“My sister said she already asked you some of what I was wondering myself.”
He nodded, staring straight ahead. Figures she’d be wondering about that too.
“The girl you were with in New York—”
“I wasn’t with her,” he said immediately.
“Okay, the girl you were photographed with strolling through Manhattan and then holding hands.”
Sonny let out a breath. “It was cold—”
Lila pulled her hand out of his. “That’s a bullshit excuse, Sonny, and you know it.”
“You didn’t let me finish,” he said before she could get too heated.
“So, what? This exclusivity thing is only weather permitting? What else did you do to keep her warm?”
Sonny pulled off to a smaller street then stopped altogether and parked because he could already hear it in her lethal tone. This would escalate fast if he didn’t address it head on.
“Okay.” He turned to her, bringing a hand up in front of him. “I’ll admit she is someone I’ve gone out with in the past. She was there at the same studio where I was filming a commercial. She’s a sports agent—not mine. But we’re often in the same circles, charity events, parties, etc. I hadn’t seen her in months, so we walked out and grabbed some coffee, and yes, at one point, she slipped her hand in mine and alright . . .” He conceded with a reluctant nod. “I went along with it. But that’s all that happened. When she found out I’d be there for another night, she suggested we get together for dinner or drinks that night, and I swear to you on my mother this is exactly what I told her. ‘I can’t. I just started seeing someone, and I don’t wanna do anything that might screw this up.’”
Somehow, he thought she’d be more impressed with his whole swearing on his mother thing and after telling her verbatim what he’d really told Mona. Lila looked anything but impressed. Just as her sister had earlier, she lifted an annoyed brow. “How often do you just go along with allowing women to slip their hands into yours or all out paw you like today?”
“Honestly?” He did his best to tread lightly, but he was determined to be completely honest. “When I was single, always.” He shrugged, lifting a hand up again before she could retort. “I’m a man, Lila. It’s different for us. We don’t mind and it didn’t matter then. But it does now and things will change. I promise you.”
She stared at him for a few moments without saying anything then frowned, shaking her head, and glanced out the window. “This is what scares me, Sonny. I don’t wanna be in a relationship where we’ll be arguing over petty shit like this”—she turned to face him again, her expression more worried now than mad like she was earlier— “arguing over some girl slipping her hand in yours. I wish I could say it won’t bother me—that I’ll be able to shake it off without getting pissed. But I know I won’t. I will be pissed and even worse, hurt, every fucking time.” She pressed her lips as if admitting that last part really irritated her.
“I don’t understand why you think that’s such a bad thing, babe.” He reached out for her hand because he needed to get something straight with her right now. “Having a bad temper is one thing. Getting pissed over someone else’s hands on what belongs to you is perfectly understandable. I hope you don’t think that kind of reaction to something like that is exclusive only to you because of your short fuse. Like I warned you earlier, Lila, expect things to get ugly if I ever have to deal with what you did today. It’s why I’m so sorry you had to and why I’ll make sure it never happens again.”
“But you can’t control all of them, and you already know what’ll happen if any idiot even thinks of pawing me.”
Sonny laughed. “Yeah, I know. It’s why I was so careful that first night when I took the risk and asked if I could kiss you.” The very thought had him leaning into her and kissing her softly; then he stopped and gazed into her eyes. “I promise you I may not be pummeling any girl that tries to put her hands on me. Hitting women just isn’t for me, but I’ll put a stop to it. Besides . . .” He kissed her again, sucking her bottom lip and smiling when he felt her body’s trembling reaction to that. “I’m pretty sure once the word gets out about who my girl is, especially because I’m certain your name and what you’re so good at doing will be out for the world to know real soon, any girl who might’ve pawed me in the past will definitely think twice about doing so now. And when it comes to the fans, just like all the 5th Street wives, I promise you in time, you’ll be just as unfazed.”
“I doubt it.” She smirked. “But for now, I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“Yeah, you will,” Sonny said, leaning in and taking her mouth again.
Sonny kissed her again even as she smiled against his lips. He hoped they were done with this, at least for now. He preferred to occupy his mouth in a better way. The hypocrisy could only be muted so much and for so long. He’d seen the way some of those guys eyed Lila’s finely toned body today in that sparring room. She’d soon be dealing with overzealous fans or admirers herself. Or rather Sonny knew all too well he’d have to be dealing with watching them ogle her and take too-close-for-comfort selfies. Her comfort and his.
After another deep exchange of frantic tongue wrestling and feeling her body’s usual reaction, which had already tightened his crotch, he pulled away and stared into her eyes. “You’ll just have to take my word for it because I ain’t going anywhere. I know where to find you now, and I have no qualms about stalking you until you hear me out anytime you send me packing.”
Unable to keep his mouth off her, he was at it again. Jesus, what tasting her mouth and then feeling her hard body under his did to him. When he was finally able to tear himself away, he glanced out the window, still licking his lips. “We’re not far from my house now. Are you hungry? We can pick something up and take it back to my place.”
Lila nodded eagerly. “I didn’t have much breakfast. I was so nervous and then after . . .” She pouted and even that had Sonny gazing at her, feeling completely lovesick. “I sort of lost my appetite.”
Well, that wiped the damn smile off his face. He leaned in and kissed her nose. “But we’re all good now, right?” he asked, feeling like scum all over again.
Lila nodded, surprising him when she reached over and ran her fingers through his hair. With her seemingly nowhere near as disgusted and pissed at him as she was earlier, Sonny had to wonder. Maybe even after the debacle at the gym he might still have a chance of possibly feeling those fingers dig into his shoulders and back later today.
“So, you must be starving.” He pushed any thought of having her under him away before she’d notice his aching cock pushing against his pants already.
“I am.” She continued to run her fingers gently through his hair with a smile.
Before he’d even asked, he’d already had an idea of the best place to pick something up from. But then he thought better of it. “Are you on any kind of special diet?”
Lila laughed. “I should be, and I imagine once I confirm I’m all in for this, they’ll get me on one, but I work out so much right now, I’ve actually been afraid of losing weight.”
Sonny turned to eye her. “Could you be any more different from any girl I’ve ever met. What girl is ever afraid of losing weight?”
She smiled big. “One who’ll be counting on her power and muscle to make sure she doesn’t get pounded in the head.”
“Then I know just the place.” Sonny pulled out onto the street. “Something tells me you probably work out enough that you can eat pretty much anything you want.”
“I’ve been blessed with an excellent metabolism.” She confirmed with a smile.
“Good. Because after the day we’ve had, I’d say we could both go for some good comfort food.”
He told her about the greasy spoon they’d be picking up food from and named all the comfort dishes they served, and she groaned after each one. The place had an odd drive-thru, so they didn’t have to get out, but they did have to park to wait since it wasn’t burgers they’d be
waiting on.
Unfortunately, Lila’s excitement about the food and lighthearted mood was short-lived—for both of them. As soon as they turned the corner onto the street with the downtown shopping and trendy restaurants, Lila was distracted not by what she saw but who. Sonny saw her do the double take. “Is that . . .?”
She craned her neck back as they came to a red light to get a better look then turned to Sonny with that same starry-eyed look so often directed at him. “Zac Efron?”
The twinkle in her eyes was cute. It was innocent, so unlike Lila, whimsical even. It pissed the shit out of him.
“Could be.” Sonny stared straight ahead but refused to look back then stepped on the gas the moment the light turned green. “I heard he lives in the area.”
“You live in the same neighborhood as Zac Efron?” she asked, her words again way too dreamy like.
Sonny clutched the steering wheel tightly, trying not to get worked up over this because he’d be ridiculous to. “Yep” was his only response as he continued to stare ahead.
The whole world had been talking about Sonny’s signing with the Dodgers, and Lila had never heard of him, but Zac fucking Efron had her craning her neck?
She glanced around now, taking everything in. “I don’t know why I just assumed all celebrities lived in Beverly Hills, high rises in New York, or the Hamptons. Los Feliz.” She turned to face Sonny. “Who knew?”
“We’re not too far from Hollywood or Beverly Hills, and it’s a pretty exclusive neighborhood, so there’s a lot of celebrities in this area,” Sonny informed her, feeling a little stupid now for his inane jealousy. Still, he reached over and slipped his hand in hers, squeezing slightly. “Abel and Felix live in the area too.”
As they drove up the long driveway to Sonny’s estate, she was visibly stunned. All the lighthearted chatter came to a sudden halt as her wide eyes took in what now felt like a never-ending stone driveway and a professionally kept landscape on either side.
Finally, they reached the gate at the top that opened to his circular driveway. He’d never thought it before, but suddenly the huge fountain that adorned the middle of the driveway just in front of the home’s entrance suddenly felt like overkill.
“That was there when I bought the place,” he explained as if that made the extravagance any less his.
He’d known from the moment he dropped off Lila that first night that his lifestyle would be a bit of a shock to her—that it’d take some getting used to. But he hadn’t anticipated this. He couldn’t make out if she was just staggered or maybe disgusted. She hadn’t uttered a word since they’d started up his driveway.
“You’re probably wondering if I really need all this, and the answer to that is a resounding no.” He let go of her hand to turn off the car once he’d rolled around to the very front of his estate’s entrance. “When you’re fortunate to make the kind of money I do, Lila, you have to have tax write-offs. Lots of them. Because even—”
“You don’t have to apologize for your lifestyle, Sonny.” She reached out to touch his hand. “If you earned it, then enjoy it.”
“Yeah, but a single guy like me doesn’t need all this. I’m just trying to explain—”
“You don’t need to explain anything about that to me.” This time she kissed his hand. “One of the things that popped up a lot today about you is all the charity work you do. The youth baseball camp you run during the off-season. My head was spinning, and now I understand why you’re gone so much. I’m not disgusted if that’s what you’re thinking. I’ve just never seen anything like this, not in person anyway. But since we spoke of not keeping anything from each other, if you want to tell me all about your real life now, I’m all ears. You can do so while you give me the grand tour.”
Relieved, he leaned in and kissed her. “Yes.” He pulled back to look at her in the eyes. “I wanna tell you all about it.
Lila
The mansion, or rather estate as Sonny referred to it, was beyond anything Lila had ever seen. From the long lavish entrance with the extraordinary waterfall in front of the sprawling Spanish Colonial home, every room in the house was bigger than Lila’s entire apartment. And every room was professionally decorated wall to wall, so it looked like something out of a magazine. Lila had been speechless throughout the tour Sonny gave her.
Her bookworm sister would appreciate the lobby/library, but the enormous ballroom was something else. The full bar in the ginormous ballroom was bigger than the one at the club where she’d met him. And then there was the maid’s quarters. That alone was more than Lila would ever dare hope to live in one day. It was a full home attached to the side of the house with a full bathroom, living room, and its own private luxurious kitchen, two-car garage and even its own entrance.
They’d taken the grand tour after they’d eaten their dinner. Lila had teased that the walk around the enormous property would be enough to work off the large portions of comfort food they’d eaten. It’d taken long enough because they’d gone through all his trophies, awards, and posters for the many products he’d endorsed over the years. Now she knew why he had so many Rolexes. It was just one of the countless products he endorsed.
At one point, Lila shook her head, exasperated that he was this famous and she’d never heard of him. “What?” Sonny asked when he noticed.
“I still can’t believe I had no clue who you were. In my defense,” she said before further confirming how clueless she’d been, “remember I don’t have cable and for the most part stay off social media. I’m not much for pop culture.”
Sonny muttered something as he turned away.
“What was that?”
He shook his head. “Never mind.”
“No,” she asked curiously now, especially because strangely he sounded irritated. “What did you say? Honest to God, I really don’t watch much television at all.”
Startling her, he spun around suddenly then pinned her against the wall. “I said but you knew that fruity bastard when you saw him.”
“What? Who?”
“Zack fucking Efron.” He kissed her then nipped her bottom lip. “Today when we picked up lunch.”
Lila laughed because it felt ridiculous that Sonny might be jealous of her affection for Zack Efron. “It’s not funny,” he said. “You’ve never struck me as someone who’d get all dreamy-eyed and shit, but I saw you today. It’s exactly what you did.”
Laughing even more, Lila caressed the side of his face and kissed him, even though he tried to pull away. “First, I seriously doubt he’s fruity. Seems more of a lady killer to me.” That only made Sonny’s expression harden. “But Charlie St. Cloud is one of me and Ali’s favorite movies. We cried like babies because of the whole brother bond and his losing his brother in the movie the way he did. It’s one of the few movies I’ve watched many times. So, obviously, I’d recognize him.”
“Well, don’t expect me to ever watch it with you.”
Lila shook her head. “My God, you’re adorable when you’re jealous, but really? Of a movie star?”
Sonny kissed her again—hard. “Don’t forget I’m around a lot of celebrities of all kinds. The fact that he’s a movie star doesn’t mean shit to me.”
With that, he pulled her along and the tour was officially over. Lila hadn’t realized how long the tour had gone on, but by the time they sat comfortably on Sonny’s oversized sofa in his family room, watching TV, the competitive cooking show they watched actually made her hungry again.
One comment about how good the food they were working on looked and another bragging one about her very discriminating palate and Sonny had jumped all over it. He bet her she couldn’t win the challenge he had for her. Within minutes, he’d gone into the kitchen and come back with a box full of things. She’d now been trying to guess what they were while blindfolded as he fed them to her. He’d given her the opportunity to choose the stakes for their bet. Pathetically, she couldn’t think of anything, so he’d taken it upon himself to name the stakes. For e
very one she got wrong, he got to take a piece of her clothing off. For every one she got right, she got to choose something he’d take off. Though it didn’t seem fair because she’d been blindfolded the whole time and would be until they were done. So, it’s not like she got to enjoy his bare chest.
Lila sat there in her bra and jeans, while Sonny had lost his shirt and both shoes.
“Open wide,” he said as she braced herself for her next taste.
He slipped her a small spoonful of something soft, slightly pasty, and a bit sour. “Sour cream?”
“Close, but nope. I want your pants.”
Feeling her face warm, she flinched when she felt his hand at her waist. “Wait,” she said, giggling nervously. “How do I know you’re not lying? That tasted just like sour cream.”
“It was cream cheese,” he said, spreading something on her lips with his finger.
The moment she tasted it she knew it was the cream cheese again. Sonny licked it off her lips, even as his hands continued to work the top button of her jeans.
Remembering what he’d said last night, Lila wasn’t sure if this was leading to that or more. Her body trembled at the thought, and already she knew if things went further today, she’d be helpless to resist. She was so ready to be with him already.
She moved her hips, helping him slip her pants down, then shivered when she felt his lips on her thigh as he sprinkled kisses down her legs. Now she sat there in just her bra, panties, and socks, and her heart beat wildly as she heard his overly playful comment. “Next up.”
Lila gulped, knowing she needed to get this one right. “This isn’t liquid or soft. It’s solid. You’ll have to bite into it. Open up.”
She opened her mouth as she felt a small pea-like object on her tongue. It was a little bigger than a pea but not smooth enough, and it made her nervous about biting into it. “This better not be a garlic clove.”
Sonny laughed. “I wouldn’t do that, especially because that’d be too easy. She bit into it, scrunching her nose in reaction, even though it didn’t taste too bad. Just unfamiliar. The taste as well as the consistency. “I have no idea,” she said, continuing to chew.