Page 8 of First Touch

Careful, he could still be a dangerous man. Even if your panties are starting to soak.

It wasn’t Amber’s voice behind the warning; it was mine. Still, I thought of her as Reeve helped me with my chair. Thought of her as he took his seat across from me. Thought of her as I placed my napkin in my lap and took a bite of the salad that was waiting on the table. I let her become heavy in my mind, a dark moon eclipsing any light of desire that Reeve kindled. With that and another few sips of my wine, my nerves settled and the only warmth I felt was from the fire at my side and the alcohol in my veins.

We finished our salads without speaking. When he was done, Reeve pushed his plate to the side. Immediately, three waiters descended upon us. One refilled our wine, one took our plates, and the last replaced them with our main course – an herb-encrusted salmon fillet on a bed of rice. Silently, they retreated again.

They continued to watch us. Our every move carefully observed. They’d probably seen a lot in their time working for Reeve. I made a note that they could help me find answers though I would need to build their trust first. People who worked this closely to Reeve Sallis would not divulge secrets easily. If at all.

Still, they could be a backup plan.

When my focus returned to my date, I realized he’d been watching me. “Your staff is well trained,” I said.

“Very.”

“It’s admirable.” I took a bite of my dinner, hoping that would change the subject. Reeve continued to watch. “Mmm,” I said letting the sound reverberate in my throat as fish melted on my tongue. It was actually quite delicious even if I didn’t have much of an appetite.

Reeve held his study for another long minute before picking up his own fork. “Tell me about yourself, Emily Wayborn.” He said my name as if holding it out to examine. Or as if he didn’t really believe it was mine.

“Emily Barnes, originally,” I offered. He’d learn that easily enough on his own from one look at my Wikipedia page.

“Why did you change it?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It seemed everyone in Hollywood had a nom de plume so why not me? Barnes is so flat and unattractive.” And I’d thought that a new name would make it easier to disappear from my old life. Not that anyone would have come looking. Amber had been the only one who cared, and she’d told me with absolute conviction that she wouldn’t be following after.

“I suppose Emily Wayborn does flow better off the tongue. What else?” As he ate, he kept his eyes on me, his focus intent.

“About me? What do you want to know?” It was an expected conversation for a first date and for that reason it should have been easy. But I’d been with plenty of men who didn’t care to know anything about me other than whether I was on birth control or not. If that was really what Reeve was looking for, it was best to just skip to the point.

He shrugged. “The interesting things. The things I can’t learn from Google.”

“Did you already do a search? Or are you planning to later on?” I presumed that a whole background check had been done on me before I was allowed on the premises.

He leaned forward as if he were sharing a secret. “I’ll never tell.” He took a swallow of his wine then grinned guiltily. “Okay, I already searched. I don’t dine with just anyone. Don’t let it go to your head.”

The idea of Reeve Sallis Googling anything himself, instead of having someone do it for him, made me smile. Plus, he’d dropped the wariness that had accompanied the start of his questioning and, even while I kept my attraction at bay, I much preferred the flirtatious banter.

“Well, then. You’re already an expert,” I teased.

“I’m not. Tell me.” His eyes were light, but his tone authoritative, and the simple two-word command shuddered through me.

“Okay.” I dabbed my napkin at my mouth. “I’m an only child. Born in Fresno. Grew up in Bakersfield. My father ran off when I was in elementary school. My mother was – is, I mean – not well, mentally. She functioned well enough when I was growing up, but just barely. My childhood was average. I got average grades. College was out of my price range and, honestly, I wasn’t interested. So I started modeling, which turned to commercial acting, and then NextGen was my big break.” It was all true. For the same reasons I’d decided to use my real name, I’d decided to use my real backstory. I expected Reeve to dig, and with as much power as he had, I knew he’d find out what he wanted to about me. The trick, then, was to tell him enough of the truth that he didn’t feel like he needed to dig much further.

He nodded a few times as I spoke, as if confirming each piece of information before he filed it away. Much like I would with anything he shared with me. I had my reasons to be cataloging; I wondered what his were.

He’s cautious, I told myself. He’s a man with enemies. He has to ask questions. You got this.

“What else…” I bit my lip as I thought of how to cap my self-summary. “I’m here at the resort by myself for a much-needed rest before we start shooting again the second week of January. Oh, and I’m a natural blonde.”

His brow rose. “There are ways to verify that, you know.”

A hum began between my legs. “Are there? Tell me more about that.”

“Maybe later.” The darkness in his eyes said he was definitely considering it.

Good.

Or not good. I was torn on the issue. If I didn’t have to have sex with him to find out what I wanted to know, the better off I was. Right? It just wasn’t really likely that I could get as close as I needed without getting him off. In which case, good that he was considering it. And good that my body seemed to be into that. Because it would make it easier, of course.

The talking was essential though, too. Maybe even more than sex. Reeve would never let me into his life if he didn’t trust me. I needed to seem transparent. Step one in the Find-A-Man game that Amber and I had played was how to appear vulnerable. Men liked vulnerable women. Rich men paid a lot to fuck vulnerable women. Paid a lot to the vulnerable women they fucked.