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Chapter 41: A Reality Check
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The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 42: Everything Changes
On Wednesday, the day before my first real dinner date with Dante, everything changes.It starts like any normal day. I'm in the bakery early, getting my recipes organized for the day, when Jilly comes bouncing in. Rather than go straight for her apron, she stops right in front of my workstation."Is it true?" she says. "Are you really dating Dante Fontaine?"I look up from the flour. "What? Where did you hear that?""The same place the rest of the world did." She holds up her phone, showing me a popular gossip website. There, front and center, is a photo of Dante and me leaving Big Barb's with the headline, "Dante Fontaine's new mystery girl: Who is Ashlyn Worth?"A chill shoots down my spine. I knew this was coming, but I guess I'd hoped I'd have my anonymity for a little while longer. It's so strange to see my face on this site, to see my name printed as if I'm some sort of celebrity. Tens of thousands of people might read this."So?" Jilly prompts. "Is it true?""I..." After
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 43: Things Get Seriously Insane
Let's be real: anyone who knew my name could have figured out where I work with a little bit of internet research. Certainly many reporters and photographers did. But now this site has made it easy for anyone to find me.And find me they do.Suddenly our phone is ringing off the hook - and not just the bakery phone, but my personal cell phone, too. I must have my number linked to one of my social media profiles or something, and before long I have to turn it off to keep from going insane.Most of the calls coming in on the bakery's main line are still from reporters, but some members of the general public are calling in, too, asking if Dante Fontaine will be making any appearances here anytime soon. Or asking what Dante's favorite dessert is. Or what his last order was.Under different circumstances, I might have found it amusing - at least until the threats started.The first one comes an hour after my bakery' name is posted."Hello?" I say into the receiver. I've probably answe
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 44: What Those Years Did To Me
Morning doesn't bring much relief.I wake with a knot in my stomach. I don't think I can face the bakery today - and frankly, I know it's unfair to ask Jilly or Mama Pat or Karen to, either. After taking several deep breaths, I turn on my phone. There are at least a dozen new messages waiting for me, but I ignore them. I call my employees and let them know that the shop will be closed today. That gives me a little bit of relief, at least.Right after I've hung up with Karen, my phone rings. My stomach seizes, but then I see that it's only Dante. Relief floods me as I answer."Ash? Are you all right?" he says immediately. "My publicist told me the news broke.""Oh, I - I'm fine," I say. Still a little stunned, but holding together. "Yeah, I guess it did.""I tried calling you multiple times last night. They sent me to Vegas for a press thing, or I would have come over to make sure you were all right." There's a hint of darkness in his tone. "You are all right, aren't you?"Just he
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 45: Our Second First Date
Somehow Dante and I make it off my doorstep and into the house. He manages to press me up against the wall without breaking the kiss. I'm not sure if seconds or minutes or even hours have passed. I only know that kissing him is life. It's an explosion of passion that threatens to consume me.When he finally pulls back, I'm dazed and fuzzy-minded with pleasure. I lean my head back against the wall, eyes still closed, as he brushes one last soft kiss against the corner of my mouth. There's a brief pause, and then suddenly he lets out a laugh.God, that laugh. That rare, beautiful sound makes me go soft all over. I open my eyes to see what's causing that marvelous, heart-swelling, intoxicating reaction, but when I do, my eyes go straight to his lips - and the enormous smear of Blood Orchid Red across them. His entire mouth is smudged with it. And the skin surrounding his mouth. And his chin. And even parts of his cheeks, though I don't remember my lips ever going there.He's still laug
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 46: Dante Finds Out
"What did they do?" Dante repeats."Nothing," I say. "Nothing I shouldn't have expected, at least. I'm just not used to this."His mouth is tight. For a moment, he doesn't say anything. And then, "I was afraid of this.""I can handle it," I tell him again. "But this is all happening so quickly. I never thought it would be easy, but I also wasn't expecting everything to change so drastically overnight. To go from a nobody to... to whatever I am now. In only a few days my whole life has changed, and we're only just getting to know each other again, and I just want... I just want..." A few moments to think. Some room to breathe, away from the curious eyes of the press and public. To run away with Dante to a place where they'll never find us. "This is what you were trying to avoid back then, wasn't it?"He gives a single nod, but though I've just admitted that he was right, he doesn't look the least bit smug - or even satisfied."Why don't we go?" he says softly.I shake my head. "Th
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 47: All The Truth I Need
"Men were threatening you?" Dante demands. "Men you know?" His voice is so strained that he hardly even sounds like himself.I shake my head. "Strangers."The muscles of his chest are rigid beneath my hands. He doesn't move - doesn't even breathe - for a full minute."Why didn't you tell me this?" he demands finally. His eyes bore into me."I knew it would upset you.""Of course it upsets me!""Well, it's not like there's anything we can do about it," I say."You still should have told me." He releases me and turns away, his hands going to his hair."What good has it done, telling you?" I say. "You don't tell me everything, either. We've just started seeing each other again. It's okay to still have some secrets."He turns back toward me. "And what secrets do you think I'm hiding from you?""Not secrets, necessarily," I say. "But you dodge all of my questions about your work." Between the tense phone calls and his odd behavior at the studio, something is definitely going on.
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 48: Finding the Script
I wake to the soft in-and-out of Dante's breath against my cheek.We're in his bed, and for once, I've woken before him. My body is draped across his, and his chest rises and falls beneath my arm. I can feel his slow, steady heartbeat beneath the pads of my fingers.For a long moment, I just lie there and stare at him. Watch the slight flutter of his dark lashes against his cheeks. Admire the long, hard lines of his body. He has a habit of kicking the sheets off while he sleeps, so most of his well-muscled form is in view. I let my fingers drift across the plane of his chest, following the path my mouth took last night. It must be close to dawn because the light that leaks in through the window is pale pink against his skin.I'm not sure how long I lie there watching him. My body feels languid, content. Any tension or anxiety I felt last night disappeared beneath Dante's passionate touch. I feel like we could take on the world together.We left the window cracked last night, and a
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 49: My Heart Breaks Again
I can tell the exact moment Dante's eyes land on the sheet of paper because his fingers freeze. "Where did you get that?""Your notes blew off the table and I was picking them up." I shouldn't have looked at them, I know, but it's too late for such regrets. "Is this a character in your script? You're using this? Using me?"He doesn't speak for a long moment. Too long. And when the words finally come, he talks slowly, as if choosing every word carefully. "Writers use real people as inspiration sometimes, Ash. It helps us create characters that feel authentic. But a lot of influences go into a character. Bits and pieces from different people and different experiences."I'm still frozen in his arms. "Her name is Ashley.""That was the director's decision. It's his girlfriend's name - purely a coincidence.""But this note about me isn't a coincidence. You have a comment about her running a bakery... about her having emotional baggage..." But my eyes keep going back to the weaknesses:
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