AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I drove onto the circular driveway of one of the grandest estates I’d ever seen. It reminded me of those old-timey mansions of Hollywood in the sixties and seventies. Water fountains, sprawling green lawns, palm trees, marble pillars, and the like.
Why did I agree to this? A case of the nerves had hit me overnight, and by now they were completely frayed.
Then Honey came into view, waiting for me on the steps of the front entrance. She waved as I put the car into park, and she bounded up to the passenger side in a red halter dress, her hair bouncing freely around her shoulders.
“Hi, gorgeous,” I called.
She leaned in, giving me a perfect view of her cleavage. “Nice car. I think this one suits you best.”
Her smile widened with eyes crinkling at the corners and an easy chuckle, and somehow this hit me as the most natural I’d seen of her yet, setting me at ease. I jumped out and came around, and, for the hell of it, picked her up at the waist and swung her around. All for show, of course, in case anyone was watching.
“What are you doing?” Her laughter rang out like a soft melody.
I let her body slide down the front of me until our lips were even. Mine pressed to hers and I savored the taste of them. How plump they were, kissing me back. Even if fake, I needed this connection to take the edge off after a night of tossing and turning, dreaming about fucking her so good.
I nuzzled into her neck, buzzing my lips there, and she laughed again. “Come on. It’s time to meet Cal.”
She gave away no sign of nervousness, never wavering. Either she excelled in acting school, or was really in love with me. I held in a chuckle at that.
After a quick tour as we made our way through the house, she paused at a wall of French glass doors that led out to a wide veranda and the pool beyond. “Ready?”
The doors swung open as if this was my entry into the world of the movie business. In the distance, at the pool, an older man came into view. I stopped and pulled her to me at the top of the stairs, dipping her.
“Make it real. Let’s keep up appearances,” I whispered, and captured her lips again with a kiss so smooth and debonair, as if I’d practiced this move on her fifty times before.
“Too much,” she hissed when I brought her upright.
“Nah. We can never have enough kisses. Now, try not to fall in love with me.” I joked, and took her hand to steady her as we descended the stairs, each one bringing us closer to Cal.
“Here we are,” she said as we arrived at a pool area that rivaled any movie set with a swanky pool scene. But he was on the phone and ignored us.
Mr. Tomms sat on a chair at a table under an umbrella, a somewhat rotund man, with shiny white hair. A fierce aura surrounded him, judging by the fact he started yelling at whoever was on the other end. Something about music rights in a film they were getting set to release. I didn’t envy the recipient of his scowl.
We stood there until he ended the call after a minute. In that time, I composed myself, enduring the heat of his eyes on me, judging.
“Dad, this is Buddy Rodgers, my fiancé.” Honey beamed at me.
“Mr. Tomms, how are you? Thanks for having me here today.” I held my hand out to shake.
“You can call him Cal,” she corrected me.
“He can call me Mr. Tomms,” he corrected her. He regarded me with some measure of a skeptic, then shook my hand firmly, remaining seated.
“Buddy. Interesting name.”
“My real name, Baird, was hard for me to pronounce as a child, so it always came out Bud. Later it became Buddy.” I shared the friendly story while pulling out a chair for Honey and sat next to her.
“So, you two are getting married?” he asked, no beating around the bush.
“Yes, sir.”
His attention shifted to Honey, and he arched his brow.
“I was keeping it under wraps; I needed to be sure. But when Buddy stepped off the plane, I knew this felt so right,” she added with a soft smile, holding up her hand with the rock on it. She certainly played her part with perfection.
“Hm. I see you’re wearing your mother’s ring. Can’t he afford to buy you your own?”
That got my back up, and I shifted uneasily in my seat. “He can, but frankly, I was waiting until we had time to shop together for the ring she wanted,” I clarified. The heat of the situation and this midday sun suddenly had me sweating.
