Chapter 82

DORIS

I leaned my entire body against Arthur in the elevator on the way back up to the penthouse.

"I don't know how you manage to fly around the world and not get jetlag," I said. "We just flew back from California and I'm tired."

"You're tired because I wore you out in the bedroom, not because of the plane ride."

I chuckled. "That might be true."

Arthur kissed my hair. "Glad to tire you out anytime, little dove."

Arthur opened the door to the penthouse, and Cathy was lounging on the couch, wearing a skimpy tank top and loose boxer sleep shorts with little hearts on them! Her hair was artfully tousled in a sexy way, and she looked relaxed and inviting. What the hell!

How did she even get into the apartment?

Mia ran to greet us. "Mommy! Daddy!"

That's how. All Cathy had to do was knock on the door, and Mia would let her in. Why wouldn't she? Mia thought Cathy was her aunt.

Cathy moved her legs so one knee pulled up towards her chest and the other stretched out enticingly. One side of the sleep shorts slipped up, revealing even more creamy thigh.

I looked at Arthur. His jaw was tight and his expression grim.

Good. At least he wasn't any happier to see her than I was.

"Was it the best thing ever?" Mia asked. "Did your friend win? Did you meet Ryan Reynolds? You know he's my favorite actor."

Arthur picked Mia up and settled her on his hip.

"Our friend did win the Oscar for best actress. Thank you for asking. We didn't meet Mr. Reynolds."

"Bummer."

"We actually weren't introduced to anybody else famous who you would know, but we did see a lot of famous people up close."

"Were they all wearing fancy dresses?"

"Fancy dresses or suits, yes."

"Do you have pictures?"

Arthur put Mia down. "I do." Arthur took out his phone and bent down to Mia's level to show her the photos we had taken when we were on the red carpet.

While Mia and Arthur were occupied staring at his phone, I looked over their heads at Cathy.

She gave me a smug smirk, which I didn't appreciate. What was her game plan here? What was she trying to do?

I didn't like the raw turning in my gut. I didn't like feeling paranoid.

Maybe what Cathy was wearing was just her hanging around house clothes, and she wasn't trying to be sexy. Maybe she was just a sexy person, and I was imagining all of this.

But then I remembered everything I had found out in my deep dive Internet search. Cathy was a woman with some serious issues.

We looked similar, but we were nothing alike.

We might have similar interests, but I would never step on somebody or hurt them to get what I wanted. I didn't want to think bad about Cathy, but now I wasn't so sure.

My instincts told me she was dangerous and that she wanted what I was hoping would soon be my real family.

But I had to be polite to her for Mia's sake.

Cathy didn't do anything else or make a play for Arthur, so there was nothing I could do.

Tuesday morning, it was back to work as usual.

I had to spend every free moment outside of work practicing that song the record executive wanted me to record because Monday, we were going into the studio.

By Saturday, I was so excited I could hardly think straight. Sunday, I rested my voice all day.

Monday, I went into the recording studio. It looked just like I thought it would from movies and TV shows I had seen that followed the behind-the-scenes making of a song.

I introduced myself to the main sound engineer guy who was at least 6 feet 5 inches tall. He was attractive in a nerdy type of way.

The musicians were guys I knew well from The Sultan Room. We warmed up and then we did the song. The first time sounded great, but the sound engineer had us do a few takes.

Before I knew it, the session was over.

When I got back to the penthouse, Arthur had place settings for a candlelight dinner set up in the dining room. He was in the kitchen, wearing only jeans and a small apron.

I took a moment to admire the strong muscles in his back.

Arthur was stirring something in a big pot.

"Hi, baby," Arthur said. He put down the stirring spoon and gave me a big hug. "How did it go?"

I felt my smile light up. "Wonderful, really. I think Mr. Owens will really like it."

"Of course, he will. With you singing on the recording, he'll love it."

"What are you cooking?"

"I made homemade pasta sauce to go over angel hair spaghetti. Does that sound good to you?"

I stood on my tiptoes to give Arthur an appreciative kiss. "It sounds perfect." Just like you, I thought.

I looked around. There was a distinct lack of noise in the apartment.

"Where's Mia?"

Arthur looked at me with a hungry and predatory expression. "She's at her friend, Becky's… for the night."

Just the way he said it, his voice a loud, sexy purr, made my body flush from head to toe.

"Are you feeling hungry…" Arthur said, with a lot of innuendo. He took the stirring spoon out of the pot and licked a thick drop of red spaghetti sauce off his fingers.

The action should've been comical, but when Arthur did it, it looked sexy as hell. Like everything Arthur did, actually.

He turned off the heat under the large pot and raised one eyebrow at me.

Arthur could say more with a raised eyebrow than some men say in a thousand sonnets. His expression said, 'I want you, and I don't want to wait.'

I smiled. "You know what, I am hungry." I gave him a smile of my own with just as much innuendo. "I could definitely… eat."

Arthur stripped off his apron and lifted me up onto one of the big counters on the center island.

"Bedroom?" I asked.

"Too far," Arthur said, then he kissed me. Everything not Arthur went out of my head.

Before I knew it, it was time for me to sing at Lisa's wedding. Lisa called me a few hours before

"Are you ready for the big day?" I asked her.

"Definitely. I've never been more sure of anything in my life, but I still have butterflies in my stomach. The only time I had more was when I was about to give my Oscar speech."

"Well, you nailed that, and I'm sure you'll nail this."

Lisa chuckled. "The reason I called is that I know you're bringing your boyfriend, but I do have another two extra places available. I've already played for the meals. Do you have anyone else you want to bring?"

I was surprised she was asking me. She was the hottest actress in Hollywood. She probably had a hundred other people she could invite.

"Don't you have somebody else you could want to ask?"

"I have lots of other people who probably would be clamoring to come, but I'm just grateful that you're willing to do this at the last minute, so I thought I would ask you first. "

"My best friend would probably die to be able to come to your wedding, so there's that."

Lisa chuckled again. She had a nice laugh. "Then it's settled. I'll see you in a few hours. I have to get back to hair and make-up." Lisa said it like she was used to being in the make-up chair.

I rehearsed the song in my head.

Mrs. Martinez from downstairs came up to watch Mia.

I stared at my closet, trying to decide which of my performance dresses to wear.

Arthur crowded in behind me and closed the closet door, plunging us into darkness.

He kissed the back of my neck.

Arthur slid his hand up my thigh, heading toward the promised land. "Weddings always bring up romantic feelings, don't they?" he said.

I smiled. Yes, they certainly do.