The Things She Says(54)
Photos of him and VJ leaving the club last night, as well as ones from the restaurant the night they didn’t eat, crowded the screen of a national morning talk show.
“Wow. That dress photographs well.” VJ plopped down on the couch next to him and kissed his shoulder.
His black mood lightened as she tucked her legs up under the robe and leaned against him. He turned up the sound, curious how the two of them were news, just as the still shot dissolved into one of Kyla.
“...statement from her publicist, box-office sweetheart Kyla Monroe confirms her relationship with director Kristian Demetrious has ended,” the reporter said. “Unconfirmed speculation names the unidentified woman in these photos as the cause.”
“What is she talking about?” VJ glanced at Kris.
“I have no idea.” He shrugged.
“Well, your relationship with Kyla is over. At least they got that part right. But it was over a while ago.” Her tongue came out to lick her lips. “Right?”
Not this on top of the conversations with Abrams and Kyla and you have no choice still ringing in his ears. His temper veered back to bad. “Kyla and I broke up a few months ago, but she asked me not to issue a statement and I didn’t. Thanks for the trust.”
“I’m sorry. We’ve never actually talked about it.” She rubbed his shoulder and cleared her throat. “Speaking of which. There’s something else we really need to get straight. The promotion for your movie. Kyla said a few things last night that didn’t make sense.”
Great. First VJ accused him of playing two women at once, and now she wanted to hash out wisdom from the mouth of Kyla. “Kyla says lots of stuff, especially if she thinks it’ll get her what she wants. What did she say?”
“Well, she made it sound like the engagement and the movie go hand in hand. Without one, you won’t have the other. Is that true?”
“I’m making Visions no matter what.”
“Good.” With a sexy growl, she swung a leg over his lap and straddled him, wiggling against his ever-present erection.
And that was the end of it. Dropped, like it had never happened, and minus any drama. VJ might be the perfect woman. And he might have to face that his resistance to the engagement had more to do with VJ than he’d been willing to admit.
He stared into her gorgeous eyes sparking with that wealth of acceptance and understanding and suddenly couldn’t speak.
Passion faded. Then all that simmering emotion had to go somewhere. What would he do then? He refused to give in to the black side of passion—the rage, the anger. The way his father did once his parents’ forbidden love affair fizzled.
The right move was to disengage and shove everything back into the box. Save VJ the heartache. He never should have gotten involved with a victim of abuse. Never should have gotten involved with someone so singularly qualified to break that seal on his emotions. Maybe if they’d met later, at a point when he’d practiced balancing a whole lot more, things would be different.
Regardless, they’d met now, and he couldn’t keep his hands off of her. She called to him and every cell answered, reaching out, seeking to unify at a level so deep, he hadn’t realized it existed. He trusted her like he’d never trusted anyone.
If only he could trust himself as much.
As she lifted his T-shirt over his head and her soft hands sparked across his chest with sweet, intense heat, her scent drifted into the space between them, clenching his gut. He should push her away.
But he couldn’t. Not yet.
He had no illusions about what VJ wanted. Expected. A happily ever after. VJ deserved that, deserved someone’s whole heart forever. But what did that mean? What if he wanted to be that person but couldn’t figure out how to keep his balance? Then it would be too late.
It was better to disappoint her than to take a chance.
This passion between them was going to end in a world of hurt and not all of it was going to be hers. The sooner he let her go, the sooner they could both move on.
By noon, VJ had sent Kris off to a meeting with Some Important Movie People, with strict orders to come back in a good mood, and then parked herself in front of the TV, intending to call Pamela Sue and giggle over how she’d made the news. She owed her friend some juicy details about Kris, too.
She raced through the channels to an entertainment news network. It was noon, so they’d probably lead in with more important stories. Except they were already showing pictures of her in that lovely, obscene red dress, which was currently balled up in the comforter from Kris’s bed.
“...unidentified source claims Oscar-winning actress Kyla Monroe was dumped by Kristian Demetrius via phone yesterday. The source, a close friend of Ms. Monroe’s, describes her as heartbroken and confused about why her longtime boyfriend would end their relationship over a women he met a few days ago.”