Star-Struck, Book 1 (4 page)

Chapter 3

Gabe couldn’t believe the turn the whole day had taken. All for the better. He even felt more inspired, and couldn’t wait to get back on the movie set to see if his performance would improve. All of this was because of the woman walking next to him.

Sunny had let him buy her another beer. He loved how unpretentious and down-to-earth she was.
A girl in Southern California that willingly drank cheap beer? Even when someone else was paying? Huh?

As the bar had closed, her friend Alyssa decided to stay while her boyfriend closed down, so that Gabe could walk Sunny home alone. He was grateful to her friend.

She didn’t say much on the way, except for a few words to guide him in the right direction of her building. Gabe could tell that she was deep in thought. He just hoped that they were good thoughts and not thinking up other excuses to get out of going on a date with him.

He couldn’t believe how someone as beautiful as Sunny would think so badly about herself. Gabe felt a very real rage radiate through him. He wanted to punch every guy that made her feel less than amazing, in the throat. He unclenched his fists, and tried to calm his mind. Starting to realize that maybe the crappy way she was treated in the past would only be to his advantage. Because when he was through, she’d have no doubt that he very much meant everything he said and did.

“Why are you so quiet?” Gabe looked down at her. “I hope you’re not trying to find another reason not to go out with me.”

Sunny stopped in front of an old, cool looking building that Gabe knew had to have been built in the 1920’s. She turned to look up at him, “This is me.” She bit down on her bottom lip, making Gabe do an internal groan. Unaware what she was doing to him she continued, “No, I’m not thinking of another reason. I was just trying to process this whole crazy night. But anyway, thanks for the beer and walking me home. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes I did. I wanted to.” Gabe reached up to brush Sunny’s curls away from her face. Her eyes fluttered shut. Then he brought his hands up and gently placed his fingers on the back of her neck. Thumbs caressing her cheeks, he turned her face slightly and bent down to kiss her left cheek. Then he turned her face in the other direction and kissed the other cheek. With each touch of his lips to her skin he could hear her sudden indrawn breaths. He was so turned on he could hardly see straight. But out of respect for her wishes, he pulled himself together. Stepped back and released her neck with a gentle slide of his fingers against her soft skin. And her body quivered.
Patience.

~~~

Of all the times for her to have decided to show some restraint and not fall into bed with a man (her two mistakes in her previous relationships), this seemed like a really shitty time according to her soaking wet panties. It took every ounce of strength that she had not to jump his bones. Aside from the fact that he was a mega-star that she’d drooled over for several years, he was drop dead gorgeous
and
sweet. And being up close and personal with him turned her fairy-tale crush, into a very real one.
Also, I haven’t had sex in four fucking years….that has got to be some kind of record!

Gabriel Wolf was her idea of perfection. She had become so tired of the metro-sexual girlie-men that seemed to be the norm these days. Gabe was
all
man. He had to have been about six-foot-four, two-hundred and forty pounds of solid muscle, with a casual style and grace that was very much low maintenance. Lumberjack/Linebacker meets
Christian Grey
or maybe Superman, her all-time favorite superhero.
Yum.
  

Gabe slid his hands from her neck, sending shudders through Sunny’s whole body.
He’s got great hands. I wonder how they would feel caressing my…no, no, NO! That is a slippery slope into Slutsville, closely followed by No Call Town.

Stepping back, Sunny put some distance between them. “So what time is good for you Friday?”

“How about I pick you up around one in the afternoon?”

“One? Why so early?” Sunny wondered if maybe he wanted to get the date out of the way so that he could ditch her early to enjoy the rest of his night, warming his bed with some hot model.

Gabe seemed to study her for a second. “Sunny, we both have the day off Friday, and I want to spend as much time with you as I can. To be honest I wanted to say nine in the morning. Hell six a.m. would be perfect! But I thought maybe you’d actually like to get some sleep, knowing you’ll have a late night tomorrow. Stop doubting the fact that I want to be around you.”

Sunny couldn’t believe how well he was already reading her. She guessed she was an ‘open book’. “Sorry. This is just weird for me. Sooo, is there any particular dress code I should know about?”

“Just dress comfortably.”

Sunny rolled her eyes at him. “I am a girl, you know. You have to be more specific than that. A dress and flat sandals, for a walk on the beach, comfortable? Or jeans and gym shoes, to go hiking, comfortable?
”

The smile that spread across Gabe’s face almost stopped her heart. “I guess dress and sandals, comfortable.” He paused and his eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. You said gym shoes. I haven’t heard that since I left Michigan. Where are you from Sunny?”

“Illinois.”

“I knew you weren’t from California! Level-headed, down-to-earth, drinks cheap beer even when someone else is buying. A Midwest girl.” He took a step closer to her.

She backed away a step. “The best kind of girl.” She winked at him.

Sunny was no match for his speed. He took a quick step towards her, grabbed her by the waist with his left hand and brought his right hand up to caress her face. Which she was realizing, was his favorite thing to do. She felt a telltale hardness against her thigh. But her arousal was no match for the insecurity she felt with his hand around her thick waist.

Squirming out of his grasp, “I better get inside. I have a long day tomorrow. I need some sleep.” She backed away towards the door of her apartment building. A wistful smile on her lips.

“Oh wait!” Gabe strode towards her. “Lemme see your phone.” This was not a request. His hand was outstretched, expecting her to obey his command. She kind of liked it. A man that knew what he wanted and went for it. She smiled to herself and handed over her phone.

He took her phone, programmed his number into her phone, called himself with it and then added her name to his phone.
Holy shit! I have Gabriel Wolf’s number! Unreal.

“Perfect. Now you can’t escape me.” He grinned slyly. “Alright, I’ll let you get some sleep. Goodnight, Sweet Girl.” He leaned down and kissed Sunny’s forehead, lingering slightly. As if he just couldn’t let her go.
Aw, HELL!

Sunny knew there was no way in hell that she was getting any sleep tonight. She hoped that the rasp in her throat from lack of sleep, made her voice sound sexy tomorrow, instead of like she swallowed a frog.

“Goodnight, Gabriel.” She turned and walked into her building. She could feel his eyes watching her through the windows of the lobby.
Just don’t trip.

Chapter 4

“Cut!” The director yelled. Kyle Higgins was a new up and coming director. He was in his mid-thirties; medium height, skinny, with horn-rimmed glasses. Gabe liked him. He worked well with the cast and crew alike. Giving more praise, than barking orders and criticism. Kyle made his way over to Gabe. “That was really great Gabe. I don’t know what you did to get your mind back in the game, but keep it up.”

Sunny.
It seemed weird to Gabe that one tiny little spitfire of a woman could inspire him so much.
But hey, I might as well go with it.

The last thing he thought of before he fell asleep last night and the first thing on his mind when he woke up this morning was Sunny. And since she was on his mind and because he knew how unsure she was of his intentions, he made sure that he had sent her
a “Good Morning” text.

Gabe: Good
morning, Sweet Girl.

Sunny:
Good morning, Gabriel. How r u?

Gabe:
I’m doing well. I’ll be better when I see you tomorrow. ;)

Little did she know that Gabe, had plans to sneak in to see her sing tonight. He had wrapped up the text conversation with her to let her get ready for work, with the anticipation of seeing her later.

~~~

It had been a normal day in retail hell for Sunny. Getting yelled at by uppity customers that thought they were entitled to any and everything. But she couldn’t remember the last time she had smiled
this
much. Remembering the previous night and the following texts this morning, had her grinning ear to ear.

Her co-workers seemed to notice, and asked frequently why she was glowing. But Sunny wasn’t ready to reveal her rapidly increasing and exciting new love life. No sense in counting her chickens before they hatched. Her situation with Gabriel Wolf was too
new and quite frankly dreamlike to know exactly where it was all heading.

And she knew that there would be haters, so why give them something to revel in when things didn’t work out. Which, she couldn’t see how it would work out.

All she could do now was stop worrying about it, and just except it for what it was. Something new and mind-blowing. She tamped down the growing butterflies in her stomach, waved goodbye to her work friends to head home to get ready for her gig tonight.

~~~

Walking into the bar, Sunny saw Trent setting up for the show. Walking over to the stage, she realized that seeing him for the first time since meeting and spending time with Gabe, Trent was just plain old mediocre in comparison. It was a nice feeling after being ignored by him romantically for six months.

Trent was average height, leaning more towards the short side. He was skinny with light brown hair, hazel eyes and a nice smile. But now, she was blinded by the image of piercing blue eyes, made that much more striking framed by jet black wavy
McDreamy
hair.

“Hey, Trent.”

“Oh hey, Sunny. You look nice tonight.”

“Thanks.” A day ago she would’ve swooned over the compliment, looking deeper into it for more than what it was.

For the show tonight she had chosen one of her favorite dresses. It was a black with white polka dot flowy number that stopped right below her knees, with a keyhole back. The neckline was plunging, so it showed off a great deal of her cleavage. And she paired it with faux suede wedge heels, with a wide belt, large hoop earrings and a pretty silk flower that held back one side of her wild curls. All the accessories were in a fun hot pink. Obviously hot pink was one of her favorite colors to wear. The hot pink wedges were pushed upon her by Alyssa and though she hated heels and they killed her feet, this dress was made for these heels. Not to mention the fact that they made her short and pudgy legs look long and supple. Sacrificing her comfort for this one dress just might be worth the pain. She felt great, even beautiful. And she kind of wished that she hadn’t discouraged Gabe from coming tonight.

Sunny and Trent spent the next half hour doing a sound check and downing a few drinks to calm the preshow jitters they always got, no matter how many shows they did. During that time Sunny could tell that Trent was puzzled over her lack of attention to him. No more coy eyes or shy smiles.
Get used to it jackoff…you’ve been replaced.

“Are you alright, Sunny?” Trent asked hesitantly.

“Oh I’m great actually. Why do you ask?” Sunny asked innocently.

“Uh, no reason. You just seem…preoccupied.”

Ha! ‘Preoccupied’! I’m in down-right oblivion.
“No, I’m good. Just daydreaming I guess. So…you ready to get this party started?”

“Yeah. Let’s give ‘em what they want.” He winked at Sunny, and then turned around to make his way to the stage.

Sunny slammed the last of her beer, set the empty pint glass on the bar and followed Trent to the stage. Some Folk You fans were already gathered in front. Sunny now on stage behind the mike, she looked out into the steadily growing crowd and smiled.
I love this.

“Hey, everybody! Are you ready to have a great night?!” Sunny shouted into the mike.

“Woo…” The little crowd in the front shouted back.

“Oh come on! That was pathetic! I said, are you ready to have a great fucking night?!”

This time the entire bar went up in a raucous chorus.

“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! We’re Folk You, and we are pleased to give you exactly what you want.”   

Trent strummed out the first few chords of
Blister in the Sun
. The crowd went nuts hearing the beloved classic. As Sunny started to sing, people were scrambling to move tables to the side. When the area was clear…the dancing commenced.

~~~

Gabe walked into the crowded darkened bar, decorated in blood red walls and black furnishings. Rock ‘n roll paraphernalia adorned the walls; from guitars, to drumsticks and posters. The place screamed ‘music venue’. And dead center on stage above a decent sized group of couples slow dancing was Sunny crooning
Let’s Get It On
.

When he saw her for the first time the previous night, she had been dressed casually. The look coming across as sweet and trying somewhat to conceal her sensuality.

Now Gabe nearly swallowed his tongue at the sight of her. She was in some floaty knee-length polka dot dress, with a plunging neckline. The swells of her breasts looked so creamy and chocolaty and inviting. Her smooth calves were muscled, shapely and glistening as if she had put some oil on them to make them shine. And they looked so much longer than he remembered, which was probably due to the hot pink ‘come fuck me’ heels she had on.
Oh, to have those gleaming calves resting on my shoulders with my face buried between her silken thighs, with those heels still on.
His jeans grew rather snug and he almost came on the spot from that image.
Yes please!

Her hair was what seemed to be her normal sexy mane of wild curls surrounding her face and shoulders. Made more, soft and alluring with the pink flower holding back one side. Her eyes were closed and passion was etched deep into her face, feeling every word she sang. And Gabe imagined that her face would look every much like that when he was buried deep inside of her. He knew he was going to have to stop thinking like that, or he wouldn’t be able to walk in a minute.

Foregoing any drinks because he knew he had to drive home in a couple hours and not wanting to risk anyone recognizing him up at the bar. Gabe pulled his baseball cap further down to hide his face as he made his way over to a private table in a dark corner that had a good view of the stage and
Sunny
.

~~~

Sunny felt chills race down her spine and goosebumps spread across her skin, though she was on fire from singing under the hot stage lights. There was only one time that she had felt her body react that way. Last night.
Gabriel.
When, he had stared at her from across the patio. The feeling had unnerved her. He made her feel unlike any man had previously. That’s when she knew.
He has to be here!
She wouldn’t feel this way otherwise.

As she sang she casually looked around the bar. It was hard to see with the bright lights in her eyes. But as the rotating colorful lights shifted, she was able to make out a dark figure sitting in the corner watching her. It had to be him. Her voice gave the slightest quiver as she sang the last notes.

When the song was over, she looked over at Trent, silently communicating that it was time for a quick break. Slipping his guitar strap from around his neck, “Alright folks, we’re gonna take a short break. Be back in fifteen.”

With trembling fingers, Sunny replaced the mike back on its stand and exited the stage. She made her way over to the bar to grab her drink that the bartender had waiting for her. And with a shaky exhale of breath, she made her way over to the dark corner.

Sunny stopped in front of his seated form. He was wearing a black baseball cap pulled low, once again over half of his face, emphasizing his ‘man scruff’ coated square jaw and his full rather pink lips. A fairly fitted gray Henley that showed off every single bulging muscle in his shoulders, arms and torso, with distressed and faded jeans covering what she was pretty sure were massive muscular legs and immaculate white gym shoes. He looked absolutely delicious, and completely unpretentious, considering his stardom. “Gabriel,” she said sounding all breathy, even to her own ears. 

His bowed capped head made a slow rise up her body and she realized that he was literally devouring her with his eyes. When his stunning blue gaze finally made its way to her face, what she saw there took her breath away. Hunger. Pure, simple, and unadulterated
hunger
. 

His long body unfolded from the chair, until he towered over her. Overwhelmed her. Even in her heels. Barely an inch stood between them. “You look good enough to eat. All chocolate confection with hot pink topping.” He placed his hand lightly on the slope of her stomach over her dress, his fingers pointing down. His hand slid down further until his fingertips gently touched the top of her clenching sex. “I wonder what other parts of you are hot and pink”, he whispered into her ear.

  Sunny gasped and knees buckled. Gabe’s reflexes were quick, and he encircled her in his strong arms to catch her before she face-planted on the floor. To an outsider, it looked as if he was just giving her a hug. They both knew better.

“I’ve got you.” Gabe spoke softly against her hair. “It’s good to know that I affect you as much as you-“

“Hey Sunny. Who’s this”, an accusing voice interrupted behind Sunny.

Trent.
Are you fucking kidding me!
Gabe’s arms relaxed around Sunny’s waist enough for her to turn, but not enough to let go. The possessiveness of the move made her smile on the inside.

“Hey Trent. This is…uh…” Shit! Now what? She didn’t want to actually tell him who Gabe was and blow his guise. He obviously didn’t want anyone to know who he was. She respected his privacy.

Gabe relinquished one arm to extend his hand to shake Trent’s. “Gabe. Gabriel Wolf. And you are?” Sunny could read between the lines. And his tone said,
‘That’s right…the movie star. And who the fuck are you?’

“You mean
the
Gabriel Wolf, as in the movie star?!” Trent was dumbstruck.
Or just plain dumb.
Sunny was still pissed over the interruption.

“Yep. One and the same.”

“Well, I’m Trent. I play with Sunny in the band. She never told me that she knew you.” Trent glanced at her with a hurt expression on his face.

Hurt. I gave him every opportunity to ask me out, and the first time I get hit on by a megastar or anyone for that matter, he’s all of a sudden hurt because I’ve moved on?! Gimme a break!

“I actually just met him last night, Trent.”

“Well, you looked pretty cozy after
just
meeting him.” Trent said in a snotty insinuating tone.

Gabe stepped around Sunny, putting her behind him. Obviously about to squash the situation before it got ugly. “
Well
, seeing as how it’s none of your business what she does…unless you’re
with
her?” Gabe turned to look down at Sunny questioningly. Worry briefly crossing his handsome face. She shook her head ‘no’ quickly. He turned back around, relief relaxing his posture. “She says ‘no’. And since there’s nothing between you two, I would strongly suggest you stick to playing your guitar.”

Damn! He meant business.
She liked it…someone finally wanting her. And he wasn’t afraid to admit it or stand up for her.
Who da thunk?

“She did have feelings for me before she met you, ya know?”
Dude, really? Give up already! He’s the most gorgeous man on the planet…do you really think you have a chance at this point?!