Encore Encore (21 page)

Then he’d dropped the bomb. If he accepted, it would mean permanently relocating to L.A.

“Look, Kay, I can’t just move to L.A. My life is here. My work is here.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” Kieran leaned back. He twirled a lock of hair around his fi nger, a sure sign that he was stressed. “Do you want me to say no? Turn it down?”

Yes.

“No, of course not. I would never ask you to pass up an opportunity like this.” Which was why the timing was so perfect.

If he had the tour then Kieran would not pass up his big chance in L.A. out of any sense of loyalty or guilt. Of course he couldn’t say any of this to Kieran.

David noticed their waitress hovering nearby. Obviously she was aware of the argument and had no intention of interrupting.

158 Gardner ~ His Leading Man

He crooked his fi nger. She approached their table. Albeit reluctantly. “Can we have this to go, please?”

“I don’t want mine,” Kieran said.

The waitress nodded, scooped up their dishes and hurried away.

Of course he was happy for Kieran, why wouldn’t he be? But the thought of leaving his life, his work, all the friends he had here in New York and moving to the other side of the country made him sick with trepidation. What if it didn’t work out? What if after he left everything and everyone he knew, things with Kieran went south? Then he would be left with no job, no money, no friends and no prospects of his own. It was a leap of faith that he quite simply couldn’t manage. But neither would he deny this opportunity to Kieran, who was one of the most talented and hard-working actors he knew, personal feelings aside, of course.

“We don’t have to decide right away, do we? About L.A., I mean.” David reached for Kieran’s hand.

After a moment, Kieran allowed him to take it. He sighed.

“I just want you with me.” He lifted their joined hands to his cheek, then skimmed his lips over David’s knuckles. “I thought it would be so great, the two of us in L.A., the sun, and the parties, and—”

“The earthquakes.”

Kieran laughed just as David hoped he would. “They say after living there a while you hardly even notice the earthquakes.”

“Yeah, right.” David smiled because Kieran seemed to need him to, and squeezed the hand he still held. “How about this?

You go to L.A. and I’ll do the tour. I’ll sublet the apartment here and we can take some time to think about things.” Kieran’s eyes widened. “Think about what things? Are you breaking up with me?”

“No, God, no. I love you. I want to spend my life with you, I told you that. Just because we’d be living in different cities doesn’t mean we’re breaking up.”

ENCORE! ENCORE!
159

“A long distance relationship.” Kieran’s shoulders sagged.

“Great.”

David leaned forward, took Kieran’s other hand. “No, wait.

This can work. We’ll meet in different cities like a date weekend.

We’ll do it maybe every other month or so, spend the whole weekend together, just the two of us, reconnect. It’ll be fi ne, I promise.”

And it was fi ne, for a while.

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

Despite not having to drive Kieran someplace else, David was late getting to the seminar. They would certainly have started already. He was going to have to walk in, disrupting everyone and probably get stuck sitting all the way up front right under the presenter’s nose. But somehow he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Because last night had been so worth it.

And Kieran was going to call him.

David parked his car, grabbed his laptop from the backseat and hurried into the building. He turned a corner and spotted the seminar presenter just ahead of him. So he wasn’t that late after all. He quickened his pace and caught up.

“Good morning.” David fell into step beside the older man.

“Morning. You get caught in that mess too? I swear, L.A.

traffi c is hell.”

Because the lie was just there and agreeing was simpler than admitting or explaining the real reason, David nodded.

“Yeah, well, that’s California for you.” The instructor chuckled, a little heh-heh that held more disgust than humor.

David responded with a chuckle of his own, just as fake, and followed him into the conference room.

Scanning the tables, most of which were already fi lled, he spotted Gavin and, thank goodness, the empty chair next to him.

160 Gardner ~ His Leading Man

Setting his laptop on the table and his portfolio beside it, David slid into the seat just as Mansfi eld took his place at the lectern in the front of the room.

“I thought you ditched me,” Gavin murmured. “Must have been some night.” He grinned.

“For what we’re paying for this gig, I would have kicked Colin Firth out of my bed to make it here on time.” Gavin snorted. “Dude, your priorities are just so fucked.” A redhead seated on the other side of Gavin shot them a look. Clearly, she thought they were being disruptive. Gavin gave her an eye-roll in response.

Picking up his pen, Gavin wrote something on his legal pad then tilted it so David could read.

So how was he?

Flipping open his own legal pad, David wrote:
How was who?

Gavin wrote:
That little brunet in the painted-on jeans. That’s who
you scored with, yeah?

David scribbled in capitals:
NO!

Gavin lifted his eyebrows and wrote:
Then who?

It’s complicated,
David wrote.
I’ll tell you all about it at the break.

When two hours later the break fi nally came, David had eight pages of notes that he hardly remembered taking. He’d spent the time daydreaming about Kieran Reilly. He knew he was being obsessive, but every detail was precious, far more than it should have been.

Gavin didn’t even bother to wait until the people seated around them had left. He gripped David’s arm. “So tell, Sullie.

Who was the lucky boy last night?”

Their redheaded tablemate glanced over, but this time her look was more interested than annoyed.

David groaned and shook off Gavin’s hand. “Are you still in high school, or what?” He stood, pushed in his chair. “Let’s go for a walk.”

ENCORE! ENCORE!
161

Outside, he told a slightly edited—okay, maybe very much edited—version of his night with Kieran and watched Gavin’s eyes go wide with surprise and then narrow with concern.

“And it was all because of your sister,” David fi nished. “I think she thought she was making the match of the evening.”

“Little did she know.”

“Yeah, well.” David pulled his phone from its clip, checked for messages. There were none and he returned it to his belt. Of course there weren’t any messages. He had just left Kieran not three hours ago. It was ridiculous to think he might have called or texted already. Now who was acting like high school?

“He didn’t call you yet?” Gavin was watching him.

“That’s not—”

“Dude, do not attempt to play the player.” Gavin clapped him on the shoulder. “Who else would you be looking for a message from? I saw you check your phone six times while we were in the thing there.” Gavin grew more serious. “So you fucked your old boyfriend, so what? It happens. But do not make it into more than it is, Davie.”

“I’m not making it into more than it is. And don’t call me Davie. You know I hate that.”

But was he making it into more than it was? And what was it anyway?

What it was, David decided by that afternoon, was frustrating as hell.

“Still nothing, huh?” Gavin slung an arm around David’s shoulders as they walked back from lunch.

“Still nothing.” David returned his phone to its clip and sighed.

He’d stopped even denying that he was checking for messages every fi ve minutes. Gavin wasn’t blind or stupid.

“You could call him.” Gavin opened the conference center door and allowed David to precede him.

“I don’t want to look like I’m stalking him.”
162 Gardner ~ His Leading Man

“Or too needy.”

“Exactly.” Which was the real issue, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

At the end of the hall jus before the turn that led to the conference room, Gavin stopped. “I have to go take a piss. I’ll see you back at the table.”

They parted ways and once Gavin was out of sight, David reached for his phone. Without giving himself time to think too much about it, he dialed Kieran’s cell. His heart sank when the call went immediately to voicemail.

“Hi, this is Kieran. Leave me a message after the beep and I’ll get back to you.”

Beep.

“Kay, it’s David. I was just…”
Just what? Obsessing over the fact
that it’s been like six hours and you haven’t called me?
Yeah, that really did sound stalkerish. “I was just thinking maybe we could have dinner tonight, if you’re not busy. So, give me a call.” There. David snapped his phone shut. Now there really was nothing he could do but wait.

The door to Kieran’s dressingroom burst open and Will Tierney walked in. No knock, no can I come in, no have you got a minute. As the executive producer of
What a Drag
and Kieran’s so-called boyfriend, it was pretty typical behavior for Will.

“You looked like shit in that last scene. What the hell time did you get in last night?”

Seated at his makeup table, Kieran pulled tissues from a box and began wiping the cold-cream from his face. In the mirror, he watched Will advance toward him, and the lie came easily to his lips. “I don’t know. Late. I was drunk.” Sandy, Kieran’s PA, paused in the act of sliding a green chiffon blouse onto a padded hanger. Her cheeks fl ushed. “Kieran, if you could just slip out of that dress I can—” Will spoke without even glancing her way. “Get lost for a bit, will you, sweetheart? We have some things to discuss.” She hesitated, clearly unhappy with being sent away before she’d fi nished her duties. “But the dress—” Kieran smiled and waved her off. “I’ll take care of it, San.” When she didn’t move, he crossed his heart. “I won’t get anything on it, I promise.”

As the door closed behind Sandy, Will met Kieran’s gaze in the mirror. “So you were drunk. Is that why you never called me?

I left two messages.”

“I never got them till this morning.” Opening a bottle of eye makeup remover, Kieran started in on his heavily made up eyes.

He so did not want to deal with Will just then.

Conscious of his promise to Sandy, he was careful not to get makeup on the slinky black cocktail dress he’d worn in the last scene they’d taped. He liked how the fabric clung to his ass and the way the hip-high side-slit showed off his legs. David would
164 Gardner ~ His Leading Man

like it too. Maybe he’d wear it when he saw David again. When, not if.

David, just the thought of him had Kieran’s lips curving.

Will obviously assumed that smile was for him. In the mirror he fl ashed his very best I-may-be-a-producer-but-I-could-just-as-easily-have-been-a-moviestar grin in response. Warm hands settled on Kieran’s shoulders, left bare by the dress’s halter top.

“You’re tense.” Strong fi ngers kneaded the muscles connecting neck and shoulder. “I have something that’ll take care of that stress.” Will leaned down, his breath warm against Kieran’s bare skin. “Or better yet, slide out of that dress and I’ll give you a massage.”

“Not now.” But Kieran arched his neck as Will’s thumbs dug into the knots in his shoulders.

“Why not? We’re done for the day.” Will’s hands traveled down, smoothing over his chest. He cupped the slight padding Kieran wore in his strapless bra, massaging like they were actual breasts. Underneath, Kieran’s nipples tightened into sharp little peaks.

“I blew off Roxanne’s dinner party for you last night, and you didn’t even have the courtesy to call me.” Will’s voice held a defi nite pout.

“You did not blow it off. That’s why you weren’t at Christine’s party.”

And thank you, God, for that.

“Okay, so technically that’s true, but I left before dessert.” Will’s tongue fl icked inside Kieran’s ear and made him shiver.

“That’s it, baby. Let me take care of you, my pretty baby.” More tongue action had Kieran’s cock hardening, though sex with Will was the last thing he wanted just then, especially with David still so fresh on his mind. “I know just what you need, my sweet little boy-toy.”

No, you really don’t.

ENCORE! ENCORE!
165

Will’s hand found his erection and squeezed. Kieran squirmed, tried to ease away from those insistent fi ngers. “You only skipped dessert because you wanted cock instead of pussy last night.” Will’s hands dropped away. He straightened and glared at Kieran in the mirror.” Don’t start that bullshit with me again.”

“Just the truth, babe.” Shoving the stool back, Kieran stood and tried to step around Will. But the taller man grabbed his arm and yanked him around to face him. “Yeah, well, thanks to you, I didn’t get either one.”

“Didn’t you? Awww, poor thing. Guess that’s why you were such a dick on the set today, huh?”

Will’s pale blue eyes went hot.

He’d struck a nerve. Good.

“Fuck you.”

“Not tonight, babe, sorry. I have things to do.”

“Like what? Or like who?”

“None of your fucking business. I’m just busy.” Kieran jerked his arm out of Will’s grasp. “Go get somebody else to take care of your blue balls.”

“You know I’m not fucking anybody but you,” Will whined.

“So you don’t stick it to any other gay boys. Big whoop. But what about Roxanne?” Kieran knew he was out of control, that his temper had slipped its chain. But he couldn’t seem to reel it in, couldn’t shut his mouth. Maybe it was the whining. He hated it when Will whined. “You and me and Roxie in our cozy little threesome. Except, oh wait, she doesn’t know it’s a threesome, does she, Will? Because you’re afraid if you tell her you’d rather take it up the ass than—”

Will slapped him. The blow knocked him back a full step.

He bit his tongue and tasted blood. Without another word, Will turned on his heel and stalked out, slamming the door behind him.