Chapter Twenty
That night, Bethany sat with two movie stars watching television. Her life had been pretty average before finding Aidan drunk on a bench, and now every day revealed a new layer of weird. The glamorous Maeve O’Donnell sat on the floor, her famously long legs crossed like a pretzel as she ate Chinese food and watched Celebrity Spotlight on Aidan Shannon.
Aidan Shannon, the man, voted The Movie Beat’s Hottest Actor last year, sat next to Maeve, in jeans so old that soon they would give up the fight and disintegrate. His T-shirt said, Pogue mahone, which, she learned after a quick Internet search, translated to “kiss my ass” in Gaelic. Even as he tucked her into his arms, she couldn’t help but realize that his life was far removed from anything she had ever known. It was a miracle they had anything in common. It was even stranger that they were lovers. Unfortunately, the Celebrity Spotlight was not making her feel any more comfortable with Aidan.
A busty woman named Bambi walked seductively toward the camera. “Aidan Shannon, an Irish man with an amazing talent to delve into the mind of his characters. An award-winning actor, who thanked the men at his favorite pub in his blockbuster award speech. An Irish scoundrel, whose reputation with the ladies is legendary. But behind that, who is Aidan Shannon? We will find out in the next half hour.”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Turn that off.” Aidan leaned against the couch and covered his face with his hands.
Maeve nudged his side with her elbow. “So, Mr. Scoundrel…”
Aidan threw a pillow at her. “How many times do I have to tell you to shut your mouth, Red?”
Bethany watched as Maeve’s eyes glittered with delight at Aidan’s embarrassment.
“I would like to watch this, Aidan,” Bethany said as she nibbled on an egg roll.
“Absolutely not, Beth.” Turning his face toward the television, he groaned as Maeve O’Donnell, red hair down to her shoulders and in full glamour-girl makeup, spoke of her good friend, Aidan Shannon, on the television screen.
“Maeve! Why did you do this to me?” he moaned.
Maeve laughed and fed him a pot sticker. “I said good stuff, listen.”
Bethany attempted to ignore the wordplay between these two glamorous gods and watched in fascination as Maeve spoke about Aidan and their friendship. “He is very supportive of me as an actor,” she was saying, her long legs gracefully crossed.
“Aidan is an easy actor to work with. He is encouraging and treats a woman with respect that I’ve yet to encounter in another man. Simply put, it is easy to be a woman around Aidan.”
“Thank you, luv,” Aidan said as he raised his glass toward his friend.
The television hostess murmured seductively, “I just bet it would be easy being a woman around that hunk! You go, Maeve, lucky girl.”
Aidan rolled his eyes. “I met Bambi once, and she made it perfectly clear that she would join me in the bathroom for the time of my life if I were so inclined.”
Maeve looked down her perfect nose at him. “And you turned her down?”
Aidan glanced at Bethany. “Yeah, I did.”
Bethany gulped some of her cocktail, relieved to hear that he hadn’t shared any kind of intimacy with Bambi the big-boobed slut. “Well, she was definitely sporting something fake if you catch my drift,” Bethany said, with a knowing look to Maeve. “I think she could have used those things like a flotation device in case of a water landing.”
Aidan laughed out loud and hugged her. “You are right on that.” Then he whispered as he casually brushed a thumb across her breast, “Nothing fake here.”
Jumping at the intimate contact, Bethany said, “Stop it. We have company!” Maeve looked at them, a sweet smile on her face, and then yawned dramatically. “Well, kids, I’m off. I will see you on the set tomorrow night, Aidan. It was great meeting you, Bethany.”
Bethany and Aidan watched Maeve leave and then he turned to her and cupped her face, looking at her with smoldering eyes. “We are finally alone, whatever should we do?” He brushed his lips against the sensitive part of her neck and smiled as she shivered. “Mmm, that feels good, doesn’t it?”
“Why did you turn that pretty girl down, Aidan?”
Aidan muttered a curse and hugged her close. “I don’t know why. She didn’t appeal to me, I guess.”
“But why? She is thin, chesty, and pretty. What else could you want?”
Aidan sighed and directed her to their bed. He gently pushed her down and climbed on top of her, groaning when she quickly made room for him between her legs. “My wife had just left me, Bethany. I guess in some ways Bambi reminded me of her.”
“How?”
“Some women use people like me to, I don’t know, make a name for themselves. They want fame more than anything else, and I can supply that for them. So they offer their bodies to me in return for some celebrity or at the very least notoriety—anything that might make them famous.”
“Bambi has a job on television.”
“She didn’t then. Someone helped her, and I can guarantee you she offered him the same thing she offered me.”
It suddenly occurred to Bethany that fame could be a lot lonelier than she could have imagined. She hugged him close, wanting to soothe him, wanting to take care of him for no other reason than she cared deeply about him.
“Ah, Bethany, to you it seems appalling that two people would make love and not care for each other. To girls like Bambi, it’s another day of the week. My mother as well, she didn’t even know who my da was. He was probably a man she thought might help her get famous.” His short bark of laughter attempted to hide his pain.
Bethany looked at him, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Is that what Paula wanted, fame?”
Aidan’s eyes closed as he answered thickly, “I don’t know. Before we were together, her role in her television show was small. The notoriety of our relationship seemed to help increase her television time. We were always out meeting people and being seen. I guess it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if her intent all along was to use me.”
“You deserve better than that, Aidan. I hope you know that.” Tears streamed down her face as she thought of all the pain kept hidden behind his sexy smile and charming personality.
****
That night Aidan made sweet, passionate love to her. He knew this was their last night in the bed they had first made love in, and he was feeling melancholy. When she cried hoarsely in climax, she practically passed out into sleep.
Aidan stayed awake for a while after loving Bethany. He had made love to women for years, sometimes it was hot, other times it was sweet, but he had never experienced anything like what happened in Bethany’s arms. It was cataclysmic; it was draining and energy-building at once. Making love to Bethany was truly the most beautiful experience of his life. What was he going to do with the sweet innocent girl lying next to him? She was too sweet to keep, yet too addicting to let go.