A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts 1)

The female reporter jumped up again. “Does that mean all of the relationships in the book are based on your past relationships?”

“I have dated a variety of men before I was married. There were some really nice guys who turned out to be really good friends, and some that almost made me want to write off men completely,” she said, earning a few laughs. “But I will tell you these relationships were based on a mixture of my ideal man and experience. I would like to leave it at that.” The woman nodded and sat down.

Dana answered questions for another hour before she was finally allowed to sit down. Rick walked with her to the table and sat next to her. Amy sat on the other side of Edward, who sat on her other side, working diligently with her palm pilot.

Edward leaned in and whispered in her ear, “You did a great job.” He kissed her cheek before sitting back.

She met his eyes. “And you are sneaky.”

He laughed unapologetically. “That I am.”

“Dana, Mom said she read over your contracts and they look good. The Maxim one will be ready to sign tomorrow at the shoot.”

“It’s tomorrow?” she asked at the same time Edward asked “Maxim?”

“Yes, you need to be on set by eight. They want you to wear something comfortable,” Amy said, ignoring Edward.

“Okay, where's the shoot?” Dana asked.

“They’re sending a limo at seven-thirty to pick you up,” Amy said absently as she sent a text message.

“Would someone please answer me? You’re doing a spread for Maxim?” Edward asked.

“Yes,” she answered, taking a sip of her water.

He filed away that answer for later. “Contracts, as in plural?”

“Yes, she has been cast as the lead female lead in the movie Rogue,” Amy added.

Edward shot her a stunned look. “You mean the movie I passed up to film the Christian and Bailey movie?”

“Yup, that would be the one,” Amy said, not bothering to look up from composing another message.

He looked back at Dana. “That movie has some pretty heavy sex scenes in it. There’s nudity.”

Dana looked at Amy expectantly. Amy answered without looking up from her phone. “It will be fine. There’s no frontal nudity.”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Edward asked. He pulled her to her feet before she could answer him and led her back on stage past the curtains.

“What’s wrong, Edward?” Dana asked, already having some idea what he was mad about.

“Why didn’t you talk to me first?”

“Edward, you weren’t there. Besides this is my professional business it’s not part of my personal life.”

“You don’t think giving a million guys a hard on is part of your personal life?” he snapped.

She put her hand on his cheek and gently caressed the vein twitching against his ground jaw with her thumb. “Edward, I turned down Hustler and Playboy. I’m not interested in becoming a sex symbol. I am interested in experiencing new things. I would like to try my hand at acting, and this shoot sounds like fun. Please don’t be upset.”

He sighed as he looked into her beautiful eyes. This was something new to her. It meant a great deal to her and he couldn’t stand in her way no matter how much it upset him.

“Can I come tomorrow, please? I just want to make sure they don’t take advantage. Please?” He gave her a puppy dog expression he knew would do the trick.

Dana chuckled. “Fine, but just promise you’ll behave yourself.”

“I promise nothing,” he said, leaning in for a kiss. He meant it to be a quick kiss, but once he touched her lips he was on fire. She deepened the kiss for them both, making him groan with appreciation.

He leaned her against the wall and pushed against her. She whimpered softly into his mouth. His hand moved slowly over her dress to her breast. He cupped her firmly as he kissed her.

When her hands moved down his back and stopped at his backside he thrust against her. She whimpered into his mouth. His free hand moved to her thigh and moved under her dress. “Edward, there are about a hundred people on the other side of this curtain. We have to stop,” she whispered breathlessly against his mouth.

He removed his hands away with a groan. She gave him one last kiss and gently pushed him away. “Be patient,” she said teasingly before she walked away.

Edward remained where he was for a few minutes, begging his body to calm down and not give him away. When he felt it was safe he walked back to the table to find Dana and Amy standing up to leave.

“You need to get to bed. They want you well rested,” Amy stated.

“That’s fine with me. I’m sure the kids are driving the babysitter nuts by this point,” Dana said, walking with Amy towards the door.

They walked to a waiting limousine parked in front of the restaurant. Amy ducked inside as Edward grabbed Dana’s hand. “I’ll drive her home,” he told Amy.

“Edward.” She used a patronizing tone.

“Amy,” he said, using the same tone. “I’m driving her straight home don’t worry. She’ll be in bed soon and well rested for tomorrow.” No need to tell Amy he was planning on joining her in bed. That was more information then she needed and he had a feeling she would yank Dana into the limousine if she knew.

“Hold up, Amy,” Dana said.

She stepped a few feet away from the limousine and hugged Edward. “If you take me home there will be nothing to stop me from tearing your clothes off with my teeth and testing your endurance for the rest of the night. So we’d better say goodnight here.” She stepped back to see Edward’s expression. He looked like someone hit him in the forehead with a mallet.

“Fuck,” he groaned softly.

She kissed him quickly, pulling back before he could deepen the kiss. “Sorry, baby, I need to get enough sleep for tomorrow.” She looked his body over as if she wanted devour him on site.

He actually whimpered when she walked away. She looked back over her shoulder when she heard it and gave him the sexiest smile he’d ever seen. It took everything he had not to throw her over his shoulder and take her against his car right then and there.

Edward stood frozen in the parking lot, watching the limo drive away. It was going to be a long night filled with cold showers. Tomorrow couldn’t come quick enough for him.

********

“Dana, my name is Janet. I’ll be helping you today. Are you excited?” Janet asked in an upbeat tone.