was the stuff that mattered and then … everything else.
Did being a big-time movie star matter? No.
But using this extraordinary and fortuitous situation to secure the future? Well, yeah … that mattered. The amount of fucking crap that came with this whole celebrity deal just pissed him off. Shaking his head in disgust, Edward leaned back on his hands and studied the churning ocean. A gull dive-bombed its dinner in the surf then flew off, disappearing into the summer sky.
What the hell was he going to do about this mess? A fucking sex tape. And an off-the-rails co-star. Goddammit.
Gideon Shaw might be one of the sexiest men alive, but Edward Banning wasn’t. Sex tapes and public displays of fuckery weren’t his style.
The embarrassment this had already caused his parents almost gutted him. Explaining to his mom that there was no way he was in the video had been the single most uncomfortable conversation of his life. Made worse once he’d understood that she’d actually seen it.
Edward groaned aloud at the memory. What could he possibly say?
Mom … seriously. I swear it wasn’t your son’s dick destroying the completely bare pussy playing second fiddle on screen to what even he had to admit was some serious grandstanding cock.
Now, his dad on the other hand … oh, god. That had been a dreadful conversation. Before he’d gotten to say a word, his father had launched into a thirty-minute lecture about respecting women that ended with the man questioning if Edward’s conscience would survive Hollywood.
Until that moment, he’d never thought of it like that … but he sure did now.
Paige was worried. After keeping an eye on Edward from the bank of windows across from the kitchen for the last half an hour, she was puttering, trying to decide when or even if she should go to him and find out what was up.
Familiar with his body language, she knew not all was right the second she saw him down by the shoreline.
He was a lot like her—the water called to his psyche. If he were prowling the edge of the blue ocean instead of lounging on the deck, that could only mean he was in clenched-fist mode.
She called it the Edward-Gideon paradox—the inner battle he sometimes fought that had everything to do with who he really was coming up against what he did in Hollywood.
With a mocking grunt, she considered what a great daytime TV this situation would make. Not that he’d ever allow such an intrusion into his personal life and not like she was serious anyway. Nobody was more protective of Edward-slash-Gideon than she was except for his family, and he’d done everything possible to keep them off the radar and far from this part of his life.
Going to him by making her way across the massive deck and down onto the sand to take him by surprise finally won out. Time for action.
Grabbing his water bottle off the counter, she filled it with some chilled to almost icy fluid—just the way he liked it—and made a mental plan.
Heading for the stairway that led to the beach, Paige stumbled over her own feet and nearly face-planted at the bottom of the stairs when her so-called plan smacked headfirst into one of her Edward fantasies.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Those thoughts were strictly forbidden, but that didn’t stop the veritable tsunami of need and want that body slammed her.
Shit. Why’d it have to be this way?
Reining in the traitorous thoughts, she stepped onto the warm sand and willed her body to behave. Something wasn’t right, which made now the wrong time to go easy on her carnal side.
Edward first. Hormones second. Or a distant third, or not at all.
It was low tide, so she had a bit of a trek out to where he sat. Overhead, puffs of white clouds softened the blue sky as birds scoured the waterline, occasionally swooping low in search of small marine life to gobble up.
Though summer was in full swing and other areas of the Malibu coastline would be teeming with beach-goers and surfers, the fabulous
Did being a big-time movie star matter? No.
But using this extraordinary and fortuitous situation to secure the future? Well, yeah … that mattered. The amount of fucking crap that came with this whole celebrity deal just pissed him off. Shaking his head in disgust, Edward leaned back on his hands and studied the churning ocean. A gull dive-bombed its dinner in the surf then flew off, disappearing into the summer sky.
What the hell was he going to do about this mess? A fucking sex tape. And an off-the-rails co-star. Goddammit.
Gideon Shaw might be one of the sexiest men alive, but Edward Banning wasn’t. Sex tapes and public displays of fuckery weren’t his style.
The embarrassment this had already caused his parents almost gutted him. Explaining to his mom that there was no way he was in the video had been the single most uncomfortable conversation of his life. Made worse once he’d understood that she’d actually seen it.
Edward groaned aloud at the memory. What could he possibly say?
Mom … seriously. I swear it wasn’t your son’s dick destroying the completely bare pussy playing second fiddle on screen to what even he had to admit was some serious grandstanding cock.
Now, his dad on the other hand … oh, god. That had been a dreadful conversation. Before he’d gotten to say a word, his father had launched into a thirty-minute lecture about respecting women that ended with the man questioning if Edward’s conscience would survive Hollywood.
Until that moment, he’d never thought of it like that … but he sure did now.
Paige was worried. After keeping an eye on Edward from the bank of windows across from the kitchen for the last half an hour, she was puttering, trying to decide when or even if she should go to him and find out what was up.
Familiar with his body language, she knew not all was right the second she saw him down by the shoreline.
He was a lot like her—the water called to his psyche. If he were prowling the edge of the blue ocean instead of lounging on the deck, that could only mean he was in clenched-fist mode.
She called it the Edward-Gideon paradox—the inner battle he sometimes fought that had everything to do with who he really was coming up against what he did in Hollywood.
With a mocking grunt, she considered what a great daytime TV this situation would make. Not that he’d ever allow such an intrusion into his personal life and not like she was serious anyway. Nobody was more protective of Edward-slash-Gideon than she was except for his family, and he’d done everything possible to keep them off the radar and far from this part of his life.
Going to him by making her way across the massive deck and down onto the sand to take him by surprise finally won out. Time for action.
Grabbing his water bottle off the counter, she filled it with some chilled to almost icy fluid—just the way he liked it—and made a mental plan.
Heading for the stairway that led to the beach, Paige stumbled over her own feet and nearly face-planted at the bottom of the stairs when her so-called plan smacked headfirst into one of her Edward fantasies.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Those thoughts were strictly forbidden, but that didn’t stop the veritable tsunami of need and want that body slammed her.
Shit. Why’d it have to be this way?
Reining in the traitorous thoughts, she stepped onto the warm sand and willed her body to behave. Something wasn’t right, which made now the wrong time to go easy on her carnal side.
Edward first. Hormones second. Or a distant third, or not at all.
It was low tide, so she had a bit of a trek out to where he sat. Overhead, puffs of white clouds softened the blue sky as birds scoured the waterline, occasionally swooping low in search of small marine life to gobble up.
Though summer was in full swing and other areas of the Malibu coastline would be teeming with beach-goers and surfers, the fabulous
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