. But I should give the illusion that he doesn’t make me a total horn dog one hundred percent of the time.
“So what are we doing?” I ask. It’s too early for dinner and beyond that I’m a blank. A show? Too early for that too. Despite the fact that it’s technically fall, the air is still warm and the sun still high enough in the sky.
“It’s a surprise, of course,” he says.
Fine, I can’t resist. I lean in and kiss him. He takes me back more deeply, his hand slipping around the back of my neck and pulling me closer. We manage to only kiss—a herculean effort, to be sure—and too soon the car has stopped. We’re at our destination. An airport.
“Um, are we going somewhere?” I ask.
“Yes and no,” he says. “Have you ever been on a—oh, never mind. Of course you’ve never been on a helicopter. I don’t know why I bother—”
“We’re taking a helicopter ride?” I practically squeal.
He shakes his head. “You’re like a kid. Everything is new. I love it.”
“We’re going on a helicopter?!”