CHAPTER 4

Marietta heard her phone ring, but she tuned it out. Increasing the sound of the bathroom stereo, she bobbed her head and tapped her foot to Kelly Rowland’s Motivation. She needed to tune every romantic or sexual thought of Tobias Harden out of her head. Although the choice of music wasn’t ideal, she wasn’t ready to step out of her warm bubble bath.

It had taken her a long time before she could enjoy a long satisfying bubble bath. The bubbles, the water, the tub, and the scented shampoo always seemed to pull her back to the moment she felt her mother’s lifeless body in the bathtub. Everyone around her begged her to see a psychologist. They claimed that sharing her inner darkest, deepest thoughts with a stranger would make her feel better. But Marietta didn’t buy that. Ever since her father had left, her brother had died, and her mother had turned into a heap of emotional chaos, Marietta had handled all her problems alone, the psychological ones included.

She soldiered on through life and used all her demons to create masterpieces. Her books and scripts had benefited from the emotional turmoil and the money in the bank was her proof. That was all she needed now, her laptop, or even better, a pen and paper. There was nothing as intimate as transferring your thoughts from your mind, through a pen to a piece of paper. And although sharing those thoughts terrified her, they gratified her even more.

Marietta got out of the bath and wrapped herself in a towel before going in search of a pen and paper. Once she got them, she sat at her makeshift desk, she wrote down a sentence and stared at them, He kissed me. After that nothing she thought or felt could be justly described by any words that she knew. Her stomach grumbling saved her from any feeling of failure she was bound to feel for not being able to come up with the right words.

She threw on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. Then she realized that she wouldn’t be able to go down to the restaurant dressed like that. She opted to call for room service and returned to her desk. She stared at the piece of paper with only three words on it, disillusioned. Marietta hoped she would get better results on her laptop. The clicking sounds of her typing and the feeling of the tip of her fingers numbing from punching down on the soft keys often offered her comfort. But once she had her Word open all she could write were those three words, He kissed me.

Pushing her usual emotional thoughts out of the way she decided to think the way Tobias would have. The lust that followed the kiss was a good place to start. She had to change the scene; the desert wasn’t the best place. Sand entering places it shouldn’t wasn’t romantic or ideal. She thought of a different type of sand, white grainy sand and a palm tree with coconuts littered everywhere, a tropical beach without crabs. The sound of the crushing waves echoing around them as the water pushed towards them, just to the point of wetting their legs and nothing else.

She would be in a beautiful two-piece bikini, nothing too revealing, sexy but leaving enough to the imagination. He would be in his swimming trucks, not the tight European type Speedos, but something that covered enough so that she would be surprised at what was underneath. They would be lying down on the sand sharing a passionate kiss. She could feel the heat inside her rise as her body lurched onto his. He would respond greedily to her ardent hunger for more.

Then what?

Marietta was terrified to submit herself to the possibilities of what followed the passionate kiss. She shrugged and threw her reservation out of her mind. This was just her imagination at work her mind wasn’t going to break her heart. No harm, no foul, and no reason to dive into the deep end.

“Alright, just think palm trees, grainy sand and coconuts. The cool breeze is blowing from the ocean, the warm water snaking around you. The sounds of the crushing waves and his heavy breathing pulling you into this magical world of romance…”

Marietta found herself there, just as she’d described it. Her hands were kneading into a well-muscled back as her lips molded against his in a kiss. Her heartbeat heavily in her chest as his hands roamed freely on her body. She could feel a primitive wildness within him, calling her, and in response she bucked her hips against him. Her heart began to beat faster as his lips trailed down her lips to her neck, and then lower, finding and suckling on her nipples. She whimpered and grasped at his head, pulling him closer. Vaguely she was aware of his hands smoothing down to her hips, kneading and caressing. His fingers stroked everywhere except her hot center, she felt like she would die if he didn’t touch her properly. Pleasure shot through her when he finally invaded the folds of her nether lips, stroking and delving inside her. Her body arched off the ground as her hips bucked, pleading for him to put her out of her misery. He stroked her sensitive flesh until she was writhing and losing any control she had over her body. And just as he rose above her, parting her thighs and positioned himself at her entrance-

“What are you doing?”

Marietta almost fell off the chair when the boom of Jessie’s voice invading her thoughts startled her. Knocked out of her fantasy and back into her reality, Marietta tried to act normal. But what had just happened in her mind was far from normal, and the proof of it was the needy ache in between her legs and the wetness in her pants. She swallowed hard and shot to her feet, grabbing the bottle of cold water in Jessie’s hand.

“What were you doing?” an evil knowing chuckle radiated from Jessie’s throat.

“What do you mean? I was writing. I was in the zone, and you interrupted me.” She wiped the beads of sweat from her brow.

“You were in the zone, but you were definitely not writing. Your hands were not on your keyboard, they were somewhere else.” She chuckled, “Who were you thinking about?”

“No one.” Marietta stared at her laptop and the piece of paper on her desk. She shot a look at Jessie hoping that she wasn’t going to look, but instead ended up tipping her off. Marietta reached for the desk but was only able to close her laptop as Jessie grabbed the piece of paper.

“He kissed me. You were thinking about him. I bet you were fantasizing about how good it would feel if he touched you, caressed you and had mind numbing sex with you.”

“You are delusional. You shouldn’t spend so much time out in the desert.” Marietta grabbed her towel and headed back for the shower. She needed to walk into a cold box, to freeze all the hormones that seemed to be taking over her body. “He asked for you, by the way.” Jessie put in as Marietta disappeared into the bathroom.

When Marietta heard what Jessie said, she froze in place. She was eager to hear what he wanted to do with, or to her. She stepped into the shower under the cold spray, cleared her throat before she asked, “What did he want?”

“He wanted to discuss a scene with you. Something about words not sounding natural,” Jessie yelled back.

“He what?” Any desire to be placated by him flew out the window. No one had ever questioned her about the order of words.

They had suggested how different scenarios could be changed, but never her words. She stepped out of the shower, barely dried herself off and pulled her clothes on. It was the last stray she thought. Marietta grabbed the master script from her desk and handed it to Jessie. “Point it out.”

“I think he said just before he sets the bomb off. It’s scheduled for the day after tomorrow.” She thumbed through the script then pointed the scene out, “Here it is.”

Marietta grabbed the script from her and read out loud, “‘and to the dust they shall return.’ What’s wrong with that?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s very catchy.” Jessie had a look of amusement on her face.

“Do you know the jack ass’ room number?” She asked as she slid her slippers on.

“Do I know it? Every single girl in the crew knows it. The waitresses in restaurants ten blocks down know it.” Jessie stopped her ranting when her eyes met with Marietta’s fuming expression. “Twenty second floor, room two thousand and two.”

Marietta burst out of her room, leaving a cloud of smoke behind her. She always stayed in the more modest rooms, that way she had Jessie next door. Plus, she tried to be modest in everything she did. It kept her grounded and humble. Tobias Harden’s room was on the floor of luxury suites, usually you needed a key card to get there but she would find a way.

She went down to the lobby but didn’t get off the elevator when she saw Sarah heading her way. Marietta knew Sarah was on the same floor and she had a key card. She rode up without saying a word to the actress but puzzled at the eye-daggers Sarah seemed to be shooting her way. As soon as the doors opened, she saw Tobias’ room. It was in a strategically favorable place, right next to the elevators. This way when he got to his floor with whatever unsuspecting Jane Doe, he didn’t need to do much convincing before they were in his room.

Marietta took a deep breath. She decided to handle the situation as calmly as she could. But when she heard his laughter, she ended up banging on the door instead of knocking. The door opened and it was his assistant Peter that she saw first.

“Where is he?” she barked.

“He just stepped out of the shower, could you come back in a half an hour?” he asked.

“I don’t have half an hour. Besides, who are we kidding, in half an hour he will have his latest prey inside here. I need to talk to him now.”

“But-,”

“Move or I swear I’m going to steamroll over you.” She placed her fisted hand against the door.

Peter looked back into the room and then back at her, confused and terrified. He didn’t know what to do.

“Let her in.” Marietta heard a voice call from inside.

When she walked in, she wished she had come half an hour later as Peter had suggested. He stood in the living room area of his room. His hard-muscled frame made something inside her shudder and relax at the same time. His beautiful sturdy body glistened from the wetness of his shower. She sucked in a long deep breath as her gaze slid down his magnificent frame. His shoulders were wide, strong, and packed with muscles. His eyes loaded with dangerous desire. His stomach was tight with a neat arrangement of muscled cubes. His towel balanced around his waist, threatening to collapse around his ankles.

“Oh, dear God.” She heard her breath escape her lips. Then she saw the muscles at the edge of his lips stiffen in a smile.

When he closed the distance between them, she inhaled deeply and caught the scent of him. He smelled male, seductive and good. Her heart skipped as panic ripped through her. He was so close to her that she was forced to look into his eyes and not anywhere else.