The Gideon Affair

There was a bit more back and forth, and then, without warning, he turned and looked at her. She hadn’t moved a muscle, but he’d known she was there. He patted the sofa next to him and gestured for her to sit.

“We were thinking about driving an RV from there. Next stop Wyoming and then on to Montana when the movie is ready to shoot.”

Paige curled up next to him and put her head on his shoulder while his arm draped about her.

“Dad, listen … we’ll catch up later. For now, just chill. I have this. You and Mom aren’t to worry, okay? Paige and I have some stuff to sort out on this end and then we’re heading out. Let’s just keep that in mind and all the other stuff will blow over in time.”

After a round of I love yous and a few more jokes, the call ended. “Did you tell them?”

“Actually, no I didn’t. The story and pictures were enough for the moment. Did you tell your folks?”

“Uh … not really. Mom wasn’t listening anyway. I sorta promised we’d go for a visit. Thought we could do it then.”

He hugged her tight. “You do know it won’t take long for the news to get out. Right?”

“Could say the same to you,” she murmured into his neck. He didn’t respond so she sat up and gave him a questioning look. He said there were pictures. And a story. Maybe she’d better check it out.

“I need to get changed, and we should FaceTime Mickey before he has a stroke. So, how do you want to do this? I can call for a car, take care of business, and meet you later.”

“No.”

That shut her up. Oookay, then.

“I’ll take you home. We can contact M from there. Just let me grab my laptop and change my shirt and we can leave.”

He knew something, and he wasn’t saying anything. Well, she’d have none of that.

“Tell me. And don’t paraphrase.”

He wedged into the corner of the sofa, tilted his head on the back, and stared at the ceiling. “The FBI raided Alan Sperry’s ranch yesterday. They’ve detained him on trafficking charges. There were drugs and guns, too.”

“Oh, my god.”

“Right?”

“What does that mean?”

He sat forward and leaned his forearms on his thighs. For a good minute, he said nothing and just stared at his clasped hands. “I don’t know. That part came out of left field, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens next.”

“Okay. But you said there were pictures. And a story. Care to clue me in?”

“Shadow Gossip dot com ran their lame ass story. Their spin was that Phae, Joa

“Then, this morning, as if it had all been pla

“Wow.”

“The press went after your folks, huh? Got mine too, the bastards.”

“Oh, jeez. Whatever. That’s minor compared to an FBI raid. Didn’t see that coming. So, what happens now?”

“I deliberately avoided M until we had a chance to talk. In one of his fifty texts, he pressed us to go public and I wasn’t sure what you’d think about that.”

“You weren’t’ sure what your fiancée would think, or you weren’t sure what your assistant would say?”

“Both. This isn’t how we thought things would go. If Perry lets Alan go down, and no one would fault him if he did, that probably means the movie is toast. I don’t care one way or the other, but Phae gets screwed big time, and Joa

“Sweetie. That’s all Gideon stuff and honestly,” she mimed, “with one hand behind my back and a dead battery. Understand?”

“You’re right. Whatever. Gideon Shaw is on his own.” He snickered. “Let’s take that sparkler you’re wearing out for a spin and get you some clothes. And some food. I’m feeling an In and Out burger for lunch.”

She started ru

One Week Later …

A di

“No use in crying foul, babe. You asked for it.”

Yes, she had to admit. That was undeniably true. They were on hyper drive with the clever wordplay, both finding it endlessly amusing to turn practically every word and phrase into something lewd and suggestive. As she was setting the table for di

She wasn’t complaining. At all. Why would she? It was thrilling to have a seriously hot and sexy guy trying to get inside you morning, noon, and night. In the span of one week, she’d had more sex, and in more unusual places, than should be possible. And it wasn’t all him, either.

Just the other day, she’d taken him by complete surprise while he was building her a pergola at the WeHo house. She’d been watching from the kitchen window while he got all sweaty swinging a hammer. Ate an entire Dove bar in the process. When the t-shirt came off, she was out the door in seconds.

Marching right up to him, she’d taken the hammer from his hands, dropped it on the ground, taken him by the hand, and dragged him inside. Where prying neighbors couldn’t see.

Unbuckling and removing his tool belt had been all kinds of sexy. But going to her knees to concentrate on the zipper and button of his jeans had been hotter than hell.

His hip tattoo got all her attention that time. Once she got his pants off and he was stark naked with a ferocious hard-on, she let her fingers, lips, and tongue get intimately acquainted with the sexy ink. It was in the right zone, after all.

She found out a helluva lot about the black tribal marking that time. Like how it swept over a hip, down his groin, and seemed to disappear in the hair that framed his penis. But the surprise was how low and far the ink went. Like right into the seam where thigh joined torso, curving lower until the pattern abruptly ended near his balls.

That had to have hurt, so like the wanton little fiancée she’d become, Paige set about making his poor shlong forget the trauma of a tattoo gun. And she wasn’t sure which one of them liked the occasion more. Her or him.

It came as something of a surprise to realize that with Edward, she eagerly went down on him—no excuse needed. She just liked it. A lot. After all, his shaft was a masterpiece, and it took about ten seconds to realize that when she got into it, it was all kinds of hot to suck him off to completion. Nobody came like he did—not in the movies, not in books, and not in any porn she’d seen.

Shoving the pan of useless, overbaked chicken aside, she wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and sneered playfully.

He was trying not to smirk, but it was useless. Wrapping her in a big hug, he reached for her ass and squeezed. “Come on, frowny face, admit it. Di

They’d weathered the storm, more or less, and managed to go quietly about their business despite the overbearing presence of the paparazzi and the gotcha techniques they used.

Perry Waterman had severed ties with his business partner the minute the FBI raid went public. Mickey said it was evident from how swiftly Waterman’s team moved after the story broke that they knew either what was coming or perhaps even had been the ones who’d tipped off the feds. Mostly, Perry seemed relieved. His associates dealt with the media scrutiny with impressive professionalism.