Chapter 5: A Kiss
To say things hadn’t gone to plan was the biggest understatement. He’d answered the door in a goddamn towel. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling, just thinking about it. It wasn’t exactly the greeting she’d imagined. At the very least she’d expected clothes. But that wet, almost see through towel hanging perhaps a little too low on his hips was too alluring. And his chest had looked so smooth and tight… Shaking her head she had to remind herself that this was purely professional. She couldn’t even think about him in that way. It wasn’t right. Yet somehow, the more she let her mind drift, the more curious her body became with the idea of being with him.
As she glanced over at Marshall he was standing by the desk, ear pressed against the phone, serious look on his handsome face. His features were sharp as his brows were drawn into deep slashes. He nodded but she didn’t catch what he mumbled into the phone before he placed it down into the receiver. He glanced back at her and she realized she was staring and quickly darted her eyes to the floor.
“The receptionist says the paparazzi has caught on to where I’m staying. It was only a matter of time but we can’t leave the hotel unless you want your picture on the cover of every magazine by tomorrow morning.” He raised one eyebrow at her and she shook her head.
“No, I really don’t want that.”
“Good, because I ordered room service. They’ll clear off in a few hours,” He insisted.
Well, wasn’t that an invitation. Here Riley, I’m blackmailing you to stay in my hotel room and bribing you with food. She couldn’t believe she was falling for it too. But it’s not like she had much of a choice. If it got out that she’d been in Eminem’s hotel room there’d be no knowing what media scandal they’d make up.
Sighing, she just nodded. Marshall sat beside her on the sofa, perhaps a little too close. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about you,” He said. “Tell me about yourself.”
Riley shrugged, not really knowing what to say. “There’s not much to me.”
“Do you have any family?” He led.
She couldn’t’ even meet his eyes as she felt a twinge of sadness wave through her. “No… I was an only child and both my parents died when I was very little.”
When Marshall didn’t say anything, she looked up and turned her head. He was staring at the floor with an unreadable expression on his face. “I’m sorry.”
She wanted to change the subject, and fast, “What about you?”
He paused, as if he had to think about what he was saying and eventually muttered, “Sort of the same… I have a daughter, though.”
Riley was surprised. He looked a little young to be a father. And she’d never heard anything about it before. But she hardly knew him. She’d only heard a few of his songs. “Really? How old is she?”
A flash of pride came upon his face as he looked her in the eyes. As he did so, their faces were so close, if she leant forwards in the slightest, their noses would touch. “She turned six not too long ago.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“Yeah…” As he faded off, he expressed nothing but total adoration for his daughter.
There was a knock at the door at interrupted them. “Room service.”
Marshall stood and opened the door, letting in some poor young worker who looked incredibly nervous inside. He shook as he placed the platters down on a sleek wooden table and left as quickly as he’d came in.
As Riley stood, she hoped like hell that it wasn’t some fancy meal. Her stomach could hardly tolerate it and right now, all she craved was flipping cheeseburger and fries. And that was pretty much the summary of her life. No fine dining or high rolling for her. Marshall had a coy smile as he lifted the lid off the silver platter.
Riley could only laugh as he eyes fell upon none other than a cheeseburger and fries. “Are you for real?”
He shrugged, “If you believe me, I actually get sick of all of all the fancy food. People assume that because you have money you want lobster every night for dinner.”
She stepped closed, trying to hide her smile, “And if you believe me, this is actually what I wanted most.”
Marshall had to swallow a couple of times as Riley was giving him an incredibly alluring look as she stepped closer to him, now only a mere foot from his own body. She was little like he’d expected. Unlike a lot of other famous women he’d worked with, she hadn’t been stained by a spirit of entitlement. She was cool and laid back. In complete honesty, he’d expected her to be more demanding and manipulative… but maybe that’s just because she looked almost identical to Kim.
It was hard to remember when things lost an awkward tone but once they were eating cheeseburgers, sitting crossed legged on the bed like a bunch of dags, they started talking and laughing. By the time they’d wiped out all the food, he felt like he knew her on a bit more of a personal level. Only god knew how many hours they spent just chatting.
“Paul was losing his mind, yelled at me for a good half hour. He couldn’t believe I’d pulled a stunt like that.” Marshall absolutely loved seeing the wide smile across Riley’s face as she laid back against the bed, giggling. Her curly cloned hair was sprayed out across the pillows like it was in the movies.
She sat up, shaking her head, hair swinging around to one side. “I can’t believe you did that!”
“It was cr-” He was cut off by the sound of a ringtone that wasn’t his.
Riley’s smile faded, and she looked confused, as if she hadn’t expected anybody to be calling. Crawling off the bed, she reached out to her bag and pulled out her phone, throwing him an apologetic look. She hit the answer button and pressed it against her ear.
“Hello? ... How-how did you get my number? ... No, it’s not okay… I’m kind of busy at the moment… Yeah, whatever… Just, look, don’t call me, okay?” She hung up and Marshall leant forwards on the bed as she came and sat down on the edge, looking frustrated.
“Is everything okay?” He asked, genuinely concerned.
She shrugged, “I wouldn’t worry. Just some asshole from my apartment building trying to get me to be his trophy wife.”
“What’s his name?”
She smirked, “Dick.”
“Seems appropriate,” He bit.
She chuckled and turned back, looking him in the eyes. In the low light, she looked so attractive and she was giving him a deep look. His eyes drifted down to her full lips, they looked so luscious and soft. He just want to kiss her. Without thinking too much, he leant forwards and was surprised when she did the same.
Her breath hot on his, he captured her lips in his own and kissed her passionately. As soon as they connected, he felt a rush of heat spread through him like an open fire, scorching down every bone, from his fingertips to his toes. It was an awakening he hadn’t felt in so long, something to distinguish his life from the numbness he’d felt ever since his divorce.
However, after a moment, Riley pulled away and stiffened up, as if she immediately regretted her decision to kiss him. She stood up, quickly, putting cold distance between them.
“Uhm, I should go,” She said, quickly, scratching her head and grabbing her handbag.
Jumping up, he managed to reach her before she got to the hotel door. He grasped hold of her wrist, “Riley, wait…”
She gave him a sad look and opened the door as he released his grip and let her go…