The Stars Trilogy (9 page)

Ben made a pained sound but stepped out of the lift. She held his arm to steady him because he was hobbling, dragging his feet on the carpeted hallway. “You don’t look okay, Ben.”

“Nah, just having chest pains. Stress, you know. Work’s been a bitch lately.”

“Difficult clients?’

“You don’t know the half of it. This one I have right now is the worst of the lot.”

“Then why don’t you dump this client?”

“Because he’s a good friend. But I turned him down already. I couldn’t stand his demands.”

She snorted. “Friends shouldn’t give you headaches.”

“Ah, my dear, you’re so sweet. One of these days, I’m going to tell you what I do. Friends cut each other’s throat in my line of job.”

“Then I don’t wanna hear about it. Are you hungry? I cooked something delicious last night.”

That brought a smile to his lips. “You’ll feed this poor old man?”

She laughed. “Of course! You’re my favorite neighbor!”

They walked slowly toward their wing. He couldn’t seem to carry his weight and his breathing became labored.

They reached her unit. She opened the door with her card key. They entered her flat.

“Have a seat while I heat up the food.”

She helped him settle on the sofa near the panoramic windows.

“Wow, you sure have a really neat place, kid.”

“Thanks. I did it myself!”

“Cool. Maybe you should decorate mine, too.”

“Sure! We’ll do your place soon. Just relax, okay? This won’t take long.”

She got busy in her little kitchen. She knew Ben liked Chinese food. He would surely dig her Sesame Chicken.

“You like rice, right?” she asked him over her shoulder.

Ben just grunted in response.

She heated the food in the microwave. The old man looked like he was indeed coming down with a flu, so she made some instant noodle soup. He needed to be hydrated.

“I have some Flumadine if you’re okay to take them later,” she suggested.

Ben didn’t make any sound. She turned to look at him. He was slumped on the sofa. “Ben?” Had he fallen asleep?

No answer. She walked toward him and patted his shoulder. “Ben? Are you okay?”

When he didn’t even move, she knelt on the floor and peered at his face. His eyes were closed and he looked so pale, almost bluish.

Fear slammed in her chest. She shook his shoulder gently. His head lolled to the side. “Oh my God! Ben?!”

She put her hand under his nose. His breathing was very faint.

“Oh my God, oh my God!”

She ran toward the phone and called 911.

In the middle of her frantic heartbeat and the rush of fear, she was able to describe Ben’s current condition to the 911 operator. She went back to Ben. She followed the operator’s instructions. Ben was apparently having a heart attack and although help was coming, there was no time to waste in such situations. Ben needed first aid.

She managed to drag Ben’s limp body to the floor and made him lie down on his back. She applied chest compression on him. Being a Red Cross volunteer for a few years, she knew how to administer first aid but she’d never been in an emergency situation like this!

Ben seemed to have lost consciousness. She did chest compressions several times. Then she was asked to perform CPR.

Oh-em-gee! I have never been kissed! My innocent lips are for Dare!

But she had to save poor Ben. Nobody was around to do it but her.

She performed head-tilt-chin-lift maneuver to open his airway. Pinching his nose, she blew air into his lungs. She did it several times.

“Ben, don’t die on me, dammit! You’re getting my first kiss by default so don’t you die on me! Breathe! Oh God, please, breathe!”

She pumped his chest again.
One, two, three…

“911! Open up!”

She jumped to her feet and dashed to open the door.

The paramedics rushed into her flat.

Chapter Four

“Hello, Dare:))) What’s up with you today? I think you heard me because you broke up with Nicolette already! Yaz! The tabloids are saying you’re going out with Giselle Bundchen. Whoaa!!! A supermodel?! (Sigh) I guess those girls just can’t leave you alone, can they? Okay, she seems nice. I’m not happy but...okay, you can date her. I joined a musical in our school and I’m playing the heroine. I’m so nervous but my drama teacher said I’m doing good. I’ll play Anastasia. I’ll send you some pics after the show next week. My parents and brother and my aunts and uncles and some cousins will be watching so you can imagine how nervous I am. Acting is not as easy as I first thought. Now, I admire you more for being such a great actor...Take care always.:)))

CELINE ARRIVED AT BEN’S HOSPITAL SUITE with some groceries she bought from a supermarket. There was a man standing in front of the door, a tall, good-looking Mulatto with broad shoulders, buzz cut and a goatee. Looking fierce and formidable in his black business suit, he’d be really handsome if he smiled. But he looked like he could cut granite with his teeth.

Why was he barring the door? She stopped in front of him. He didn’t budge from his position. He stared at her, his eyes unreadable.

Well, he seemed not in the mood to play a happy doorman so she gifted him with her Julia Roberts smile. It always worked even on the grumpiest old man. “Hello. May I pass?”

The man didn’t even move a muscle. His dark, smoldering eyes bored into her as if he was reading her mind. Fighting the urge to step back, she returned his piercing stare.

“Good evening, ma’am. Are you a nurse?” At last, he spoke, his voice deep and respectful.

“No.”

“Then what is your business with Mr. Speedman?”

“I’m…wait a minute, who are you?”

“I’m Cruz.”

“And what is your business with Mr. Speedman?” she fired back. He may be channeling Wayne Johnson’s tough guy look but she was not intimidated by this giant. She grew up surrounded by bodyguards and she could commandeer the lot of them like a 4-star general, to the chagrin of her father and brother.

A small smile formed on his lips. “Ladies first.”

She raised her chin haughtily. “I’m Celine, Mr. Speedman’s friend. I brought him to this hospital. What about you?”

Cruz let a few seconds tick by then he stepped aside and opened the door for her.

She gave the guy a puzzled look and stepped inside the room.

A man was standing beside Ben’s bed. A tall, Caucasian, well-built, handsome—

The grocery bag slipped from her fingers.

She stood there, rooted to the floor, her entire body paralyzed in shock, her mind screaming in hopeful disbelief.

Dare wanted to roll his eyes. He was used to women going star stuck on him but he didn’t need to be having some groupie action in a freakin’ hospital today. And this pretty, little Asian sweet stuff was giving him a star struck act the likes he’d never seen before.

Instead of shrieking like a cat in heat ready to jump him, she became pale as a ghost. She looked like she’d seen a ghost, too. Her eyes were wide with an emotion he couldn’t tell. Was it fear? Horror? Shock? She definitely didn’t look excited. Not even happy.

Strange star struck reaction. Very strange.

She was staring at him unblinkingly. Her beautiful, somewhat familiar eyes were riveted on him, searing him with some indefinable heat. His blushing days as a sexual novice ended almost two decades ago but the way this young woman was staring at him made his skin heat up in an alarmingly unusual way.

Goose bumps.

No fucking way.

He couldn’t be feeling THIS.

But his body was humming an unfamiliar song. His skin tingled, his pores rising in response to this powerful energy that suddenly surrounded him, forcing his innermost heat to come out. It was no skin deep effect. It went beyond the viscera.

Something inside him opened up and began aching.

Longing.

A vulnerable state. A weakness he hadn’t felt in ages.

He was horrified. Every cell in his body awakened to full alert. When he embarked on conquering Hollywood and the world a long time ago,
vulnerable
ceased to exist in his vocabulary. He’d killed that feeling to survive.

He’d been a dominant predator for so long. His alpha hormones automatically switched to full offensive mode.

He marked her on sight.

She was his.

His game.

His kill.

Celine had thought of all the possible scenarios, all the probable circumstances that would lead to this very moment, this most awaited moment of her life, when she was finally face to face with Dare Montgomery. She had practiced all the best lines and moves worthy of a master seductress to snare him right off the bat. But all of that went kaput the moment she saw him.

Her mind became a vacuum. She couldn’t think. Her lips couldn’t form the simplest words. She could only stare at him.

Then it all came back like a flood, almost bursting her skull, all her thoughts of this man in the past and present, the man she had been longing to see again for almost two decades.

Her first crush.

Her first love.

Her destiny.

He was there, right in front of her.

For real.

Her mind was back in action, screaming hysterically.
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!!!
Dare…Dare…Oh God, am I staring like an idiot!? Blink, Celine. But I can’t! He is here! In front of me. In this same room I’m in. I don’t want to blink. He may vanish if I blink…Oh God, please don’t play this trick on me. I can’t bear it if this isn’t real! This is real! That’s really him right there!

“Celine, come,” Ben’s weak voice intruded into her frenzied thoughts.

Ben…Oh Ben, yes! He’s in the room, too!

“Ben…!” she squeaked, sounding like a distressed doe.

This would be a very easy conquest, Dare thought with perverse anticipation. Now, wasn’t it a coincidence that she was Asian? Not pure-blooded Asian as evidenced by her slanted, amber eyes, dark brown hair and fabulous skin tone, but Asian nonetheless. Not Chinese or Japanese. Malay.

He’d never had a Malay beauty.

Desire manifested in his body.

It was quick and unbidden.

Alarmed, he held his breath to stop the sudden onslaught.

To no avail.

Seriously?!

He cannot believe he was sporting a boner where he stood right now.

It caught him totally off guard. His control-freak mind repelled the sudden but real sexual interest his body was according her. Nowadays, being with a woman wasn’t motivated by his sexual appetite as much as it did before. Having women readily available for his consumption had diminished the thrill of getting laid. He was more driven by power now, to conquer and subjugate women to his will.

She dropped to her knees to gather the grocery items that spilled on the floor. He watched the sexy curve of her ass as she bent, clumsily putting everything back inside the bag. She stood up and rushed to the other side of Ben’s bed, depositing the bag on a table.

Then she turned to Ben and touched the old man’s face tenderly. A radiant smile broke on her pink lips.

Something else happened inside him.

He wanted to yank her away from Ben. She had no business touching the old man like that, much less smile at him like that.

His thoughts were getting more hilarious by the minute. And his body was doing even worse. He was following her every movement, his dick growing more and more interested in his pants. Swift, urgent, hard-ons like this happened in his wet behind the ears years, not after countless meaningless sex with faceless lovers. He was thankful his shirt was not tucked, concealing his embarrassing physical state.

“Are you feeling better now, Ben?” she asked the old man in a tremulous voice.

Ben smiled at her. “I’m okay, dearest, thanks to you.”

Ben shifted his eyes back to him. “By the way, Celine…this… is Dare.”

Celine…It suited her. Feminine. VERY feminine. He had never been more aware of a woman’s femininity and she wasn’t even attempting to be sexy.

She nodded at Ben, then got busy fixing the blanket around the old man.