Star-Struck, Book 1 Read online

  Sunny: LOL! Fine. Enjoy your day.

  Gabe: Later, Sweet Girl.

  ~~~

  Later at work, Sunny was on cloud nine. She had switched on and off between working and trying to find anyone who would change shifts with her, so she could have the weekend off. She knew that Gabe was willing her pay her, but she just didn’t feel right taking his money like that. And she definitely hated leaving her co-workers hanging, on the busy weekend. She may have hated retail, but that didn’t mean others had to suffer for it. So she had even hunted down some co-workers’ numbers and called to beg them. And finally someone had come through for her, a super sweet new girl named Vanessa. Sunny thought that she’d have to find a way to repay her at some point. Weekends were sacred in the retail world, because you never had them off.

  “Okay. Spill it!” One of her work friends, Becca broke into her woolgathering.

  “Huh? Spill what?” Sunny tried to dodge.

  “I know you’re a happy person, but this is ridiculous. There’s being happy and jokingly grumbling about the rude customers. And then there’s being so happy that when a customer calls you a ‘stupid bitch’, you just respond with a ‘have a nice day’ and actually mean it!” Becca looked at her incredulously.

  “She called me a ‘stupid bitch’?!” Sunny stared after the retreating customer.

  “YES! That’s exactly what I mean. You didn’t even notice! So, spill it. What has you so oblivious to everything around you? And can I get some of it?!”

  “Oh, it’s nothing. I just met someone really nice. And I was able to get that new girl Vanessa to switch with me, so I could have the weekend off to spend with him.”

  “Oh my God! You finally met someone?! That is huge news! Did you finally get some, because you have that glow about you, and I know it’s been a minute since you’ve had a hot beef injection?” Becca made the ‘duck face’ and gestured crudely with her hips.

  “You are truly sick!” Sunny struggled to hold back her laughter when a customer spotted Becca’s sexually suggestive movements and scuttled away in disgust.

  “Ha. You know it’s true. So did you get some?”

  Sunny could see she wasn’t going to let this go. “No, I didn’t. But let’s just say he’s a great kisser, so the bedroom action looks promising.”

  “Ain’t that the truth?! I’ve never met a bad kisser that was good in bed.” Becca turned up her nose.

  “Amen, honey!” Their gay co-worker and friend Santiago piped in. “And the same is true for a bad dancer. If you can’t work those hips on the dance floor, then what can you do for me in the sack?!” Santiago and Becca laughed, high-fiving each other.

  Sunny realized this conversation had gone straight down the gutter quickly. “Uh, guys? We should really get back to work, before we get our asses reamed.”

  “Fine. But I better get details when you come back from your weekend with him. Because I hope you know that you’re getting down with him.” At Sunny’s perplexed look Becca explained further. “Spending the weekend means staying over-night. A stay over-night means getting busy. God, Sunny you are so innocent sometimes I think you’re still a virgin!”

  “You’re a nut.” Sunny shook her head and went to go fold the clothes that a customer destroyed earlier.

  Oh God! Is he really gonna want to have sex with me this weekend? But she guessed that after their first date he kind of deserved it. Poor guy.

  And Sunny really wanted to…never wanted something so badly her whole life. Her body’s reaction to him was indescribable. So she couldn’t imagine how it would react once they finally had actual sex. But that meant baring all and getting naked in front of him. She had trouble getting naked in front of regular guys; guys with hair in weird places and potbellies. So getting naked in front of a man the whole world viewed as perfection, was a bit intimidating. Even if the more time she spent with him, she saw him more as Gabriel Wolf the man, not the actor. But it was still there nagging at her. The only thing I can do is just go with it, stop worrying and enjoy the weekend.

  ~~~

  The next morning Sunny woke up to the now customary text from Gabe.

  Gabe: Good morning, Sweet Girl.

  She loved when he called her that. She melted into a puddle of butter every time. And she was excited that they were developing sweet routines. Almost every night so far he would call her, even if it was briefly, to wish her a goodnight. And every morning he would text her.

  Sunny: Good morning, Mr. Wolf.

  Gabe: How r u? Did you sleep well?

  Sunny: I slept great. I put on one of ur movies to fall asleep to.

  Gabe: I hope that means that u wanted to fall asleep to my face and not because it’s boring. Which movie?

  Sunny: Of course the former. None of ur movies are boring. The one where ur kicking ass & taking names. :)

  Gabe: Isn’t that all my movies? LOL! ;)

  Sunny: No, not all. But this one u take ur shirt off a lot. :P

  Gabe: Uh, huh. That’s not fair that you’ve seen me with no shirt, but I haven’t seen u without one.

  Oh, God! Sunny buried her face in her hands. Don’t wanna think about it!

  Sunny: Maybe someday… Well I better get moving. Have to start getting ready for work and call my mom for our weekly Sunday phone call.

  Gabe: I know ur avoiding the subject. And that’s ok, but I’m getting that beautiful curvy body naked sooner or later. Enjoy talking with ur mom. Tell her about me. Lunch, tomorrow?

  Damn! That man has the intuition of an over-protective mother! Was she really that easy to read? Well the answer was staring her in the face in the form of a text. So she guessed, yes, yes she is.

  Sunny: Ok, I have to be at work by 2. So how about noon?

  Gabe: Perfect. I’ll come get u.

  Sunny: Ok. See u tomorrow.

  Gabe: Later, Sweet Girl.

  Sunny looked at the time on her phone. She only had about an hour before she had to start getting ready for work, so she knew she had to call her mom now. She brought up her mom’s number and hit call.

  “Hey, Sweetie-Pie!” Her mom answered.

  “Hi, mom. How are you? How’s dad?”

  “We’re good baby. What’s going on with you? You sound awfully happy this morning.”

  Well, here we go. Let’s get right to the point. “Well mom, I’ve met someone.” Sunny cringed as her mother whooped into the phone.

  “I knew it! I’ve been waiting for you to say that for a long time now.” Sunny could hear her mom turning away from the phone to talk to her dad. “Sam honey, your daughter has met herself a man!”

  “MOM! You don’t have to tell dad just yet.” Sunny shook her head in embarrassment.

  “What? I can’t be happy for my little girl?”

  “Sure you can, but it’s still new. And I want to be sure before I shout it from the rooftops.”

  “Well, I guess you’re right. I just got excited, is all. So tell me about him.” Donna asked curiously.

  Sunny knew she had a choice. Either fess up now and tell her mother who she was really dating or wait till it came out in some crappy tabloid. And she knew eventually it would end up in a filthy rag magazine. She just wanted to stay in fairytale land a little bit longer, before facing reality. But when it came to her mom, she had to make a choice now.

  “Well mom…he’s kind of an actor.” Sunny braced herself.

  “Oh, Sunny! You have to find a man with a more stable job than that. Does he even work regularly?” Sunny’s mom scolded her.

  You have no idea, mom! “Yes mom, he does get regular work.”

  “Well then, do I know him? Have I seen him in anything? What’s his name?” Her mother asked skeptically.

  “Uh, yeah. Well, you see, I’m kinda seeing Gabriel Wolf.” Sunny cringed for the second time. Her mother may not be a movie connoisseur like she was, but her mother knew a few super-hot actors, and Gabe was one of them.

  “WHAT?! You mean that boy who they named ‘Sexiest M
an in the World’? You’re dating him?!” Her mother screeched into the phone.

  “Yes, mother. Is that so hard to believe?” Sunny rolled her eyes, only because her mother couldn’t see it.

  “No, of course not! I know how beautiful you are, but most famous people stick together. It’s rare you hear of them dating or marrying someone that’s not in the spotlight too. That can be a hard road, sweetie. Are you sure you can deal with all that comes with his fame and fortune?” Sunny could hear the concern in her mom’s voice.

  “I don’t know mom. But I do know that I love h-“, Sunny clapped a hand over her mouth. Love! Only after a few days? She knew it seemed impossible, but didn’t make it any less true.

  “Oh honey, please just don’t get hurt. Don’t get me wrong, I know when love comes it can happen in the blink of an eye. But this isn’t love with just anyone. Just be careful. That’s all I have to say.” She could tell Donna had a lot more to say than that, but she was trying to restrain herself.

  “Thanks mom. I love you, you know?”

  “Yeah, I know. So tell me is he a good kisser?” Well, the hard part of the conversation was over. Now her mother had moved to the fun part.

  Sunny finished up her call with her mother, promising to call her sooner than next Sunday if she needed her or had any juicy stories to tell. They were close, but not that close. She drew the line at details of her sex life. So with that, she put her phone down on the coffee table and headed to her tiny bathroom to get ready for work.

  ~~~

  Monday at noon, Gabe was waiting outside of Sunny’s apartment building. He was thinking that he couldn’t wait for the day when she finally invited him in. Someone’s personal space said so much about them. Hell, he couldn’t wait to show her his home in Malibu, but she wasn’t ready for that yet. But he had every hope that by the end of this weekend, that would be different. If he couldn’t have her, taste her, bury himself inside her; he was going to lose his mind.

  Sunny stepped outside in a pair of black dress slacks, a bright fuchsia top, a short-sleeved gray jacket and wide black belt that had a big faux leather bow on it. She looked like a gift he very much wanted to unwrap.

  “You look adorable.” He greeted her with a bear hug that lifted her off her feet, and a kiss.

  She giggled delightfully. “You don’t look so bad yourself, handsome.”

  “Are these your work clothes”, he asked straightening the lapels of her jacket when he put her down.

  “Yeah, I figured I’d just head straight to work from lunch. So where are we headed?” She asked while he opened the truck door for her to get in.

  “Well, since I know how much you love movies, how would you feel about eating lunch from a real-life gourmet movie set food truck?”

  “Seriously?!” Sunny shouted and bounced up and down like a kid in a candy store.

  Seeing her reaction was well worth eating food he’d had a million times before. “Seriously.”

  “Sweet!” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a big squeeze and peck on the cheek.

  Gabe put the truck in drive and headed back to the set, which luckily wasn’t far from her apartment. Once they were there, he parked the truck, came around to open the door for her and entwined her fingers with his as he led her onto the set.

  Today they were filming at a fancy bank. But since it was lunchtime, the cast and crew were milling about eating, talking or resting in various places. Sunny looked around with her mouth opened in awe. She was just too cute.

  He walked her over to a group of men, to introduce her. “Hey guys, this is Madison Stone, though she goes by Sunny.” They all said some form of ‘hello’. “Sunny, this is Kyle Higgins, the director. Greg Jensen the assistant director. And Thomas Keats the cinematographer.”

  Sunny reached out to shake hands with each man as he introduced them. “Hello gentlemen, it’s so nice to meet you. Mr. Higgins, I saw your movie Burned that won best documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. It was phenomenal! I bawled like a baby through most of it.” She smiled brightly.

  “Thank you Sunny. Call me Kyle.”

  And just like that, she had turned on the ‘Sunny-effect’ and the men were instantly charmed. How she did it, Gabe couldn’t fathom.

  They talked to the men for a few more moments then Gabe directed Sunny to the food truck. They picked their items and then headed over to one of the picnic tables that had been set out for everyone.

  “We could also eat our lunch in my trailer, if you’d like?” Gabe suggested slyly.

  “If I know you that would be a bad idea. As much as I’d like some alone time with you, I don’t think we’d actually get around to eating. And I’d hate for my first time on a real-life movie set to be wasted inside a trailer. Plus, if the trailer got to rockin’ that would make for a pretty bad first impression, don’t you think?” Sunny scolded him.

  “Dammit! Why do you have to be so sensible?!” Gabe grumbled, good-naturedly.

  Sunny just giggled and started eating. Gabe loved that she wasn’t some ‘salad-eating’ girl. She liked food and wasn’t afraid to show it, a Midwest steak and potatoes kind of girl, all the way. In fact, involving most things, she seemed pretty comfortable in her own skin; dancing around, singing in front of a crowd and being silly. It was her sensuality that she had trouble with. In the moment she blossomed, but before and after she doubted herself. She needed to put that doubt to rest, because as far as he was concerned her body was made for sex. Like Jessica Rabbit, but shorter.

  “What?” Sunny looked at him warily.

  Gabe hadn’t realized that he was staring at her. He decided that it would only help to tell her exactly why he was staring.

  “I was just thinking that you have a body that’s made for sex, like a more compact version of Jessica Rabbit. It’s ridiculous that you doubt yourself so much.” He whispered in her ear, so no one else could hear.

  She swallowed loudly, “Uh…ahhh…I literally have no response to that.” She stared down at her food as if it was the most interesting thing she’d ever seen. A telltale flush spreading across her plump cheeks.

  “You don’t have to say anything, just take it in and start believing it.” He leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek.

  “Alright.” She still sounded doubtful.

  This weekend, he was so going to enjoy convincing her. His pants were getting tight just thinking about all that he wanted to do to her.

  “So are you going to tell me what we’re doing this weekend? Or will it be another surprise?”

  “Another surprise.”

  “Okay, dress code?”

  “All I can tell you is to pack a light overnight bag. The days should be fairly warm and the nights cool, so bring clothes according to that. Pajamas optional.” He winked at her.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  ~~~

  After they finished eating, they had about forty-five minutes before Sunny needed Gabe to drop her back off at her car to head to work. So he spent some time showing her around and introducing her to the cast.

  She got to meet the child actors that played his kids in the movie, who were super sweet and could hold conversation like adults. Then she met Jessica Hall, the actress that played his wife. Sunny couldn’t put her finger on it, but the woman just seemed a little too full of herself. And last, Gabe introduced her to the guys that played the bank robbers. They seemed like anything but ‘bad guys’, well personality-wise. They had the rough look to them for the role, but were really nice. The actor that played the leader of the bank robbers was someone that Sunny recognized from several previous movies, Josiah Caldwell. He seemed well on his way to Gabriel Wolf status.

  But where Gabe was dark, he was all light. He had blond hair, green eyes and long lankiness. He wasn’t as tall as Gabe, but close. He definitely wasn’t as massive as Gabe. And there was the fact that he was a big flirt. Sunny chuckled to herself, as Gabe quickly extricated her from the situation, claiming that
he wanted to show her his movie trailer.

  “Welcome to my home away from home.” Gabe swept his arm the length of the big trailer.

  “This is way bigger than I thought it would be.” Sunny looked around in shock.

  “Trust me. I’ve had my fair share of tiny digs in the past. And I’m a big guy, so I would spend as little time in those as I could.”

  “Yeah I bet. You’re kinda making even this one feel crowded.” Sunny craned her neck to look around him.

  “Oh am I crowding you?” Gabe stepped closer, making her take a step back, which she found wasn’t far.

  The back of her knees hit the bed. She lost her balance and her butt plopped down on the mattress.

  “Hmm…now I’ve got you, right where I want you. In bed.” Gabe started to crawl over her, making her fall all the way back onto the bed.

  He covered her with his upper body and settled his lower half between her legs. Their bodies lined up perfectly for her to feel his perpetual hardness against her arousal. Her hips begged her to move, wanting that friction that she craved. But knowing they couldn’t finish, she remained still, not wanting to get him worked up again.

  Luckily he somewhat distracted her, by cupping her face with both hands and looking at her intently. He caressed her face from temple to chin and then across her cheeks. The whole time just studying her, his vivid blue eyes blazing a trail over her every feature. She felt so naked. Never had she felt anything as intense as the connection she had with him.

  “Sunny…I-“, Gabe had started in a voice thick with emotion, but then a quick knock and the door opening, completely killed the moment.

  “Hey Gabe, it’s…oh, nice! Hey, we could make it a threesome”, Josiah interrupted, coming into the trailer. Gabe didn’t move, continuing to cover Sunny as if shielding her nakedness. And she did feel utterly exposed. Gabe had stripped her bare in that moment, and Josiah coming in a second later, had her feeling severely vulnerable.