“Your paranoia is showing darling and it is getting tiresome. We both know why it is not prudent for me to get pregnant right now. Not in this current atmosphere. Is that why you have been insisting that I stop taking the pills?”
He bent his head towards hers and sighed. “I am sorry.” He muttered. “I was not thinking.”
Her anger evaporated as quickly as it started, and she hugged him around the waist. “We are not ready for a child yet darling and as much as I want to be your baby’s mama, there are still a lot of things we need to sort out before that happens.”
“You are right.” He pushed her back gently against the pillows and joined her there, reaching for her immediately, his arms closing around her slender body. “I was at the function and I saw several of my friends there with their wives and I felt jealous and incomplete. I felt myself getting angry that because of who I am, because of who my parents are and what they stand for, I cannot be free to show the world that I love you,” he eased her away from him, his eyes meeting hers. “I am not sure how much more I can take baby. I am not sure how long I can go on pretending to them that I am free and unencumbered. I want everyone to know that I am married to an exquisite woman who makes me feel so happy that I live in dread that it is going to end.”
She lifted a hand and placed it against his jaw. “It is not going to end because I am not going anywhere.”
“What if you get tired of the situation?” he fretted.
“I love you,” She told him sincerely. “I never dreamed that anything like this could ever happen to me. Hell, I never knew that something like this existed but here we are. I could not leave even if I wanted to and I don’t want to leave. You have become the most important person in my entire life. You are the best part of me, my entire being and I cannot function without you….” Her breath caught inside her throat. “Even if we have to spend the rest of our lives hiding the fact that….”
“It won’t come to that!” He cupped her cheek, his eyes fierce. “I promise you on the love I have for you that I will not let it come to that.”
She put her hand over his, her dark brown eyes gentle. “I am just making a point darling. No matter what happens, I will be here. You are going to have to be the one to call it quits.”
“And that will never happen.” He told her hoarsely.
“Then I guess we are stuck with each other.”
“I would say that is pretty much it.” He bent his head to nuzzle at her lips. “I want to make love to you.”
“You never have to ask.”
“I was just giving you fair warning.” He told her with a smile.
“No warning needed either.” She whispered as she moved closer to him.
*****
“I am not interested.” Athena said abruptly.
Her agent stared at her dumbfounded. “Did you hear what I just said? You have been offered a minor role in an action film featuring none other than Aiden Temple, the smoking hot actor….”
“I know who he is, and I am not interested Sandra. I am a model and certainly not an actress.”
“It’s a small role honey and you will never know the hoops I had to jump through to get you the part. And the pay is incredible, not to mention the exposure. I know that your face is on billboards all over the city, but this is something entirely different. It could boost your career in ways you could never imagine! I see you starring in your own movie, maybe a romantic flick. With your face and body, you are a shoe in for all that. This could be a door that could lead to….”
“I just told you I am not interested.”
The woman stared at her for a moment before taking off her glasses and cleaning it thoroughly before placing it on the bridge of her slightly crooked nose. “Do you have any idea what you are turning down? The location is in Mexico with some scenes in Italy. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime and not something you should casually give up.”
“Who is being casual? I don’t need the money and certainly do not need the added exposure. I am quite satisfied with where I am.”
“Darling you are thirty-two years old. Next April you will be thirty-three!”
“I know my own goddamned birthday and age Sandra!” She told the woman irritably. “I am completely satisfied with where I am and who I am. I have more money than I can possibly spend!”
“It’s a man.”
She blinked and stared at the woman. “What?”
“You are involved with someone. And that someone is standing in the way of your progress.”
Athena schooled her expression into one of amusement. “Jumping to conclusions Sandra? That’s not your usual style.”
“If it’s not a man who is stopping you then who or what?” the woman demanded.
“I don’t need a man to decide for me. I can do that on my own and I am not interested. Get it through your head. The beauty line is very popular right now and we are in the middle of shooting a commercial for the male and female combination line. I am pretty busy as it is.”
“Honey, you don’t know what you are passing up!” Sandra wailed.
“I am sorry for cutting you out of a hefty fee darling, but my answer is still no.”
“I don’t care about the money!” She stopped at the skeptical look on the younger woman’s face and backtracked. “Okay fine. I care about the money, but I also care about your career. I don’t want to see you blow it up.”
“I am not.” She got to her feet gracefully and looked at her watch. “I have a lunch date that I am running late for. So I am sorry to disappoint you.”
Sandra waved a hand. “You won’t reconsider?”
“No. My decision is final.”
She waited until she got into her car and started the motor before she called her husband.
“Siri call Babes.” She backed out of the lot while her request was being processed. “Did I interrupt a meeting?” she asked as she touched her left indicator.
“You could never interrupt me. What’s up?”
“I just got a movie deal.”
She smiled at the silence, pulling to a stop at the light. “I turned it down.”
“Why?”
“You would ask me that?”
“You have your career to think about.”
“I have my husband to think about and I already have a career, a perfectly satisfactory one.” She pressed her horn to move the vehicle ahead of her as the lights had changed. Damn the midday traffic! She thought in irritation.