Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 23865 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23865 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“Abso-fucking-lutely not,” I snap as I stalk after her. She stops and looks back at me with confusion on her face. “You are not wearing that”—I point to the closet—“go change.”
Her face falls and she looks down at herself. “You don’t like it?” She looks so disappointed that I almost give in, but then I remember the sight of her lacy, pink panties when her skirt flared.
I gently take her arm and guide her back to the walk-in. “You look stunning, little starlet,” I tell her. “But no one gets to see your pretty little pussy but me.”
She huffs and punches her fists on her hips. “That’s ridiculous. No one can see my underwear. Besides, I’ll wear—” I cover her mouth and grin. “What you wear is up to me, baby. Remember? Now, get to it.” I smack her ass lightly, not enough to really hurt her, but enough to remind her who is in charge. She squeaks before dashing into the closet.
When she comes back out, she’s wearing dark blue shorts—I eye them closely until I’ve determined that are long enough—and a flowy white top. “You look beautiful, baby,” I tell her, and she rolls her eyes, but a delighted smile steals across her face.
* * *
“Austin!” I stop and turn when I hear George, the director, call out to me. He’s glaring at me and clutching a paper in his hand.
“What’s up?” I know exactly what his problem is, but I pretend ignorance.
“Are you fucking kidding with this?” He holds up the now crumpled paper and shakes it in my face.
I widen my stance and fold my arms across my chest. I’m at least a foot taller than him and easily have at least fifty pounds on him. His ego is the size of California, but I know my size intimidates him. “To what are you referring, George?”
“This bullshit about the love scenes!” he shouts. “Who approved these cuts? Nothing but kissing? Are we making a movie for a theater full of pussies?”
He’s yelling at the top of his lungs, and I narrow my eyes in warning. “Watch your mouth, George. There are women and children around here.”
“I don’t give a fuck! Do you have any idea the amount of money this movie will make with that little girl in the lead role? Every man will be drooling over how innocent she looks and fucking themselves to the image of how dirty she really is under that—”
George doesn’t get another word out, he’s unable to speak with my fist in his mouth. I swing my left arm around and hit him with a left hook, before punching him in the kidney. Before he can go down, I’ve wrapped my hand around his throat and am holding him a few inches off the ground.
“I should kill you for speaking about her that way,” I snarl. His face is turning purple and all I can think about is that he can’t talk if he can’t breathe and he can’t breathe if he’s dead.
“Austin!” I vaguely register a soothing voice saying my name, but I’m shrouded in a cloud of rage. Then a soft hand rubs circles on my back, relaxing the muscles and when I hear my name again, it’s clearer this time. “Austin. Put him down, baby. He’s not worth it.” My head turns towards the calming sound and I see my little starlet’s beautiful face. “Let him go, please?” she asks it so sweetly that I can’t help but immediately comply. I open my hand and barely notice George crumpling on the ground as I pull Nicole into my arms.
I’m still shaking as the fury slowly recedes and I look over her head to see Ty approaching with his phone glued to his ear. I wait for him to flip his shit on me, but he just glares down at George with disgust. “Get him off the set,” he snaps, gesturing to a couple of security men that I hadn’t noticed.
“Is Austin going to get in trouble?” Nicole asks Ty, her voice filled with worry as her arms tighten around my waist.
He shakes his head as he dials another number. “No. I’m going to have a shitstorm to deal with, a lot of favors to call in, but this guy already has sexual harassment suits pending and the studio is sick and tired of his bullshit.” He talks quickly into his phone for a minute, then covers the receiver and says, “They don’t want another delay. They are going to promote Jackie to director.”
I lift my chin in response, letting him know I heard and agree with the move. I’ve worked with Jackie as assistant director a couple of times and she’s good. She should have been in charge from the fucking beginning.
Nicole tugs on my shirt and I look down to see her watching me curiously. “You had the writers cut out all the intimate stuff besides a few kisses?”