Miss Congeniality (22 page)

“Maybe it’s time you let someone else scale the castle.”

“I already have.”

“You’re letting me scale your castle?”

“How is it you turn everything into sex?”

He smirked. “Consider it part of my charm.” Brea sighed when he nuzzled her neck. “Besides, I’ve missed you the last couple days.” Brea had been so preoccupied with everything going on she hadn’t been in the mood for sex recently. Lance was very considerate about it, but she missed him probably as much as he missed her. She turned her head so their noses touched.

“I may have to remedy that tonight.”

“Can I get another blowjob?”

“Maybe.” She blushed, embarrassed. His mention of a blowjob could send her face flaming.

“How about I just bury myself between your legs?” She hooked her leg over his, enjoying the way his finger drew circles on her thigh. While he held her leg down so her thighs remained separated, his finger trailed down the crotch of her panties, providing just enough pressure to leave her hot and unfulfilled.

“Which part?”

“Let’s play a little game called finger, tongue, or cock. I’m going to stick my finger in your pussy right here at the table. We’re going to see how long it takes you to moan. If you hold out for a minute you get my finger again, two minutes you get my tongue, and at three minutes you get my cock.” For once Brea was thankful she decided to wear a dress tonight.

“What if I hold out longer?” she asked breathlessly.

“You get all three.” He plunged his finger into her and started thrusting in and out like he was fucking her. She had to hold onto the table, but he continued to hold her leg in place so she couldn’t move.

“More water?” The waitress asked cheerfully, but Brea lost the ability to speak.

“No, thank you,” Lance replied smoothly as though he wasn’t driving her crazy under the table. “You, babe?” She simply shook her head no. The waitress walked off with a bounce in her step. “You got about thirty seconds left until you come all over me.” She gritted her teeth, seeing spots behind her eyes. He bit her earlobe. “Come.” And she did, all over him, collapsing back in the seat.

“Check, please.” He signaled the waitress.

“Damn vultures,” Lance said when they touched down the next day at the Charleston airport in South Carolina. They were bombarded as soon as they landed, and Brea wondered who tipped them off. Lance and she didn’t keep their plans a secret, but they didn’t really publicize it either for this very reason.
Thank goodness I told Derrick we would meet them at the house
, she thought, not wanting him to be caught in the firestorm.

“Let’s just get out of here.” She moved rapidly to get through the screaming photographers, the telltale clicking of cameras accompanied by the blinding flashes barely slowing her down. After catching a cab, they sped away, Brea directing the driver to go in the opposite direction of her uncle’s house. She had him just drive around for about half an hour before she directed him to Derrick’s house, confident they weren’t being followed. Twenty minutes later and they were at a nondescript brick house with dark-blue shutters. This house had been her safe haven, and regardless of where she lived, it would always be home.

She knocked on the door, anxious to see Derrick and Silvia. She had seen them at Christmas, but that had been months ago. Brea told them they had an open invitation to come to LA, but they always declined saying their work was too important. One of these days, she was going to drag them there, whether they wanted to or not.

Silvia practically jerked the door of its hinges in her haste to get to Brea. “Brea!” She launched herself into Brea’s arms and held on tightly.

“Silvia.” She tucked her head into her neck, comforted by Chanel Number 5, Silvia’s signature scent.

“Let me look at you.” Silvia peppered kisses along Brea’s face before she looked her over. She must have approved of what she saw because her smile was blinding.

“And who is this?” Silvia noticed Lance standing on the walkway with their bags. Brea rubbed her palms down the front of her pants.

“Silvia, this is my boyfriend, Lance.”

“Boyfriend, huh?” Silvia was never one to let an opportunity to mess with one of Brea’s boyfriends go by, and she decided to have a bit of fun by interrogating him. “Should I believe everything I hear about you?”

He cringed, wondering what he would think if his niece brought home a man who did half the stuff he did. “Probably. I’m not going to make excuses for what I’ve done, but I will say the media tends to skew the story, and no one will love your daughter the way I do.” If Silvia or Brea noticed his use of the word daughter, they chose to ignore it. For all intents and purposes, Silvia and Derrick were her parents, in practice if not in name.

“You’ll do for now.” Silvia walked back inside, Brea and Lance following in her wake.

“Where’s Derrick?” Brea asked, knowing he wasn’t working today. Indecision weighed on Silvia’s face. “Just tell me. I don’t care.”

“He went to see your biological mom.” Brea felt the air sucked from her lungs. She knew there was a chance she would have to deal with that woman, but she wasn’t ready yet. She thought she was,
but are you every truly ready for a woman you felt as though abandoned you for liquid poison?

“Why?”

Silvia gestured for her to come on, leading them into the kitchen. It was obvious they interrupted dinner preparation. Silvia had been in the middle of making barbecue.

“The lawyer advised him if the case was really going to trial, we may need her as a witness.”

“Are you fucking serious?”

Silvia glared at her, and Brea was immediately chastised. You just don’t do some things, and being disrespectful to Silvia by cursing in her presence was one such thing. She didn’t mind Brea cursing for her job, but she wouldn’t tolerate it in real life.

“Sorry,” Brea mumbled. “I just don’t know how she will help.”

“Look, I get it. I don’t want to need her either, but the lawyer thinks it will help.”

“What kind of character witness will she be?” She held up her hand like Vanna White. “And here your honor, we have Alex’s mom, who often allowed her johns to stay over, and wasn’t worried whether her small children stepped on her heroin needles.” Silvia rubbed Brea’s shoulders, understanding she was remembering as opposed to just being sarcastic.

“I think that’s the lawyer’s point. If the judge can see how your mother is, then it will provide some sympathy, or at least mitigating circumstances.”

Brea tapped her hands on the table, a nervous habit she had mostly overcome. “I want to ask you something. I asked Derrick, but I want your point of view.”

“Ask away.”

“Why didn’t you guys tell me what was going on with Alex?” Silvia stopped washing dishes and sat at the table, covering Brea’s hand with her own.

“I wanted to tell you. Derrick and I argued over it plenty of times. Derrick told me you had too much on your plate to worry about Alex.”

“I should have known. I would have been on the first flight back,” she argued.

“We know, honey.” Silvia caressed her cheek lovingly. “That’s part of the reason why we didn’t tell you. Besides, we were handling it, or at least I thought we were. Derrick had talked to Alex; he had only used for a couple of months, and Alex agreed to go to rehab the next week. We had his promise he wasn’t going to use anymore, which is why Derrick is racking his brain to figure out why Alex went back. There was no reason for him to do so; he had promised us he wasn’t going to jeopardize his potential recovery for more drugs. After what happened with your mother, we knew he didn’t want to have that type of life. Another reason why Derrick is going to see your mother; we think it may have something to do with her.”

Brea processed what Silvia was saying, trying to figure out what her mother could have to do with her brother’s situation.

“Did I miss the family reunion?”

“D
errick!” Brea hugged him, loving the familiar feel of him. She stepped back; he looked the same except for a few extra worry lines around his eyes.

He held her face in his hands, kissing her cheek. “How are you doing, baby girl?”

She smiled. “I’m pretty good considering all that’s going on with Alex.” Clouds moved over his eyes, and she hated she put them there.

“Tell me about it. But before we talk about your brother, who’s the guy?” He nodded toward Lance, sitting quietly at the kitchen table. Lance had said nothing the whole time she and Silvia talked, giving them time to reconnect without having to worry about him.

“This is Lance.” She stood beside him and put her hand on his shoulder. Lance wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her closer and causing Derrick to narrow his eyes marginally.

“I see,” he muttered, kissing Silvia when she leaned against him.

She patted his chest. “Welcome Lance into the family.”

“The jury’s still out on that one.”

“Derrick!” Brea’s eyes widened in disbelief over how rude he was.

“It’s okay.” Lance waved off her worry. “If I were him, I wouldn’t like me either. But as I told your wife, sir, I’m planning on being with Brea for a very long time, so I have no problem having to prove myself to you.” That was the second time he made a comment about being in her life in the future, which should have caused her alarm but instead delighted her. Not wanting to consider it now with all the other shit going on, she tucked it in the back of her mind for things to mull over later.

“I’m Derrick.” He held his hand out.

“Lance.” He returned the motion, a silent conversation going on in one handshake. Derrick seemed to approve, turning to Silvia and patting his stomach. “What’s for dinner? I’m starved.”

Silvia breathed a sigh of relief, the worst part of the introduction completed. “I’m making barbecue. Why don’t you take Lance outside while Brea and I finish up here?”

Brea didn’t want them alone, but Silvia gave an almost-indiscernible shake of her head, silencing her protest.

“Sounds great.” Derrick refused to take his eyes off Lance.

“Want a beer?” he asked Lance.

“Wouldn’t turn it down.”

“Then let’s go. I got some in my workspace.” There was also beer in the fridge, but Derrick wanted Lance alone, and Silvia seemed to believe it was okay.

“What was that about?” She looked out the window to watch two of the most important men in her life walking toward Derrick’s shed.

“Two roosters fighting over a hen.”

“Who’s the hen?”

Silvia stared at her as if she was stupid.

“You, of course. Just wait until Alex meets him. If you think Derrick’s bad, you know how protective Alex is when it comes to the women in his life.”

“Tell me about it.” She kept looking out the window, but she couldn’t see inside the shed.

“It will be fine.”

“I’m not spying.” She jumped back from the window.

“Uh-huh. You know how Derrick is. He’ll posture and he’ll prance around, but once he sees that boy loves you, he’ll get over it. You know he sees you as his own, and he wants to make sure his baby is taken care of.” She smiled, because she did know. “Now, help by setting the table so we can feed your boy.”

Brea had no clue what went on between Lance and Derrick in the shed, but they came in talking like they were best friends. That was a blessing because if he were going to be in her life, Derrick and Silvia would have to give their approval. She could never be with someone without him being accepted by her family. Silvia and Derrick helped keep the conversation going, curious to know everything happening on set. They had always been interested in her work, and having Lance here gave them someone else in the same profession with a new perspective.

“So, how do you like working with Brea?” Silvia asked Lance when they had finished dinner.

“Honestly, ma’am, she’s one of the most difficult actresses I’ve ever worked with.”

Brea slapped his arm. “I am not!”

“You don’t have to work with you,” he defended.

“That makes no sense.”

“How about you not try to tell me how I feel about working with you?”

“He’s lying,” she told Derrick and Silvia, who sat there laughing.