Double Take: A Leading Man Romance by Harley Rayne Read Free Book Online

in the background. I turn my head up slightly to catch his expression, and I notice that he’s smiling. Closed lips, sure, but the expression is there, and I’m suddenly completely happy for the first time since I took this beneath-me job.
     

Chapter Eleven: Brett
    I’m drinking.
    I don’t do it a lot, but when I do, I go hard. Melanie had a head start, so I invited her to grab a bite so I could catch up. After Kylie’s incident, the rest of the day was canceled. I’d tried calling her phone, but no one had answered. I’d wound up texting Rob.
    Do you know if Kylie’s okay?
    He’d given me an answer I hated.
    I’m with her now. She’s fine.
    With her now. Rob is with her now. I wonder, as I push salmon around my plate, if he’s already made a move or not. It would be fucking typical of a director like him to put the moves on a PA. And Kylie has it bad enough for him that she just might agree to do it.
    Melanie is eating a salad -- of course she is -- and working down a vodka cranberry. I want to tell her not to mix her liquors, but I doubt she’d listen to me anyway and I’m not her fucking dad.
    I haven’t been really listening to her up until this point, so when she asks me a question, I lift my brows along with my Johnny Walker Black Label, neat. “Sorry, what?”
    Melanie is gorgeous. Her dark skin is flawless, and she always smells like vanilla. She keeps her hair natural and long, framing her face in coarse black curls. When I grabbed it earlier, stroked it back to kiss her for our scene, it gave under my fingers, and I’d lingered there. It’s an organic beauty.
    “I was asking what it was like to be with Hanna Havana.”
    Melanie is bi, and admitted very early to watching my porn, not for me, but for my costars. But the alcohol is opening her up even more, and making her curious. I’m thankful for the distraction. Just in case Kylie calls me back, I keep my phone out and face up on the table.
    “She’s okay.” My salmon has too much salt on it. I cut off the top of it entirely, pushing the offending seasoning to the side of my plate.
    “What about Lucy Rotten?”
    I shake my head as I take another swallow of scotch and motion to the waitress, pointing down at it. I’m going to need more, and soon. “Good. She’s good.”
    Melanie sighs and finally levels with me. “I’m freaked out here, Brett. Come on, you’ve got to give me something. Today got my nerves all fucked up.”
    I’m not immune to her pleas. Not really. I’ve seen worse shit on porn sets before than someone passing out, but after worrying about the intensity of a scene and dousing it with four shots of whiskey? I don’t blame her for feeling the pains.
    “Okay. You’re right.” I let out a slow breath and smile, trying to give her my attention. I finish off the scotch and trade it for the fresh one our waitress drops by. “Lucy was wild. Really into the S&M thing. Which was great for Kinked Up, because I was down for it.”
    “You’re down for anything though.” It’s not a question. It’s a statement. A hopeful statement, but she’s trying to build up stories to get off to later. I’ve seen this kind of thing a million times.
    “Almost anything. I’ve got my limits, but everyone’s got to have a line drawn somewhere.”
    She stabs some lettuce and studies it before she asks, “And Hanna?” She pushes the fork into her mouth and looks at me again, but my thoughts are elsewhere once more. I tap my phone to make it light up in case I’ve missed a call or text under the thumping of Blue Oyster Cult in this pub. Nothing.
    My head is getting fuzzy and my chest warm from the scotch, but it doesn’t seem to do anything to quell that feeling inside of me that is begging for Kylie to call, or for Rob to tell me that he’s home and not with her anymore. I think about calling her again, but I’m already feeling desperate and helpless. The last thing I need to do is showit.
    Melanie notices, though, and uses her