Chapter 36

Author’s Note: This is short and sweet, but I felt like this vignette deserved to stand on its own. We’ll wrap up LA in Chapter 37. There’s one more surprise left on this trip.

Kelly had just led Kat and Jess out the front door of her palatial Beverly Hills mansion. As instructed, I popped the cork on a bottle of Dom Perignon Rosé. I sat on the couch, with its expansive view of the city, and savored the tiny bubbles popping in my mouth. The Champagne drank way too easily. I finished my first glass like there was a hole in the bottom of it and poured another. Almost simultaneously to resuming my perch on the couch, the doorbell rang.

I walked to the door, wondering if this was Kelly’s surprise. The moment I opened it, my jaw dropped, and I knew I was right.

“Well, don’t just stand there, give me a hug!” said a sultry, hypnotic voice.

It was Juliet Lawson.

“Oh my god!” I exclaimed as I wrapped her in a hug. “You are the last person I expected to see!”

“I’m not sure I should take that as a compliment,” Juliet said with her movie star smile.

“Let me put it this way,” I said. “There is no one else who could have knocked on that door and made me happier.”

“I didn’t know,” Juliet said, deadpan. “I rang the doorbell.”

“Oh, shut up!” I said, picked her up, and spun her around.

Juliet leaned in and kissed me. It made me feel light-headed. All in a single rush, I suddenly knew exactly what people meant when they called this city LaLa Land.

“You look amazing,” I said. “Truly, truly amazing.”

“You don’t need to flatter your way to what you want,” she said. “But I wouldn’t mind a glass of that.” She pointed to the Dom on the bar.

“Where’s my head? Of course,” I said.

I walked quickly to the bar and poured a glass too aggressively. It almost overflowed. Juliet walked inside, and I handed her the Champagne.

“Cheers, John,” she said. “It’s a nice surprise to see you again. Like I said, I don’t make a lot of plans, but I was pretty happy when Kelly mentioned you’d be in town.”

“I’m surprised you’re in town,” I said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m super happy you are. But I thought you were on set?”

“We’ve got a week off,” Juliet said. She looked enchanting in white shorts that hugged her bubble butt, stack sandals that emphasized her slender, toned legs, and a sleeveless golf shirt. “So I’m back here doing some press and stuff like that.”

“I’ll just chalk it up to the Fates smiling upon us,” I said. We clinked glasses and drank.

“So, I’m just going to be blunt,” Juliet said. “I’ve only got a couple hours. But when Kelly told me you’d be here, I wanted to see you.”

“That’s really,” my voice trailed off. “Flattering isn’t anywhere near a strong enough word to describe it.”

“Let me put it this way,” she said, moving closer to me. “The way you touched me in Vegas, just your whole mannerism. It was very gentle. It was caring. I liked the way it made me feel. You weren’t fucking a movie star. You just treated me like ... like you were just having a great time. It’s the most normal sex I’ve had in years. And the best.”

“I’m not sure if you’re trying to make me blush or cry,” I said.

“I’m not trying to do either,” she said, dropping her free hand to my crotch. “I’m trying to make you hard.”

I watched her tongue flick out lightly over her lips, and I lowered my head to hers. When it comes to sex, the way two people fit together sometimes can’t be described. That’s how it felt with Juliet. I don’t know if she was simply just that good at reading people, or we had real chemistry, but our movements were entirely in sync. Our heads moved in complementary directions when we kissed. Our tongues intertwined in perfect harmony. I kissed her neck and squeezed her breasts at what seemed like just the very moment she wanted to let out a contented sigh.

After a few minutes of kissing, Juliet smiled at me. We held hands and almost ran to the couch.

“I like making love with a lot of natural light,” she said shyly.

I didn’t blame her. As I watched her peel off her shirt, unsnap her bra, and whisk off her shorts in a smooth, easy motion, I totally understood it. Whether under the hot lights of a movie set or the unforgiving brightness of the LA sun streaming through the windows, nothing could shine a light on a flaw on Juliet Lawson’s body. I must have looked like a drooling idiot staring at her.

“What?” she finally said.

“This is what heaven looks like,” I said. Then I laughed. “Oh, fuck me, that’s so cheesy.”