All Chapters of The Actor's Contract: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Date = 1 April The worst birthday ever.Place = San Francisco (UCSF Medical Center) Funny how most of our birthdays end up in the ER.POV Enrique“They both have hypothermia,” Ilkay starts, his voice somewhere far away. I only catch fragments through the static in my head.“… bradycardia … small body mass … Aria stabilized, Luke still critical … moved to PICU … on hemodialysis to warm his blood … had to cut her hand free from his PFD … tendon damage … lucky to be alive … brave girl …”The medical jargon washes over me. I don’t care about numbers, machines, or terms I can’t spell. All I care about is that she’s here. Breathing. Her cold, limp hand rests in mine, pale and weightless, like it belongs to someone else.They’re slowly raising her core temperature, inch by inch, but I can’t stop staring at the bandage on her hand — proof that she never let go of him. Proof that she fought the ocean itself to keep them together.I rake a hand through my hair, stiff with salt from the Bay, th

Date = 4 April This day just got a little brighter.Place = San Francisco (Enrique’s home)POV – EnriqueWARNING – Sex scene!!!Those lips are soft, warm — but charged with a kind of desperate urgency, as if she’s at odds with herself even while kissing me.For a split second, I freeze, my heart stumbling over its own rhythm.Some stubborn corner of my mind shouts that this is a bad idea. Dangerous. Risky. A breach of the contract in every possible way.But the thought barely forms before my body takes over.I catch her bottom lip between my teeth, savoring the faint tremor that passes through her.She lets out a low, involuntary moan, parting her lips just enough for me to slide my tongue against hers — and I’m gone.Completely gone.“Mm.” The sweet appreciative sound she makes vibrates through me straight down to the tip of my penis, pressing tight against the towel.I’m lost.Engrossed in the sweet, delightful taste of sugar-creamed peaches — my all-time favorite — sweet and sinful

Date = 5 April Last night turned into a pretty good night after all.Place = San Francisco (Inferno) Too bad I have to work this morning.POV – EnriqueWARNING – Sex scene!!!I feel her before I see her. A subtle shift in the air, a prickle at the back of my neck.So I notice the moment she enters the VIP section — the moment I’ve been dreading all day. Will it be awkward between us now? Does she regret last night?Where has she been? I’ve phoned Anton and he said she left the house hours ago. Not that I’m keeping tabs — I just can’t seem to get her from my mind. She’s wedged in there like a splinter I can’t dig out. I’ve never had this problem before. It’s like she flooded my system and jammed herself into my bloodstream.She doesn’t give me a second glance … hell, I didn’t even get a first glance. No flicker of acknowledgment. She slices straight through to the staff room, tension humming off her. My pulse spikes. Is it because of last night?Dammit, I shouldn’t have let that happe

Date = 5 April Place = San Francisco (Enrique’s home) POV – Aria Mel hasn’t moved since she started reading what’s in her hands, making me a little queasy and I feel like shaking her back to reality. But instead, I peer through the huge windows where storm clouds gather dark and looming - as if they know our secret. The sea is a somber gray; it matches the sky … and my mood - I’m dejected and drowning in uncertainty right now. The first drops splatter against the glass. I examine how it breaks and then slowly trickles down in small streams; spellbound. A heartbeat passes and then the spell breaks, drawing my eyes back to the blonde. She tosses the paper and moves her hands carefully over her tummy, her face still in a stock-still emotionless state … simply gazing ahead. I hold my breath; expecting the worst at any moment I pick up my phone, ready to dial 911. “I seriously need a VERY big glass of wine right now,” she slowly turns her head and I meet her earnest gaze. I take a co

Date = 7 April (about 1 in the morning) Two days and a bit — that’s how long the robot has been avoiding mePlace = San Francisco (Inferno)POV - Aria“I miss you so much,” Mel swoons into her phone, her voice dripping with the kind of warmth that could thaw an iceberg. She’s talking to her lover, and here I am, standing ten feet away, marinating in my own jealousy like some pathetic rom-com extra.Envious? Absolutely. Of their bond. Their affection. Their mutual obsession.Meanwhile, I’m over here pining after a bloody robot who forgets I exist roughly every other hour.Without even thinking about my actions, I hand a guy a beer, take his money, and stash it in the cash register. My body’s on autopilot while my brain nose-dives into a bottomless pit of misery.I want that. True love. The kind where you actually matter to the person you’re with.My mind descends further and further into a chasm of gloom, the longer I listen to the blonde on the phone.But no. I had to go and fall for