Chapter Twenty-four

Valentina had never done anything so crazy, so wild...or so wonderful in her entire life.

She could still feel the rush of exhilaration in her veins from the way Smith had lost control beneath her hands and mouth. It had been perfect. And so sweet.

Shockingly so.

"Your turn now." Smith punctuated his words by wrapping his large hands around her waist and pulling her onto the couch. Before she knew what was happening, he'd reversed their positions and he was the one kneeling between her legs.

Feeling suddenly vulnerable, she knew she should make a joke or say something sexy. Instead, all that would come out was, "But I just had my turn."

His eyes, already so dark, went even closer to black as he put his hands on either side of her face and kissed her. His tongue slipped and slid against hers in a shockingly sensual rhythm, so much like what they'd just been doing when she'd been the one on her knees.

"In that case," he said in a low voice that reverberated up, then back down her spine, "it's my turn now, isn't it?"

All she could do was swallow. And maybe nod just a little bit so that he'd know what a good idea she thought it was.

Only, he didn't do anything more than stare at her, his dark gaze roving hungrily, possessively, over every inch of her skin exposed in the naughty lingerie he'd bought for her.

He was so tall that even on his knees, when he straightened she had to look up at him. Even after his cl**ax his erection had barely abated and now, as she used her legs to pull him so close that the sheer silk of her bra was brushing against his bare chest, his erection pressed against her, right where she was so desperate for more of him.

"Smith, I can't wait. Not tonight. I want you. I need you. Now."

Yet again, she openly admitted just how much she wanted him.

Needed him.

His dark eyes flashed with pleasure and so much heat she lost her breath just as his mouth crashed into hers. And then his hands were cupping her h*ps and he was moving them so that she was lying beneath him on her sister's couch, still in her thong and bra and heels.

As his mouth found her neck and she arched into the bite of his teeth on the sensitive skin just beneath her ear; as his fingers slid silk away; as he found protection then moved inside of her in one hard thrust so that her gasp of pleasure joined his desperate groan; as her nails dug into his shoulders and her ankles crossed tightly across the small of his back while she urged him for even more - Valentina realized the foundation for her fears was disintegrating.

Because when they were loving each other like this, with no boundaries and even less control, he wasn't a movie star anymore, wasn't any part of the famous Smith Sullivan that millions of women fantasized about.

He was simply a man that she couldn't stop falling deeper and deeper for with every laugh, every hug, every kiss. And every one of the dark, heated looks he gave her, every stroke of his hand across her skin, was full of something she'd been afraid to let herself acknowledge.

"Valentina."

She opened her eyes to find Smith staring down at her, his beautiful face awash with pleasure and need and something she'd been trying so hard to pretend wasn't there.

Love.

And it was with the word resonating in her head and Smith's hands slipping through to hold hers on either side of her head that the first tremors of release tore through her.

"You're mine," he said, and she was.

Entirely his.

For as long as he wanted her, she would be his, because he had come to mean more - so much more - to her than she had ever thought he would.

And then there were no more thoughts, no more fears, no more words. Just the potent, and oh-so-sweet, pleasure of Smith holding her so tight, and thrusting so deep, that when her cl**ax came with enough force to take her completely under, she let herself go, finally trusting Smith with not only her body...but, for the very first time, with a piece of her heart, too.

* * *

A half hour later, when their clothes were back on and their stomachs were rumbling, Smith looked at her with clear disbelief in his eyes.

"This is where you're taking me for our first real date?"

Kids rushed in and out of the dingy building followed by parents who were too harried to notice the star in their midst.

Valentina flushed. "Tatiana and I sort of have this thing about miniature golf. It started when we were kids and we never stopped. Plus, no one ever seems to care who she is when we're here, so I thought - "

She never got a chance to finish her awkward explanation, because Smith's grin was a mile wide. "You thought exactly right."

And then he was pulling her inside with at least as much excitement as the eight-year-olds who were hopped up on Slushies and sugar sticks. Her stomach growled at the smell of hot dogs and french fries and she'd been beyond pleased when Smith ordered the fast food meal-deal for both of them. Junk food was just what the doctor ordered after the long day they'd both had.

The kid working the register was doing okay until it finally hit him who was standing in front of him. "Oh man, you're Smith Sullivan."

"Nice to meet you, Mark," Smith said, making it a point to look at the kid's name tag on his bright blue shirt.

"My friends are going to freak out when they hear you're here! The best movie we saw last year was Forces of Destruction."

Mark was reaching for his phone when Smith said, "Can I ask you for a special favor?"

The kid nodded. "Sure. Anything, dude."

Smith lowered his voice and acted like she couldn't hear him say, "I'm on a pretty important first date and I'm really afraid of blowing it with her. I was hoping to keep things low key tonight so I could make a good impression."

The kid's eyes were huge as he finally registered Valentina standing next to Smith at the counter. After a few seconds where he studied her like she was a bug under a microscope, he leaned toward Smith and said in a stage whisper, "Dude, she's hot."

In the same voice, Smith said, "I know. Seriously hot." Buddies now, he said, "So are we cool?"

"Sure," the boy said. "No problem."

"Thanks. And if you want to come by the set sometime, why don't you give me your number and I'll call you to set it up."

"Seriously?" The kid scrawled his number on a napkin, then said, "I'll make sure no one bothers you tonight."

After he grabbed their food and they sat down, despite how hungry Valentina was, she knew she wouldn't be able to eat a thing. Not yet.

"There's not one single thing you could do to blow our first date."

Smith didn't reach for his food either. "You sure about that?"

The look in his eyes suddenly reminded her of the way he'd gazed at her when they'd been making love - as though he couldn't imagine living without her.

Maybe before tonight she would have lied to him, would have told him that she was fine. But after what they'd shared with each other, after how close she'd felt to him, she had to tell him the truth.

"No, I'm not completely sure, but - " She paused and stared into his eyes. " - I want to be. So, so badly."

She knew it wasn't what he wanted, that it wasn't nearly enough. It wasn't enough for her, either. But he simply picked up the mustard and ketchup and made two straight yellow and red lines along either side of her hot dog, just the way she liked it on the rare occasions craft services had brought in hot dogs to the set.

As she took it from him, she had to wonder how he could possibly have had a chance to notice the way she ate hot dogs? But then, was that really such a stretch from his noticing her at all in the first place?

Gravity, she'd only just started to realize, didn't care if one of them was a movie star made to be in front of bright lights, when the other only knew how to be comfortable in the shadows.

Smith grabbed one of her fries and popped it into his mouth. "So, what should we make the stakes?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You want to turn a friendly game of miniature golf into a bet?"

"I'm a guy. It's what we do," he said, his dark eyes sizzling with wicked intent.

She rolled her eyes. "At least you recognize how ridiculous you are, acting so competitive about a fun game."

"Do you really mean to tell me you and Tatiana aren't the least bit competitive with each other? Or that you haven't tried to rig the windmill hole to close at least once before her ball could get in?"

She laughed at his far-too-insightful question. "Well, maybe there was that one time she 'accidentally' slipped on a ball in front of my shot that was sure to be a winning hole in one."

He shook his head. "Little sisters are a pain in the butt, aren't they? But then again, I'm sure you got her back for that, didn't you?"

She gave him her most innocent look, before saying, "Who knew putting Vaseline on a golf ball would make it nearly impossible to hit it straight?"

"Now that I know how much the win means to you," he said through his laughter, "I may have to do a full body search for any hidden jars of Vaseline before we start playing."

Valentina was struck yet again that it didn't matter where they were, on the set, in a conference room, in his living room doing a puzzle, or sitting in the middle of a golf 'n' games arcade that hadn't been updated - or cleaned - since the early seventies: she wanted him.

And she liked him very, very much.

"If I win," he said in a low voice that sent shivers running over her already too-sensitive skin, "you have to hold my hand for the rest of the night."

Tatiana's advice from earlier came fast and furious at Valentina: What if you gave Smith a chance to love you the way you deserve to be loved? Don't you think there's a chance that he could be up to the challenge? And that you could be, too?

So even though Valentina's hand was starting to shake on her lap beneath the sticky Formica tabletop, she made herself raise it. With her heart hammering so hard she wouldn't have been surprised to see it actually pop through her ribs and skin, she reached across the table for his hand.

Valentina thought she heard Smith's breath catch as she slowly slid her palm against his, before interlacing their fingers.

The heat of his touch immediately melted the ice that was trying to close her heart back in.

"You don't need to win a bet to have that."

* * *

After their game of miniature golf had ended in a perfect tie, and Valentina and Smith walked into her rental house hand in hand, they found Tatiana lying on the couch reading a book.

She smiled at them over the top of her paperback. "Are Marcus and Nicola spending the night at your house again, Smith?"

He grinned back at her. "Nope."

Valentina had never had a man stay over before. She'd told herself it was because she hadn't wanted to make her sister feel uncomfortable. But the truth was, she'd never wanted to give away enough of herself to a man for the intimacy of waking up together.

Now, for the first time, she wanted to give that to Smith.

"You don't mind if my boyfriend stays over, do you, T?"

At the word boyfriend Tatiana grinned widely and said, "Nope, I'll just make sure I've got my earplugs handy."

Smiling at her sister's sassy response, Valentina was plugging her phone into its charger when she realized she had a message waiting from George, one that must have been there all afternoon. Even though she wanted nothing more than to get into bed with Smith, she couldn't ignore a decade of the work ethic that had her dialing her voice mail and listening to what he had to say.

When she put down the phone, her hands were shaking. She looked at the two people who meant the most to her, and was glad they were both there to hear her news.

"George says there's a bidding war going for my screenplay." She wondered how her voice could sound so calm, when her insides were doing cartwheels. "A big one. And he said he thinks I'm going to be really happy with the studio that's in the clear lead."

"Oh my God!" Tatiana jumped up off the couch and hugged her.

Smith put his hand on her chin and pulled her face up to his so that he could say, "Congratulations, Valentina," then kiss her, before grinning even wider and teasing, "If only I'd had a chance to see your screenplay..."

She laughed as she danced around the room with her sister, pulling him in so they were a wiggling, happy threesome. "I promise you'll be the first person to see the next one."

Tatiana found a bottle of champagne and after they'd all toasted and finished a glass, it was the nicest, most natural thing in the world to brush her teeth with Smith standing by her side at the sink, to strip the clothes from each other, then slip between the sheets together.

Valentina had no doubt her sister would need the earplugs on other nights, but for tonight, Smith simply wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

And she held him right back.