“Can we go to the bedroom now, please?” he whispered in her ear.

She kissed his cheek and took his hand.

“Lead the way.”

 

* * *

 

—

Ben walked with Anna down the hall to his bedroom. At every moment, he was afraid she’d shake her head, change her mind, put her panties back on, and leave.

But instead, she reached for him again, as soon as they got into his bedroom. He slid his hands up her body, backed her up until she hit his bed, and gently pushed her onto it. She fell backward and laughed, and he climbed on top of her and trapped her hands beneath his.

“Here’s what I’m wondering,” he said.

She looked up at him, with that same look she’d had in Palm Springs, that look full of heat. When she looked at him like that, he would do anything she wanted.

“What are you wondering?” she asked.

“I’m just wondering why you still have so many clothes on,” he said.

She gave him a slow grin.

“I was waiting for you to take them off of me.”

He smiled.

“Let me take care of this first.”

He jumped to his feet, dropped his pants and underwear to the floor, threw his shirt across the room, and then rolled back on top of her. She was already laughing.

“Do you always take your clothes off that fast?” she asked him.

He moved down her body until he got to the hem of her dress.

“Only when I need to,” he said.

“Oh, you needed to,” she said.

He slowly pushed her dress up to her waist, as she gave him a look so hot he felt like he was going to catch on fire. Her fingers trailed over his shoulder and back, and he wished she could touch him forever. He dropped kisses on her knee, her thigh, her hip, her belly, as he moved up.

When he stopped, she let out a quick sigh.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“I don’t want you to stop,” she said. Even though he knew she was enjoying this—knew from her moans and sighs and shakes when he’d gone down on her in the kitchen—he felt a burst of triumph at that. He wanted her to want this as much as he did. To want him as much as he wanted her.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he said. “I wasn’t going to stop.” He sat back on his heels and looked down at her. “But we need to get the rest of this dress off of you. It’s hiding two of my favorite things.”

She pulled the dress over her head, unsnapped her bra, and tossed it to the side.

“You mean these?” She cupped her breasts, a huge smile on her face.

He crawled up her body until his head was level with her chest.

“Mmm-hmmm.” He sucked one nipple into his mouth, then rubbed it between his finger and thumb. He’d noticed that she liked it a little rough. He was happy to oblige.

“Has anyone told you”—he repeated that move with her other nipple—“that you have just fucking incredible breasts?”

She tossed her head back so her hair spread out on his pillow.

“Not in quite a while,” she said.

“Well.” He bent his head down and took tiny bites up one side of her breast, then let his tongue circle around and around her nipple until he sucked it in, hard. Her hand ran down his back and cupped his ass, and he grinned. “I’m happy to make sure you know it.”

Her hand slid from his ass to his hips, and then she wrapped her fist around his hard cock.

“Please,” she said. “I need you.”

That was all he wanted to hear.

He lunged up to his nightstand and grabbed a condom out of it. As quickly as possible, he rolled it on as she watched him.

“Now,” she said.

He thrust inside her. Good God, she felt amazing. This time there were no slow, gentle, getting-to-know-each-other movements at the beginning. She rose to meet him, and they moved together, hard and fast. They both moved like they’d been dying for this, like they hadn’t been able to think about anything else for days, like they might never get it again. And when they came—first her, then him, as he felt her contract around him, they both shouted with joy.

They collapsed afterward, in a tangle of arms and legs, too out of breath to move. Finally, Ben kissed Anna on the cheek and lifted himself up a few inches.

“You wouldn’t be hungry, by any chance, would you?”

She turned to him, a sleepy, sated smile on her face.

“I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate that question. I absolutely could be. What do you have to eat?”

He smiled.

“Tell me what you want, and it’ll appear. Didn’t I tell you I’m magic?”

Eleven

They ate delivery sushi and drank wine naked in bed, and then curled up together to watch a show on Netflix. Anna couldn’t help herself from sharing all the gossip she’d heard about the actors with Ben, who at least pretended to be interested in all of her behind-the-scenes details.

She knew she should leave and go back to her hotel, she absolutely knew that. But she was so comfortable here, in Ben’s big warm bed, with Ben’s arm around her, and her head on his shoulder, that she just couldn’t move.

Finally, after three episodes, she forced herself to sit up.

“I guess I should head back to my hotel,” she said.

Ben sat up, too.

“You don’t have to. You can stay.” He looked at her, then fiddled with the sheets. “I mean. If you want.”

She did want. But she shouldn’t . . .

Oh, fuck it. Why shouldn’t she? This was the first time she’d been relaxed and happy and actually having fun in two years, other than a few short moments with Penny. Plus, the shoot was only for a few more days, and she’d be back in L.A. and he’d still be here in San Francisco and they’d never see each other again. So she might as well enjoy this while it lasted.

“Sure, I’ll stay,” she said. “I have to be up pretty early tomorrow, though—I’m having a breakfast meeting with my manager. I get the impression from your yawns when you arrive on set that you’re not much of a morning person—is that going to be a problem?”

He gave her an outraged look.

“You dare to accuse me of not being a morning person? Just because I may not be able to speak a word to anyone else before I drink an entire cup of coffee does not mean I’m not a morning person! I love mornings! I just love to observe them from my bed, that’s all.” He grinned at her. “But for you, I’ll manage to pull myself together and drive you across town at the ass crack of dawn.”