Star-Struck, Book 1 (8 page)

“AH!” Sunny screeched and ran away from the water.

“Woo! That’s cold!” Gabe shouted. Then before Sunny could get away, he snatched her up from behind and swung her towards the water.

“Ahh! GABE!” He continued to swing her around inching her toes closer and closer to the rushing waves, laughing the whole time. “Gabriel Wolf! DON’T! YOU! DARE! Put me down!” As a wave came up, this time he dipped her legs up to her lower calves in the water. “NOOO! Not in the water, on the sand! You big jerk!”

Finally, he put her down on the sand, grinning at her like the lovesick fool that he was. “You know, you’re adorable when you scream like a little girl.”

“You’re a shithead, you know that?!” She scowled at him, as she playfully smacked at his chest.

“I’ve been called worse, trust me.” He chuckled at her.

“Harrumph. I’m sure.”

“Come on; let’s go sit down for a little while.” He led her over to a lifeguard tower. They climbed up and sat on the top platform. “So you mentioned your dad earlier, I’d love to hear about your family. Your childhood. What makes you…you.”

“Well, there’s not a whole lot to it. My parents are still together after forty-five years. My mother was an elementary school teacher and my dad worked as a technician for the electric company. Sam and Donna Stone. They’re both retired now and live in New Mexico. And I have an older brother, Jace. He’s head chef at a nice restaurant in downtown Chicago. And that’s my family. And I’m the slacker of the family.”

“No you’re the baby. No wonder you’re so carefree and happy. You’ve been well loved.” She gave him a guilty look. “I know what you’re thinking. So stop it. You have nothing to feel guilty over, because you have a loving family. It just gives me hope that it’s all possible. Love, family…happiness.” Gabe gazed at her, hoping to convey in one look, how much he wanted that with her.
A week ago I couldn’t imagine dating one woman exclusively. And now I’m imagining a lifetime with this one.

“You should believe that it’s possible, because it is. And I think you deserve that happiness more than most.”

He had to change the subject before she made him cry or something horrible like that.
Jesus!
“So, what else?”

“What do you mean, ‘what else’?”

“Tell me stories about your childhood, what made you who you are?”

“There’s not much to tell. I played outside till the streetlights came on, drank from the garden hose, and ran through sprinklers in the summer”, she shrugged.

“All of which sounds like perfection. But what made you so shy and self-conscious when it comes to men? You can be so down on yourself, and I just don’t get it. You’re beautiful.”

“Ha.” She laughed without real humor. “Maybe you think so, which is strange to me, because most of the time I’m ignored by guys. And it only became worse when I got here, to California. But anyway, I guess it’s because I was teased when I was a kid for being chubby. And I just haven’t gotten over it.

“I didn’t date all throughout high school and college. I was too shy and the guys I liked didn’t like me. And the guys that did like me, were way to sexually aggressive for my virgin sensibilities. They scared the crap outta me. It wasn’t until I was twenty-two that I lost my virginity, when I met my first love. Who turned out to be a minor klepto. That relationship lasted for a year. And I’ve only had one more relationship since then. That lasted four years and was a huge waste of time. He was a total commitment-phobe, and strung me along the whole time, claiming that he wanted to marry me. But I guess motorcycles and
Mustangs
were more important than buying a ring. That was four years ago. In the end I’m glad that it didn’t work out, because in hindsight, we were
not
a good match. The main thing I regret about that relationship was letting him keep my dog when I moved out here. Oh, and guess what?”

“What?”

“My ex made sure he called me up this past Christmas to let me know that he proposed to his girlfriend of only one year. And he used
my
dog to propose! I swear you can’t make this shit up!” Sunny just shook her head.

Gabe was speechless. This girl was amazing, and yet she had been made fun of, ignored or treated like shit.
Thank God!
Gabe realized his good fortune, because in normal circumstances, she’d have been snatched up years ago.

“I’m truly baffled, but so incredibly thankful that none of them realized your worth.” Gabe jumped down to the platform that was a few feet below where they were sitting putting them more at eye-level, and stepped between her legs. “You’re stunning, and I can’t keep my hands off of you.”

He brought his hands up to her face and pulled her in for a kiss. He gave her a soft peck, and then slowly brushed his mouth back and forth across her honeyed lips. Gabe’s tongue flicked between her lips. Sunny’s mouth opened on a sharp inhale and he took advantage of her offering to stroke his tongue deeper into her warm mouth. Their tongues were dancing together, not able to get enough.

Gabe released her mouth, kissing a trail down her jaw to her neck. Kissing, licking, and biting the sensitive skin there. He moved to her shoulder and the straps of her dress and bra. Reaching up, he pulled down the left side, kissing the skin he bared. Now that the material was loose enough, he tugged down the material of her dress and the lacey cup of her bra to reveal one heavy decadent breast. It was dark chocolate tipped. Her areola was large and the cool air caused her nipple to pucker and harden.

Her chest rose and fell with her labored breaths. Each inhale making her breast rise closer to his mouth. He had to taste her. His tongue flicked against her tender nipple, causing her to cry out. He swirled his tongue around, leaving her skin wet and gleaming. Needing to taste more of her, he sucked her breast into his mouth, trying to get as much of her as he could. Her constant cries were lost to the sounds of the wind and surf.

“You’re so beautiful.” Gabe said pulling his mouth away from her flesh, then grabbing her face once more to devour her mouth.

Her hands released the death grip she had on the wooden platform and plunged into his hair, her nails scraping against his scalp. She had him on fire. He needed to be inside her, but he knew she wasn’t ready. So he did the next best thing, he had to touch her. Sliding her dress up her legs, Sunny adjusted to give him better access. Once the dress was pushed up to her hips, his hand stroked up from her calf to tickle her knee, then up her luscious thighs to the juncture of her legs.

He could feel the heat and dampness radiating off of her through the cotton of her panties. Not able to hold back any longer, he pushed the material to the side and touched her slick opening.

“Aahhh!” Her head thrown back, she cried out and her hips rolled against his hand, trying to get closer.

“Oh God, Sunny! You’re so wet.” Gabe slid his middle finger inside her snug opening. “And so tight.”

“Ah…it…it’s been…ahhh!” Sunny stuttered.

“What, Sweet Girl?
‘It’s been’ what? Gabe breathed the words against her lips.

“…four ye…years. Gabe, please!” She begged.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

He slid another finger in her soft wet walls that gripped his fingers. His fingers crooked forward in the ‘come here’ motion, connecting with her g-spot. At the very same time his thumb brushed lightly against her clit, once, twice and she detonated. Quickly Gabe covered her mouth with his as she screamed. Her inner walls flooded with moisture and contracted around his fingers. He milked every last spasm out of her, caressing her gently.

He rested his forehead against Sunny’s, “You’re the sexiest, most responsive woman that I have ever met. You’re breathtaking.” He bent his head down to tease her exposed nipple one last time with his tongue. Her breath hitched and her sex fluttered reflexively.

Slowly, reluctantly he slid his fingers from her warmth and brought his hand to his mouth to gently suck the juices from his two fingers. He never took his eyes off her in the process. And by this point he was going to explode from lack of release. He had been sporting a massive erection for about three quarters of the date. But the last thing he wanted to do was push her.

   Gabe slipped the straps of her bra and dress back into place, restored her panties to their original position and pulled her dress down over her legs.

“And what about you? Don’t you deserve some release?” Sunny caressed the bulge in his jeans, then reached for his belt buckle, when a spotlight from a passing police patrol car in the parking lot, swept past them.
Fuck!

“The beach is now closed. Time to head home folks.” A disembodied voice said through a loud speaker. Luckily only part of them could be seen from the parking lot, with the lifeguard tower blocking most of them to the police. But it was still enough to get caught.

Gabe re-buckled his belt. “Seriously! Your poor balls are going to explode at this point!” Sunny looked indignantly at the receding cop car.

“Don’t worry about it Sunny. I’ll live. I’ll just go home and take a cold shower. Wait, on second thought, maybe I’ll take a
hot
shower and think about you the entire time.” He winked at Sunny devilishly.

“You are a total scoundrel!” She pushed at him playfully.

“Scoundrel? What am I, a seventeenth century pirate or something? Have you been reading a lot of romance novels lately?”

“You have no idea. Come on,
Captain Sparrow
, we better get out of here.”

Gabe barked out a laugh and grabbed the hand she held out.

Chapter 8

Sunny woke up the next day with the biggest smile possible. She was daydreaming about the previous night, before she realized what had woke her up in the first place. Her cellphone was blaring Buckcherry’s
Crazy Bitch
. It was Alyssa.

“Hey.” She answered brightly, like she hadn’t been asleep just a moment ago.

“Hey? That’s all you’ve got to say? The moment you saw it was me calling you should have answered, ‘yes, he is hung like a horse’ or ‘hello, he gave me multiple orgasms so good that my toes are still cramped from curling so much’.”

Sunny giggled into her phone. “Well it wasn’t exactly like that, Nasty! I mean I did have a couple of orgasms, but we didn’t have sex.”

“Wait! What? I need details!” Sunny had to hold the phone away from ear, because of Alyssa’s screeching.

“You know…dry humping and hand jobs. That kind of thing. But it was more than that. He was so sweet and attentive. More often than not he was so much more than his status. And I got to see the man he is.” Sunny sighed; a goofy grin covering her face.

“I seriously hate you, Sunny!” Alyssa said jokingly. “But as much as I hate you, you really do deserve to be happy. So he better be good to you or I’m gonna kick his tight perfect ass! Now get your ass up here. We can have coffee while you tell me everything.”

Sunny got up and brushed her teeth before heading upstairs to give Alyssa a recap of the night. She knew she had to edit a little; the things about his private life that he shared with her were not open for discussion. He trusted her and she wanted to keep it that way.

~~~

Gabe found himself smiling like a jackass on set all day. Occasionally, he’d catch himself whistling between takes.
Since when have I ever whistled?

“You’re awfully happy today, Gabe.” Jessica his co-star wife commented as she passed him on her way to her trailer.

Gabe just gave a non-committal shrug. “Can’t a man have a good day”, he smiled.

He liked her well enough, but her tendency towards diva behavior, stopped him from getting to close to her. They had decent chemistry on-screen, but that’s where it stopped. 

She didn’t seem to care enough to stop and question him further, and he was grateful. So while they had this break, he took time out to text Sunny. He would’ve called her, but he wasn’t sure whether she was getting ready for work or not.

Gabe:
Good morning, Sweet Girl.

Sunny:
Good morning, Gabriel. How r u?

Gabe:
Good. On set. Boring. I’d rather be with you. How r u?

Sunny:
I’m great. I doubt being on a movie set is boring. Just sitting having coffee with Alyssa. She’s badgering me for details. But no worries, ur private life will remain private. Just telling her how sexy u r. ;)

Gabe:
I trust you. Hmm…how sexy I am? Well, what’s the verdict? How sexy am I? :P

Sunny:
That kind of sexiness can’t be measured
.

Gabe:
When can I see you again?

Sunny:
I don’t know. I’m off again Monday. Or maybe if you can get away, we could do lunch before I go to work or dinner after I get off?

Gabe started to hatch a plan for next weekend.

Gabe:
Hey, try to see if you can get the weekend off. I’d like to spend it with you. We’re not filming because of Gay Pride this weekend.

Sunny:
Ok, I’ll see what I can do. But don’t get ur hopes up, weekends are hard to come by in retail.

Gabe:
See what u can do. But call off if they won’t give it to u. I’ll pay u double what u would get paid to make up for it.

Sunny:
I couldn’t do that!

Gabe:
I want to spend time with u. And I won’t take no for an answer, but I don’t want u to suffer financially because of it. So do what u can.

Sunny:
Ok. Well, I have to go get ready for work.

Gabe:
Ok. Have a good day. I’ll call u later to figure out when we can meet during the week. Don’t think I’m waiting till the weekend to see u.

Sunny: LOL
! Fine. Enjoy your day.

Gabe:
Later, Sweet Girl.

~~~

Later at work, Sunny was on cloud nine. She had switched on and off between working and trying to find anyone who would change shifts with her, so she could have the weekend off. She knew that Gabe was willing her pay her, but she just didn’t feel right taking his money like that. And she definitely hated leaving her co-workers hanging, on the busy weekend. She may have hated retail, but that didn’t mean others had to suffer for it. So she had even hunted down some co-workers’ numbers and called to beg them. And finally someone had come through for her, a super sweet new girl named Vanessa. Sunny thought that she’d have to find a way to repay her at some point. Weekends were sacred in the retail world, because you never had them off.

“Okay. Spill it!” One of her work friends, Becca broke into her woolgathering.

“Huh? Spill what?” Sunny tried to dodge.

“I know you’re a happy person, but this is ridiculous. There’s being happy and jokingly grumb
ling about the rude customers. And then there’s being so happy that when a customer calls you a ‘stupid bitch’, you just respond with a ‘have a nice day’ and actually mean it!” Becca looked at her incredulously.

“She called me a ‘stupid bitch’?!” Sunny stared after the retreating customer.

“YES! That’s exactly what I mean. You didn’t even notice! So, spill it. What has you so oblivious to everything around you? And can I get some of it?!”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just met someone really nice. And I was able to get that new girl Vanessa to switch with me, so I could have the weekend off to spend with him.”

“Oh my God! You finally met someone?! That is huge news! Did you finally get some, because you have that glow about you, and I know it’s been a minute since you’ve had a hot beef injection?” Becca made the ‘duck face’ and gestured crudely with her hips.

“You are truly sick!” Sunny struggled to hold back her laughter when a customer spotted Becca’s sexually suggestive movements and scuttled away in disgust.

“Ha. You know it’s true. So did you get some?”

Sunny could see she wasn’t going to let this go. “No, I didn’t. But let’s just say he’s a great kisser, so the bedroom action looks promising.”

“Ain’t that the truth?! I’ve never met a bad kisser that was good in bed.” Becca turned up her nose.

“Amen, honey!” Their gay co-worker and friend Santiago piped in. “And the same is true for a bad dancer. If you can’t work those hips on the dance floor, then what can you do for me in the sack?!” Santiago and Becca laughed, high-fiving each other.

Sunny realized this conversation had gone straight down the gutter quickly. “Uh, guys? We should really get back to work, before we get our asses reamed.”

“Fine. But I better get details when you come back from your weekend with him. Because I hope you know that you’re getting down with him.” At Sunny
’s perplexed look Becca explained further. “Spending the weekend means staying over-night. A stay over-night means getting busy. God, Sunny you are so innocent sometimes I think you’re still a virgin!”

“You’re a nut.” Sunny shook her head and went to go fold the clothes that a customer destroyed earlier.

Oh God! Is he really gonna want to have sex with me this weekend?
But she guessed that after their first date he kind of deserved it.
Poor guy.

And Sunny really wanted to…never wanted something so badly her whole life. Her body’s reaction to him was indescribable. So she couldn’t imagine how it would react once they finally had actual sex. But that meant baring all and getting naked in front of him. She had trouble getting naked in front of regular guys; guys with hair in weird places and potbellies. So getting naked in front of a man the whole world viewed as perfection, was a bit intimidating. Even if the more time she spent with him, she saw him more as Gabriel Wolf the man, not the actor. But it was still there nagging at her.
The only thing I can do is just go with it, stop worrying and enjoy the weekend.

~~~

The next morning Sunny woke up to the now customary text from Gabe.

Gabe:
Good morning, Sweet Girl.

She loved when he called her that. She melted into a puddle of butter every time. And she was excited that they were developing sweet routines. Almost every night so far he would call her, even if it was briefly, to wish her a goodnight. And every morning he would text her.

Sunny:
Good morning, Mr. Wolf.

Gabe:
How r u? Did you sleep well?

Sunny:
I slept great. I put on one of ur movies to fall asleep to.

Gabe:
I hope that means that u wanted to fall asleep to my face and not because it’s boring. Which movie?

Sunny:
Of course the former. None of ur movies are boring. The one where ur kicking ass & taking names. :)

Gabe:
Isn’t that all my movies? LOL! ;)

Sunny: No
, not all. But this one u take ur shirt off a lot. :P

Gabe:
Uh, huh. That’s not fair that you’ve seen me with no shirt, but I haven’t seen u without one
.

Oh, God!
Sunny buried her face in her hands.
Don’t wanna think about it!

Sunny:
Maybe someday… Well I better get moving. Have to start getting ready for work and call my mom for our weekly Sunday phone call.

Gabe:
I know ur avoiding the subject. And that’s ok, but I’m getting that beautiful curvy body naked sooner or later. Enjoy talking with ur mom. Tell her about me. Lunch, tomorrow?

Damn! That man has the intuition of an over-protective mother!
Was she really that easy to read? Well the answer was staring her in the face in the form of a text. So she guessed, yes, yes she is.

Sunny: Ok
, I have to be at work by 2. So how about noon?

Gabe:
Perfect. I’ll come get u.

Sunny:
Ok. See u tomorrow.

Gabe: Later
, Sweet Girl.

Sunny looked at the time on her phone. She only had about an hour before she had to start getting ready for work, so she knew she had to call her mom now. She brought up her mom’s number and hit call.

“Hey, Sweetie-Pie!” Her mom answered.

“Hi, mom. How are you? How’s dad?”

“We’re good baby. What’s going on with you? You sound awfully happy this morning.”

Well, here we go. Let’s get right to the point.
“Well mom, I’ve met someone.” Sunny cringed as her mother whooped into the phone.

“I knew it! I’ve been waiting for you to say that for a long time now.” Sunny could hear her mom turning away from the phone to talk to her dad. “Sam honey, your daughter has met herself a man!”

“MOM! You don’t have to tell dad just yet.” Sunny shook her head in embarrassment.

“What? I can’t be happy for my little girl?”

“Sure you can, but it’s still new. And I want to be sure before I shout it from the rooftops.”

“Well, I guess you’re right. I just got excited, is all. So tell me about him.” Donna asked curiously.

Sunny knew she had a choice. Either fess up now and tell her mother who she was really dating or wait till it came out in some crappy tabloid. And she knew eventually it would end up in a filthy rag magazine. She just wanted to stay in fairytale land a little bit longer, before facing reality. But when it came to her mom, she had to make a choice now.

“Well mom…he’s kind of an actor.” Sunny braced herself.

“Oh, Sunny! You have to find a man with a more stable job than that. Does he even work regularly?” Sunny’s mom scolded her.

You have no idea, mom!
“Yes mom, he does get regular work.”

“Well then, do I know him? Have I seen him in anything? What’s his name?” Her mother asked skeptically.

“Uh, yeah. Well, you see, I’m kinda seeing Gabriel Wolf.” Sunny cringed for the second time. Her mother may not be a movie connoisseur like she was, but her mother knew a few super-hot actors, and Gabe was one of them.

“WHAT?! You mean that boy who they named ‘Sexiest Man in the World’? You’re dating him?!” Her mother screeched into the phone.

“Yes, mother. Is that so hard to believe?” Sunny rolled her eyes, only because her mother couldn’t see it.