A/N: Hey everyone. I'm sorry for the long wait, but I haven't given up on this fic. Just been super busy. Been spending most of my days on planes and in meetings and just running around in general. I'm really starting to miss my good ol' student days where lazing around and writing was so much easier instead of running around for my jackass of a boss. Ugh. Oh well, at least his gorgeousssss lolz. Anywho, here's the next update. I'll try to be better at updating but time is something that I'm constantly being robbed off these days. But really, I'll try haha.
Jamie POV
I subconsciously tried to keep my head down as Luke and I headed into the club. Slowly but surely, people were starting to recognize me from time to time, seeing as the news teams of Vancouver were well aware that we were here and would try and catch glimpses of anything to put on the local gossip sites.
Seeing as we had officially shot the first love scene, Sam had suggested we all go have a few drinks to celebrate. I jumped at the chance, needing something to blow off some steam. A few drinks with some friends sounded perfect. The fact that Dakota would also be there was constantly nagging at the back of my mind, but I did my best to ignore it.
The bouncer must have known we were coming, because he let Luke and I in ahead of everyone else and pointed us towards the stairs leading up to the VIP area. Feeling a little safer to lift my head in the darkened club with its flashing lights, I followed Luke through the crowd and up the stairs to the VIP area on the balcony overlooking the dance floor below.
Sam, her husband, Aaron, Victor and Max were already there, the men seeming to be having an in depth discussion about American football, while Sam watched on in amusement. We joined them and ordered some drinks from the overly friendly blonde waitress and I took the moment to lean back in my chair and look out over the club.
As if magnetized to find her, my eyes zeroed in on the entrance as the bouncer ushered Dakota and Eloise inside, pointing them in our direction. She looked smoking hot, as always, the black cocktail dress a sharp contrast against her alabaster skin. Images of her without her clothes on flashed through my mind and I shook my head, trying to get rid of them.
My focus zeroed in on her when almost immediately, a guy blocked her way and tried to chat her up. I wondered what he said to them, but I saw Dakota smile politely and arch a delicate eyebrow in amusement. When he reached out a hand to her arm, she smoothly took a step around him and out of his reach to continue on her way, probably a move perfected over time by the way men must throw themselves at her. I sighed in relief. If she hadn't, I might have had to go and remove his hand from her myself.
My drink burned down my throat as I took a deep gulp, watching Dakota make her way up the stairs towards us. I sent a smile their way and got up when they reached us, a habit my mom had drilled into me from a young age, at which Eloise giggled. When my eyes caught Dakota's, she sent a little smile and a 'hey' my way, her cheeks seeming to redden a little.
"You want a drink?" I asked when she sat down in the space next to me, which Eloise had not-so-subtly left vacant as she stole the only other spot next to Aaron.
"God yes," she sighed, making me chuckle. I signalled the waitress and ordered Dakota her drink before turning to face her.
"How are you? You know, after everything?" I asked, turning serious.
Her eyes regarded me for a moment, before she shrugged. "I'm a little shell shocked, but I'm fine," she admitted. She thanked the waitress when she returned and took a big sip of her drink, her shoulders seeming to relax a little. "Some parts were harder than others."
That piqued my interest. "Which parts?"
Her eyebrow shot up in surprise at my curiosity. She opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it and brought her drink back to her lips, choosing silence.
"Having to be that naked in front of so many people?" I guessed, but she shook her head.
"No, I don't really mind it that much."
"Then what?" I pushed, to which she chuckled and rolled her eyes at me.
"I'd have to have a lot more to drink than this to tell you that," she joked, winking at me. As if the universe had heard her, a round of tequila arrived that Luke had ordered, complete with salt and lemon. I tried not to stare when she licked the salt from the back of her hand and sucked at the lemon after swallowing the shot.
Eloise grabbed Dakota by the hand and dragged her down the stairs to go dancing, the blonde as energetic as ever, while Victor and Luke engaged me in a conversation about living in London vs living in Los Angeles.
My eyes kept glancing down at the dance floor where Dakota danced with Eloise. God she was beautiful. And she could really dance. I was completely hypnotised by her hips as they swayed to the music, her hands moving through her hair and up into the air. From the looks of it, I wasn't the only one she hypnotised. There were more than a few pairs of eyes on her as the men around her glanced her way every now and then. I'd have to make sure they behaved themselves, or I'd just have to kill them. I groaned at the direction of my thoughts, receiving a few quizzical looks from Luke and Victor. They glanced down to the dance floor, then sent me knowing grins before continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened.
I tried to pay more attention to what they were saying, but when my eyes automatically searched for her again, they found her nowhere in sight, making me sit up straighter. My eyes scanned the dance floor, but she wasn't there. I caught sight of Eloise's pink dress and relaxed a little when I saw Dakota standing next to her at the bar. I chuckled as they each raised a shot glass in salute before throwing it back.
I watched as Dakota seamlessly sent another guy packing before they headed back over to the VIP room and pretended to be concentrating on the conversation in front of me instead of her every movement as she sat back down next to me, giggling. I had noticed that she tended to giggle a lot when she drank. It was absolutely adorable.
I laughed at the cheer from my friends, getting rowdier by the minute, when the waitress appeared with another tray full of shots. Aaron jokingly licked the salt off Sam's hand before she could then bit the lime she held in her other hand while we laughed.
"You call that a body shot?" Eloise joked before she turned to Dakota and I. "Show us how it's done, Mr Grey." The rest of the group ooooo'd at the challenge, but I was once again surprised by how playful Dakota was when she turned to me at the challenging look Eloise gave her.
"Challenge accepted," I joked, reaching for the salt. Dakota moved her hair over her right shoulder, leaving her left bare to me. With a wink at her, I leaned down to glide my tongue across the little hollow above her collar bone, then trickled some salt over it while the others cheered their encouragement.
My eyebrows shot into the air when she took a lime and lifted it to her lips, holding it with her teeth. She giggled at my response. Smiling at how adorable she was being, I leaned in and ran my tongue across her skin again, licking up the salt. Next, I threw my head back to swallow the bitter shot, then my mouth closed around the half of the lime protruding from her mouth before I could chicken out. Our lips pressed chastely together, then she let go of the lime and I pulled it from her mouth into my own before pulling back and taking it from my lips, dropping it onto the tray to wolf whistles and applause from our friends. Next, it was Eloise and Luke's turn, which thankfully pulled the attention away from me as I sat back in my seat.
Dakota turned her head to me and I sent her a playful smile. "So, about those harder parts..." I started and she laughed, surprised that I had actually brought it back up. "You said you would tell me after a few more drinks." I motioned to the empty shot glasses on the tray.
She rolled her eyes, then chuckled, definitely more relaxed than earlier. "I did say something like that, didn't I?"
I wiggled my eyebrows at her. "Tell me."
"You really wanna know?" she asked, biting her bottom lip.
I nodded. "Yeah."
She was quiet for a second, then leaned in so that the others couldn't hear us. "I find it hard when you touch me." Before I could jump in and demand to know what I did to make her feel uncomfortable when I touched her, she continued, looking at a spot over my shoulder. "You are a very attractive man. And I can't not respond to you when you kiss my nipples." Her cheeks coloured, her eyes widening a little as if she was as surprised at her forwardness as I was. "What I mean is, if I kind of avoid you a little after these kinds of scenes, you don't need to worry, I just... need to calm down a little and being around you doesn't help very much."
"Dakota, come with me to the ladies' room," Eloise interjected, which was probably good, seeing as Dakota's confession has completely floored me and I was still reeling. She glanced back at me, then giggled a little at the flabbergasted expression on my face, before getting up to follow Eloise.
Dakota POV
I laughed at Eloise's antics as we danced, she always made me laugh. She was just one of those people who could liven up any party and get you to do ridiculous things in the name of fun.
"Cute guy, six o' clock," she leaned in to yell at me over the music. I cringed. Not again. As cute as some of these guys were, I was just not interested. Besides, with someone like Jamie hanging around, they couldn't even compare.
"Wanna dance?" I heard a voice in my ear. I whipped around to see a handsome blonde with green eyes, sending me a lopsided smile that probably made most girls swoon. Not this girl.
I sent him an apologetic smile, going into automatic excuse mode. "Sorry, my boyfriend can get kinda jealous."
He raised an eyebrow and stepped closer, making me a little uncomfortable. "You don't have a boyfriend, it would be all over the news," he announced, and I suddenly realized that this guy knew who I was. And yes, it was public knowledge that I was single, especially with all the speculation surrounding the movie. And I haven't been seen with any guys outside the cast since the movie began. Busted.
"They don't know everything about me," I defended.
His hand reached out to touch my arm, making me cringe again. "Come on, dance with me."
I frowned and was about to give this guy a piece of my mind when I felt Jamie's presence behind me. Somehow, I always knew when it was him. His hand wrapped around my hip and flattened itself on my stomach, pulling me away from the creepy guy and into him, my back against his chest. His other hand settled on my hip, keeping me safe against him as he faced the guy.
"This one's mine," he practically growled at him, the sound of the possessiveness in his voice next to my ear sending shivers down my spine. Playing along, I placed one hand over his on my stomach while the other reached up to wrap around his neck, sending the guy a triumphant grin. Take that. He obviously recognised Jamie too, from the way his eyes widened a little at the assumption that we were together.
"Sorry dude," he said finally, holding up his hands in surrender as he backed away and disappeared into the dancing crowd. At the glances from a few other men standing around, Jamie pulled me closer against him protectively.
"Jeez, can't you do anything without driving men insane?" he asked, his breath tickling my ear.
I realised that we had slowly stated swaying to the music, our hands staying exactly where they were. My heart fluttered at the feeling of being in his arms. Although, I had to admit that it worked as a man repellent and I could finally dance in peace, or maybe that was just my excuse to myself for not moving away from him.
The deep bass coming from the speakers vibrated through me, my heart matching it as his hands moved my hips with his, side to side, swaying to the beat. My other hand joined the first behind his neck, fingers finding the hair at the nape of his neck. I felt his nose in my hair and could've sworn he inhaled my scent, my stomach doing little somersaults.
Just one song, I decided, although leaving right now would've probably been the route a more sensible young lady would take, but who were we kidding, there was nothing sensible about me. Instead, I let the music take me over and closed my eyes, letting my head drop back against Jamie's shoulder. He turned his head towards mine and I could feel his warm breath blowing across my bare collar bone, sending goose bumps raging across my skin.
Jeez, how did he always do this to me? Leave me completely breathless and senseless with the merest touch or look. He really is downright impossible to be around sometimes, with all the sexuality oozing off him. But I was a sucker for punishment, not being able to stop myself from sneaking my fill of him every now and then, like now. Although if I was honest with myself, I was just digging my own grave. With the way our scenes were making my blood boil with an undeniable need, he was the last person I should be sharing such intimate space with away from the set.
Needing to see his perfect face, I spun around in his arms, facing him. I placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his broad chest, his on my hips still moving us to the music without skipping a beat. His lips quirked into a half smile and I wanted nothing more than to devour his lips. Shivering at the memory of doing just that mere hours before, I closed my eyes to suppress the temptation, just allowing the sound of the music to overtake me.
I felt his arms tighten around me, pulling me closer to him, and I could feel his hard body against mine and his breath against my ear, forcing another shudder through me. For a second, I entertained the idea of just giving in. Just one night together… To get it out of our systems… Then afterwards…what? What then? Would I be able to go on as if nothing happened? There was a reason I never had one night stands. Separating emotions and sex had never been easy for me. No, I had to forget about it. He was my co-star, for god's sake.
My mind rocketed back to earth when I heard him give a frustrated groan into my shoulder, before stilling and pulling back a little. Those gorgeous eyes of his seemed a little cloudy, whether from the alcohol or something else, I wasn't sure, all I know is that it made me struggle to remember why I had decided not to just jump him.
"We should stop," came his sexy voice, sounding lower than usual. "Before I do something you'll regret." The fire inside me received the equivalent of a bucket of gasoline, and I was sure my eyes burned with it by the way his own eyes darkened, but I took a deep breath and forced myself to take a step back, out of his arms.
He sent me a little grin to lighten the mood, which I couldn't help but return, before turning and heading back towards Eloise.
A/N: Please review and let me know what you think!:)